Sunshine111

In the last 5 yrs Oz has become very expensive from housing to cost of living. Perhaps there is an underestimation of how things have changed. When we first went to Oz in 1999 as backpackers we felt rich with our 3000 pounds because the exchange rate was so good! There was a time you could bring over your British pounds & be mortgage free. My old boss moved to Perth in the early 80's & did just that. I am sure a combination of being mortgage free & living in the sun, was enough to encourage alot of people, especially in say the 1970-s-early 1980's when the UK was really probably quite an unsettling place to be. Like I say ,times have changed & something to factor in. Also, if you have young children & a good support network in the UK, extended family/other mums/young families think long & hard before making a long term or "forever" commitment. At best, a couple of years adventure & keeping your house in the UK would be recommended. (e.g. create a safety net) I would also encourage you to look at the early childhood education system or what childcare provisions there are in the area you are looking at.

Brilliant! ha! ha! we are entry level anoraks so that is handy to know, hadnt realised there was an anorak dress code according to your following, thanks for the tip! :biglaugh:

your post did make me chuckle! you are right about the trial period before you have the kids!! hee! nothing prepares you I dont think!! We laugh now because we went to Rarotonga on a beach holiday for a week before we had the kids & actually moaned because we were bored!! Would lurve the opportunity to be bored now! Is true about that sea breeze too. Interesting didnt know that about Marmion. Sounds like you're in a good spot. Had a friend in Mandurah & always seemed a bit cooler there. Had another friend near Welshpool way & that used to be a furnace at times. Suburbs inland under the hills were like sun traps! To be fair, we lurved the temps in Perth of late 20's & our pain threshold was early 30's. When it got over that, for days on end, we struggled with it & the kids! Also, house was old & we didnt have air con in the bedrooms and finally in our last year of being there found a great framed intex pool which helped to cool off in. (brought it back with us, why I dont know & the funny thing is, even if there is a heatwave here, we cant use it because there is a hosepipe ban! ha! great pool tho'!) You defiantely need a pool in Perth (if you are in land at least) whether that be above or below ground. Great for keeping cool. On the hot days we had a grey car taurpauline over it for shade! (classy!) We are in West Sussex, semi rural & away from things but in the middle of London & the coast. Near to family but not to near! Enjoying what it has to offer, got the South Downs (which reminds me a bit of Nz) & so many walks & bike routes. Loads of nature trails. Even about to join the RSPB! never did I ever think we would become a family of anoraks!! ha!

Funny, I got a friend like you who lurves the heat. The hotter the better, she is in Perth & big on bike riding. she lurves the 40c heats, hates the cold too! Only difference is she doesnt have young kids. Was a nightmare for us on the endless days of 40c which the last x2 summers have brought! My eldest (3yrs at the time) would be bouncing off the walls with energy, couldnt go out & the indoor playcentres we went too, didnt always have the air con on, so just as hot. One time on a trip back from the cbd my car overheated when I was 6 mths pregnant with my 2nd!! In the end the best place we found (purely because of the air con) was Scitech, tho' got costly & a bit boring going there everytime it was a hot day. Experiencing April showers in the Uk at mo & we have had alot of rain over the last week, which I am over I have to be fair! tho' reminds me of another time of year in Perth, June/July/August when it could bucket down & we were rained in. Still least the car didnt overheat if we decided to venture out! Favourite times of year in Perth were April/May/early June or early September-late November, which in actual fact where probably more like a British summer Different strokes for different folks, me I am lurving the temperate clients of the Uk. Have been outside more thats for sure! In answer to the original post, yes one of the reasons for returning was because it was too hot! but then when we arrived in Perth we didnt have young kids, so heat didnt bother us as much, not till we had a toddler then pre-schooler boy when you HAVE TO go out, that it became a nightmare! The other thing is, I dont think people in the UK fully understand what it is like to be hampered by the heat in everytime life, not something we are used too. I used to be a right sunworshipper in my day, lurving my holidays in the usual suspects Ibiza/Spain/Greece etc but then I was a teenager who just used to want to lay out in it all day & get a tan or snooze off a hangover!!

Thats the ole' end of an era feeling. Friend of mine who lives in Perth, never liked it & is returning after 5 yrs but now starting to enjoy herself there because that feeling of being trapped she had, has finally lifted & now in someways she feels sad & scared tho' excited too. She is also coming home with a young family & talking to her reminds me of all the emotions we had.. Definately a start of a new exciting chapter - Has been for us, we look at the UK with different eyes. Amazing what you see when you take off the blinkers & stop reading/believing the negativity of the papers! good luck with everything.

Good on you, sounds like you had a great adventure & have done everything you wanted to (almost!) In some ways wish we had done what you are about to do (go home before settling down) We were away 10 yrs like you, went for an adventure, did a holiday works visa, emmigrated, had no plan, had kids & then thought actually.... we dont want to be here anymore or for the rest of our lives! Was an amazing experience & absolutely no regrets but a bit like being on a train.... we didnt get off at the right station, rather waited to the end of the line.....!! (hence, the desperation to go home in the end which put a ridiculous amount of stress on us, which we probably could have avoided, had we had a long term plan!) My feeling is that you need to build up a good support network before you have kids be that extended family and/or other young families. For us we had the kids & our priorities & what we wanted changed & was when the gigantic pull for home came unexpectedly. We are back to Uk with a 5 yr old & 2 yr old, best thing we ever did (returned last August) Especially for our 5 yr old. He is benefiting from extended family and a fantastic early childhood system & lots & lots of things to do. His younger brother is making friends via playgroup, now preschool (which is on school site) & about to do x2 mornings a week & then into school. (love the flow of this, the consistency from the age of 2 yrs to school) We have been outside more times than we were in Perth because of heat. Everyone is different but I do get cross when I read posted about how Oz is a better life for kids. Different yes, equal to Uk but not better. Is such a generalistic suggestion. There are good parts in the UK there are bad parts, same for Oz there is good & bad. We as a family & especially the kids are benefiting from what the Uk actually has to offer. The longer you are away the more challenginhg it is to pick up with people, (talking from experience & why I wish in someways we had come back to have our kids) we are working hard to build relations with family and make new friends at a time with young kids where we need a strong network. (tho have to say seem to be finding it easier to build that network here than I did in Perth, even after 9 mths of being home. Perhaps because things are closer together & people seem more social & open) Go with your gut feeling, we did & is why even now I still breath a sigh of relief for being home & where we all belong.

Great post 2tigers! Emma, just to echo above. Is very scary returning but funny because once you get back you find yourself wondering why.... Good luck with the move, be kind to yourself & give yourself time. It is an amazing country & takes being away to fully appreciate it.

ha! ha! damn, would have been a great hobby for us this time last year when we were still there! Would have been an expert! ha!

Ironically I havent seen any dog poo on pavements whilst dog walking in the in the UK, like I saw when we lived in our suburb in Perth. My 4 yr old, trod in some on the way to school once & unfortunately because it was soooo dry we couldnt even find a tuft of grass to try & wipe it on!! Good thing actually about the local shires in Perth was that they actually provided not just dog poo bins but the bags too,(unlike the UK) which probably helped keep down the dog poo issue at the local parks. (maybe because there wasnt the dog poo bags on the street corners in our little Perth suburb, maybe why some of our local streeets had so much poo, who knows?!)

Fantastic photos! lurve it.

get a hard copy of your Aussie No claims bonus (not emailed copy) before you leave. We used Privilege Insurance but defo shop about. Privilege wanted this & slowed the process down a tad trying to do that from UK.

lurvly post. Will be even better when you get "home" I am sure. Having returned ourselves nearly 8 mths ago, I still drive around & feel so happy to be home. I moaned & winged about the Uk before I left 10 yrs ago but now I am back, looking through it with a new appreciation. Strangely feel safe & contented. Good luck with your next chapter for you.

Very hesitate to suggest that moving to Oz offers a better life for a young family..... comparable to the UK but not sure about better currently. As you have rightly said, things have changed so much. When we arrived in Oz in 1999 it was a very different place & the pound went ever so much further. For some it was a case of being mortgage free once those pounds were changed up, that in itself I guess gave more time for leisure activities or having an easier life.... (especially with a young family & one income) In my opinion it is the last 5 yrs that things have changed, everything has become quite expensive. Go for an adventure sure, just depends on your kids age & try & keep a safetly net in the Uk if possible. We have returned to UK 6 months a go, a young family with a 5 yr old & nearly 2 yr old & for us we have found a better live here, even though both boys were born in Perth. We are outside more, the early childhood system is fantastic, lots for kids to do & a great community where we live. There are lots of places in the Uk that offer that, it is not unique. Anyone moving to Oz, really does need to do a thorough research plan almost business-like. Gone are the days where you can just jump off a boat & expect to land on your feet. Whilst it isnt impossible it is not as easy as it was & depends on what stage you are at in your life. (e.g. would say for a 20 something with no kids, looking for adventure, go for it! but would air a big dose of caution to anyone with a young family with one income thinking about emmigrating for a better life)

we thought the same of our dog too & she at the time of arrival to Perth was only 3 yrs old! Had we known how well she would have travelled we may have felt we could have returned sooner!!

Used Jetpets for our short haired pointer. Very happy, great service & Heathrow airport were good too. She travelled extremely well. Infact, better than going from Nz to Perth, where she actually lost her voice & was very distressed. Unfortunately, some of that was arrival at Perth airport, which took ages getting her off plane & sat on runway for under an hour before they moved them through.... cost just under 4000 dollars. Good luck to you. Our dog is very happy & like a giddy school girl when we take her on walks up the fields in our beautiful English countryside!

Very different country to the one I left 10 yrs ago. Air of optimism, it knows its problems & is working on them. I dont hear people moaning about the country as much as then, a glint of pride is starting to appear. Maybe I have changed too. We went against the grain on returning & in some ways took a huge risk but it has paided off & has given us an amazing amount of confidence to know we can do anything. Sadly, on this return I have come to realise I have outgrown my family..... attitudes from some towards the country are the biggest problem here, not the country itself. You cannot beat an English sunny day, the countrysides, banter, community, things to do, diversity, access to Europe & that is just to start with.....!

Excited next chapter for you! brilliant. Know what you mean about where you want to spend the rest of your days, when I used to drive past this sandy old cemetery in Guildford (Perth) it seemed so isolated & forgotten about, that it used to make me really miserable at the prospect of ending up there, just by driving past it...!

Horrible feeling, being somewhere you dont want to be. Even though both hubby & I wanted to go home, took 7 mths from start to finish, e.g finishing off a renovation & selling the house & with x2 little uns in tow. We only had that trapped feeling for a short period of time but unbelievable how it affects you. Not sure of your situation & how quickly you could turn around a return home but when you go back in July, go with updated cv's & try & contact a couple of recruitment agencies before you return. Contact people you used to work with/old bosses etc... as much networking as you can do. good luck, not sure if you have kids, but if not do something now. If not, you can just meander into the next phase & each one becomes harder to return.... we have a 5 yr old & thankfully returned at a good time, if he had made friends & been very settled, I am not sure we would have/could have returned to the UK.....

could have written this myself. Perhaps it takes being away to appreciate the finer things in life! I still feel utter relief for being back & a real connection & funny enough a real sense of pride, which I am not sure that I have ever felt before. Is a different country to the one I left 10 yrs ago, like it has grown up too. I wonder how I didnt see all that it has to offer before....? Now we have kids, is great being back & looking at it through different eyes. I lurve the culture & really that is probably why we feel like a jigsaw piece that fits in to the puzzle.... Have had a parents consultation this evening for my eldest, first since we been back 6 mth & I could just about burst with how well our eldest has come along. He has slotted in amazingly well. Whilst it was easy to up (or a clear break) to leave Perth (even though he was born there) I could not possibly imagine leaving Uk. Maybe it is his age (5&1/2yrs) or maybe he has also got his own sense of belonging..... Either way, seeing how happy & settled he is, makes it all worthwhile to us.

Great post! Definately would agree, is true to say some kids may settle, but others do not & I have met many adults who were "forced" to stay, as older children which inturn created resentment or a detachment. One was our Vet. She came to Perth when she was 11 yrs old & said 40 odd years later, she never settled & said "good on you!" (one of the few) when we told her we were returning. End of the day, only you know what is right for your family. Go with your gut feeling.

Ahhh I remember that feeling. Good luck with the next chapter, there is no place like home!

no in answer to that. didnt know, is something that crept up on us. We moved around Nz & Aus for 10 yrs. Perth was the longest place that we lived & was 6 yrs. It was when we had the kids over there & after time, that we decided we didnt want to spend the rest of our lives over there.... Had a great adventure though, but am happy to be home.

I agree. Lived there for 4 yrs & very fond memories. Kiwis are very entrepeneurial. Lurve the "I can do that" attitude. Beautiful landscape, amazing beaches & skiing all a car ride away. Is definately an adventure capital. Enjoy the next chapter....

Ahh thanks Crimsonpetal. Is like therapy, just writing on here! I think it helps to know you are not alone with having a "challenging" family & it is possible to successfully return to the Uk so long as it is for the right reasons (e.g. not solely for extended family - more so if you have been away more than a couple of years or so because people move on & although you may not realise it, you have changed too...) & you research & locate a place that meets what kind of lifestyle you want. I really think you need to be excited about re-locating to the Uk or at least mildly smiling....! Don't get me wrong, is nice to be able to see family long weekends/school hols & Christmas - (mainly for the kids benefit) but is just as nice to come home at times. I am in the middle of working out a way of "managing" mine, so it doesnt upset/disrupt our little family unit. We are only 7 mths in from returning, and still havent found the level. Needing to re-align our expectations into reality & set some boundaries. Our family is lots of little cogs, all created from divorced parents, so am needing to take one cog at a time! Best advice is return for yourself, or your own family unit. Write down why you want to return, (keep the list to hand, as a reference, especially when you get back) where the benefits will be & be kind to youself. It is a big move & giving it time & doing one day at a time is the best way forward.... all the best x