fizzybangs

Freckleface my son had the heart attack but it was following a period of depression which I think we have worked through now. My daughter also needed me after a relationship breakdown and my kids Dad (I'm divorced and remarried) was also rushed to hospital at Christmas where he had to be resuscitated three times due to failing heart, kidneys and liver. He has rallied but it is a matter of time and we are in a rental so have a lease. Our return date is estimated! Could change but hope not. I have promised my kids I will stay around until then. Also, my best friend has multiple myeloma, also diagnosed around Christmas and her treatment finishes January when she hopes to be moving to NSW from Tassie and where we will spend some time with her on visits. Our stuff is in storage in UK.

Thanks Katie and next move back will be permanent! There is a huge difference between being a mate here and being a true friend. Years ago I read an item from a young Danish guy here in Oz and he said that Brits can appear hard on the outside but in reality they are soft (meaning kind, loving and true) on the inside whereas Ozzie's are very soft (outwardly very friendly) but hard inside. To become a true friend you have to climb over an invisible wall. Not true for everyone of course but it made a lot of sense to me.

That actually made me laugh Zack. Oh dear. But...I didn't come back from UK until this year so I know what it is like to live in UK and I read all the English newspapers on line every day so I do know what is happening. I met 3 people in Paignton who had all lived in Australia for several years and returned to Paignton and none of them asked why I had returned! No, England won't die without Scotland, it will adapt. And perhaps you might not have imagined that perhaps the moderate Muslims might prefer to get awayfrom the violence in their own countries. Just a thought. Anyway, you obviously want to live in a foreign land just as they do. So are you coming back to Oz? Will Oz allow you to or will you need to apply for visa again?

Yes! With their mothers

I don't think you need to worry at all and it is a lovely area. I can understand your concern but it is highly unlikely. Why don't you rent for a while until you have made up your own minds though?

I think I am the problem! I have to stay until July next year and don't want to, so my freedom of choice is curtailed. Perhaps I am even slightly depressed but don't think so as my OH is struggling too and he's not depressed. I have never been like this in my life but after 32 years we only have two friends who are Australian and only one of those I could really count on. So our friends are mainly from Britain or New Zealand as we find it just easier to communicate, particularly with humour. I am also over beaches so we keep driving inland to see some green. I have seen practically every beach around Australia and have lived by the beach for years and I can't get the magic back that I used to feel. I am a person who likes to keep busy and keep moving forward so a laid back, almost stop, lifestyle is not my scene and I'd rather be exploring new places. I do love the hinterland here though. I am joining groups and trying to find other Poms so who knows, with a bit of friendly banter I might feel a lot better!

Oh it was wonderful! Complete strangers would strike up conversations every time i went out, got invited to so many places and everyone smiled! We were in Paignton, a kind of slightly tatty, wonderfully happy holiday town so expect it makes a difference where you live. I always came back smiling. The quick humour with complete strangers awed me too.

Just asking because I am here at the moment and bored witless! We went back to UK for a year but had to return as one of our kids had a heart attack and are now living around the corner from my duaghter. Have lived in Brisbane and Gold .coast before with no problem but perhaps because I find myself homesick for the UK I have a different attitude now and miss the UK humour so much and the ease of chatting to complete strangers there. I am losing me again!

He's very, very lucky to get a job here as there are none! Maroochydore is far more central and better shopping etc. Qld has a high unemployment rate here though and the Sunshine Coast is particularly bad. You will either love it or will get bored after initial sightseeing. I have lived in Brisbane and the Gold Coast but am now in Cotton Tree, Maroochydore opposite the beach, pool out front and small shopping area on doorstep. Renting 2 bed, one bathroom flat for $360 a week which is cheap. Houses are much dearer to rent. I didn't have a problem living in Brisbane nor the Gold Coast but I am bored witless here having lived back in Paignton for a year (returned April 1st as adult son was ill). I can't wait to get back to British humour, the cheap food prices, so many places to go to so nearby and family there. By the way, I did love Australia for 32 years until one of our many visits back made me realise how muchI had missed with family there. I didn't know the generations below me. Between trips a two year old went from watching Thomas the Tank on TV to being a 15 year old, 6'5" basketball player who I didn't recognise. If you like a quiet life you will love it but Noosa is a bit too quiet for me. Pretty to visit though.

You did well to get a job offer from here as most people find they don't but have a much better reception once there. However, you did the right thing. I too went back to work when my youngest was 3 months old but only lasted 11 weeks and decided that if I was going to be a Mum, I'd rather do it full time. So we had another baby quite quickly after that and another later plus fostered and I wouldn't have missed those years for the world. It was a career, a joyous one. One hint, do go to an area you really want to live in back home as it is so important when settling back to be in a place you love or close to those you love.

If you don't love Australia in the first few months I can't see anything changing that! Most people either embrace it or feel wrong very quickly. Our gut reactions and instincts don't change however much your mind tells them that they should. I loved it for over 30 years. I went back to the UK for holidays and couldn't wait to get back. Okay, that's changed now. Another holiday did that when they put on a family reunion for me and I didn't know all the younger generations. I realised that to my family there I had been a ghost on their walls. That person who lived out in Australia probably only mentioned when one of the younger ones wanted to come out on a working holiday! We went back and I became me again after all those years of trying to fit in. We are back again now as my three kids are here and one had a heart attack on christmas Eve. Torn between two countries. Wish I'd never left England. We will be going back though one day. Two of my kids know that and now have savings account to come and visit us in the UK. Time is dragging which is why I am on here as I left my heart back there and miss everyone so very much.

We found our Oz licence held no weight at all if taking insurance privately rather than through a car hire company at Heathrow. Please, please get your international licence before going as that was our mistake, not doing so!

Save the Children has highlighted two toilets for 200 children (Nauru) blocked toilets spilling faeces onto floor, lice, school sores and gastroenteritis, 12-15 families in one tent, allowed one square metre living space person in average temperatures of 31C (so sometimes much higher), they have detailed allegations of sexual, physical and verbal assaults of children by Nauru detention staff and all these things were told to them by the staff there! If anyone thinks it is okay for us Australians (we are all accountable if we turn our backs or treat them with contempt) to treat little kids this way then I am dumfounded. We fight for innocent animals concerning their welfare but not of little innocent kids!

You are choosing a relationship over a lifestyle you want so whatever you do, do not have a baby! If you nave one in Oz you will HAVE to stay as the Geneva convention could stop you from leaving if your partner objects. Committing to a relationship and children is for life. Please take care.

Still can't wait to get back to UK and now know what homesickness is like! Unbelievable after 30 years of living so happily here. I never ever foresaw the day would come when I got hit with a mind blast after returning to Oz after one of our many holidays in UK. Just a normal holiday. Thought our year back there would perhaps cure me but it has become worse. We are lucky, we will,have the choice to go return to the UK next year as we are free to do what we want. My adult kids are in Oz though. I would never tell anyone to give it more time here if they are unhappy. I would tell any childless couples where one wants to return and the other doesn't - don't have a baby! For all those who are so adamant that they will never want to leave Oz I would say never-say-never! I said that I would hate to live back there! I will try to enjoy my time here more and I will enjoy going back and who knows what will happen in future because I can no longer say!

I think she was frightened you would not want to come back. We do not know her side of this very difficult post so no judgements should be placed on her. However, she did recognise your need to see your parents which indicates that she has a good relationship with hers. If family is very important to her she probably wonders how you can even consider taking her away from hers. The thought of leaving home for any reason might frighten her too. She has had to be the capable one and sometimes that can be a heavy load, especially along with such a young child. I suggest you do what you need to do! Go back and find out where your priorities really lie rather than flounder about missing the UK and family there. I'm sure your wife must be wandering. You may find when there that you miss your wife and child too much and you may not get as much support from your parents after a while. They can only be a safe haven for so long for you as they have their own lives to lead now. You need to know what you truly want and that is your journey, not your wife's, nor your childs. Go find out

Your PR will give you 3 years back in the UK anyway and if you still don't want to return by the end of 3 years back home you never will want to in my mind! If you do want to return within that time you can and do your two years to fulfil requirements. I'd hate to know my home will always be in the UK but my kids had citizenship and could go at any time but that decision is too late for me as I became a citizen years ago and they have their lives here in Oz now whilst mine is in the UK, another split family!

Living by the sea in the Paignton we never got fog! I'd forgotten about it and din't hear of any during those 11 months. We got wind in Spring this year but rugged up and walking along the beach into town was exhilarating and made me feel so alive as the air was so fresh after SE Qld. I got so much fitter too as we hardly used the car and walked every day. We went out in the car to places all over UK and met friends made through this PIO site who had only been FB friends, such fun. Getting around the UK is so easy! It always amazed us - the A roads were better than so many of the motorways around Oz. We could cross the country in a couple of hours! Also no nil tolerance speeding restrictions like in Qld!

PS. The weather last year was superb! Mild winter and beautiful summer and it is another beautiful summer there again this year. I am colder now at the Sunshine Coast with 5C at night and no double glazing or central heating than I ever was there!

Totally and utterly disagree! Everyone reacts differently. I think it depends where you live in the UK though and your family there. I moved to Australia many years ago from a beautiful spot called Milford-on-Sea in Hampshire and was glad I could compare that with the Gold Coast. It seemed fair. We lived in Currumbin near the Currumbin Bird Sanctuary and having been around Oz I honestly think that Currumbin Beach, especially where the river estuary meets the ocean is one of the most beautiful spits in Oz. We went from there back to UK last year and had a magic harbour front unit with balcony at Paignton surrounded by utter beauty and views across the sands to Torquay. We absolutely loved the variety in the UK, loved catching up on the spur of the moment with family, being in London just before Christmas (magic - I felt like a child with excitement) and miss it like crazy. 11 months was not long enough. We had hardly touched the places we wanted to visit all over the UK and I have still never been to Ireland, nor did we get tine to get to the continent. So much to do, the people were so amazingly happy and friendly and the humour from complete strangers we bumped into had me in stitches. I have not laughed, smiled and been surrounded by so much love for 31 years. I am niw in a seafront unit at Cotton Tree near Maroochydore at Sunshine Coast, a place I didn't know of because my daughter lives here but other than her being around the corner I am bored out of my mind!

The poster is quite correct. In UK now they have changed it to 35 years so Australia has done the same. To get a full pension in the UK you need to have worked 35 years as it is worked out on your contributions unlike in Australia. People will also have different retirement ages depending on when they were born in both countries. I only get a UK part pension because of being married to a man who has worked in the UK for many years before emigrating to Australia. I did not have enough working life credits. I am therefore on a spouse pension. You can only purchase a few years UK tax credits and it was well worth my husband doing that and in fact, we received more back in back payment than we sent them both times he did it. The article posted is about Pensions - full stop. It is not about Disability Pensions which cuts out in 6 weeks of being out of australia. I am due to get my aged pension next April in Australia. I will have been resident since 1981 so I will be affected if I return for more than a year to live in the UK as I will only have been resident here for 34 years prior to retirement age. Any exit and return to Oz under a year is classed as a holiday.

Lived in UK for years and same amount of years in Brisbane and Gold Coast. Went back to UK for 11 months last year (loved it) and returned to Sunshine Coast on April 1st this year to be near my daughter and sons for 6 months. Now have to move to Tasmania when this lease is up as my closest friend from school days back in England has cancer. New start again. I cannot find any social groups to meet people in Launceston! Looked at Meet Up and done a lot of googling but other than sports or singles groups there is nothing! Here at Sunshine Coast we have so many on line groups on FB plus vey active Meet Up group. Where do I start?

You need to be a resident in Australia for a full year before your retirement age. If you return AFTER retirement age as you suggested, you have to be a resident for two years. Info from CES researcher on my behalf who thought the rules unfair!

It should have read 'more' places to rent that are furnished in Hobart. Much easier there.

We are moving to Tassie early October and are so confused about where to go! I really need to be within visiting distance of Lonnie as my friend is ill but not too keen on the area. We thought of Ulverstone or Burnie but it's a bit far for her to do return trip at the moment (chemo for multiple myeloma) but we'd both prefer to be in Hobart LOL. I have lived in SE Queensland for 32 years and am at Sunshine Coast at the moment which is new for me but near my daughter, having spent an absolutely wonderful 11 months renting a unit overlooking Paignton Harbour in Devon. We are so missing the beautiful weather there and I am drained here back in this heat. to make matters more complicated we need a furnished place as we now have stuff here and stuff stored in UK and there are mo places to rent in Hobart. Where is the happy medium?