Michelle LC

No one is crazy returning home to GREAT Britain, yes GREAT because that's what it is, we had been living in QLD and gave it a good two years seeing many states whilst being there but believe me ..... Many a tear has flowed down my cheek at the sheer beauty of our country, where ever you live is not far from anywhere, I'm from the midlands but since being home if we fancy we just get in the car and nip to York for the day or Bristol or London, in fact we 're nipping all over the place. And soaking up life here again, having been blessed with a beautiful summer and watching them playing cricket until nearly 10 pm here in GREAT Britain, yes 10 pm, lol, it's magic, and having banter with friends on picnics and country walks not having to apply deet, lol, cracking jokes, belly roll laughs, the list is endless, having felt like I'd been in a coma for two years but now I'm back, we 're back. The whole family, me hubby and our two girls aged 20 and 17 all together. It took no time at all to get work again, there is always work for those who want it, our tenants looked after our home perfectly, our youngest is doing her 'A' levels now, alls good, alls perfect, life is ace :-)

Been back 3 months after living in Brisbane for two years, have absolutely no regrets on returning home, and don't think I ever will. I have my life back now and I can't stop smiling. To all those reading this who haven't gone to Oz yet but are planning to go and give it a try, do not sell your uk home, rent it out, do not take your furniture buy it on e bay, and importantly do not jeopardise your childs education, I.b. schools are the way to go, because if and when you return home nothing is lost.

I'm here until Mar 2015 but when I do eventually leave I know there will be things I will miss ...... the sunshine, the wonderful free bbq's, the public toilets and showers, some beaches, whales, turtles, lorikeets, in fact all the nature (but not the crows) Southbank in Brisbane, and some other lovely places I have visited, Manly in Sydney, Fitzroy Park Melbourne, and some parts of Tasmania.

We are staying until our 457 visa ends in Mar 2015, the only reason we are staying is so that our youngest daughter can finish school here, we made her leave her friends and her school in the UK so we owe her that, the company are sponsoring us for PR, which we are going for now as we now lose the live away allowance, the rental property we are in is $490 per wk and isnt that good. Oz is not what we expected, the programme Wanted down under has a lot to answer for, I feel awful for being so critical when folk returned, I will be more sympathetic from now on, no one can comment unless they are actually here. My hubby is on a decent wage too, which I mentioned on a few other threads, so we will be returning having been here 4 years, only done 14 months so far :dull:

We are also on a 457 visa, we live in Brisbane, about 15 mins drive from the airport, our youngest daughter is doing an international baccalaureate program at a brilliant school in Brisbane we left UK last year when she was about to do her GCSE's so we were concerned about that but now she will have recognised qualifications worldwide. We left our eldest daughter finishing her A levels in UK, and then she came out for a gap year here and nothing lost there she has her A levels.

Just knowing that we all agree we are going back home at the end of our visa in Mar 2015 is music to my ears :biggrin:, there is no place like home :wink:

I don't know why I am here either, its so hard, missing friends that really know you, missing the UK etc etc, I have been here over a year now and to be honest I am counting the days when I can go home. Some people on threads describe it as being in a coma, and I can so relate to this. I feel like the move here is making me ill, I am trying to be positive, honestly

Thanks Joanne for your private message, I replied underneath but then could not find out how to send it, how bad am I, my hair is a mess, I had booked in at a city salon, am gonna have to wait as they are busy so have to wait two weeks, feel bad at cancelling, but may try and get in at yours and then cancel if I can. Cheers :biggrin: got to go, or nothing will get down, gonna go on bbc iplayer and listen to Fearne Cotton, thank god my girls showed me how to do this

Thanks for your reply, so its your birth place, I did not mean to offend anyone, just that I have been used to super public transport in the UK and now I ferry the family around cos public transport here is not that good. I miss my Irish friends. I miss the accent, a few months ago a young Irish girl came to the door selling veg etc, I kept her at the door talking for ages, I just wanted to hear her accent, if she hadn't been working I would of asked her if she fancied a spot of lunch. I am going to see if my kids can help me later on this as I am doing everything out in the open, I am useless at stuff on the computer, my kids do bidding on e bay for me I am that bad. Anyway, I feel I am getting hooked on this, my ma in law is coming, I have Coles to go to and beds to make, etc etc. I would be interested if anyone out there originally from the Uk, coming over here then going back again, has anyone returned again ?

Thanks BrisDubBris, I am not at all good on the computer, I tried to add a pic yesterday but failed, as I don't know how to do it, my hubby and kids help me when they can hubby set me up on this site, my kids laugh at my google searches, I am 46, never went to Uni, been a carer in the UK, no qualifications, thankfully the girls take after their dad. Can I ask you though, cos obviously you can tell that I am not fully in love with OZ, you went back to Dublin ? then came back ? so does this mean I will fall in love with the place, maybe ?

Thanks BrisDubBris, I am not at all good on the computer, I tried to add a pic yesterday but failed, as I don't know how to do it, my hubby and kids help me when they can hubby set me up on this site, my kids laugh at my google searches, I am 46, never went to Uni, been a carer in the UK, no qualifications, thankfully the girls take after their dad. Can I ask you though, cos obviously you can tell that I am not fully in love with OZ, you went back to Dublin ? then came back ? so does this mean I will fall in love with the place, maybe ?

Hi Vikkey Lafha, is live away from home allowance, we get it now but it ends shortly, we are on a 457, and I believe they are getting rid of it, they have been paying half the rent, but I know its changing Vikkey, my hubby has just got a wage rise so nothing alters for us, thank god, its been a help. Since being on this forum I have been surprised, I honestly thought I would of seen folk on here earning more or less the same as us, infact I know where my hubby works that folk are on a lot more than that, my hubby works hard and sometimes jokes when at a public bbq some asks him ..... so what do you do for a living ..... his reply ..... I do the work of 4 queenslanders, lol, no joke, he works hard and although he said it tongue in cheek in our opinion British folk do well here cos we work hard. As I mentioned earlier we have had our medicals for PR and are being sponsored, so we are lucky, I am beginning to enjoy it now cos I keep saying to myself .... its only three more years until I go home, so thats what is keeping me sane. In the meantime I am busy with family, school and work drop offs our dog, housework etc, we get to do things every weekend, my ma in law is on her way and I am all set to have a good laugh now, I have cried some tears over the last year, the tears have now stopped, so am going to make the most of what we can get out of queensland, hopefully not ross river, lol, school is great, infact one of the best, we haver our own T3 lane, brilliant as its empty in the morn I have had the benefits of travelling to various places when my hubby has been working in Sydney, Melbourne, and Tasmania, I will get to see most or all of it before we return home. Sydney and Melbourne are great places, Tas is quite English and we have mates who live there. If we do stay then when our daughter finishes school its either Sydney or Melbourne we move to. Driving here has been weird, all of us did the drive to Sydney from Brisbane in one go only stopping for loo, sandwich, in the UK we would never of driven to Scotland without an overnight stop, it makes you think of distance as nothing. Oh and just to let you know the internet here is a bit crap, its sooooo slow sometimes, we miss broadband. I will be busy with ma in law soon so prob wont be on much, but am loving the threads, oh and when I am not spending money on extremely expensive lipsalve :wink: we are saving for our daughters university fees, x 2 daughters, one starting shortly. take care Vikkey (my hair has never looked so crap, I went to a chain called Stephan, the girl started to back comb my hair:eek: so if any of you Brisbane folk out there can advise me on a decent hairdresser, I would be very grateful :biggrin:

:biglaugh: quite the inspector clueso there freckle, wonder what bought you to that conclusion, lol, they will have to get you on the Robina shooting case, maybe you would catch the culprit ...... I'll give you some help there ....... he is an islander, muscular, with a neck tattoo ...... not many of those around hey ! :biglaugh: what do I have to do to get platinum status, I should be promoted, after all, we earn mega bucks :tongue:

Hi Vikkey I am speaking to you, no one else ....... Imagine one of your best mates sitting in your lounge with you having a cuppa and a catch up, now this friend of yours you trust with your kids, your hubby, infact your life, you have been friends for years and you know that she would give you her honest opinion whether it was something small like .... did a particular dress suit you or ..... should you take a loan out to get UPVC windows fitted, infact you know this friend would tell you the truth no matter what, even if you did not want to hear it she would tell you because it was the right thing to do. Well, imagine I am that person, I have friends in the UK like the one I am trying to paint a picture for you, I am also that person to friends I have in the UK. If I can save someone from making the biggest mistake of their lives then I will try. Firstly let me paint a picture of myself without giving too much away, I have been married for nearly 24 years, we have two wonderful daughters who we both adore and want the very best for them, when I left the UK I was a carer for the elderly, I loved my job so much. I am in no way a materialistic person, I have a very small wardrobe, I do not even own an expensive handbag nor do I want to, I am practical, I love my bum bag even though my girls think I shouldn't use one, it contains car key, tissues, dog poo bags, loose change, lipsalve and chewing gum. I have my hair cut every 7 weeks, I dye my own hair to save cash. I am the driver of the family so I hardly drink, I do not smoke, and I do not own a fancy car, I make a picnic when we go out to theme parks because I do not want to get ripped off and because its more healthy, we love walks (me and the hubby as sadly kids don't come now understandly) We have a lot of visitors coming over to see us from the UK this year, already we have had my father for 10 weeks and now my ma in law is coming in a few days so I may not be on this Poms in Oz site much as I will be busy doing the sights yet again, I will be putting on my rose tinted glasses for her arrival as I did for my father, you have to as they are coming over for a holiday and of course we will give them a holiday to remember, being positive and keeping the rose tinted glasses on throughout their stay. When all visitors have gone then I am going so find work, something small. In the meantime we are living off my hubby's wage which is over $150,000. Vikkey, please do not be fooled, and look at some of these folk who have commented on this thread, the man from melbourne who is also taking home the same wage, his post is so so true, you will see others who have lived in Oz for years who have made it but anyone coming now will find it dam hard. I hope you do the right thing, as I said I am writing to you now not bothering with folk who are prepared to lie to you. Take care Vikkey, from Michelle

I completely agree about Tasmania (Launceston excepting) I've visited Hobart and Launceston with my husband who spends a lot of time there with work, and we do have good (ex pat) friends there. Hobart is just a marvellous place and the people are really nice too. Saying that even Tasmanians start conversations with a discussion of the value of their property from time-to-time and the prices in Salamanca market are hideous. If this lady was planning a move to Tasmania and she had plenty of money to get on her feet I would be more positive but there are very few jobs in Tazzie and even less with the Greens running / ruining your economy. and be serious even in Hobart what sort of place are they going to get on $80k with 4 kids and a pool you can use three times a year?

You came here at the right time mate these people are planning to come now.

I am really very sorry but if your combined income is $70k you will find it almost impossible to live, save and go on holiday. The only thing I can say is that wages are a lot higher here so you may have a higher combined income than you think. This is a very expensive country. Also it is possible that you will have to work so long and hard that you will end up not really having friends and you will feel lonely. In terms of the kids, Australia is a very dangerous place to bring kids up they have three major outcomes over here (a) Bogan (sort of chav but much worse); (b) consumerist / narcissist with a massive sense of entitlement or; © right wing Christian. Clearly there are loads of lovely people too but the society is very different, do not underestimate this. $170k will allow you to have a reasonable break even lifestyle near any major city. Do more research and make a proper budget. There will be loads of things you don't expect to pay for that you will have to pay a lot for (for instance depending on your visa you may have to pay for state education); every trip to the GP is $80 ($35 refund from Medicare) and things you expect to pay for that you will not need to for instance if you are renting you don't pay rates. I would guess that in WA for a house (4 kids) with pool near work would set you back $700-$800 per week; travel will be expensive everything is a long way away and your weekly food bill will amount to $400(ish), in WA you will be paying about $200-$300 per month electricity and you will have to maintain the house (every three to six months sprayed for insects and spiders) and every six months have your pool serviced. Public transport is expensive as are school fees, clothes, ice cream, beer, and anything that involves labour. Minimum wage is $21/hr and on public holidays restaurants charge two or three times as much because of labour rates. Ex pats will be your best bet for mates. People are not straight with you nothing anyone says turns out be true over here, I'm not saying they lie I'm saying that they are almost always wrong and if you hear 'no worries' you better start worrying because the tradie, rental agent, visa agent, employer, telephone sales man, etc will not be worrying. Finally most Australians are superficial and will judge you by your job, how many houses you own, what you look like physically and your car and boat. Australia is nothing like we thought it would be. If you come do not burn your bridges back in England!

Hi Vikkey Just to give you some help on you're decision my hubby myself and our two girls (teenagers) came to Brisbane a year ago, we still have our home in the UK and rent it out, we pay a lot more in rent here, in our opinion if you are going to earn less than $170,000 then its not worth it, its an expensive country to live in and you won't get that 'lifestyle' change that everyone talks about, yes you get decent weather and yes the mangoes are juicy but I fail to see the attraction. No matter what anyone tells you, you will have to do it for yourself, fortunately our youngest daughter is in an I.B. school doing recognised qualifications so we have not lost out with this move, so even if we do go back when she finishes then we have not lost out education wise. Our eldest already did 'A' levels before we came, yes she walked into a job within weeks and has had the benefit of earning a decent wage in her gap year before she returns to Uni. I cannot see myself retiring out here, I moved at 45 so its harder when you're an 'oldie' but hey even if we go back in a few years we can say we did it, and if we get PR in the process then we can return if we made a mistake. Australians are straight talking people, you will come over being all polite and British, lol. Yes I have met some lovely folk and some funny folk but then again that happens everywhere. We also bought our dog over and in some ways I feel it was a bad decision cos you have to have them on a lead unless in a fenced dog park, some beaches you can go on but its all limited, Australians love their rules !! I hope this helps you, you have 4 children, we only have the 2, you need plenty of cash in this country. Also you will miss the pub, pubs are not the same here, you will miss light nights, Brisbane has no daylight saving so I don't know if you have it, you will miss British humour, get UK tv if you come here. I could go on, sorry, I am just trying to help. If I could rewind the clock I would not have come, but we did, so am going to make the best of the time here, I may change my mind, but I doubt it. Take care

Me and my hubby are so so happy for you, we said a prayer and it looks like its worked, we will continue to pray for you, hopefully she will like it, be prepared though, it can take time to adjust, some its straight away others it is gradual. If when your wife arrives she needs to chat or talk to someone then message me through poms in oz and I will be more than happy to help, if I can. Cheers, Michelle

Hi Steve We came to Oz in April when our youngest daughter was half way through her GCSE's, it was always a concern of ours but we got her into a decent state school (not private) as she did not attend a private school back in the UK but still a decent state school. We were then living on the Gold Coast and whilst we were reasonable happy with the state school she was attending there came an opportunity for her to apply for Queensland Academy for Creative Industries doing an international baccalaureate program and studying 'film', she sat a test and did a presentation and was successful in getting into the school, I would go as far as saying this school is better than any private school back in the UK, she is re doing year 10 but then that's fine cos she will leave school at the same time her UK friends leave sixth form, and still with recognised qualifications. I don't know where you are in Oz or if there are any schools around you like this one, but if you get time maybe you could research this if it is a major concern your wife has. I really hope you get things sorted, its a big thing moving to Oz, we are in our mid forties, with kids nearly 16 and 19, so making friends is much harder when you don't walk your kids into the playground any more. If you have a little one too it will be easier for your wife to make friends, and having skype helps to stay in touch with family and friends back home. Without wanting to sound religious in any way, will offer a prayer up for you, stay positive. Michelle

You are in the wrong place, try and get an employer on the Eastern side (Brisbane) to take over your 457, everything is perfectly fine here - we started in the Gold Coast and that was very expensive and people were not nice (except those at our church) we moved to Brisbane a month ago and everything is cheaper, the river and the beaches are gorgeous and we are actually getting our lives back. We still have less than in the UK but we need less. My husband was on really good money in the UK and he is doing reasonably well over here too and despite having roughly the same income in Oz as in the UK it IS more of a struggle here. I have no idea why your lad can't find work, our 18-year-old daughter came to us after finishing her A-levels she had a job in a week and a month or so later got a really good job earning more than most grown men in the UK! Perhaps things are just more human in QLD. Go back if you have to but at least try to get work in Brizvegas before you do. Keep us posted. You are right about the sausages they are crap, and the bacon is not the same. We have been here for 8 months now and it still takes getting used to being in another country. When we arrived I missed light nights, not being able to let our dog off his lead unless in very small off lead areas, a nice drink in a good old english pub, old brick buildings because when we arrived we were (dare I say it) on the Gold Coast, moving to Brisbane has been the best thing we did and whilst I am not fully in love with Oz it is getting better

With respect to furniture you really have two options, assuming you don't have much you could share a container - this has a down side as you will have to wait for the container to fill up before it's shipped, etc. The better option is to sell in the UK and shop around in Brizzy, we bought a lot of stuff from Tender Disposals in Logan (there is one in the city as well) also KMart is really inexpensive for cheap garden furniture, bed clothes and kitchen stuff. I guess though that if you have family here already they will be able to give you better advice. Enjoy...