Booma

we live a bit further down the coast. the whole area is beautiful & wonderful for families. theres lots of expats in the area as well but i dont see many posting on here. everyone in the area is so helpful & if you join in community activities it helps you get settled & make friends & contacts for work. most people seem to start out with casual jobs but get permanent jobs after a while.

some things that surprised me is: how family orientated things are. that pubs arent central to socialising & a lot of people never go at all. how well travelled people are. especially when the people live in small villages. that really surprised me for some reason. how cold it can get in winter in some places & that you can go skiing here. how green some of the countryside is away from the tropical areas.

i got bitten by a white tail in the garden. it burned for a while but thats all. my ozzie hubby told me it was ok but i made him catch it & took it to the hospital so they could identify it but they told me the white tail doesnt deserve its deadly reputation. here is a link to some information to put your mind at rest http://australianmuseum.net.au/white-tailed-spider there are some deadly spiders but they arent running around chasing you or anything. you have to be unlucky or do silly things to have any problems.

perhaps you should try to get a job before you move back so you dont burn bridges & find yourself in a trickier position than you are now. unemployment rates in perth at the end of feb look a lot better than a lot of the uk especially the area you want to go to.

my mother wants my father to leave as well. he keeps hoping if people complain enough it will get better but he always sounds so down when i talk to him these days. he fells like he owes it to people to keep going but my mother thinks he should look after himself.

my father is a doctor & he thinks the nhs is in serious trouble & lots of british doctors & nurses are leaving or talking about trying to leave due to the strain they are under trying to give good care when everything is being cut back & treatments for people arent as good as the could be & should be. not sure why anyone would want to pretend everything is fine when doctors & nurses keep saying its a mess & getting worse every day. people should be complaining so something can be done before its to late.

no you arent crazy. ive meet loads of happy migrants in oz who never visited before they moved.

congratulations on the safe arrival of your little angel. she is beautiful.

that a uninformed thing to say. the nhs disagrees & provides recommendation for protecting children. http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/safety-in-the-sun.aspx

putting it on hold is a good idea. i wasnt in uk long before i knew i wanted to move back to oz but i didnt know you could put the insurance on hold when i left & had to do another waiting period when i came back to oz.

the first time i lived in oz i didnt make any friends but this second time im living in the same village i was the first time but ive made a handful of brilliant friends & im expanding that group as time goes on. the only difference is my attitude. i feel blessed people gave me a second chance when they saw i was back. i cringe to think of the things i said when i was here before. always complaining things not as good when really they are just different & better a lot of the time. i didnt leave anyone with a very good impression of british people back then. as migrants we should look to ourselves before blaming other people if we cant make any friends.

my hubby reckons the only reason the top 5 countries are in the top 5 is cause moaning brits dont move there. he better only be joking :mad:

:eek: wow never had any problems myself. you either have bad luck or you dont pick good people.

i forgot to mention jenolan caves. my hubby always recommends visiting to anyone who comes to see us & nobody has been disappointed. you can do day trips from sydney but your wife might like to go with you to this. its interesting for all the family. http://www.jenolancaves.org.au

there is a lot for tourists to do in sydney. you need to get out & about more.

our school takes students your daughters age to sydney & one of the things the kids think is brilliant is vaucluse house. it is a living museum of pioneering life in a upperclass home & is inexpensive to visit. http://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/vaucluse-house/visit the powerhouse museum already mention is also a favourite with the kids. the zoo at taronga is excellent & so is the aquarium.

those places look brilliant. it will take more than one life time to see all oz has to offer.

feel better now?

i am east asian & find oz is very welcoming even though i dont live in a big city. people dont seem to care where you come from as long as you are a good person. the only person i got problems off was one british person & one aboriginal person but they were mean to everyone. one thing to keep in mind is ozzies do sometimes use words british people think are offensive but you must remember you are living in oz & just cause something is bad in other countries doesnt mean its bad here. taking offence if none is intended will make you unhappy & stop you from making friends with good people. i am lucky to be married to ozzie so i check with him each time i heard a word that shocked me & so far none have been used to cause offence here. they even call some police cars paddy wagons which shocked me very much when i first heard it. italian & greek people call each other wogs and coon cheese got its name from the man who made it so you see not everything is as it seems at first.

it depend what you think of as sydney as well. my hubbys nephew is in penrith area & manages on just over $65ish before tax with a young family. they are ozzies so get family payments of the govt as well but even so they bought a fab house in a nice area. they manage well but dont live extravagant.

i saw a bbc documentary that said they gave missiles & other support. the doco interviewed people connected to arranging the help who said the assistance provided more or less saved the day.

a lot of what you say depends on where you moved from & where you moved to. you lived in sydney i think & that is nothing like where i live. so much depends on where you pick to settle.

yes you should do this. did you know you could of got to go swimming with baby turtles near 1770 at lady musgrove island. what a shame if you didnt know about it.

after teaching in both countries i dont think she would be behind either. parents in the uk are conditioned to think constant testing is a good thing & dont always see the value of teachings kids to think instead of to pass exams.

when i was on my whv i worked on hamilton island there doing housekeeping & it was fab. so beautiful & so fun with so many things to do & see. you can pick up lifts on peoples boats to other resorts & uninhabited islands for a day real easy. best time ever & bet your enjoying it.