Huggy75

Oh wow, I'm thinking it's quite reasonable given the special box for the piano and the fact that they will store the stuff until we're ready at a much cheaper rate than we're doing now! Just don't really have the time for getting too many quotes and at today's exchange rate, it works out about the same as we paid 6 years ago to move out here.

Hi - had a quote for a 20ft sole use container including wooden box for piano, together with cost for company to take my belongings which are currently in storage and to store them for us until time to leave. Comes in at $9377 and $16.50 per week to store belongings (we are currently paying $150 per week to store). Any thoughts? Does this seem reasonable? Going Brisbane to West Yorkshire, UK by the way. Thanks in advance xx

For a guide on timelines, I am currently doing the same thing - we applied last October, got test/interview in December and have been given a tentative date of 30th April for the ceremony but we still can't make firm plans until we get the actual letter. We will then apply for the passports the day after the ceremony on the 5 day application and then book flights last minute, luckily shipping company only need two weeks notice too. As someone else said, the UK isn't going anywhere and if you plan to spend the rest of your life there then there's no real rush, better to do things properly than face problems later on xx

1 - probably true until we had our little one and now we juggle childcare between shifts so only get a family day off together every two weeks! 2 - looking back our standard of living was better in the UK - probably because we tried to "live the dream" and built a big house in the country which no one came to visit and subsequently spent lots of money on petrol to get anywhere. 3 - had to go part time to fit in said childcare with hubby, however, I work three days a week in Aus now but will be doing the same amount of hours but over two days back in the UK. Hence we are moving back to the UK in May/June. I have no regrets and am grateful for the experiences we have had.

You've hit the nail on the head, I just feel like I want to be settled in my life now, i.e. decent job, house, spend time with family, get finances sorted for the future etc., etc., instead of the uncertainty of where we will live next, whether we can afford to get back on the property ladder and spending my days off work isolated in an airconditioned apartment because it's too damn hot to go outside!

Sorry to read about your troubles, makes my worries seem insignificant really. Stick at it and you'll soon be happy again, think about the positive goals you'll be looking to achieve i.e. new job, new house, next Christmas with the family :-) Big hugs xx

Thanks for the replies. Think I was just having a wobble during the Christmas period. I'm much more focussed now and ready to get on with the move

Definitely worth a try Us6. I applied whilst on holiday in the UK back in November just for the interview experience really and got the job. They're holding it for me until I can get back in March/April. I'm in the process of re-registering with the NMC too. On the payscale issue, surely they would give consideration to the amount of years worked in Australia just like Australian employers do?

So, December started well (I was still on holidays in the UK) and upon our return I was geared up for getting on and sorting everything for our permenant move back in March/April. I was fed up of the speculation at work with people asking if I'm moving back or not (just because I'd been on holidays!), so I informed my boss that I would be leaving around that time. I felt much more at ease with this decision and now have something to aim for. Then Christmas and New Year came and I just felt like I was in limbo - not able to start booking anything firm yet as we are still waiting for our Citizenship ceremony before we go. So then the whole head full of 'what if's' came into play and I now keep questioning my decisions. I have no doubt really that the UK is where I now want to be but my indecision seems to be around my 16 month old Son's future. I found myself telling my husband yesterday that it will be hard to take him away from Childcare where he goes twice a week and seems to absolutely love it, but then why would it be hard? He will know no different and I already have him lined up with a lovely lady who does Family Day Care back home with whom his cousins already go to. I'm sure it's normal to have lots of mixed emotions after making these decisions but I seem to be experiencing a sense of guilt too. Will these feelings go away once I start making firm plans, I wonder?

We're doing the same. I had my test last week and hubby has his tomorrow, the guy at the office said we were looking at maybe getting our ceremony in March, so once we have that date we'll be able to book our flights home (i.e. UK). My SIL was the same "why bother if you're not intending to go back", but our Son is 15 months old and who knows when he's older if he wants to move here with a family of his own.

It is just as bad and getting worse. Staff leaving and not being replaced etc, etc. As a patient in the public system in Australia, I have waited 16 months just to get an eye test at my local hospital.

Us too - hoping to get back by Easter next year

Our PR Visa expired in September 2013, we have just been to UK this last month and applied for the RRV's in October before we flew out. Pretty simple process, did it online and got it granted there and then.

I returned to work in July after being on maternity leave and now having a medical condition to contend with, I have been/am being bullied by my Manager. He says he is thinking of my health and wants me to leave so I can look after my Son full-time. I'm currently standing my ground and have the full backing of my Union but this too has gotten me down over the last couple of months to the point where I was about to give up, however, I've recently been offered my old job back in the UK and they're holding it open for me so my confidence has been boosted and I intend to stick it out through the bullying to increase my money pot for getting back to the UK as soon as we can. I agree with the posts re making friends also, and with everything that we've been through over the past couple of years, we also can no longer trust anyone in Oz except for my one and only friend (who happens to be British). Good luck with everything, if you wish to chat then PM me too :-)

There is a section on the website with an online form to fill in. I had a response within a day or two - just waiting for the application pack to arrive!

I guess it depends on what area of work you do but I'm currently in the UK on holidays and before I left saw an advert at my old workplace so decided to apply mostly for the interview experience and to put it out there about my intended return. Anyway, I've been offered my old job and able to choose my hours and their holding the job for me until we can get back! So as soon as we get back to Oz it will be all hands on deck to get the ball rolling :-)

I know this isn't helpful as you are moving back this week but when I applied for both my Son's UK and Australian passports (from Australia), the UK passport came back in 10 days, the Australian one took 6 weeks Anyway good luck with the move and you're not alone in feeling jittery

Great news Northern Bird Good luck with all the planning, I'll be right there with you - we're hoping to get back by June/July too.

We are planning to go back by June 2015. All dependent on jobs, my old employer is currently doing a recruitment drive with interviews in November (when I'm there on holiday!), so if I get one, we'll pack up and go sooner - although we still need to do Citizenship first, aaarrrggh! Anyway, we will be returning to West Yorkshire where we will only be minutes away from family and friends :-)

Oooh, didn't realise citizenship would take so long, am I able to start the process now then complete when we come back from holidays? Wasn't sure if we had to stay the full time in Aus for the application process. We would like to move back by Easter as that would make a full 6 years from arriving here, however, if we have to stay a bit longer then so be it, just gives us more time to save money etc., although I definitely want to be back by Christmas 2015 (can't stand the thought of too many more hot, sticky and "lonely" Christmases).

Thanks Lady Rainicorn, yes we are definitely getting citizenship sorted after our holiday. Our Son will be an only one (not able to have any more) and I sense that he may well want to come and test out his birth country at some point down the track - my Sister did the same thing (she was born in Aus, I however was born in England, so I'm basically following in my parents footsteps, lol!). We also need to look into the medical side of things as I now have a chronic rare condition which, if my body doesn't ever recover from could mean I may not live past my Son's teenage years. However, I don't want to be held back in Aus because of that as I confidently feel that I will be looked after under the NHS system (I need monitoring, scans and blood tests every now and then) - I'm also a Nurse so I have to have confidence :-) It's also so hard being away from family when you have any kind of illness. Thanks for the heads up on the MBTTUK group, I shall try to join right now :-) xx

Hi - I know it's a while since the last post on here but I'm so glad I stumbled across it as reading all your posts has put me somewhat at ease with our decision to return to the UK. This is my story in brief:- My husband & I moved to Aus in 2009 (after coming on holidays 5 times prior). Our lives in the UK felt like we'd hit a rut and we were just working flat out to pay the mortgage and bills with very little in the way of a social life. I remember, however, having a few wobbles before we left and I felt like I wanted someone to just say "please don't go" but of course they never did and the house had sold and the furniture was on its way so I had to just get on with it. Anyway, 10 months down the line and my Husband hadn't secured a job and his Father fell ill and died so we found ourselves making a dash back to the UK for the funeral. We came back to Aus, Husband found a job and we decided to get on with things and start putting down some roots. We therefore built a family home in the country with enough space for potential kids and enough spare rooms for family and friends to visit (of course, they never have). In 2012 we felt our lives were settled and decided to try for kids as we were both hitting our late 30's and I quickly became pregnant. About half way through my pregnancy I became really homesick and confessed to my husband that I wanted to go home - he said it was just my hormones but that if I felt the same way after the baby was born then we would look into it further. After the birth of my Son, I was very ill and spent the first 6 weeks of his life in hospital so that was very unexpected and we both quickly realised that not having close family here made it even harder. It was also starting to get harder to live in the dream house in the country as the cost of petrol rose (we weren't able to walk anywhere, our nearest shop was 20 mins drive away with no public transport) and again my husband was working just to keep us paying the mortgage and bills. We also seem to have very little time as a family, we both do shift work and although our Son goes to Childcare twice a week, I have to make up my hours on my husband's days off, we're lucky to get one day per fortnight as a family. So at the beginning of this year we decided to sell the dream home and move back nearer the City in a rental until we decided properly about where we wanted to live. We are much happier people now that we don't have the stress of a mortgage and we have money in the bank. But we still feel like we need to be closer to our families, my Son also now has cousins his own age back there and I always get that twinge of sadness when birthdays and Christmas come around knowing that my Son only has his parents to share them with. My Sister lives in Aus with her two children but we see as much of them as we did living back in the UK. I have also made one close friend (we met at Antenatal class) who is also a Brit and who I would miss dearly if we went back but she too talks about maybe making the move back one day. We have more or less made that final decision to go back but we are going for a holiday in 5 weeks time just to make sure or at least to do some research into jobs, houses etc., but the more I think about going back the more I am comfortable with the decision. Like my husband keeps saying if anyone asks why we came back at least we can say we tried it. As I hit my 40's I feel like its time to settle down and start planning for my older years (funnily enough I always said I didn't want to grow old over here and I never transferred my pensions for that reason). Of course I'll miss the nice weather and even some of the activities that we get up to but all in all I think we will be much happier as a family blended within our own families again. I'm sorry that my brief story turned a little long and if you read my post I thank you for taking the time to do so. I look forward to reading about everyone else's journeys again and am hoping that it will make mine a little less daunting too. Thanks :-)