Geordie girl

Hi everyone, I moved to England in December 2015 and brought my gorgeous dog - a toy poodle with us. We paid about $3000 to bring him with us. It looks like i'll be returning to Australia in May and can't imagine leaving him behind. We have looked at a couple of pet companies however we have been quoted over £4000 - WOW I know i shouldn't put a price on him but OMG that's almost 8k dollars which in total will be about 11k spent on jet setting him back too and fro. I appreciate that he will need to go into quarantine in Melbourne but t still seems so much. Has anyone transported their pet recently to Australia? and if so, who did you use and what was the cost please. Many thanks

Awwww bless. Moving anywhere is stressful, but moving overseas is worse. I dont know if to sell up and rent somewhere in order to ease the stress, or to just do it and hope all goes to plan. Thank you for your reply

Hi everyone, i wonder if I can pick your brains about something please. I am British, moved to Australia in 1988 then moved back to England in December 2015. I am possibly looking to move back to Australia next year but i am concerned about the sale of my house proceeding and everything going to plan. When you sell a house in Australia, you know the house settlement date early on therefore you can schedule the removalist etc, whereas here in England, there's no guarantee until the exchange of contracts and right up until then, the whole thing can fall through. So due to this - how can you progress and book the removalise company etc. i'd hate to think that my shipping container was packed, then the sale fell through!. So, if you have moved from England to Australia, what did you do, how did you manage this and how did you make it work? Thanks in advance

Hi dont be fooled when everyone says that they'll be there for you.........it sounded great while we were in Aus to come back to family and friends and everyone here said how much they miss us and how amazing it would be to be around again and how much everyone would help blah blah blah.........rubbish. All the job offers people said they had for us, was a lie, all the help everyone said they would give us was a lie and all the visits and catch ups they said we would have was a lie. My sisters live 15 and 20 minutes from me and i never see them unless i go to them. My daughters struggled to fit in at school and one dropped out - something which never would have happened if we stayed in Aus and she is now in college doing a nice course but resenting it as she's academically behind others her age. She missed out on school proms and amazing overseas trips and is often lost and lonely. Hubby found work fine and is settled there, whereas i have gone from 1 temp role to a part time one now to a full time one that i hate. The wages here are really poor and i earn less working full time than i did working part time in Aus. The cost of living is much higher here and the cost of everything is much more......especially fuel and food. I miss the large shopping centres wandering around browsing and having everything handy (yes things are actually in easier reach than here). Here i drive to a supermarket then have to drive somewhere else for clothes, then drive somewhere else for homewares etc......its a nightmare. The weather is seriously depressing and the days are dreary.....leaving home in the morning in the dark and returning home in the evening in the dark is soul destroying.......and we are seriously missing the sun and warmth (not the 40 degree days - just the general warmth) On the plus side, we are australian citizens and hoping to return to aus at christmas for a holiday - and fingers crossed back for good soon afterwards. We wont have the huge house we had, or the high salary but we will have family and true friends and the lifestyle and sun we so desperately miss and want back. Good luck - sorry if this sounds gloomy - it's just my honest opinion xx

Hi, well we lived in Australia for 28 years and moved back to the UK in December 2015 with our 2 teenage daughters. Like most our circumstances changed in Australia and we missed family in the UK so we sold our beautiful home, most of our belongings, pulled our children out of their private school and away from the only life they ever knew and regret it every day. It was by far the biggest mistake we have made in our lives. Sad thing is though, our gut always told us we were doing the wrong thing, however we looked through rose coloured glasses and thought it would be great. Don't get me wrong - this is just our story, others move back and settle - others like us don't. Good luck - is it possible for you to come to the UK for a long trip instead - you know like try before you buy?

After 28 years in Australia we moved back to England at the end of dec 2015.....so been back 18 months now and unhappier than ever. Nothing has gone right.....i dont even know where to begin. I miss everything about australia especially family and friends, and get so upset when i think about our beautiful house and furniture that we sold. I cant get over it and even my hubby today finally said that he was unhappy too. But with 2 teenage daughters to uproot again and a huge financial cost to consider and no jobs to return to.....im at a loss.

Hi we moved back to the UK in December after 28 years in Melbourne after hubby was made redundant from his job after being there for 25 years. I have been in your shoes when i lost my parents . .... its always hard being so far away BUT in reality i regret our moving back daily. i worked part time in melb and had a good wage now i work full time and still earn less.hubby earns 1/3 of what he did in Australia. i have 2 sisters here but honestly i have changed so much we have little in common now and its nothing like i thought it would be. we have 2 teenage daughters who have both struggled more than we thought.....one has even dropped out of school something that would never had happened in Australia where they were both very happy at a private school. we had built our dream home in Australia hich was stunning and now i have a small house that needs lots of tlc. everything is more than expensive than we thought and we miss so much......and things that i thought i missed initially in the UK mean nothing. in my opinion, try to stick it out and then come back to the UK for more holidays if possible....or if you are adamant about moving, maybe put your belongings in storage and take leave without pay from your work instead of leaving, at least you will have something to fall back on. good luck.....ps it took us 8 months to even make the decision we changed our minds constantly xx

Hi everyone, well last year was a really difficult year for us when my hubby lost his job after being there 25 years. Anyway we toiled with the idea of moving back to England for months then decided to do it. Our 2 teenage daughters were not so keen on the idea tho.......especially the oldest. Anyway we sold our beautiful home, sold most of our furniture, packed up the rest of our belongings, i left my job of 9 years and we said goodbye to family and friends and made the trip back to England.......however even though we did all of this it never "felt" right. Anyway, we have been back for 1 month and things have been HARD to say the least. We have managed to get our children into a great school but our oldest daughter just cries every day - omg this is heart breaking to watch because that's exactly what i did when i first moved to Australia. She hates the school and is struggling in every way We are struggling to find a house and realise now that our money isn't going to stretch as far as we thought. The weather is so cold and wet and miserable and i have had the flu, a cough and sore throat for the whole time i've been here.....as has one of my daughters. No-one seems to have any oomph to do anything and everyone just seems so content to plod on doing what they've done for ever. I know it sounds like i'm just whinging and moaning - but i'm not....i'm being honest and realistic. There's lots of good points too, the main being that my family here are great and have been so very helpful and people in general are more friendly and helpful......... I know its early days but i am SO worried about my daughter and the whole settling in thing in general. ANY words of wisdom would be great Thanks heaps Geordie Girl x

Hi all, well i wrote a post a few months ago about my situation when my hubby lost his job - but here it is again in brief.....and an update *English - living in Australia with English hubby for almost 28 years *2 Aussie teenage daughters *Hubby lost his job in March after being with the company for 25 years *Always wanted to move "Home" but things always got in the way. So we struggled with the whole losing of job experience for a few months then started on the "do we stay or do we go" situation. Finally we decided to move back to England (although not 100% convinced it was the right thing to do - but knew we were not happy here too).....anyway, we sold our house and have settlement in 4 weeks.........and now hubby doesnt think we should move which is making me re-think it all too. OMG what a dilemma?? We have organised a house to rent in england, looked at schools for our daughters, told my work i'm leaving (not resigned as such tho....yet), organised the pet and furniture removal and sold most of our big furniture items to the new owners of our house..................but also looking at rental properties here because we wont be able to buy and settle in time....aaaagggghhhhhh ANY help or suggestions would be great thanks. Thanks heaps

Hi I have just read your post and feel like im reading about me. My hubby lost his job in march and since then we have toiled with the idea of returning home....we have 2 daughters 14 and almost 16 and one is not happy about the move. Anyway EVERY day we change our mind for one reason or another. It;e really bringing me down and I cry almost daily because I feel like im stuck between a rock and a hard place. Im scared to move back because of the girls not settling but im scared to stay here and wait till they leave school incase they then say they wont return with us. They will be adults then and able to make their own minds up....and they know I wont ever move back without them. AAAGGGHHHHHH I am really confused. if we go back we will be moving up North as that is where we are originally from - and will be able to buy a house outright or have a very small mortgage which should be ok. Can you please tell me how your children were about the move and also offer me some info about house renting please as im not sure how to organise this before we leave. THanks again and I hope you all settle in soon

omg I felt like I was reading my own story ((almost)) We have been here 27 years and 2 months ago hubby was retrenched from the job he had been in for 25 years.....so we are considering moving back home too. Every time we have a bad day we say lets go, but when we have a good one we say lets not...lol our minds change more than the Melbourne weather. We have 2 daughters 13 and 15 which is REALLY hard. Hubby has some family here but more in England and all of my family are in England. My family are close whereas his isn't. One daughter wants to move and the other doesn't.......its been doing my head in trying to decide - so we finally decided last weekend to go....then this week hubby has had some job interviews which I know that if he is offered one - the turmoil will start again....BUT in saying that we haven't been happy here for many years - so I think we will still make the move.... OMG reading over my post here - it still sounds like im so confused haha. good luck - your children are young enough to adapt better, and it sounds like you will both get work easy due to your qualifications. wouldn't mind knowing what you decide x but in my opinion if your hubby isn't happy here by now - he never will be ((speaking from experience))

in the same situation at the moment......hoping to move back with 2 daughters aged 13 and 15 and trying to do it before September.....

Hi We are in the process of looking at moving back home with our 2 daughters aged 15 and 13 and have already asked lots of schools in our area about settling them in there. ALL of the schools have agreed to hold both of the girls back....why well - child #1 was held back here in grade 2 and due to her age (16 in Nov) she will be entering straight into exams in England so they will hold her back so that she has a full year to ease into it.....child #2 will actually jump a year due to her birthday - which means that technically both girls would be in the same year - so they will also hold her back to avoid this......I hope this makes sense. I never thought that uk schools would be so flexible but they were and we are very happy ..... just need to select the school now lol good luck

hi we have just had a quote for a 20ft container from Melbourne to England and the price was about $9000. hope this helps