bencrom81

Hello everyone I'm heading back to the UK in August and have booked my flight with Qatar. I can take on a 30kg case and was hoping I could take on another 30kg case but this will cost me $2300! So. Can anyone recommend a shipping firm that will take maybe a 30kg suitcase, maybe two, from Sydney back to UK. Also what kind of cost I'm looking at. Thanks so much!

thought id put my timeline up for Sydney folk Applied online - 1/12/15 Confirmation of Test - 8/12/15 Test - 7/1/16 - Passed Approval Letter - mid January Ceremony Invite - April 2016 Ceremony - May 2016 So 6 months from Submitting my application, to singing the anthem at the ceremony. This is east Sydney in Waverley council. I did note that the council chamber ceremonies were overbooked and they used bondi pavilion. maybe a frequent thing from now on as I can only imagine the numbers increasing. good luck to everyone, its a good feeling to pick up that passport!

yeah your post has some valid points and you sure wont die wondering! I think places become stale after 6 years maybe. ive done 7 in Sydney now and although I'm not a fan of this term, am a bit over it. Ive been ready to head back to the UK for a while now and am doing so with citizenship which makes the whole decision infinitely easier. I think its certainly healthy in your twenties to discover new places, cities, get out of your comfort zone.. but now I'm mid thirties I'm seeking more stability, family times etc.. plus the idea of discovering Europe is so exciting to me as you do take it for granted when you live there. well I did anyway, shame on me. if you don't think Sydney is built up, you are very much mistaken. the city is full to bursting now and will get worse in the coming years. the traffic is bad and more concentrated in the eastern subs. flights internally and internationally aren't cheap at all. holidaying in Australia almost isn't worth bothering with. I would've loved to go to Uluru before I leave but would rather save the money for a trip to the Amalfi when I'm back. sounds like you've had an interesting time so far, some admirable achievements for sure.

don't know why you posted then. good luck with the non committal holiday and committed move then!

nobody is judging you nor called you stupid or naive. on the defensive already. you are taking a big risk looking at the info you've given. you are getting honest answers from people who've experienced life here. i'd say committing to moving to a country on the other side of the planet with no first hand knowledge is taking things lightly.

dangerous approach this.. no matter where you are headed, when you get on a plane, you've got to take yourself with you! a lot of people come to Australia to 'escape' an old life when I reality, your issues follow you. sand and sun are great, but living somewhere is very different - commutes, bills, stress, traffic - theyre all here too..

evidently sausage supremo

fully agree with this. ive decided to head back to the UK from Sydney in September after ive fixed up my move and some bits with work after recently getting my citizenship. predictably my friendship groups are mainly poms (same sense of humour, footy etc) - and its a mix of anger (how dare you leave after ive invested so much time in you), jealousy (good luck in the rain, have you sorted a job out, you'll miss Sydney etc etc) and bewilderment in that they cannot fathom why someone would leave. it questions their own reasons for leaving as people are generally sheep and don't have their own opinions. Sydney has been great and I would advise anyone to give it a go. But how people can class a city of such expense and isolation as 'the best in the world' completely baffles me. Regardless, ever since my decision to leave, ive felt a surge of relief and excitement - as John says, I too was probably too proud to head home before I got my passport and placed beaches/sunshine over family and 'that' feeling of being at home, whatever you want to call it. oh, and its close to Europe which is really exciting as I definitely took that for granted when I was home.

know exactly how you feel Dan. Ive wanted to head home for a few years now (been here around 6.5) but the dangling carrot of PR and then citizenship kept me going, from house move, to job move, through winters, through good times and bad. I always saw it as the end of the journey. of course I wondered what home would be like - would things have changed to the point I no longer recognised friends, family or even my home. I have to say my citizenship ceremony was last month, 2 days before I flew back to UK/Europe - it reaffirmed that I couldn't spend any more time away from mates and family.. before we even connected in Dubai, me and the mrs agreed on the plane we would be back for end of uk summer. the passport is the icing on the cake, a reward for enduring some tough times down here and obviously an outlet/option later in life. but for now, I don't even have any doubts that its the right move. I'm actually excited for the next chapter at home, with a fresh set of eyes on the great bits about where I'm from at home. sure, ill miss the coffee and the beaches here, but 6.5 years has scratched that itch for me. best of luck in the future.

hahahhahahaha. oh I'm devastated, wont you give me another chance? you crack on.. you sound so happy, no idea why you're stalking moving back to UK boards and blocking people who don't share your views on Australia.

what on earth are you two waffling on about. johns on a moving back to the UK forum, of course there'll be an element of pro-UK in his posts. what do you expect? unless he's exposing some subconscious thoughts in your own heads about Australia.. I must be a hater too, yada yada

agree with john. ive been in Sydney for seven years, just had a trip back to UK/Spain for my brothers wedding.. me and the girlfriend decided on the plane back to Australia that we loved family/close friend time and just being in England too much to ignore. so handed my notice in on my job and apartment and now cannot wait to leave. visiting Tasmania (bucket lister) before I leave, but despite the citizenship, I cant see me returning for a few years. ill miss the sunny days, beaches and coffee sure, but not enough to make me stay. plus theres better in Europe.

massive congratulations annie. are you heading back to the UK? I'm glad mine is done with too.. weird feelings really, I was delighted when I opened the ceremony invite letter, although felt very little during and after the ceremony. maybe the passport arrival will be different. or maybe I'm just ready to get out of here!

Anti climatic is definitely the description. Had mine yesterday. Plastic chairs, skanky room, weird lifesize poster of the Queen with people having photos next to it (bizarre), the mayoress being 40 minutes late, sang the anthem which was belted out by TAPE on an 80's music system... no plants, no tim tams, no VB.. we got our certificates before we walked in the room. now I don't like a fuss so I couldn't care less as I needed to get back to the office, however it mustve been desperately disappointing to get friends/family from abroad or local to attend such a cheap showing.. oh well, last step of the journey.

think it sounds the best move for you. hopefully you feel better now you have a plan/date on the horizon. certainly helped me when I was in two minds about going home for good. go easy on yourself!

yeah fair enough, I understand. I may just risk it - I don't want unnecessary stress, but luckily for me I am a stupid as I look so I may be looked upon sympathetically.

I cant seem to find anywhere online to book this express passport facility. just seems a 2 day turnaround would be quickest but still may not be quick enough! given the nature of my local council, I wouldn't want to defer (waited for a long time!) and I also don't want to get in trouble with customs when I fly back. would I be on the citizens list if I attend a ceremony and don't have a passport, given I wouldn't have passport ID numbers etc? if anyone could give me some words of wisdom, I would be appreciative! ta

thanks so much for the response. can I make an appointment online to get this express passport? this is encouraging news

hello everyone. happy Anzac weekend.. question regarding citizenship which I will try to make as understandable as possible. so like many on here, I'm looking at heading home to the UK this year after a long bumpy road to citizenship. so my citizenship ceremony was finally granted late next month. between passing my test and now, my brother has arranged his wedding which means I fly out 3 days later than my ceremony. ideally, I would like to attend my ceremony, get my certificate, fly back to uk on my uk passport, then return and apply for my Australian passport when I'm back. is this possible? hope this was clearly worded, I do tend to waffle.

unless you are abby and Brittany Hensel, then yes. what do you think?!!!

hey mate. literally got it (in the post) earlier this week. I'm in bondi so Waverley council have had to start using extra venues to fit everyone into the alleged 6 month time limit. quite happy with 5 months as the locals who'd recently been through the process were telling me 7-8 months. its a Tuesday afternoon ceremony but ill be happy to not go back in work and drain a few beers in bondi, just hope the sun comes out!

thats a contrast. i quite like the character of newtown, enmore, balmain.. interesting places.. the eastern subs, blessed with lovely beaches, houses hordes of materialistic, rude and egotistical idiots, all in lululemon outfits.. i don't know why its such a melting pot of them.. maybe I've been here too long now and need a change of scenery.

get my passport in a month then back for the UK summer. cheerio.

My Citizienship Timeline: Applied: 2/12/15 Sat Test: 8/1/16 Approval Letter: 15/1/16 Ceremony Date: May 16 5 months from passing test to the ceremony date, however it did note that extra ceremonies were taking place due to amount of applicants. good luck everyone.

I'd be absolutely flabbergasted if they didn't AJ.