Johnny

Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions so far, it is good for thought and great comfort that people understand.

From what I have seen with folk who have taken counselling and mediation etc, unless both parties really want it to work, it usually has little success and often just prolongs the inevitable.

If you are happy and the kids are happy, then that's all you need, so stay here

Once you set foot on aussie soil again, you cant leave with them apparently - so be strong and stick to your guns.

Do what your gut feeling tells you to do.

I know what you mean about feeling complete again after being home....that "me" feeling. We too felt it the minute our plane landed at Heathrow.

Groundhog day in the suburbs of Oz again.....I would not wish that on anyone.

Stay in UK if you love it !! Its great here !!

Thanks :-) I will have a read this morning. Our house is now on the market so until that sells its a waiting game! We are now moving back in January. My wifes job will hold out until then and it will give us an extra few months to sort things out.

 

Cheers

Superb sounds like well planned exit. Hope it all goes well for you all. It will feel great to be home again !

I don't think so either Jock, but I do agree with Voyager11 that there are posters whose lives in Australia are apparently peachy but who can't resist the urge to knock those who are hoping to return home to the UK. Fortunately, as Bristolman says, there's not as many of them on here nowadays as there once was, but there's a few. I've no idea what motivates them to do it. Maybe they think that we need to be shown the error of our ways or that we deserve slapping down for having the temerity to prefer the UK over Australia?

I think its a case of "the truth hurts".

When you get a supposedly "settled, happy and loving it" pom lashing out angrily, then you have really touched a nerve or "hit a sore spot" with them.

Yet ask yourself why are they obsessively lurking around a forum for those who are moving back or have moved back sharing common feelings and past/present experiences. Its like they are on some sort of mission

Rest assured, they too think a lot about moving back home, and in many cases would really love to but cant for various reasons (Pride, Money Spouse etc) , so for some the only way to deal with it is to lash out in a rage, or play the cool dude and tell you how good it has been for them and why they are settled and happy but doing it on a "Moving Back to the UK" forum.

For the latter group, you are seen as easy meat to make them feel good, and this forum offers plenty of easy targets for them hence the reason they hang out here all the time.

Bottom line - if you don't like the place and if you have the resources to get out, then do it, sooner rather than later.

Well Singapore is constantly ranked as the favourite ex pat city in this part of the world..

That's so funny !!! Perth is nowhere near Singapore .....Singapore is 5 hours flight away !!!! ,

When the tedium of suburbia and the whole retirement vibe of Perth gets too much, catch a plane to Singapore to get a taste of civilisation again and some great local food. Then come back to the sleepy retirement town and save up for the next trip to Singapore.

Thanks to everybody... I feel so much better, just the thought that somebody is out there and interested and taking the time to reply and not berating me because I was not grateful. etc. etc. means such a lot. But why would I not expect that, isn't that what I miss.

The point was somehow missed when I said we both worked overseas and we could have done that from the UK. It has been since retirement. If I had to stay here in Oz for 35 years I would have been gone in a flash. Somebody mentioned, quite rightly, my children married ozzies and my six grandchildren are here. I was not involved in their births or growing up which has isolated me from my immediate family, neither of my children want to leave here, they still don't. I hope I instilled some form of patriotism for Australia in them, I never let my thoughts interfere as a bias in anyway, shape or form, they were free to make up their own minds.

My holidays, because of the proximity and cost of either flying to Oz or UK was a choice of my own, money was not an issue, costs remained the same. My parents were alive and sick then so I felt an obligation to spend some time with them.

Both my husband and I feel that we have given our all to more than repay what Oz has given to us. Our full UK pension I have to say is "docked" because we are entitled to full pension here, we have only just given up work....and if we are entitled to pension then it should not be at the expense of our UK one which we paid into. We both had government jobs both here and UK and both of us contributed to a private pension fund, in the UK this is not taxable. Lots of things we planned for in our retirement became very outdated, when the time came to "cash in" we were self funded retirees until the GFC hit and robbed us of any comforts. That is the commercialism of it all, but without a caring word or a welcome when we join an activity or club cannot and will not compensate for any monies, holidays, whatever. Many thanks for all your very kind words of concern.

Come home, Britain despite its problems, is still the best place to live in the world. It's never too late. Ignore the haters, this is a forum for Moving Back To UK. Many are "stuck" down in Australia and have no chance of ever getting out. You can still do it, so I say if you can afford to then go for it. You are always welcome back "home".

Hmm, well they do say that immitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

 

Fair point though, we're talking about people's lives here, their hopes and dreams. Rubbishing someone's happy life and their sense of belonging here in Australia is just as sh*tty as rubbishing someone else's desire to go home or their reluctance to countenance returning here once they've left.

And after all, this is a forum for people moving back to UK.

So we should give support and fly the flag to those wanting to return.

If we want to share what we didn't like about Australia, there should be no problem either, a great place for those to vent off a little or a lot of steam, not a big deal.

It must be difficult settling in a new country if you have such a huge ego.

 

Really your new colleagues should have bowed down before you worshipping the ground you walked on. They really did not fully appreciate that they were in the presence of greatness. Now it is their loss (and Australia's) that they will somehow have to manage without you.

That's just plain nasty, to be honest.

We are just sharing experiences on a Moving Back to UK Forum.

If you are happy in Australia, I am curious as to why you comment on this forum and keep responding like a cracked record ...about why "some of us made it work and we really love it here. This is Moving Back to UK. People will say why they didn't like it and why they want to go home....or is that not allowed ??

I solved a problem which a child could have solved - simple logic, wasn't hard but 3 geniuses with egos the size of Texas could not solve it and could not handle the shame of being shown up over s simple problem.

For the record, I am neither an intellectual or a genius...never have been, never will be. Grew up in the country, still live in the country and still very much a bumpkin.

'How long have you been in Australia AdrianPom?'

 

I just dont know how I got so far without them in all my jobs before I arrived in Oz,.

I worked in 15 countries with absolutely no problems.

In my early days starting in my first Australian job, I solved a problem in less than 30 minutes which the 3 other Australian engineers at my company had been working on finding a solution to for over 2 months with no success. The solution was so simple it was staring them right smack in the face.

Thought I had done a great job but I paid a very high price for it and it made me very unpopular, hated by everyone from management right down to the receptionist. I had to deal with TPS (tall poppy syndrome) for a long time until I moved on to work in another equally unsatisfying backward thinking company with even more over inflated fragile egotistical losers.

Anyone with vision, creativity, drive & ambition should keep well clear.

I will say it again, if you have a good stable career/job/income, a home, good friends, a loving family around you in UK - that as good as it ever gets in life.

DO NOT throw all of that away to go to that place.

The electrician I knew who could only get work packing carrots before he threw the towel in and came home would say the same thing to you also.

One fiasco example is electricians. I have never experienced so many major electrical failures anywhere as I have in Oz. Every single house I have ever lived in has had a local power cut, AND shorts, AND mystery failures..even the new houses, probably more in one year than in 40 years in the UK, yet they wont accept UK qualifications, because they dont meet Australian standards.

 

I hate to admit it, but I think my decision to try Australia was the biggest and most costly mistake of my life. In fact I reckon apart from my house, it is the most expensive decision of my life. It is backward, and the reason is because they will not accept ideas from outside.

My mate was an electrician too in Oz and they would not accept his tickets, he had to go through college again to learn how to be an electrician of a lower standard to get his licence.

I remember my own observations in my house and others I visited - 220v socket outlets sitting above wash hand basins, circuit breakers OUTSIDE the house in a box with no IP rating, only 3 or 4 MCB/circuits for the whole house , no RCD's or RCBO's to be seen anywhere, and of course the plugs are unfused and due to the lack of sockets in most homes people plug in lots of multi-way extension cables and load up the power circuits to the point the breakers keeps tripping....

No matter how much anyone tries to defend the place, it has a long way to go to catch up with UK standards.

It has a long way to go to catch up with the UK in general come to think of it.

My version (don't take seriously)

I dislike a sunburnt country,

a land of nothing but sand

lots of jerry built houses

in suburbs that were bland

I hated her far apart boozers,

and shark infested sea

you've entered early retirement

when you're only 33 !!

johngdownuder

My theory is that it used to be a wonderful place to live - sun ,beaches, cheap houses...then the mining boom came ....the city changed character with too many people, expensive housing/ living costs and a certain type of more money than sense vacuous inhabitant. ( not everyone in Perth is like that of course but there are far more of them than pre boomtime)

Very accurate summary there - we saw massive changes in Perth from when we arrived. As time went by we saw the writing on the wall and knew deep down that the bubble would burst one day. Not really a great place to be putting your money nowadays.

Yes, welcome back home to the land of great pubs and great food !

we started in Rockingham which I found to isolated

I agree 100%. You did the right thing getting out of Rockingham. I had a British friend down that way who eventually sold up and went back to UK.

Perth itself can feel quite isolated from civilisation, but Rockingham is seriously isolated.

Its a stupidly long commute up to Perth everyday too which I think you would soon get pretty sick of.

There were a couple of suburbs in Rockingham you would not want to go anywhere near back in the day.

A huge concrete sprawl way out in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do.

The houses are super cheap and hard to sell for very good reason.

Not as bad as Baldives I suppose.

If anyone did live in a shithole they would do their upmost to move.

I am beginning to think that must be why many prefer it way out there - coming out of a small house in a grotty overcrowded dump then suddenly being able to rent or own a detached house on a sprawling suburb would create the illusion of a new "elevated" sort of status.

I miss the heat. I loved the heat the hotter the better for me. I also miss a huge detached house, clean streets, clean cities, the beach, camping, my spa, corona and my BBQ...

Long way to go and pretty major upheaval just for a "big detached house". Why not just get a big detached house here in UK ?

I take it your in the UK. Sorry but its a totally different type of camping I do in OZ compared with the UK.

Camping out with the crocs, venomous snakes, poisonous creepy crawlies and ants sure is a "different" sort of camping.

and it never occurs to them that people might look down on them as migrants the way they look down on migrants to the U.K.

Exactly my point.

They then become the "immigrants" themselves, but think that its "okay" for them because they are British.

How hypocritical is that ?

Brits who come with a sense of "entitlement" thinking that because they are British, white and speak the same language are in for a huge shock because in Australia, the "land of immigrants", its all "fair dinkum".

Being British doesn't mean you will enjoy "almost an aussie" status.

Windsor is a quirky town. I used to work in Staines and Windsor was part of my territory. Two things would have put me off living/working there. The tourist buses and being under the Heathrow flight path. Noisy low-flying aircraft every minute or two would have driven me nuts. How are you finding that.....or do you just get used to it?

Not sure about Windsor but I lived next to Schipol Airport in Amsterdam and also near Tampines/Pasi Ris in Singapore which was next to Changi Airport. You just sort of "zone it out" I suppose is the best way to describe it. You never really like it but just learn to ignore it. I lived in Kensington and had a rather busy rail line directly behind the house and again...just sort of zoned it out.

That said if I had to live in any of those places now after living in a place where the loudest noise is birdsong or the odd cow moo or sheep bleating in the distance, I would probably struggle to zone it out. But I was almost 20 years younger then and most of my pursuits were noisy...Knebworth, Glastonbury, Donnington to name but a few !!! These days its not Knebworth, apart from the 80s rewind gig at Scone, its the local pubs with the arran sweatered, jumbo cord trousered bearded ones listening to celtic & irish folk music instead and that's as loud as it gets round these parts !

Hi everyone,

 

I thought it would be good to give an update of my move back to Scotland for those that are considering coming back over. In April of 2015 we made the decision as a family to come back "home" (I am the only native Aussie).

Anyway we started asking around for prices and so on for moving over, things like shipping, housing, insurance, customs etc. All in all we found it to be a lot cheaper doing it all ourselves, less hassle and it meant we could take about 80% of our belongings except our car. We were quoted $5,500 from many shipping companies to ship 12m2 over. That would have meant living pretty much everything behind. After speaking to a friend who had just gone back to Ireland they said there is a far more cost efficient way and that is do it yourself through a customs broker. The gave me the details and I got on to them for a quote. One big thing to do is have all this sorted at least 6 months prior to moving. No they won't book it in 100% but at least it means they can pencil something in for around that time. The broker I used was Fremantle Customs brokers in WA for everything, container cost, shipping costs and other port costs. We hired a 20ft container and we were able to fill it to the roof and doors. We loaded it ourselves which saved a heap of money and we shipped it the week before we left in January. All up it cost $4,076 which is way better than the likes of Allied Pickfords etc could do for even 12m2. Once here we needed to contact our local customs broker in Scotland and storage facilities which was again pretty easy to do and the sooner you can sort it out the better. Again I contacted both of these guys in July 2015 so they were aware of what was happening and when.The brokerage fees here and the storage facility (no room on our street for a container, keep that in mind) was 600GBP plus another 150 GBP for storage. We unloaded the container ourselves but paid 50GBP to get the bulky items delivered to our house. Make sure you check the man with a van adverts because they again could save you a small fortune. The rest of the items we have just finished doing lots of little loads in our wagon. So for absolutely everything it has cost us around $5,500 depending on exchange rates of the day.

The biggest issue for us was having to do absolutely everything for ourselves and what was great is even though it was daunting we learned very quickly and most people were extremely helpful. I seriously recommend everyone consider doing it this way as it can save you heaps of cash that you could do with elsewhere.

The shipping time was just over 6 weeks which again gave us plenty of time to sort out a house and confirm all the other details.

Best wishes for everyone who is doing the move and remember you can do it.

 

Regards

 

Craig

 

 

p.s. were we scared? YES! Yet saying that we love it and it feels like we never left and we still keep in contact with all of our friends back in Oz.

Well done and congrats on a successful relocation.

Bonnie Scotland is a fine place to live.

I find it hilarious and downright hypocritical when people say they want to "get away from immigrants" when in fact they are going to become an "immigrant" themselves !

Generally most these immigrants contribute a lot to society, although there may be some who do not integrate, refuse to learn the language of their host country and therefore become unemployable, but this is the case in any country not just in the UK.

Australia has committed to take and resettle its equal share of North African refugees fleeing war too if this is what they are on about .

The sad thing is when they get to Australia, they will not only find the exact same social issues they will face in most developed countries, but they become the "immigrants" themselves and expect people to welcome them.

In fact, they may find things worse given the much smaller population into which immigrants have to integrate into down in Australia.

All governments and voters are becoming far more liberal and left wing than they used to be, whether people like it or not.

The world is changing wherever you go, running away wont fix anything.

People have to live & let live and just get on with it, which thankfully most do.

. In fact, I would say that researching the area to move back to is as vital as it is when moving to Oz.

That's a great bit of advice there.

Good "research" is the key to everything.

One should never underestimate what it can be like coming home to what you "think" is familiar.

A lot of things change in only a few years and people (including yourselves) change too.

I have had a long break from this forum. Ready to come back now because I feel more confident and more honest. Cut long story short, kiwi, much travelled, married to airline pilot, numerous "circumstance disasters", but nutshell I can't stand Australia. Now I know a few of you (if not many) will go, Oh Oh Australia, how can you say that etc.!!! I can say it very easily, I hate Australia..! Hence, I am finally moving my family. In a complicated way, but our family comes first over fighting over what country we live in.

 

Until you gain clarity and confidence, it can seem blurred. I have lived here for 8 years, and hate it every year that goes on. But, I needed to empower myself and feel what I had to say was wothwile after loosing myself here.

 

In our time here I have gone through the Ipswich floods, a burglary, a cyclone, loosing quarter a million dollars in an investment, my sister. My mum has been through cancer twice. All the while in a place I could not stand to live in. And before you judge, I have lived in many countries. I just don't like it here.

 

If you do like it here, good for you.

 

We have now reached a compromise, buying a two bedroom apartment here, that my hubby will commute back in forth, while I go back to NZ with my daughters, and well all go back and forth and best we can be. I want to spend time with my 3 aging grandparents in NZ, and in 6 years time when youngest has finished high school, and likely all our 3 older granparents are up in the happy place, we'll go back to England. We love England. Our eldest daughter was born there and it was the happiest place we ever lived.

 

So, what I am saying is. Listen first to your gut instinct. If you really hate living in a place, no matter how many years go by, you are likely never to feel happy there.

 

Next, you do have to look around you and consider others. Come up with a compromise. Families can do certain arraingements, and work towards a common goal. May be healthier than never moving on or giving up.

 

Have a plan, no matter how long.

 

We are leaving for NZ soon, then in 6 years back to England. Seems long maybe in writing, but to us if finally close, suits all, and is clarity and happiness all round.

 

I studied while unhappy here in Aus, and I have now completed my course. Try and find something positive while waiting. And put your plan in place. And great to all who like it here. I am not one of you, but we do not take each other down. All human, all need support. :wink:

'

Its "okay" to say you hate a place, no one should take offence or snap back at what you say, it's just your personal experience and everybody has a different one. Its the "right thing" to be honest to yourself and go for what you "really" want.

I can imagine that there will be many who just "wont face up" to the reality of what they have done to themselves and will "soldier on" regardless whether its because they don't want to lose face with the family & friends back home who they think will laugh at or ridicule them for "quitting" if you want to call it that, or they don't want to give up their new perceived status of owning the big house by the beach etc etc... or whatever.

Many of you will get the "I told you so..." stuff from friends no matter what, when they finally get home, we certainly did, (my mates didn't mince their words either) but it didn't bother us in the least.

Coming home was what "we" wanted and that's all that mattered, we couldn't care about what others thought of us and the reality was although they may have enjoyed trying to rub our noses in it, they were all glad to have us back anyway.

There's nothing smart or brave about "hacking it" while deep down inside you "know" it's all wrong and you can see your wife/kids lives turned upside down facing stupid pointless challenges they really don't need to be facing or how its badly affected the people back home who really care about you.

If you hate it, you just go, and the sooner the better.

Well 4 years almost to the day our adventure started and we arrived in the UK. We arrived at the airport with no accommodation booked so went to the nearest Travelodge and booked into that for a week. We then moved onto a mobile home down in the SW which was great and we ended up really enjoying ourselves. Our Aussie born and bred kids were almost 11 at the time and they just loved it and really did look at it all as an adventure.

From there we did the tour of real estate agents looking for a house and although we had planned on buying in Wiltshire or Somerset we ended up looking at a house in Herefordshire which our kids fell in love with. Because of this we put in an offer and had it accepted, less than 3 weeks later we moved in and the second part of the adventure started. The previous owner had done quite literally nothing to the house for close to 40 years so it was a blank canvas, a 350 year old blank canvas lol.

Fortunately the house was structurally sound as well as being perfectly liveable if somewhat dated.

Cars were bought, school was found and settling in started.

We didn't settle in quite immediately and we even spoke about a return to Australia but that was very short lived and we set about starting our new life in the country.

It is very easy to underestimate just how good living in the country really is, we were used to suburban life and it really was an eye opener.

As far as the practicalities of life in England well we are finding it cheaper overall, some things such as groceries, car insurance, general insurance and utilities are cheaper but council tax (rates) are higher and in fairness there is no comparison between our house here and the one we sold in Queensland. We also find telephone and Internet to be cheaper but TV more expensive by virtue of the TV license.

The area we live is beautiful, clean, safe and very low crime.

Our kids absolutely love it and rarely even mention Australia which in one way is a little sad as it is where I grew up and is Important to me but that may change as they get older.

The weather generally in the 4 years has been temperate, very little extreme cold and it isn't often we aren't able to do something outside if we want to.

Can I see myself back in Australia ? Not really BUT never say never.

For anyone contemplating the move 'home' rest assured the majority of the doom and gloom you hear is fantasy and just isn't reality.

Great Story bristolman, Rock On.

I would have thought that over time after coming home, we would have taken the UK for granted all over again, but no, quite the opposite, we see everything differently, its really a lovely country to live in despite all its problems.

We chose the right place to live for our needs.

We couldn't move now, we are too settled and part of the village furniture all our friends and family are near or within reasonable driving distance....plus the years are rolling on now and I value the peace & tranquillity of the countryside more & more as time passes, but I have had had some good job offers for way down in England and would be lying if I said I didn't feel tempted. Love it down there.

Thinking johngdownunder lives on another planet let alone another country

Nothing personal, it's only just another point of view, not intended to upset anyone.

For anyone who loves the beach, loves sunbathing, loves the "patio life", hates travelling etc, I totally get why they will enjoy Australia.

It certainly "delivers" in those departments.

Its a shame you didnt have a vehicle or no access to flights, we have traveled so much and still have lots of places to visit. You will have missed so many great places.

 

Cal x

You're right, there is just so much concrete, man-made lakes, industrial estates, endless suburbs, and lets not forget the lovely shopping malls full of dated and overpriced shops to see.

Oh and the countryside - nothing like a bit of scrubland or desert eh ?

Just don't wander away from the safety of the roads though, those crocs & taipans can get pretty nasty.

I don't really need planes where I live, its all on my doorstep although having access to Easyjet and their £39 tickets to take us all over Europe does give us a great choice of very interesting places to have our long weekends if we want.

Its warming up now, and the days are getting longer, its "long weekend" season again !

You're wasting your breath trying to portray Australia to me as being interesting. Its not.

Its also very isolated from the whole world.