Johnny

We were the same, before we migrated, we always complained about how "boring" the UK was and how great and happening Australia "must" be. After coming home we definitely see the whole place through "different eyes". 8 years of being isolated from civilisation with nowhere to travel to in Australia, really makes you appreciate all the exciting things and great opportunities we have on our doorstep in Britain, or a cheap 1 or 2 hour flight away in Europe.

You are honest to yourself and you faced the mistakes you feel you have made, hats off to you. That honesty is the first step to your new life But remember it was the "adventurer" inside of you driving you to do it, and we have all been there. Ours was a joint decision to migrate, but I just wonder just how many people do not "give a stuff" about their wife/husband & kids while they create havoc, turmoil by uprooting everyone in the family to chase "their" fantasy whilst staying "hard nosed" in the face of it all, determined to "hack it" while they tolerate worse conditions, little ones pining for their grandparents love, smiles, kissed and hugs, missing out on playing with their cousins and the teenagers hurting deep inside longing for their old chums missing hanging out in each others houses listening to pop music talking, texting about all sorts. I know if I had kids, I would never have put them through that life in Perth Kids don't give a hoot about "beaches" and "big houses", that's not what they need. Lost of us were a victim of propaganda and "glossy brochures" from agents, it all looked great on paper. Its basically a scheme to import tax payers in the door and the reason they are vetted so carefully. My wife & I had great jobs with all the candy and we too chucked it all down the pan for a life of instability, lots of unemployment, dismal dead end jobs, less or next to no money to spend, isolated in Perth with nowhere interesting to go to. Thank goodness we managed to get out of that place, and everyday I am truly grateful for the lovely interesting part of the world I live in now.

That must be the ones who don't know any better and think its great. I would have died of boredom or isolation depression if I stayed another year in Australia. Even the houses with all those security grilles over the doors and window look like prisons. What a lovely feeling arriving home !

I would agree with that. Once you get away from the tacky harbour tourist area, its grotty and congested, graffiti and rubbish everywhere, not much to see, much more like an older more dated and chaotic version of Perth. I remember going there excited to see the legendary Bondi & Manly beaches and left feeling somewhat let down. Took us half the day to get there too. the traffic was bad, much worse than London. Even though Perth is a quiet town and behind the times somewhat, I have to say Perth is much better than Sydney. I am also not a fan of London either but I would choose it over Sydney any day. At least it has character.

That's a very good honest way to put it - "chasing a fantasy". I think we were doing the exact same thing too on reflection. We had some kind of "image" in our heads what Perth "should be", got there and found it was nothing like it "should be" and was in fact so much worse than what we had left behind. Although we got our "much bigger house" and "beaches" (which both really count for absolutely nothing compared to the happiness of being beside your own family and lifelong friends), our fantasy turned out to be an overall massive drop in living standards compared to what we were used to. But we still had this mental picture of what it "should be" when we boarded the plane. "Chasing a fantasy" about sums it up very well in our case. People have this excellent forum to let them chat to migrants who have gone in front of them - how lucky they are. I think anyone with their "feet on the ground" and not their "heads in cuckoo land" should be able to get a great picture of what the realities of migration really are today, and should not be sucked into the government propaganda which is created and aimed solely for/at importing more tax payers. On the subject of the NHS, where we live its excellent. Village has a small but busy health centre/cottage hospital and it covers a large radius of the countryside too. If you come in or call in urgently they will tell you to come in to the clinic anyway. Although you may wait a while until one of GP's can free up time to see you, they will always see you no matter what. For normal appointments usually you are seen either same day or within a day or two unless there is one specific GP or nurse you want to see, who may only work on certain days - such as the vaccination nurse for holiday jabs, she only comes to our health centre on Tuesdays. I think our NHS is first class, no complaints so far. The cities may be different, I don't know.

But I bet there are plenty who wish they had stopped for "just a second" to think. Even with sun screen, that sun in Australia is BRUTAL, you will soon end up looking like "Madge" from the TV show "Benidorm" in no time and there's no going back once you get the "leather look". The chemicals in the sun screen lotion itself are damaging to your skin and just as bad for causing premature ageing even before you go out to fry your body under the sun. Stuff that, I love my cool fresh weather, don't need to worry about all that nasty stuff anymore. Even in summer where I am although we had it over 30 degrees for a few days back in 2014, it rarely goes above 20 degrees in general during summer, and that's about all I can cope with. Call me a softy if you will, but I really don't like brutal sun like they have in Perth

We were quoted something stupid like that too back when we decided to get out. It worked out far cheaper to flog off our furniture and put cartons of personal stuff back as" part load" in a "shared" container. Even the personal stuff was not that valuable, we never even took insurance on it. Cant remember what we paid but I think it was around $1000 at the time and it was with Allied Pickfords who were great to deal with. Our stuff took forever to arrive because we took the el cheapo option, but that was no problem, none of it was urgent. .

Same thing here, we had really decent UK neighbours in our street in Perth. There was a definite closeness with all the poms there and I think it annoyed the locals somewhat perhaps more so as it was the poms who owned the nicest houses. You are right in what you say, it doesn't really matter where you live when you come home. Its just that "feeling" of being home and being "part of it all", knowing that you belong here, totally fit in and that are also able to live a much more fuller and more colourful "happening" kind of life and are right in the centre of the world with so much on your doorstep. We used to think UK was "boring" before we migrated, but after coming back home, we have rediscovered the UK through new pairs of eyes, and we think its the best country in the world to live in. We would never want to live anywhere else.

Yesterday it was a nice day, no wind, overcast but absolutely perfect for me, not hot but not cold either. Next day off, we are heading down to Edinburgh for the day. Before we leave we will drop in to the Isle of Skye in Perth for the £3.99 unlimited buffet brekkie, coffee & toast. Their sausages & potato scones are really something else..

I would agree. If you have been away a long time you will see big changes, lots of places that were once considered less desirable than the South, are now revamped, regenerated and are most definitely "on the up".

I know I went swimming in the ocean in Warnbro Sound once and really enjoyed it, but shortly after we heard someone had been attacked by a shark in the same spot and it was all over the news that night. It certainly gave us the chills. So much so that I never really went into the water again. I tried it once but I came out after 5 mins. The sensation of "pleasure and fear" all at once felt just a bit "too weird" for me.

I cant cope with the humidity, "dripping" with sweat, and having 3 showers a day and changing clothes all the time just to feel normal. I know they say it doesn't get too hot in Brisbane but 35 degrees with high humidity for me feels way worse than 40 degrees of dry heat in Perth.

You certainly can contrast by all means. Brisbane I have no doubt is better than Perth, but the hot sticky humid climate would drive me bonkers and that's why we chose Perth. I love my 4 seasons too much, especially at this time of year when the weather changes so fast. It was 14 degrees yesterday and spring has sprung, clear blue sky and sun shining all day. Hard to believe only 2 weeks back it was snowing heavily and I had my coal fire roaring away !

Looks like things are really changing. Its in the news that skilled workers will be able to go and live between these countries to work visa free. Basically anyone should be able to migrate to live and work in any of these places, if this is true. So you could have your mates from back home joining you down under !!

You're spot on Jessie. I think a lot of people seem to want to fulfil "their" dreams when they migrate but have no idea just how it pulls the rug from under the feet of everyone else, especially the kids. I know where we lived in Perth it was nice for small children and absolutely wonderful for the elderly but I would never wish it on a teenager or somebody young & single like the OP.

I think the south of England would be lovely, the weather for starters is much better than where we are Scotland and you are certainly close to civilisation. What young person wouldn't want to be part of the scene there. After you graduate, the worlds your oyster, opportunities galore for graduates in the South, and you are able to nip over to France, Netherlands or Belgium for long weekends with friends. Compared to being stuck in one city all the time in Australia, you would really love the life in Britain.

Well, to stay on topic, the main reasons we moved back (not in any particular order): Nicer/cleaner environment Bigger variety of things to do Better job prospects with better pay and regular training Better weather (seasons) Better Travel at home and Europe Better/Bigger House with more land/space/views etc Better Supermarkets & Shops (MUCH better) Better food (and far cheaper) Better cars and more fun roads to drive them on (well, in rural Scotland at least) Proper countryside where you can go out for a day (not snake infested burnt dry scrubland) Pubs/Pub Grub/Carvery Hobbies/Interests (of which there were no clubs for in Perth) Culture/History - you don't appreciate it until you've lived in a concrete city with none whatsoever Family & Friends (the biggest reason of course) Animals - more space and better environment for them A large green garden and growing lots of things (compared to the burned sand pit/ semi-concrete garden we had in Perth where almost nothing grew well) There's probably more but these are the first ones that come to mind....

Most towns round our way have proper local authority waste centres with skips for everything, nobody should ever need to go fly tipping. Even the small villages including ours all have smaller versions of these with massive bins marked up for various materials. We get weekly collections for our food waste bins and it alternates between the recycle bin and general waste every other week. Pretty well organised.

Yes excellent news - sorry for going way off topic. The main thing is you are all back safe & sound and starting on your new adventure. Great time of year to be coming back Just the small matter of "jet lag" to sort out !!

The difference being, I am not a "Virtual" Brit, I am British because I pay into my country and help support Britain. It is a Poms in Oz forum, and the thread is called "Moving Back to the UK". If you've left UK and are happy and settled, turned your back on UK completely to the point of having taken out citizenship of Australia, you are now Australian, living there, working and paying into the Aistralian system, supporting Australia not UK. The UK is not your country. You were only born in UK and happen to still cling on to that UK passport (just in case...good old NHS eh ?)....which you happen to be paying nothing towards it but still expect it to be there for you if Australia leave you in the lurch). So you are basically an Australian now. Talk about wanting to have your cake and eat it eh ?. Don't call yourself True British, you don't have that right anymore - you gave up that right when you jumped on the plane, stopped contributing, and happily kissed the place goodbye.

You're an expat then, or a 457 temporary worker, you are hardly an immigrant who moved house and home with the intention of staying on for life then are you ?. I do believe any "Virtual Aussie" who lurks around this forum really deep down has a secret desire to come home or is very jealous of others who are managing to get out. But look at this for a moment - Put the shoe on the "other foot" for a second. Me as a British person who lives here, is committed to my country and contribute to the costs of Britain, I pay my Ni and taxes and enjoy the privileges that come with being truly British. I am personally appalled at some of the references in other posts I have read over on other forums where some potential excited new migrants bash the UK and its inhabitants, whilst being totally unaware of the big picture. UK has clearly been good to them, they have warm, safe, comfortable, dry homes, jobs, families, friends and achieved the financial means to be able to migrate to what they feel for them at least, is a better life - it takes a lot of money (and courage) to do that. Hats off to them, we have all been there. Whether they are right or not is their business, not mine, I have no desire to hijack their threads and tell them if I think they are wrong or right or snap at them for saying things about UK. I only belong here on this thread because I am British, I have moved back to UK, I love it and enjoy discussing the UK with others who are coming home, and I can say what I didn't like about Australia, maybe they felt the same. if someone snaps at me then yes they will get the same back. I too can read the "Moving To Australia and We're Excited" forums but I do not have the right to post on them because I don't live there and have no intentions of ever returning living there. I was even offered an expat role in Perth 2 years ago on a 457 visa, company paying for our relocation and accommodation, but I refused it because I really don't want to live there, I love my current job and the love place and environment I live in now, my wife could never move from here either as she keeps a lot of animals and loves them to the point where she could never leave them. But go to another forum and you will get your eyes opened. Such as those who want to leave because UK has "too many immigrants", but yet are quite happy to become an immigrant themselves and export their own brand of culture elsewhere in this case Australia being their host country. Clearly unaware that Australia too like Europe has made commitments to resettle and distribute equally vast numbers of immigrants fleeing war and conflict , amongst (by comparison to UK), Australia's much "smaller" population. Of course that will impact on day to day life in Australia just as it has elsewhere. From what I see, the world seems to be heading in the direction of breaking up into "regions" similar to that of the EU, ending individual nations sovereignty and allowing free movement of people across borders. Do you think there wont be an Asia Pacific Region one day where the countries will join hands like the EU, where Malaysians, Indonesians, Vietnamese Thai, Bruneians can enter Australia freely and vice versa. These people are so naïve to think they will leave UK and that all their problems will be gone when in fact, they will walk out of the frying pan straight into the fire, but this time round without the network of support they have in UK, only to be an immigrant themselves and equal to those other immigrants from other countries in the eyes of native born and bred Australians. There's a lot more "bashing" of UK goes on in other forums. Its called free speech, if you cant handle it, go elsewhere, its only a discussion at the end of the day none of it intended to hurt or upset anyone. Just like if you don't like Perth, there's a great road for you to take called "Horrie Miller Drive" and it goes all the way to the departures door of Perth airport.

Notice all the posters who are "snapping" back - every single one of them now "Virtual Aussies" who have sold out, turned their back on Britain, even going for citizenship (locations given as Canberra, Perth), and yet lurking around a "Moving Back to UK" forum for people who are planning to move back or have moved back. How sad is THAT ? Sounds to me that there is something "deep down inside", eating slowly away at you judging by the aggression being vented in your responses. Like I say, it seems to be acceptable enough for the new migrants on "other" forums to bash the UK and why they are glad to be leaving etc. So the thing called free speech works both ways - get over it. We are here talking about UK many of us stating some things we didn't like about Australia. "Virtual Aussies", don't take it so personally for goodness sake. Don't call yourself "British" if you're settled down there and have no plans to ever come home. You're no longer "British" if you've permanently turned your back on the place. You are, in effect now, only "British born" and a British passport holder, and are pretty much an Australian ....but with a British accent. A "Virtual Australian" You cant have your cake and eat it.

Bang right on cue. Please go to the "I Love Australia" forum where you will also find lots of people bashing on the negatives of UK left right and centre, agreeing how dismal things are at home and why they want to get away from it all. You yourself, are not "Moving back to UK" and nor do you even "live in the UK". You live in Australia and are now "Australian", that's YOUR home, you love it and you even went as far as getting your citizenship. You sold out to the place, and you love it good on you, we get that. But... why are you "lurking" around and "chiming in" on a "Moving Back to the UK" forum when you have no intention of moving back home and are settled ?? Go to the forum you belong on, the one that relates to the country you have adopted as YOUR home and let the rest of us enjoy OUR home the UK and if we want to Oz-Bash we can - just like those who bash life in UK on other forums. Britain is no longer your country any more. You're pretty much Australian, even to the point of being unable to handle anyone who dare say anything negative about it just like a true Aussie.

Before I went to Oz I would never notice small things like that. I have a house way up on a hill with open views across a village to the countryside out to the mountains, fields and a pine forest. The view from my living room of the mountains with snow on their peaks with the greenery down below, the rooftops and church spires of the village is really quite something I marvel at daily. My patio is at the front of my house and in 6 weeks, I will be getting the patio table and chairs oiled for the year then set up for our weekly late night meals and summer barbies with the family . And the fresh Spring air....most refreshing and uplifting Britain rocks ! I really appreciate how great it is here. What a great country to live in and be part of, I feel very proud of it. Cant understand why anyone would want to chuck this in to live somewhere else. Unless of course you live in a grotty city full of brutal 60's architecture or something...but even then you don't need to migrate these days for a better life. Certainly not somewhere overpriced, bland, backwards, boring, over rated and extremely isolated from the rest of the world to the point where you cant even travel anywhere.

Update ?