Bristol Chris

I probably can't offer any good advice, but I really admire peopel like you. Not a great upbringing, however, not only surviving but excelling. I wish you the absolute best mate. One thing I've learnt, the more positive you think, the more positive you become. It's a bit contagious.

And P.S ... you can do anything.

With the exception of missing family and friends, what are your reasons for moving back to the UK?

I went out on a reccie in September as we have our visa already and was quite surprised at how underwhelmed I was. I spent a year in Oz 15 years ago and have yearned for it ever since. Then came home feeling rather deflated.

Visited QLD, NSW and Adelaide.

We don't have any family support whatsoever in UK so I know for a fact I wouldn't miss them if we made the move.

Just wondering if anyone of you will give a reason that resonates with me and sums up why I Australia failed to capture my heart this time round.

Thanks

 

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Sometimes high or inflated expectations get in the way of good feelings. Not saying you had this, but if Oz delighted you last time perhaps you were hoping for an equally amazing time. Not that I would blame you for that. If you have an amazing time at a restaurant, of course you'll want that on a return visit.

What were you hoping for and what let you down? Pretty much everyone grows and is different in big or small ways over 15 years. Could it be what delighted you last time doesn't stack up today for the older more experienced 'you' ?

It just comes down to what you are looking for / what you want out of life

I echo what others have said, I am really sorr y to hear your news and I sincerely hope you and your husband will be ok.

I do think, why not set a time frame. If your furniture is already on the way, it will make you feel more 'at home' once settled in. You've come a long way (in many ways) and you are there. No-one could have forseeen the passing of close relatives, but there wer always going to be good and bad days when you make such a huge move.

I guess the answer is, what are you relaly looking for in life? Where you woudl really honestly like to be in 5 years time?

Set a xx timeframe - say 10 months and if you're stil not happy then think what is the best option for you both. Maybe it will be to stay or maybe it will be to go.

Rather than just pack up and go, and waste the money and effort in getting there.

Big decisions shouldn't be made just now, you're dealing with grief and all other emotions. Give yourselves some space.

Can someone please answer this question:

 

- Having worked under the old legislation, does my work count for the new rules?

 

My previous employer says he thinks it does not count. Because in the old system (before 1 July 2016) Norfolk Island had it's own taxation system; there was no income tax. There was also no super annuation. If you were unemployed you would get no money; hence there was no unemployment.

 

I got paid in cash during my work on Norfolk Island.

 

Now, after the 1 July 2016 changes, Norfolk Islanders DO have to pay taxes and get super annuation. Maybe that's why Norfolk Island is now included?

 

Because of these reasons my previous employer thinks I am not eligible for a 2nd Working holiday visa.

Perhaps just phone or email them directly mate? good luck with your plans

I hope my coments didn't seem rude. You know your hubby and everyone has good and not so good parts of their personalities. No one is perfect.

Yes, the whole two year what would we like to see. Not just 'I'd want to be living in X' but more I would like to be doign a job here and having this sort of lifestyle. At the moment your hubby might not be able to see anything but 'move back move back' tho, so be prepared for that.

Everyone on here I'm sure wishes you all the best and hoping it's just a small (but feels bigg) bump in the road. Hope your ok.

Am I Mad???!!!!!

probably! but I thikn we all are a bit.

Good advice here, SYD probalby not the best to initlaly start in due to cost. Heard good things about Newcastle or Newie as I've heard people say

All the best for your move SarahG

My two penneth...Smack him in the gob and tell him to stop being a selfish, self centred child.

 

You have a life, too.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

I do have to agree with this a little bib BOBJ

I can see how it would be very difficult for you and him. Is he the type of person who gives up easily at the sign of a struggle? I am consciouss that some people do and some people don't, that's the way it goes.

I would say, I imagine you've spent a huge amount of money moving over. Can you remind him of that and that it would be worth putting in more time than a month! As hard as it seem now, I'm sure with utter perserverence and a touch of luck life could get better. Yes it can be all about jobs.

I'm going to be a bit of a D. Advocate here and say your OH sounds a little insensitive and a bit selfish. Can he see the whole picture?

Perhaps life in Ozzie is not for you both - perhaps it is - however, a month will not tell you.

I think sit down, put all worries on a piece of paper and all the good things on another. Draw up a plan and say right, in a year's time we will relook at whether UK is best for us to return to.

In the meantime, we're here, we spent loads of money to get here, we're doing something so many others only dream of - lets make a real go of it. Set a realistic timeframe and both stick to it.

This has been interesting

Anyone with a PR visa gets the rebate, although you have to apply for child care benefit to get it. The benefit is means tested but the rebate isn't. There has been talk about changing the childcare benefit and rebate system but it hasn't changed yet. The main difference is likely to be that really high earners won't get anything.

ah ok Nic F thanks for the information, you know a lot :-)

To the person who talked about childcare, I thought you got a nice rebate? or is that only for ozzies?

Ok thanks mate. I'll pass it on. NOt sure why he hasnt' just rung them himself to be honest.

I'm not sure where he got the residency two year wait thing from, perhaps thats for a different benefit. As I said, he hasn't dealt with benefits before so may be barking up the wrong tree, woof ! ;-)

Yes they would get full child benefits and he may be entitled to unemployment benefits till he gets a job.

Ahh ok thanks Perthbum. He hasn't ever had dealigns with benefits before so wasn't sure. He said he read that because he's been away so long that they may make him wait as he doesn't live there and hasn't lived there for 11 years?

Him and his wife (who is Welsh) are returning to Sydney. Well, he's returning andshe's moving there. They have two kids aged 1 and 3. He is from Sydney but has lived out of Ozzieland for almost 11 years. They don't have jobs to go to yet, (I konw) and he was wondering if he would be entitled to any child benefits initially? I told him to phone the department invovled!

He said that because he has lived out of Oz for 11 years he may have to wait for two years before he may be due any child benefits, if he is at all. Does anyone konw?

Hi and welcome have only been in perth since May and although very early days Marisa is spot on!

We are a family of four age 36-40 with two children 12 and 14 and we love it! Wish I had made the move when the children were small however our finacial situation is much better now!

It took us 9 months to gain a 189 vis and we emigrated 6 months after receiving it once all our lose ends were tied up,selling house etc!

 

No visit prior for us we just thought the cost of a holiday would be a good start to a house deposit and what in reality was a 4 week holiday going to show us!

 

We have done so much more as a family here and we are in winter and find we dont spend so much time warching tv ( mainly because its rubbish lol)

 

In my experience cost of living is less than UK. Iam a nurse and I earn much more here however we are renting for a while to ensure we are all happy before we committ to buying but houses do seem expensive howevet you get much more for your money than uk!

 

Not sure about education at the minute its early days but there does seem to be a lot of disruption in classes in the public school my two attend however they are both happy there and doing ok academically so will monitor this!

 

Crime is much the same , research the areas you want to live and maybe yor friends can guide you! We have no family in perth but a few friends which really helped us settle!

 

Overall we miss the family tremedously but our lives are so much better and in reality we will spend more quality time with them on visits than we do in the UK as its taken for granted! The inlaws have visited already for a four week period and even in winter they can see why we have made the move they return in jan for 5 weeks!

 

I have come to the conclusion that i will never be 100% settled here in perth without our family as something will always be missing however the life we have here is so much better ( so far) and this is what i want for our kids and their kids abd so on, someobe has to make the move to build up a family connection here right haha.

 

I say do it life is to short for regrets we talked about it for 15 years prior and knew if we didnt try we would regret it! Our thoughts were we will try if it doesnt work out we will go back and start again a bit tricky with my two due to their ages and education but they both agreed to the move and to the fact if we returned a year later they would go back a year in the UK! We ensured we had enough in the bank as emergency for flight home and i also got a 1 year career break in Uk so for me this would be relatively easy!

 

One bit of advice is to save, save and save it takes so much pressure off knowing you have money in the bank and things can take a while for eg job interview 17 th july start sate 12 sept i have agency work so not a problem.

 

Good luck to you and if i can help let me know! Lifes to short for regrets! Xx

what a lovely balanced positive post. I really enjoyed reading this and glad things are really working out.

Sorry you find yourself in this situatin, I can see that you would both be feeling a lot of stress. I do agree with others saying about counseling. Get all off your chest, both of you, and clear the slate.

I know you feel very drawn to the UK however and aren't saying you are manipulative (you entioned your husband said this) however you do use very emotive words

"depriving the kids of their grandmother" - what about depriving your kids of their Australian grandparents/Aussie family?

"But I made a bargain. The fact is that the bargain will make me utterly miserable" - is your husband miserable as you reneged on the 'bargain'

"I just don't want my babies to suffer" - what will happen to them to make them 'suffer' in Austarlia?

Do you say this to your husband? It just sounds very emotive and I can see, if you did say this, that he might think you're trying to only see the bad things of his side. Do you say these things in front of / to the children?

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying your'e a horrible person - not at all. You're clearly a very loving mum and want the best for your family and kids. You just want happiness after all, who doesn't! It just seems that you only see one side or at least only happiness with only one side.

I think the couselling is probably the best idea. GEt it all out in front of someone who can help. Who knows which way the future will lead you but I wish you both the very most of happiness. It would be a very difficult position to be in - and I imagine many have been there before.

I've now read this thread a few times. Taken all in and what I've realised, everyone is different and enjoys/dislikes different things. You can't convince someone to like the beach, or outdoor lifestyle, or a UK supermarket or UK beer... if they don't. I enjoy reading posts where people give their own experience, goods and bad... I enjoy less people trying to convince other people one country is better or worse than another country - due to their own bad or good experience. Everyone will have a different experience. You'll drive yourself crazy if you read posts and make a decision to move or not to move based on someone else's experience !

And thikign more about it, you could draw up a pro and con list for Australia and the UK and I'm pretty confident the lists would be level.

Go if you need to go, stay if you need to stay - but do it on your own experience, not others.

We easily fitted a king sized diven bed in the Large movecube plus lots of extras.

 

Regarding the extra costs for Door-to-door. Are these custom fees? Or additional extras? Our cube has landed in the uk and we have paid the £360 for custom fees (as expected from quote and telephone conversations). I will be mad if there try to charge us more now!

Thanks Stacy053

Cheers for a great pot mate. this has been really really helpful, cheers.

I tried to use their site to see what size crate we could use, but it wan't working for me. Do you think a king size mattress and bed frame would fit? Just normal king size, not exteneded king. pLus a baby's cot and a whole hep of other cr£p we will fill it with! Mainly worried about the king bed and frame. Any help appreciated mate.

Also, I read the rest of the posters messages and some people say they had to pay extra to get it to their actual door. Did you have to pay extra?

Just sharing my experience with Sevenseas and the Movecube so far. It has arrived in the UK and although they quoted me for door-to-door, and it states this on my invoice that I paid before leaving Oz, they have just charged me an extra 40% to transfer it from the hub/port to my address. Not exactly door-to-door - very misleading. I was going to fight it but it's in the small print on their website only (they did not confirm this extra charge on the phone or in any email I have from them). I wanted to flag this so others aren't caught out like we were. Door-to-door is door to port and they will charge you an additional amount of approx $550 once it arrives in the UK.

 

Also, the move cube remains in the delivery truck when you are packing it and there is no lift or step - I struggled to help my husband as I couldn't lift the heavier items that high so he had to carry heavy or fairly large items while climbing into a high-level truck. It was a struggle to fill the crate for this reason since we struggled to reach and Sevenseas provided no equipment to help. Make sure you have some helping hands (but having little advance notice of the delivery time makes this difficult during working hours) and have a step ladder ready.

 

I've been really disappointed in the service so far. I still have another two weeks to wait before they deliver it - I received an email yesterday stating it was ready for delivery but this was the earliest date I could get.

 

Sorry to sound so negative but I want to share my experience so people can make an informed decision. If I knew what I know now I would have used an alternative service.

Can you collect yourself from port if you hired a truck / van big enough?

So how come now I'm here as soon as night falls I am practically on the brink of panic about the enormity of leaving a happy secure life in UK to be here with nowhere to live, limited funds and not knowing anybody?

I thought I was the only person who experiened this LOL! Positive person - check, get in volved sort of thing - check. Happy thoughts of the future.

Night comes - negative or really just not so positive thoughts creep in. What ifs, the bad what ifs. What in the seriously f are we doing...

Decide each night - nope, definitely should stay.

Come the morning, things seem a bit more positive. During the day more and more positive - this is a great move!

Night falls......

It must be normal if there are at least two of us!

It's a big big move. But really, what is the worst that can happen. You won't be shot in a cannon to the moon if it doesn't work out.

What a lovely upbeat post. Good on you mate and hope it all works out - please nay sayers don't turn this thread into a 'who is nice and who is not';; it's just a comment from a happy guy

sORRY to tell you this but debts in the UK and Australia can and are chased and enforced. I know of two people who left debt in the UK (less than 20k). They applied for finance (loan, car finance or a store card I think (can't remember which one) and a company in Oz contacted a company in the UK and it went from there. They actually had debt collectors turn up on their doorstep in Oz. I don't know what happened from there tho.

Don't forget about your free 40 Singapore Dollars.

http://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/promotions/transit-promotion/

You have to go to a desk and show your onward flight - has to be with Singapore Airlines and has to be a transit

Ok. So mebbeys I dreamed it... I'm sure I saw a post about possible new changes but can't find it now?