MelT

We are moving back next month after being in Australia for 13 years. It has been a hard decision. Like many others we have never felt settled and have been home sick since 2008.. I would get legal advice re: ex as a very good friend of ours has just won a 5 year court battle (v traumatic and expensive) to get sole parental responsibility and move back to the uk with her son. Although the child is only aged 7. I understand the courts consider the childs wishes as they get older. Best to cross the ts and dot the is so that your plans to go home are not jepardised at the last minute. I hope all goes to plan and you make the move without too many hurdles.

Absolute nonsense. I have just re-read the post and it is not in the slightest bit racist. Can't people just be happy for a positive outcome for someone whatever country they live in?

That's a little harsh. I do not find the comments on here racist. Just sharing life experience..

Hi, Just wondering if anyone has moved back to the uk and been able to transfer their private health insurance so pre existing conditions are still covered. Thankyou:)

That's wonderful news :) Great to hear the move has gone so well :)

We moved to Australia 13 years ago and initially had simular feelings about the move as yourself.. However i don't think we envisage how we may feel in the long run. We change over time and the things that are important to us may change over time too.... We are moving back to the uk in August. I know it wont be easy, but we will appreciate things more about the uk that perhaps we used to take for granted. Hoping you settle well and enjoy the time in your new home.

Hi, Yes we are the same :) moving this August... just negotiating the sale of the house and trying not to keel over with the stress... to top things off i have surgery 4 wks before flying home.. and now hubbie has injured knee nd will be doing thre same.. making the most of our private health insurance before we leave lol... We are excited too although hubbie is getting a bit panicky about the volume of things we need to sell in the next month including boat and car. Lots of garage sales...

Hi, We are in the final stages, I hope.. of moving back. It has been hard as my parents, after all their talk about how much they wanted to go back have decided to stay here. Whereas, we are still going back home. My parents have now disowned us and have not spoken to us for 6 months.....Our house is on the market; we fly back n August as our son starts school in September. Even our 14 year old son who has spent most of his life in Australia (although, has an English accent) feels a sense of belonging and more accepted in the UK. He had taster days at his new school in January and loved it so much, I have never seen him so content. It is a small private school that support children with dyslexia/learning difficulties and ADHD. It certainly isn't going to be easy making this move, we still have to find jobs etc.. It will be worth it in the end. Australia has been good to us in some ways, but it just isn't home. We decided we had to make the move now or never as the longer we left it the harder it will be to get jobs as we get older. Also We could not leave it any later otherwise our son would not be able to complete his GCSE's... then that makes things more tricky.. So hence why I say now or never. My husbands family are all in the Uk as are all my family accept for my parents. So my husband is really looking forward to going home. Plus we have close friends we have kept in touch with and have seen on trips home so it will be great to have meaningful friendships again.. Although I am aware things may not be the same as before we left 13 years ago...

Hi, I am in in the process of organising quotes for our move in August... Had various feedback regarding OSS Worldwide Movers which have not been so good. Has anyone used Chess Movers, if so would you recommend them? Or can you recommend another company? Thank you :)

I was quoted $4600 for 1/2 a container (15 cubic metres) and $7500 for a whole container (28 cubic metres) + insurance. The quote was with OSS Worldwide Movers.

I have compiled lists too.. checked them at for the first time in ages at the weekend and surprised by how much we have done. Just need more time and energy. I am hoping to start applying for jobs soon too. Once the house is on the market and we have de-cluttered i will have more time. I have found facebook market place really good for selling items. When i find something that is bot being shipped back i just take a quick picture and put the ad straight on mkt place. Amazing how many bits and pieces i have managed to move on over the last few weeks. We will have a final garage sale at some stage closer to the actual move date. Have you organised the shipping yet? I have a few over the phone quotes, nothing final. Finding the prices a bit scary..

Hope all goes well with the move. Great to hear your plans have all fallen into place. We are not far behind either.. fly back late August/Early September for school starting on the 6th Sept... Just finishing tidying up the house to.put on the market as soon as possible...my feelings of excitement are slowing moving towards feelings of panic.... feel like we are running out of time with only 120 days to go..or so...not that i am counting or anything.. lol..

FYI my food allergy did vanish when i retuned to the uk in 2013 for a holiday and to visit family and friends. That is when i did a food type exlusion diet when i returned to Australia. Also visited in January this year and could eat anything without getting sick. Getting sick generally involves severe stomach pain (the type that makes you cry and sceam) and the need to have immediate access to a toilet for the diarrhea it expels... as well as fighting secondary skin infections whilst the skin bleeds and breaks down. That is why i cannot eat GM foods. Not life threatening but very debilitating. Now my son has developed an allergy to GM too.. not fun listening to your own child crying and sceaming in pain.

Oh dear. That is so sad... I thought playground politics stayed in the playground all those years ago. I was obviously wrong.

I have had serious health issues. Maybe that is why i have decided life is to short to live like a hermit... unless you have lived in someone shoes dont pass judgement.

The UV index here in Qld is extreme. I, as does my son have very fair skin. I have a choice. Stay in Qld living like a hermit because it is too hot, highest skin cancer rate in the world or do something about it. I only moved to Queensland to be closer to my parents. Otherwise we would have stayed in Victoria. Even 8+ years ago in Victoria i was v home sick. Qld has made it worse. As they say nothing ventured nothing gained.

I think you misunderstood. I was providing support to the case that Australia has a harsh climate. The black Saturday fires were less than 1km from us. Our closest friends lost everything. We had friends and their fluffy family large and small find shelter our home for werks after the fires..Many other friends lost many loved ones and a whole community. I had nightmares after that day, like many others have i am sure. I have also lived through 'one' flood in the Uk and i have lived in the UK for over 30 years before moving to Australia. Note, not 'floods' many of...like i have in Australia both in Victoria and Queensland... Although climate chsnge is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events. I wish people would not be so judgemental and assuming. There are many reasons for going back home to the Uk. Family, friends, food, climate, work opportunities, cultural diversity to name but a few. Our decision to move back is based on many factors, none are in isolation. I will make sure that we live high on hill like we did before we left...and not on a flood plain...

Yes i have done my research. Perhaps people will listen in the uk and consider why GM is currently banned. I have hope that my experience may enable me to raise awareness and make a difference. Too late here in Australia.

Actually the main reason for going back is that myself and my son have developed severe allergies to genetically modified food. Banned for human consumption in Europe. Allowed here with no adequate testing for humans to consume in Australia. Mainly all canola, corn and cottonseed derived products. We cannot eat out anywhere and I have to read every supermarket food label (unless made in Europe). It has quite an impact on our daily lives. The climate does not help I have to say.. Developing skin cancer (even though I have always been careful) and increasing temperatures over the last few years in Qld have made us feel like hermits.. You can do all the research in the world but until you have actually lived it you do not how you will manage. Yes there will be somethings I miss about Australia. But the negatives of living here are now out weighing the positives and it is time to go home. I think 13 years is quite a chapter here. I do not see it as a failure. More so a chapter in our lives we have learnt from and will enable us to appreciate things about the uk we would not have done before.

I have experienced the hot very dry heat & wind when i lived in Victoria - part of the weather pattern that comes accross from South Australia.

Thank you for stating your own judgement. I follow this forum as i, like others find it helpful and encouraging. Not for sustaining targeted attacks. I have shared some of my experiences to support various ponts of view.

Look up the black Saturday fires 2009 and the Queensland floods of 2011/2012/2013 (I lived through all..) if you doubt the extreme harsh Australian climate. That is my experience. No I am not bitter and twisted. Australia has been good to us in some ways but it is not home. Counting down the weeks until we move back to the UK - 23 weeks to go....

I have the same feedback from others here in Australia and at home about moving back (we move back in August this year); I reply Australia has been good to us but it isn't home. I try and be positive in my response as people may think we are just winging poms which we see not...

We are returning at the same time and have already secured a place for our son (who is also in Aus Grade 9) at a private school in Kent. He starts grade 9 at the new school on the 6 September. I think the schools are open to being flexible as the syllabus has changed for the GCSE's. It is best to contact the schools directly. I contacted initially by email then by telephone. We finalised the choice of school (with visits and taster days) on a mad planning trip to the UK last month.

I grew up and spent most of my life in the uk and never has issues with 6 months of muddy clothes. Had horses so used to dealing with mud....dressed and cared for my clothes and gear accordingly....We lived in Victoria initially when we moved to Australia. and found the weather including the fires (lived through black Saturday in Victoria) far worse than than the UK. Australia has an unforgiving and extreme climate. I have been in Australia for 13 years now (in Qld for 7) and can't wait to move back home...Everyone appreciates things differently.