Toots

I like Hertford. The in-laws lived in a small, very old house on the river. Some lovely pubs and places to eat in the town. When my sister lived in London, I used to bounce between her place in Putney and the in-laws in Hertford. Next visit I can go to sister in Edinburgh and the in-laws in Cheshunt.

I don't know the wage but surely the overseas nurses would be paid the same as a UK registered nurse. Hope they won't be treated the same way as some of the overseas nurses in this article. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/mar/27/overseas-nurses-in-the-uk-forced-to-pay-out-thousands-if-they-want-to-quit-jobs

My sister-in-law and husband have just moved from Hertford to Cheshunt. There are regular trains from there into London which takes about 40 mins. In 2019 Cheshunt was named the best place for London commuters to live. It has a lovely 1000 acre park and competitive property prices.

Well done Stormy!! The Galloway region of Scotland (where I'm from) is very short of nurses. In fact there has been a year long campaign to recruit 40 overseas nurses to hospitals in the region. Four arrived very recently. They are all fully trained and well experienced in their own country but need to gain their UK registration to practice. They are to undergo 12 weeks of intensive training to secure their UK NMC registration before they can fully practice as a nurse.

There are dozens of furniture stores in Sydney from cheap and cheerful to high end. Middle of the road is Harvey Norman.

For a lot of people struggling with getting work here in Australia, homesickness, and missing family and friends would make it a very easy choice to return to the UK and settle happily back into life there. You read posts on this forum from people who have done just that. I'm in constant touch with my sister and friends in Scotland and the north of England and they do whinge about 'things' that happen there but then I whinge about things here so not much different really. Nowhere is perfect. It's a difficult choice for the OP. I don't think any of us can really give them advice.

@Lavers is a fairly recent migrant to Adelaide. Hopefully he can give you an idea of the current rental situation in Adelaide.

When my 2 boys were toddlers I knew a young woman from the UK whose little boy went to the same playgroup as my 2 did. She was always very quiet and I thought a bit shy but seemed happy enough. She fell pregnant with her 2nd child and her MIL from the UK came over to help her out as she was exhausted looking after her toddler. MIL did most of the housework and often brought her little grandson to the play group as well. One day, when she arrived back at the house after playgroup her DIL wasn't at home. Nobody knew where she was. She had packed a suitcase and gone to the airport and off she went never to be seen again in Australia. She left her little son behind and we heard later she was quite happily bringing up her new baby back in Essex. We were totally shocked. Didn't see it happening. I also know of women who have been able to return to the UK permanently with their child/children minus their OH but that was only when the OH was OK about it.

It's also common for the young ones in Tasmania to go to universities on the east coast of the mainland.

There has been an influx of people over the past few years. The price of houses has shot up. Four couples we have been friends with for over 30 years have all moved to Tassie from NSW. Three of them on the NW coast and one on the south west coast. All very happy here. The secondary school has just had a large extension built on the school grounds but many of the locals send there children to the local private school.

That must make you feel a lot more happy knowing your husband would prefer to be in the UK in old age. You can make plans for the future where you will be content. I am hoping we don't need to go into a nursing home here in our dotage though the one near us is very nice as far as nursing homes go. We live down the boring, quiet area of town where there are lot of long term residents over retirement age. They are all fit and active but a few of them have "helpers" who do cleaning and take them to medical appointments etc. I can't compare aged care here with the UK as nobody in my family every required it. I did once visit a friend's Granny in Scotland who was in a care home and it was very depressing - probably because she was very depressed. I am more positive about Australia and don't mix with whining, selfish people. I find the people I know here in Tassie are very down to earth and just quietly enjoy life. I'm sure there are shallow, money obsessed people here too. I just don't know any of them. The cost of housing has shot up here and it is making it hard for young locals to buy a house of their own. The same thing is happening in my home town in Scotland. I think the difference in our opinions is that you hate living in Australia and I'm happy here ...................... well in Tassie anyway.

You are fortunate to have a medical practice so close to home. I don't know if it is a Tasmanian problem. Could be just this town. I believe a new clinic is opening very soon but I am more than happy with our GP.

There are 5 GP surgeries in Devonport and a person I met the other day (new to town) who tried in vain to make an appointment with a GP in all 5 was informed they are not taking any new patients. She managed to find a GP in Ulverston which is about a 15 minute drive from here. There are quite a few incomers to this town and it would appear the GP surgeries have their hands full with current patients.

I don't think you should worry about your children. My siblings and I were brought up on a hill sheep farm in Scotland with no prospects of employment there unless you went into farming, forestry or fishing. All of us left the area after school (me) and uni (my siblings). Between us we worked in many different countries. My sons born and brought up in Australia have been working and living overseas for the past few years. If your children have a sense of adventure they will do the same. The world is their oyster.

Very sound advice especially about not selling the UK home until sure where the OP knows where she wants to live.

I only have good memories of Perth even though we were there for just over 3 years. I couldn't live in a large city now. Living on the edge of a large town is busy enough for me. Love escaping to the country .................. far away from the hordes of people. We were away for a couple of days over this Easter weekend. Went off the beaten track on the way to visit friends. Even my husband who for most of his life was a city boy is at the stage where he really can't be bothered anymore with people bustling around him - apart from friends of course. Each to his own though.

We do the same. Thank goodness and touch wood neither of us need to see the GP often. I see a cardiologist in Launceston once a year now. Used to be twice a year. I know three people currently having cancer treatment. Two for breast cancer and one for bowel cancer. The all have their treatment at the cancer centre in the north west regional hospital in Burnie. I also have a neighbour who had her cancer treatment during Covid. I don't think anyone missed their treatment here in the north in 2020 and 2021.

Visiting friends near the little town of Wilmot. Stopping in Sheffield on the way home. Good views of Mount Roland.

I also found (it may have changed) England and Scotland humid in warm weather. Yes, a lot of hotels in Singapore and other Asian places have the air-con far too cold. Always need a cardi.

Friends were in Hobart last weekend and they said your Botanical Gardens are looking lovely.

We spent a couple of hours on this lovely autumn day in a large public garden near Burnie.

We had three summers in Perth and some days it reached 40C but most days it hovered around the lower 30s. Then we moved to Sydney and I found (until I got used to it) the humid Sydney summers harder to cope with. I wouldn't survive in Darwin or Qld ............................ well I could but I would hate it. We also, a lot of years ago had a 40C Christmas day in Melbourne.

They've had a shocking time of it on large areas of the east coast. A friend who lives in Lismore was flooded out so she has been staying with her daughter in Sydney for the time being. It has been raining in Sydney for most of the summer too. My next door neighbours are heading off to Qld next month until September as they do most years. Surely by then the weather will be much improved. I'm sure you will enjoy the remainder of your time with your Mum. It will hard to leave her.

Queensland – which is most dependent on coal for its electricity generation – experienced the biggest annual wholesale increases.

Germany apparently pays the most for electricity. Report from February 2022. https://www.energycouncil.com.au/analysis/international-electricity-prices-how-does-australia-compare/