s713

That's a good point. The height of summer in Perth was waking up at 5am because it's cracking the flags already, walking the dogs at 6am because it's a 'mild' 28 degrees, going to work or, at the weekend, going to the shops or pictures to avoid the heat, heading home for 35 degree heat in the dark at 7pm, putting the a/c on (or the fan as the a/c is way too cold) to sleep. It's not always like that, spring and autumn are great, and there are good winter days. But when the summer's like that, once you're used to it, it ceases to be much fun. My experience anyway, I know some people like that.

Those days when people say it's 40 degrees, they're pointless; that's way too hot. When I first got there I remember sending my mates a message saying "41 again today", it was a novelty. Once that wears off, and you're left to deal with your day-to-day life, you realise 40 degrees is pointless. You can't do anything in it other than look for some respite. If it's 10 degrees, you can put a coat on and go out. If it's 40 degrees, you're sat in the house with the a/c on.

I lived in Perth for 11 years and, once you're used to it, it's cold at night for nigh-on half a year. I worked on the Sunny Coast in winter for a bit and that was lovely, 25 in the day. But I expect that the summer can be too hot. With hindsight, I wouldn't advise anyone to relocate just for the weather, you'll still end up moaning about it, just a different moan. There's a lot of time where it's either too hot or too cold. In Perth spring and autumn are the best months.

I'm glad you said that, I totally agree. Most people think I'm mad.

I'm glad you said that, I totally agree. Most people think I'm mad.

Maybe that's the problem. I'm not just talking about this from an applicant's point of view. I know how my company (Telstra) viewed recruitment.

I found ageism much more prevalent in Australia. Bunnings launched a campaign to get older workers in but, in the industry I work in, IT, Aussie companies were very judgemental. Being over 50 and applying for any job in the UK is much more accepted.

I agree with the 'stick it out' sentiment. I was the opposite of you, I loved it from the off, it was 3 or 4 years later I questioned where I should be. I think once you get the basics sorted you should be able to enjoy an extended period where you're able to decide whether it's for you and yours or not. Your kids are young enough to ping-pong should you decide a couple of years in that you need to revert but, give it a chance. Maybe one caveat though, don't buy a house whilst you're undecided, costs an arm and leg to buy and sell.

I don't send money over. We moved our various UK pensions over to Australia when we thought we'd be staying there forever and consolidated them into two super accounts. So now, we have some fairly sizeable money over there, but we've moved back to the UK and, obvs, you can't transfer it back. I don't really know what we should do for the best once that money reaches our 'preservation age' i.e. 60. If we lump sum it and transfer it back, the tax man will take a third. If we pay ourselves a wage each year to avoid tax, it becomes messy and might not be enough to live on each year. Bit of a quandary. But what I'm certainly not going to do is exacerbate the problem and send more money over. Plus, I work in local Govt. here now and have a good pension from that.

It’s important to know the facts about why CT rises year-on-year and why I expect it will rise by another 5% next year. Implemented in 2010 as part of George Osborne’s austerity drive, the Tories cut the annual Central Government grant that each council receives by 50%, sometimes 60% (they target councils) meaning councils have to find tens of millions of pounds each year from other sources, just to keep services going. Generally speaking, the only means available to councils to generate income are council tax/business rates, planning permissions and private enterprise. So, you’ll find your local council hiking council tax and rates each year, passing planning applications that they might not otherwise and spending public money on outside investments. A regular income is required to keep public services afloat. Some councils now only provide statutory services (the services they have to provide by law), they’re not able to provide anything else. Council services are things like waste & recycling (which could be black bins, blue bins, whatever bins, assisted collections, commercial waste, bulk collections), environment services (street cleaning, bins, trees, leaves, shrubs, graffiti, litter, fly-tipping, noise complaints, smoke/air pollution), traffic and travel services (blue badges, h-bars, disabled parking bays, traffic management, traffic lights etc.), highways services (potholes, kerb damage, flooding, rubbish, lights and lamps), licensing (business licences, taxis, food/take-away), rebates and benefits (CT itself, Covid grants, cost-of-living grants), planning services (highways, private), schools (a minefield), housing and regulations, registrars (births, deaths, marriages), adult social care (massive expense), children’s social care (even more massive expense), democratic services (elections etc.), foster kids, community services (parks, gardens, fields), public health (enormous in the last 2-3 years), I could go on. There’s a lot to pay for. Some councils do it better than others but, all are stretched. Cleverest thing the Tories ever did cutting that grant, served to turn everyone onto their council rather than who was actually making the cuts – THEM. None of us like it but, this is the UK in 2022 thanks to 12 years of public service cuts. And when you move to Australia, not all of that will be covered in your 'rates', some of it you will have to cover separately e.g. schools. Just thought I'd chip in

I lived in Perth for 11 years and I was no great fan of it. I just wonder what you've seen in Adelaide that inspires difference. I worked in Adelaide a lot, for RDNS, and I have to say even I preferred Perth.

Good luck with whatever happens, honestly. x

It's going to be difficult for you this. We lived in Perth for 11 years and I wanted to leave after 3 or 4 but my wife didn't. I had resigned myself to a life I didn't want until, surprisingly to me, she also reached the same conclusion about 7 or 8 years in. Before that, the path in front of me was (a) live a life I didn't want to, or (b) leave my wife and go back, which I never would have done. I suspect that choice is played out a lot. It's very tough being a migrant, the downsides don't get discussed enough. When you have a foot in two camps, for most people, it never leaves you. Reading your post really made me feel for you, your husband won't make this work by the sounds of it.

My favourite ones we've done since we've been back are (1) East Yorks coast e.g. started off in Scarborough which is OK but Robin Hood's Bay, Staithes, Whitby, Filey, Runswick Bay & Cayton Bay (both unbelievable), (2) Settle (gorgeous), (3) Anglesey is remarkable, (4) Cornwall simply ace. The Lakes is superb but ridiculously busy. Bakewell and the Peak District is also superb.

1 day rain here NW England this week. Enjoying the weather to be honest. Crisp and sunny till mid-afternoon, perfect walking weather. Anyone moaning about this for winter is a loon IMO.