bustamove

Hey Nijallo, Glad to hear your move went well. We have only 8 weeks to go before we leave Melbourne and I'm starting to get the wobbles. We have such good friends here. It will be hard to leave them. I noticed you had an offer accepted on a house after only a month. That's amazing. Congrats. I'd love to buy straight away but didn't think we could until we were back in the country 6 months. OH doesn't have a job yet and isn't looking until we get there. Going to take a month or so off to get settled and spend time with the kids. Did you already have a job? Was it easy enough to get mortgage?

Hey @MissMissingEurope I could have written your post. We sound as if we're in the same boat. So many people think we're crazy, but most of them are really supportive no we've made the decision. It took us about a year to really make up our mind. My kids are 6 and 8, and the 8 year old is so excited she's been telling everyone at school - before we had! We've just recently officially announced it and now have the ball rolling. We're going in June. Come live in Bristol with us! (That's the only crazy thing, we're moving to a place we don't know, but my sis is 1.5hrs down the road and there are daily flights to Northern Ireland where the rest of my family is.) We live in Melbourne now, and love it, but I need more cold and snow! Still, I also need something similar to the Melbourne scence. Researched the ass out of where we should live and Bristol ticks all the boxes. It rains more than here, but I figure nowhere can be as bad as NI so we're taking our chances. I say just do it! If your kids want to come back here when they're older they can make that decision themselves. Do what you have to do for you now. Good luck!

We've made the decision to go back to the UK too (after umming and ahhing for a year), and now the decision is made it's exciting. Our thing is we'll be leaving an awesome family here. My OH is Australias and his family are amazing. BUT we've been here 7 years longer than we planned and my family are missing out on seeing the kids grow up. AND I really miss Europe. Still love it here in Melbourne though and still torn if it's the right decision. But it's right for now and everyone's keen to do it so we're going with an open mind... if we decide to come back, well, that's the way we'll roll. Good luck with the move!

Thanks so much everyone for your replies. Sorry it's taken me a few days to get back to you. @snifter Cheers, Henleaze is one of the places we're looking at. But yeah, it is expensive so hoping the prices won't keep climbing! @VERYSTORMY Your wife sounds a bit like me. Glad to hear she's happy with the weather there. @caramac Really appreciate your response. Good to know you've lived in both Melbourne and Bristol so can compare. Sounds like Bristol is a good choice for us. @ramot Great to know you enjoy the city when you visit. We are looking at Westbury on Trim/Henleaze/ Bishopston. I know it's crazy expensive, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than where we live in Melbourne! At least in Bristol we will be able to buy in a good area. Here, we have completely missed the boat. You need at the very least $1.5million (£870,000 ish) to get a 3 bedder in our area, and the way they're building the houses now that's without a garden or decent outside space. It's bonkers. So Bristol looks cheap in comparison! @LKC Good to hear your kids have settled in so well. That's reassuring. Can't believe the weather in Scotland has been that good. You are lucky. @Bristolman I can totally cope with rain once or twice a week! @BacktoDemocracy Haha, you don't think I've already studied all those charts? It's still better to hear from people who live in the city, I think. Yeah, I know it's cray expensive, but it's still waaaay cheaper than Melbourne. That being said, you could of course move to Whoopwhoop on the outskirts of Melbourne and easily afford something but that's not for us. Not looking for city centre living exactly, but somewhere close to a city centre that has its own stuff going on in the suburbs. We're 7kms from the CC now, but don't really need to go into town much as there's so much happening on our doorstep... also what is making this moving decision all the harder! @bunbury61 Not even thinking about the countryside or village life, as I said, we need to be in the thick of it... which is why we're looking at Bristol (or busy, vibrant towns with lots going on). Also, don't want to commute for ages... life is too short to spend hours in traffic/stuck on a crowded train. DH has a Vespa so he dodges the traffic and gets anywhere pretty quickly. Thanks all!

Hi everyone, I've been reading posts on here for over a year about moving back to the UK. So much useful advice, but I'm still unsure about a few things and hope you wonderful people can help guide my decision. My partner and I moved to Melbourne for 1 year 8 years ago. He's from Melbs; his dad was dying at the time. We thought. He's still here and doing ok. We now have two kids (6 and 8) and I really want to move back to the UK. My family are all there. I'm really close to them. My mum and dad are in their late 70s and missing out on getting to know my kids. (We've been home twice). My brother and sister now have kids of their own, who we'd love to get to know. I love my Aussie family and friends, have a bloody lovely life here, but don't want to be here forever. Oh, and can't afford a house where we live. No willing to move further out. Would prefer to start over in the UK. Hubby is all for it. He loves Europe. I was the one who had to convince him to live in Oz for a while when his dad got sick. I figure now is a good time to move back as my kids are young enough to be able to slip into life in a new school and new community. My DH and I, however, are scared we'll find it difficult to fit into a new community. BUT, the longer we stay here the harder it will be to move back. And after reading so many posts about families with older children being split - it's not something I want to even contemplate. Our main problem is where to live. We used to live in London, but neither of us want to do that again. We're seriously thinking of Bristol. We could afford a good home there in a good area near decent schools. My main issue is the weather. I know, I know, there are lots of people who don't think that should matter, but it does to me. I grew up in Northern Ireland where it rains pretty much all year and I was miserable. Couldn't wait to leave. I've heard it rains just as much in Bristol. Anyone in the know who could verify this, or not. Bristol seems like a mini Melbourne. It's got good cafes. restaurants, festivals and museums; the vibrant lifestyle we're looking for. We're not good with suburbia. We also need to live somewhere that's easy to fly to N Ireland and less than two hours driving time to Dorset (where my sister lives). Jobs are important too. DH is in IT and I'm in publishing so figure Bristol is a good option. As I said, it's just the idea that it will rain so much puts me off. Please Bristolians, tell me I've no idea what I'm talking about and the weather is just fine and dandy! (Our other options for a place to live would be Oxford or Cambridge... open to hearing what they're like too).