I'd echo Quoll's advice on this. Our children are only on loan to us and sooner or later will need to strike out on their own. Your son will have the option of having two countries that he can call home, quite apart from other new horizons that might open up to him elsewhere. Can you really be expected to stay put here when he might take off for pastures newer at any time? You've got a life to lead too! My oldest (16) is dead set on living in the UK (her country of birth) when she's able to, whereas our youngest (11) looks appalled at the thought of ever leaving Melbourne. At some stage my wife and I are going to have face the prospect of at least one of them living somewhere that's a long-haul flight to get to. I came here to give them a better life than we could back home, and part of that was the chance to explore what this region has to offer or to go wherever the travel bug takes them. That's up to them, but there's no way I'm going to stay here on the off-chance they might come back to Melbourne for a time. I've made sacrifices to ensure they have a good life here, but you do reach a cut-off point when you conclude "well, this is my time now."

A very brave and honest post mate. I've been following your story with some interest particularly as my best mate here has made a similar decision after 18 years in Australia, and a lot of his experiences chime with yours. Hope it works out for you. As you say, 'one step, one day at a time.'

I think this has easily been the coolest and wettest summer that I've known in 12 years in Melbourne. Only had to have the air-conditioning on a handful of times and there's been lots of days when it's struggled to get into the low 20's. Works for me! Makes the rush hour public transport crush a bit more bearable, keeps the electricity bills down and means I get decent sleep. Gotta love a mild summer!

Try and keep it respectful eh? You're one of the first to cry foul about 'racism' directed at Australians on these forums, so maybe keeping a lid on your own prejudices might help?

The thought of you being stuck in the UK against your will is something that I’ll drink to!

Two nations separated by very different lifestyles. Wouldn’t have it any other way!

I'm in Melbourne. Funny thing about living here is that you don't have to have an interest in the place to have a nice life here. You can kind of dip into the place as much or as little as you like, and people don't really seem to care. Melbourne's possibly a bit different to other parts of Australia as there are a lot of foreign nationals here, and a lot of them are transient - here for a few years before heading off somewhere else. At least, that's my experience with some of the families that I've met through my kids' schools. As a result, I don't think foreigners here face the same expectation to 'fit in' that they might face in other parts of Australia.

Lived in Australia 11 years - came here because my Australian wife was miserable in the UK - and homesickness is an everyday occurrence. I find that I’ve learned to live with it, but it’s like a wound that never really heals. Sometimes it hurts a little less, and sometimes (Christmas, family birth days etc) the ache is a little stronger. Best remedy is a trip home. I generally have 2 trips every 3 years, one with family, one without. That way, I get to see all the other people I love, and to reconnect with who I am. That’s vital for me - the familiarity of the countryside, the bustle of the cities, British humour, and that sense of connectedness. That feeling of belonging. I’ve never managed to establish that in Australia, and in truth, I never expected to, but a person needs it in their life I believe. I also live a very anglicised life here. Outside of my wife and kids, my interests are British politics, current affairs and sports. No disrespect to Australia, but I’ve never been able to develop an interest in the equivalents here. One of the advantages that ex-pats today have over their predecessors is that the internet has shrunk the world and put it on a screen in front of you. Nowadays you can watch British tv programmes, news and sport at the click of a mouse, and that makes being a foreigner a little easier too.

Really interested to read this. It sounds like life in those days was generally better for Australians by pretty much any index you could measure it, so, why did sucessive Australian governments aggressively follow policies designed to increase the population? Was it to create a pool of cheap labour, or to drive up property prices, or was there a fear that that golden age you referenced was unsustainable without a bigger population with the skills to drive it forwards? Or, to be Sydney-specific, was the problem that when you (the Australian Government that is) went big on immigration, the result was that the newcomers headed to major cities like Sydney and Melbourne, rather than areas with smaller populations who probably needed them more? As a result, cities like Sydney overheat and your commuting time doubles. I've lived in Melbourne for 11 years, and the city has changed for the worst in that short time in my opinion. As a newcomer, I'm part of the problem. I'm a Social Worker, and there are any number of Australians who could do my job as well as I do, but with an Australia wife, moving out here and getting a job was ridiculously easy for me - relative to what other foreigners have to go through that is. I'm just not sure what Australia has gained by growing it's population in this way? By letting people like me in? The same could be said of the UK. Sure, the economy might be stronger, but does that necessarily improve the lot of the average family who find themselves struggling to find affordable child-care, the first time buyers, or the guy whose commute used to be 75 mins, and now finds it's doubled? I don't think it's unreasonable for people to wonder what the point of 'Big Australia' was, because it sounds like you were all better off back in that 70's golden age.

I think if you behave respectfully towards others then it's not unreasonable to expect it in return.

Possibly I am a little over-sensitive. I've been exposed to a fair amount of 'Pommy-bashing' over the years from my wife's family and friends and my work-colleagues. As a result, I've learned to keep my head down and to avoid unpleasantness. I'm a natural introvert anyway, but when I'm in a social situation and people start with this stuff I just go quiet, or if I can, leave!

I'm glad that it's just a media beat-up Toots, and that ordinary people don't see Brits that way. Rivalry is one thing, but ultimately, you've got to respect other nations.

I’m surprised that Australian cricketers think that the English media have it in for them. I’ve always thought that the tone that the red tops back home took was pretty respectful when it came to the Australians. There’s rivalry for sure, but also recognition of the many great teams and outstanding players that they’ve produced in recent decades. Maybe I’ve got that wrong? I gave up on following the Australian media years ago due to what I consider to be inherent anti-British sentiment. I don’t know if that’s representative generally of how Australians see us, but after a while I found the snidey digs and put downs a bit depressing. After the World Cup win a couple of my work colleagues were desperate to show me the front cover of The Age newspaper which went on at length about England’s luck / undeserved winners/ poor New Zealand etc. and had a very unpleasant tone to it all. I’m sure the Australian media will be gearing up to burn effigies of Stuart Broad in the coming weeks, so I’m glad I’ll be restricting myself to the BBC and The Guardian’s coverage!

That’s a fair point. What’s purported to be ‘Indian’ food in the UK is essentially Bangladeshi food, westernised. At least, that’s what an Indian mate of mine back home is fond of telling me! I always felt bad that I enjoyed the curries we’d eat down the local tandoori more than the ones he’d cook for me! Just shows what a pleb I am!