EvieV

Know it well. We holidayed at Calamansac for years.

My parents are on the Helford River which is beautiful and so quiet outside of school holidays!

They've just gone back for a holiday. My husband has a lot of clients in SE Asia so he's able to work in a better timezone, my son (Year Eight) isn't going back to school till September so is on his 3rd month of home-schooling, and my daughter (Year 11) has finished school, her GCSEs having been cancelled. Makes so much sense for them to be returning and staying with their Aussie family for 2 months in a considerably more Covid-safe country.

Unfortunately my favourite dog-walking beach is only accessible from Exmouth where all the problems have been so we've been sticking to local woodlands lately, although we may venture to Dartmoor soon to explore some creeks. The family are just visiting although I expect my 13-year-old surfer son won't want to return after 2 months in Sydney

We're actually just a couple of miles out of Exeter so we can escape via the M5 or airport (when it's open!). Some of the villages here are very insular, we've found.

I miss swimming in the warm ocean! I've only swum twice here in the last 18 months and to be honest, I wouldn't be going anywhere near the beaches at the moment - what I've seen on social media of crowds stacked up so close together on a tiny stretch of beach looks just horrendous. Coincidentally, my husband and children are back in Australia now. They're on day 3 of a 14-day mandatory quarantine in a Sydney hotel but we decided it was worth the effort as it's been such a miserable 3 months here in the UK and with the kids not going back to school till September, why not?! Moving just before a global pandemic has unfortunately not benefited our family at all, especially when they see the life they left behind in Australia has been barely affected.

Thanks for posting this update. We're in Devon, having moved from Sydney's Central Coast 16 months ago. Like you, we opted to choose somewhere relatively similar in terms of outdoors lifestyle, with surf beaches and beautiful landscapes around us. We live in a 200-year-old thatch and cob house with sloping floors and low ceilings. In Sydney, we were in an open-plan brick house with a pool ... It's been a tricky move with teenage children and the current lockdown hasn't helped but on the whole, we're enjoying life here. Cornwall is beautiful - my parents live there. It was just too far off the beaten track for us to consider a move there though.

Can I ask how long it took to receive this text, from the Sydney biometric appointment? Was it spouse visa? We're also waiting - 9 weeks now.

Has anyone used Hanrob kennels before? Our dog is staying there for a few days courtesy of Jetpets, prior to his flight from Sydney to London, but I'm a bit concerned that it will be a really noisy and stressful environment for him. He's a very nervous dog at the best of times.

Just wondering if anyone has applied for a spouse visa to the UK, then paid $95 at the VFS Global biometric testing centre to keep their passport while the visa application is processed? We have been advised that the turnaround time for a spouse visa is 10 weeks (if we pay for a priority application). Has anyone applied for the visa, paid the fee to keep hold of their Aussie passport, travelled to the UK on said passport as a tourist and then returned to collect the visa 10 weeks later?

We decided to move back 5 months ago. Sold the house in 9 days and that has been the hardest part so far - getting the house ready, tarting it up, decluttering, organising shippers, pet transport etc. Now we're just waiting for settlement & for the children to finish school. We leave on 30th Dec, 6 months from having made the decision.

Read with interest as we're about to do the same: ship our belongings, dog, 2 children ... to the UK after 19 years in Oz. Have rented a holiday cottage for 3 months until our shipping container arrives but was hoping to buy a house in that time so that everyone could be settled quickly. Will look into a Halifax mortgage ... can anyone recommend any others? The coffee may be bad but I bet their cream teas are better than the cream-in-a-can "Devonshire" ones on offer here...

This is us too right now. Replacing carpets tomorrow then the real estate photos are scheduled for Tuesday. Grateful for a long weekend in which to declutter, although I'm sure I'll be in for a few tense negotiations with the kids over what is actually "essential" and "non-essential" bedroom items ... Kazla, I too have a 15 year old whose birthdate is one month off the cut-off date for current Year 10 so she should technically be going into UK Year 11. (She's currently in Australian Year 9 and has been at the same school since kindy). I've spoken to a few schools in the UK about her joining the year below her chronological year group - the majority of them have the infuriating "computer says no" attitude. However, two have agreed that to join Year 11 from overseas in January, then sit GCSEs in May is madness and will allow her to join Year 10. You will need to contact the schools individually and then apply to the County Council (if going state) no more than 8 weeks before you want your child to start.

We're using a holiday company (bluechipholidays.co.uk) to search for a long-term let, but then we have the benefit of moving to a holiday spot area in low season so there's more to choose from. Plus you don't have to worry about registering with utilities/council tax etc as it's all inclusive.

Hoping someone can recommend some study books for UK Year 10? We're moving back to the UK early next year and my daughter will be sitting a grammar school entrance exam for entry to Year 10. Does anyone know of any maths & English books I can buy online to help her prepare for the test & the different syllabus?