What are the main reasons you moved back?

[samdom1]

With a young family Perth will suit you, and if you want to meet people quickly get involved in sports teams.

 

Thanks My hubby, Kids and I have been talking about sports teams..my son loves footy and is in the cricket team at school. My hubby is a keen 5aside footy player too...even though he's far to old lol.... We are moving to nr Brisbane Ipswich!

[Gbye grey sky]

You are posting in "Moving Back To UK" thread. The original poster asked "what are the main reasons you moved back", not "why do you love it here". I think you're missing the point of this thread.

 

As a new member, and planning my move to Oz, MBTTUK is essential reading IMO. I do welcome the balance though as clearly some posters have either had very poor experiences or moved with high expectations which were not realised.

 

It all helps weigh up the pros and cons before moving.

 

David

[jen85]

Now we now where the term 'winging poms' came from!

Did any of the moaners actually visit Oz before they decided to come and live here?

My wife and I have been here for 18 months and love it. Yes, we did check the place out before hand.

 

Let me see now, the positives of living here over UK.

Space. (loads of it)

Roads (just being able to drive to most places without the horrendous traffic)

Weather (probably the best reason for leaving that overcrowded little island)

Salaries (my wife earns approx. 2.5 times more than she did in UK)

People (easy to make freinds and most people friendly and polite - they also have a dislike of scroungers and so called asylum seekers)

Food (far superior to UK, especially meat)

Places to go (I cannot understand why so many poms think that there is nothing to do, and the fact that wherever you go you can always find parking and it's usually free)

 

I could go on and on, however, as you can probably imagine - I love Oz.

 

I guess it depends on where you are from in the UK cause if you comparing a nice english village with suburban Australian then traffic and space do not compare in any way shape or form! Agree with your other points mostly however the salary issue is relative to the cost of living.

[Perthbum]

Now we now where the term 'winging poms' came from!

Did any of the moaners actually visit Oz before they decided to come and live here?

My wife and I have been here for 18 months and love it. Yes, we did check the place out before hand.

 

Let me see now, the positives of living here over UK.

Space. (loads of it). If you live sand..lots of it...the cities are packed.

 

Roads (just being able to drive to most places without the horrendous traffic) worst drivers in the world. And the rads are packed.

Weather (probably the best reason for leaving that overcrowded little island) if you like scorching heat and flies...then rain and cold.

Salaries (my wife earns approx. 2.5 times more than she did in UK) have to be considering the cost of living.

People (easy to make freinds and most people friendly and polite - they also have a dislike of scroungers and so called asylum seekers) Aussies dont really mix with pos that's why so many threads of people finding it hard to make friends.

Food (far superior to UK, especially meat) that is funny...so funny...if you like fast food then yes, the UK has the best chefs in the world and the food is far better and fresher.

Places to go (I cannot understand why so many poms think that there is nothing to do, and the fact that wherever you go you can always find parking and it's usually free) dullsville is the word.

 

I could go on and on, however, as you can probably imagine - I love Oz.

See above

[jay290901]

As a new member, and planning my move to Oz, MBTTUK is essential reading IMO. I do welcome the balance though as clearly some posters have either had very poor experiences or moved with high expectations which were not realised.

 

It all helps weigh up the pros and cons before moving.

 

David

 

 

I agree, this part of the forum is essential reading to get a balance before you make the big move but I stand by my previous comments that the poster was quite vocal mentioning winging poms in a section for MBTTUK and the original question was "what are the main reasons you moved back".

[Tan nomad]

I haven't moved back yet but will very shortly. My wife, dog and I have been here for 10 months now on a 716 visa. We did not own a home in the UK and we had limited savings to live on while trying to get work in Australia. I can possibly last another 2 months.

 

 

It is common knowledge that rents here are high and we needed to get a place that is pet friendly so the rental options were very limited. We would also have needed to sign a lease which would pin me to one area for 6-12 months which would limit employment opportunities. I decided before coming to Australia instead of signing an expensive lease that bound me to one city to get a reasonably priced caravan and towing car, stay in cheap caravan parks on outskirts of the cities and look for work (and also see this amazing country before I started work).

 

 

We started our travels from Melbourne and headed for what we thought would be the ideal place for us based on lifestyle, South East Queensland. We had a great journey up to the Sunshine Coast, found a cheap place to set up camp and after some R&R I started looking for employment. I knew that employment in Brisbane was struggling so I did not expect anything I just tried to get a job.

 

 

I am a degree qualified mechanical engineer and have significant experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device sector. The first mechanical engineering jobs I applied for were not in the medical sector but this didn't bother me as I and many others believe a mechanical engineer can work in any sector. In the UK it is not unusual to work with people that come from different backgrounds like aerospace and automotive. I quickly found out that this is not the case in Australia. Experience in the sector of the job is required not preferred as in the UK. Agents and companies continuously turned me down due to no experience in their sector and the medical device companies in Brisbane did not need anyone. After learning this I thought it was best to head down to Sydney as there are quite a few medical device companies there. We set up camp in the Central Coast (we loved it there). I met with a reputable blue chip employment agent in the city. He thought I had a very strong resume but he told me that there is little opportunity at the moment. Not to be dismayed I carried on looking but no luck. I went to Adelaide and back to Melbourne still no luck. By this time I have applied to many jobs and as one does gets to know the score.

 

 

The practice of advertising jobs that don't exist is rife. I would say over half of jobs on the top job website are fake. I know this happens in the UK too but it is illegal in the UK. I do not know if it is illegal in Australia if it isn't it should be.

 

 

We met a lot of easy going people while camping. In conversations the attitudes about the job situation varied. Grey nomads in my opinion are living in the past and say “your an engineer get a job in mining” or “there’s work for those who want it” or “embellish your CV everyone does it” or “you can walk into any pub in the outback and get a job on the spot” younger people however say “it's tough out there without the right experience or qualifications” or “sign on” or “ go back to the UK and stop taking our jobs!!!!”.

 

 

This isn't the first time I have immigrated. I immigrated to the UK in 1996 from South Africa. The UK economy was stagnant then but I got a job without any qualifications within 1 month on a building site followed by bar work and progressively better jobs. I put myself through university and became an engineer. I looked into getting bar work or building site work but age, certification and lack of recent experience rules me out. I may be able to deliver pizzas or phone books but there is a lot of competition for unskilled work. We considered any agricultural picking work but there was a camp of backpackers on the farmers' land waiting for seasonal work.

I think going back to the UK is a better option as I can probably get my old job back and there is more employment opportunity for me in general.

 

 

My advice (for what its worth) to people wanting to come here is only come here with a solid job offer on a employer sponsored visa. Do not waste effort and money on a skilled migrant visa with no job, the risk is too great especially if you a bringing a family!

 

 

Other than the job situation I find Australia very pleasant. We have met some ace people and seen some amazing country. We have managed to keep living cost down by stopping drinking, shopping at Aldi and hunting out specials at the more expensive supermarkets. Minor negatives are the expensive and inadequate mobile phone service with limited data and sand flies, man those things were conceived in hell they fly out of the mangroves and bite **** out of you. The itch is ten times worse than a mosy and lasts for days.

 

 

I read earlier in the thread about the question of “failure” I get what was said but I still feel that I may have failed if I don't get work soon. Maybe its because I don't want to go back but rather I have to go back. I could complain that I didn't get a “fair go”and blame the current political situation but what’s the use. I made the decision to come here eyes wide open and put my loved ones in this situation too and they don't deserve this. I just hope that if needed I can rebuild my life in the UK without signing on, that tome would be the greatest feeling of failure.

[Paul1Perth]

I haven't moved back yet but will very shortly. My wife, dog and I have been here for 10 months now on a 716 visa. We did not own a home in the UK and we had limited savings to live on while trying to get work in Australia. I can possibly last another 2 months.

 

 

It is common knowledge that rents here are high and we needed to get a place that is pet friendly so the rental options were very limited. We would also have needed to sign a lease which would pin me to one area for 6-12 months which would limit employment opportunities. I decided before coming to Australia instead of signing an expensive lease that bound me to one city to get a reasonably priced caravan and towing car, stay in cheap caravan parks on outskirts of the cities and look for work (and also see this amazing country before I started work).

 

 

We started our travels from Melbourne and headed for what we thought would be the ideal place for us based on lifestyle, South East Queensland. We had a great journey up to the Sunshine Coast, found a cheap place to set up camp and after some R&R I started looking for employment. I knew that employment in Brisbane was struggling so I did not expect anything I just tried to get a job.

 

 

I am a degree qualified mechanical engineer and have significant experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device sector. The first mechanical engineering jobs I applied for were not in the medical sector but this didn't bother me as I and many others believe a mechanical engineer can work in any sector. In the UK it is not unusual to work with people that come from different backgrounds like aerospace and automotive. I quickly found out that this is not the case in Australia. Experience in the sector of the job is required not preferred as in the UK. Agents and companies continuously turned me down due to no experience in their sector and the medical device companies in Brisbane did not need anyone. After learning this I thought it was best to head down to Sydney as there are quite a few medical device companies there. We set up camp in the Central Coast (we loved it there). I met with a reputable blue chip employment agent in the city. He thought I had a very strong resume but he told me that there is little opportunity at the moment. Not to be dismayed I carried on looking but no luck. I went to Adelaide and back to Melbourne still no luck. By this time I have applied to many jobs and as one does gets to know the score.

 

 

The practice of advertising jobs that don't exist is rife. I would say over half of jobs on the top job website are fake. I know this happens in the UK too but it is illegal in the UK. I do not know if it is illegal in Australia if it isn't it should be.

 

 

We met a lot of easy going people while camping. In conversations the attitudes about the job situation varied. Grey nomads in my opinion are living in the past and say “your an engineer get a job in mining” or “there’s work for those who want it” or “embellish your CV everyone does it” or “you can walk into any pub in the outback and get a job on the spot” younger people however say “it's tough out there without the right experience or qualifications” or “sign on” or “ go back to the UK and stop taking our jobs!!!!”.

 

 

This isn't the first time I have immigrated. I immigrated to the UK in 1996 from South Africa. The UK economy was stagnant then but I got a job without any qualifications within 1 month on a building site followed by bar work and progressively better jobs. I put myself through university and became an engineer. I looked into getting bar work or building site work but age, certification and lack of recent experience rules me out. I may be able to deliver pizzas or phone books but there is a lot of competition for unskilled work. We considered any agricultural picking work but there was a camp of backpackers on the farmers' land waiting for seasonal work.

I think going back to the UK is a better option as I can probably get my old job back and there is more employment opportunity for me in general.

 

 

My advice (for what its worth) to people wanting to come here is only come here with a solid job offer on a employer sponsored visa. Do not waste effort and money on a skilled migrant visa with no job, the risk is too great especially if you a bringing a family!

 

 

Other than the job situation I find Australia very pleasant. We have met some ace people and seen some amazing country. We have managed to keep living cost down by stopping drinking, shopping at Aldi and hunting out specials at the more expensive supermarkets. Minor negatives are the expensive and inadequate mobile phone service with limited data and sand flies, man those things were conceived in hell they fly out of the mangroves and bite **** out of you. The itch is ten times worse than a mosy and lasts for days.

 

 

I read earlier in the thread about the question of “failure” I get what was said but I still feel that I may have failed if I don't get work soon. Maybe its because I don't want to go back but rather I have to go back. I could complain that I didn't get a “fair go”and blame the current political situation but what’s the use. I made the decision to come here eyes wide open and put my loved ones in this situation too and they don't deserve this. I just hope that if needed I can rebuild my life in the UK without signing on, that tome would be the greatest feeling of failure.

 

Great post tan. I'm a bit surprised that you haven't managed to get a job though. I can see a reason why companies might not have liked the caravan idea, if that came up in your interviews? When we arrived in 92 it was dire here and I was out of work for 5 months. Even interviews were few and far between. We were lucky that my wife is a nurse and we wanted to come to Perth and be here. We had a 2 year old and wanted to settle. Sure, see some of Aus later maybe, but put some roots down first.

 

When I did get interviews I got pointed questions about whether I was serious about emigrating and would I actually stay. I got the feeling that if companies could get an Aussie that had experience even less than mine I would be slipping down the list. Only to be expected, I've been on the other side since and on recruitment panels and I know the type of applicant I would be looking for.

 

My first job was filling in for someone going on long service leave in the biophysics dept of a hospital. They rang me and asked me in for an interview. They made it very plain in the phone call they wouldn't be able to offer me any more than 3 months work. Fine by me, better then nothing. Turned out to be a great job with some really nice people. Typically and just like the UK, once in and people got to know me someone at work knew someone with his own company with a job going. At the same time one of the IT guys I worked with knew the company doing the IT contract for WA health and introduced me to their recruiter. He interviewed me an offered me a job too.

 

I took the first job as I had sort of promised the guy and didn't want to let anyone down, being new to the workforce and realising Perth is a pretty small place, didn't want a bad reputation to start with. I have a strange background having got a fitting apprenticeship when I left school and then went back to Uni at 30 and did a degree in Computer Science. The job I got offered was more mechanical, predictive maintenance, mechanical design.

 

Looking back I should have taken the other job in IT in the hospital, it was a lot better money and in the end I didn't like the job I took one bit. Stuck with it for about a year then got a job through an agency, back in IT. I found once your in work other opportunities seem to appear.

 

Might be a bit late and expensive for you now but I would give a rental a shot, make it sound like you are committed to one place and want to stay, things might take a turn for the better. Hope so anyway. Good luck.

[Rossmoyne]

Very entertaining thread! I don't get on PIO much these days as my retired lifestyle keeps me too busy, but I am nursing a cold at home today and thought I would have a looksee at what was happening here.

 

Although the thread went off topic a few times and it became the usual UK versus Oz debate by the usual contributors, what really came over strongly is that we are all very different individuals with very different likes and dislikes and personalities. We all emigrate for different reasons and are looking for different things. Some of us find our adventure isn't want we expected for many different reasons and so decide to return to our homeland. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

 

I take my hat off to anyone who emigrates - it isn't easy to forgo your entire life, family, friends, everything you know etc and move to the other side of the world. If it works out for you - great. If it doesn't, well at least you gave it a shot and hopefully had some fun along the way in gaining new experiences.

[tea4too]

I haven't moved back yet but will very shortly. My wife, dog and I have been here for 10 months now on a 716 visa. We did not own a home in the UK and we had limited savings to live on while trying to get work in Australia. I can possibly last another 2 months......

 

HI and welcome to PIO Tan nomad.

 

Your post created a clear and well balanced picture of the struggle you are facing, and I so hope that things fall into place for you within the next few weeks. It’s not impossible - things often happen when we least expect it and not always in ways we might expect. But should you return to the UK and find that you have to sign on, there is no shame in accepting a helping hand when it is needed. For what it’s worth, there was nothing in your post that suggested failure to me. Rather life throwing a few curved balls, with you doing your best to juggle them. Good luck, particularly over the next few weeks and months as you decide which direction to take. Tx

[Stitch]

Family...used to think it's only a day away or it's only a flight away. But in reality it's more than this and seeing family is so difficult.

[paul1977]

Family...used to think it's only a day away or it's only a flight away. But in reality it's more than this and seeing family is so difficult.

And very expensive

[HappyHeart]

Family is the ONLY reason I would ever consider a return. If I had nobody there theres no way in the world I would swap back. Not enough there for me without them..or should I say Australia meets all my needs, except my need to interact with and have close physical bonds with my family.

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

Family is the ONLY reason I would ever consider a return. If I had nobody there theres no way in the world I would swap back. Not enough there for me without them..or should I say Australia meets all my needs, except my need to interact with and have close physical bonds with my family.

 

It would be interesting to know just how many of those who aren't happy in Australia were they the ones who wanted to go in the first place, the ones who drove the move forward. Or are they the ones who just went along with their partners, because they either thought they would try it, or didn't want to standing the way of their partners dream. I can imagine a high percentage of those who aren't as keen on Oz didn't fully want to go in the first place.

[HappyHeart]

Maybe Hoff, I was the driver for our move, took a while for hubby to get onboard but once he did we were equally 'up for it' Now, he is the one that is more pro Aus anti UK if you can call it that. Wild horses wouldnt take him back...even family isn't a good enough reason for him...but he does say that if I were to ever decide I wanted to go back he would go. He puts my happiness before his own which I think is wonderful. We had an agreement that we would both have to want to go back if it ever happened in the early days but it never did thankfully, we both settled extremely well.

[Guest]

It would be interesting to know just how many of those who aren't happy in Australia were they the ones who wanted to go in the first place, the ones who drove the move forward. Or are they the ones who just went along with their partners, because they either thought they would try it, or didn't want to standing the way of their partners dream. I can imagine a high percentage of those who aren't as keen on Oz didn't fully want to go in the first place.

 

Interesting question you've posed there Jim. My Australian missus always had her heart set on going home after a six year spell in the UK. I was never interested in the place tbh, unlike how so many Brits so obviously are. Even now after nearly five years here I meet people through my daughter's school who are incredibly excited just to be here and it really brings it home to me how I'm a fish out of water here. I tip my hat to people who make the sacrifice long term to live in a country they don't like - Oz or UK - for the sake of family.

[Guest]

Maybe Hoff, I was the driver for our move, took a while for hubby to get onboard but once he did we were equally 'up for it' Now, he is the one that is more pro Aus anti UK if you can call it that. Wild horses wouldnt take him back...even family isn't a good enough reason for him...but he does say that if I were to ever decide I wanted to go back he would go. He puts my happiness before his own which I think is wonderful. We had an agreement that we would both have to want to go back if it ever happened in the early days but it never did thankfully, we both settled extremely well.

 

Yeah, we got that. He made that much pretty clear the last time he was on.

[HappyHeart]

Yeah, we got that. He made that much pretty clear the last time he was on.

 

He doesn't really 'get' why people don't settle..not as open minded as me you see

[Guest51810]

He doesn't really 'get' why people don't settle..not as open minded as me you see

 

Whos your husband on here fiona, sorry im just really nosey!

 

EW wheres your wife, hope she hasnt left here. She's a good laugh

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

Whos your husband on here fiona, sorry im just really nosey!

 

EW wheres your wife, hope she hasnt left here. She's a good laugh

 

 

I think it's ...... Mongrel.

[HappyHeart]

Lol. Mongrel is mad cows OH. Mine only posts very occasionally. His username is MysteryCustomer1974

[Guest51810]

Lol yeah i was going to say that unless hes a bigamist haha. Ahh i see, i remember him when i first signed up on here

[gilliantay]

Curious to hear from some Brits about the reasons why they moved back?

 

As an aussie I can name loads of reasons to leave but would like to hear your thoughts..

 

 

My grandchildren started arriving and that was all the reason I needed to fly the coop back to Scotland.

 

I pushed for the move to Oz and my OH dragged his heels - when I decided that I wanted to return to Scotland my OH had slotted into the Ozzie way of life and did not want to return.

 

Suffice to say that he did return with me and we have been back for 2 years now - I think the only way I would return to Oz is if I won the lottery (not much chance of that when I rarely play the game).

 

I could not envisage leading my life without seeing my grandkids on a regular basis - such is life

[northernbird]

He doesn't really 'get' why people don't settle..not as open minded as me you see

 

He doesn't get anything, he doesn't live in the real world like the rest of us.

[Guest]

Whos your husband on here fiona, sorry im just really nosey!

 

EW wheres your wife, hope she hasnt left here. She's a good laugh

 

 

She'll be back on at some stage for sure. Now that Harpo's left she's got no one left to argue with,apart from me of course and she doesn't need to come on here to do that! :smile:

[Guest51810]

She'll be back on at some stage for sure. Now that Harpo's left she's got no one left to argue with,apart from me of course and she doesn't need to come on here to do that! :smile:

 

Tell her im missing her funny posts! I only just realised the other day that harpo's not been around, its definitely been quiet