chocaholic

Husband would have gone on the basis of hearsay and Discovery Channel I insisted we take a little look first.

tonyk38

I agree, but tend to get shouted down for saying so. I don't have kids but feel that you owe it to them to get this move right if possible as they are being taken out of school (unless very young), and it may severely disrupt their education if it all goes wrong.

There are large parts of Aus you would have to pay me to live in, but in stark contrast there are parts I'd happily settle in right away. If you don't know which are the bits that appeal to you and your family then it's a gamble to say the least.

Very best of luck to those who leave without visiting first, as I do not condemn your decision, but I hope for your sakes that you have a contingency plan if it doesn't work out.

Shellfish

I wholeheartedly agree that if there are kids involved, it's probably better to check it out first because if it doesn't work out then I think the price you pay is a lot higher. In an evil twist of irony, the people with families are probably the ones who can least afford a holiday to Aus when you are trying to immigrate. I also wonder though, how many people have wanted to immigrate but have changed their minds once coming over on a holiday? is a holiday enough time to get a true reflection of life here?

tonyk38

Depends how long the holiday is, and there is also the option of a working holiday.

For those doing recces to check it out, there is a lot of very valuable warts and all info right here on this website, so it's well worth taking heed and seeing if your experiences match up to what you've read.

I know some of you simply can't afford the holiday/recce whatever, which is why you need to approach it with a very open mind and be ready for the unexpected, as much of what you see on the telly about Aus IMHO is very misleading to say the least.....