BonnieH

I've been watching WDU for a few years now and also getting hacked off with the Beeb, why don't they save some money and sack off the useless presenter, Nicki whats her name is rubbish. Paid to go over there to get a tan, half the things she says are repeated and she has no emotion what so ever. I know she isn't filmed with the families like the last presenter was but please, why is she needed!? A simple VO would do it! My sky+ is a god send, fast forward her jibba jabba! lol

It's not an educational programme for the likes of us guys, what ever they tell you take with a pinch of salt. When I first started watching WDU I wasn't in the visa process and was clueless so I watched this with amazment thinking 'wow, I can afford a big house by the beach, have a boat and still have money to burn' now i've researched it and and actaully in the visa process, I watch the programme and laugh at how wrong it is. Show people expensive houses to buy when most people rent when they first get out there, shower the familes with amazing days out and then a possible job offer 'look me up when you get to oz' and then come out with...oh im sorry aircon costs way too much to run, bread is $5!, blah blah blah.......if people are serious about applying to this show surley they shouldnt be shocked at the $$$.....what annoys me the most is they never mention about visa costs, and the amount of paper work you have to do and not to mention the tedious exams they make you do...and then more exams when you get to Oz....However it is just an entertainment programe so I'm only watching it for the scenery....wishing I was there instead of snowy UK....I'm just glad i've researched it properly....

It would be nice tho if the Beeb took abit more care in providing us with a factual programme that would give the likes of you and me a better understanding of what life is really like down under.

Oh well, can't have it all...we only pay for these shows afterall

Rant over

Janna and Nick

Yesteday's episode was hilarious! She wanted a fantastic 4 bedroomed house with a pool all on one level with a small budget. Was never going to happen. She didn't see the point in moving across the world unless she could improve the home she lived in, the money they earn etc.etc. The houses they were shown did not match her "idea" of what an Australian house should look like. She even complained that one of them was too posh for her!

As someone else has said, don't most of these people realise that they are moving 10,000 miles across the world to effectively start again. It's not as easy as "1,2,3". Start small, have dreams and aspirations and work towards them.

The F&F gets me everytime! Have they not considered leaving their F&F before? It always seems to be a big surprise to them.

I watch these more for the scenery. And to get an idea of the area. I ignore all the other rubbish which does just annoy me to be fair!

sportsendurance

When you are being filmed for the F&F it's a very strange experience. We are quite a close family but honestly none of us spoke about what they were asked during the filming time in the UK. For example we were actually in the other room when our parents and friends were being interviewed. A few weeks later we were in Ozz and still we never knew what each other had said.
We were shown the F&F film three times so that the camera can show three angles. It was very professional and there was very little discussion between each round. Strangely enough the programme is just as much emotional the third time as it is the first and quite often you react in such a way that you perhaps hide your true feelings. The film lats, I'm sure quite a bit longer than what is finally shown.
This was my experience anyway, I'm sure others may have been different

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Would you move across the world for a shitty house, worse money, etc etc?

Might seem like shallow reasons for the move... but its the reasons 90% of the people coming would site, once you get past the standard "we are doing it for the kids" nonsense.

bcworld

Seems to me that at one time WDU was viewed by people who had already moved to Australia as totally unrealistic....and it was basically porn for prospective migrants. The pendulum seems to have swung a bit and the programme seems to be setting slightly more realistic expectations of what things cost in Aus, what standard of house someone could actually AFFORD to buy...and many of the participants are seen to be surprised by the cost of living etc. The porn addicts are not happy and want their porn back!! Come on BBC!

Janna and Nick

I know that I cannot step into a new life and have everything as I want it. You have to be realistic and this family were far from that. She was the only one who worked, expected her husband to be a house husband forever and still wanted the fab house with a pool and so on.

I want to live in Australia and I am prepared to do whatever it takes to make that a reality. If it means downsizing on both the job and home front, we will. It took me 5 years of moving from South Africa to the UK to be properly established and own my own home. 2 years later we upgraded to a 3 bed end of terraced which more than doubled our living space and I am willing to sell up and move because I think that is what my family needs.

Most of the people on WDU seem to have no clue about Australia in reality and have done no research. I don't profess to know everything there is to know, but I am certainly not expecting to be able to afford the posh, huge houses from the get go. It's something I aspire to and will work towards. In the meantime, I'll take what I can get!

iamthecreaturefromuranus

So what they want is... BBQ's everyday, petrol at 20c a litre, five bed house with pool for $200k, with a view of Sydney Harbour bridge. The BeeB are going to need a time machine.... send for the Doctor.

jad n rich

Yeah bring back the days of showing 2 million buck houses, which is exactly what a qld episode of one of those type shows did, then plonk some carpet layers in it who earn $1000 a day and show some newly arrived poms seeing how quickly they can frazzle the skin to melanoma standard, plus some normal daytime activities like a $800 bridge climb or a helicopter flight over sydney harbour.

Those were the days

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Good for you.
Must be nice to have the big dream to work towards.

The 'research' question is an interesting one. People will tell you that you have to research everything...others will tell you that the research is almost pointless as no amount of it will prepare you for actually living here. I tend to support the latter view.

Janna and Nick

Most people (present company excluded of course Sportsendurance) want their old lives but in Australia. They want a house like the one they've got, a job like the one they've got, pay like the pay they've got and so on.

It's like they're chancing it. We'll go over, have a look and if everything is perfect we'll go for it.

Then it turns out everything is not perfect. Oh no, now I have to think about it and agonise and cry and so on and so on that we, the viewer (or ME the viewer) thinks bored now, moving on.

It doesn't bother me if it is more factually correct about living expenses comparisons or houses they can afford (it's better that way) it's the families expectations of perfect life, the minute they land. One family was really put off because salmon was so expensive compared to the UK. The mum was really put off by that and said something along the lines of "can't possible live without my salmon" and she wasn't joking either. Even the affordability is a joke to some extent because until you find the house you want to buy or get the job that's going to pay for it all, it's a little immaterial really. They get shown 3 houses in areas they have not chosen and then decide on the UK or Aus based on that. Silly IMHO.

I just wish they had people on the show who had done their research. But as has been said the show is for entertainment purposes and therefore the theatrics of it all is to be expected.

Janna and Nick

I agree about research to some degree. We've researched areas and houses and cars and schools, but all from a general information perspective so we now how the system works. But if I find something I don't like in the statistics or figures etc. I don't then decide not to move because of it. Until I actually move I won't know for sure and who knows I may have a fantastic job which means I can buy the fantastic house but won't know until I actually try for real.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Exactly. It can all go spectacularly well or it can all crash and burn. Nobody knows until they have actually done the move.

simmoman

Well todays WDU was a different.....what a lovely family. No expectations of anything too grand just a wish for a better life for themselves and their boys. Good luck to them although they will find it hard on his wages alone.

I wonder if Relocation Relocation...Phil Down Under will be more informative for people looking to make the move Down Under....lets hope so !

paulry

I also thought that they were a great family.

The house prices in Perth were noticeably cheaper too.

Bermudashorts

Yesterdays were nice family. I thought the woman the day before was in cloud cukoo land, 4 bed 2 bath house with swimming pool on a budget of £200k or something and an income of £25! Also very odd that she aspired to her husband not needing to work and live on her salary. I have the opposite hope :-)

I am finding it a bit samey now. It is like watching the same program every day. And why are they all low income families, I don't think I have seen any expect an income over £30k yet! It would be nice if they had used a more diverse group of families or even couples.