Well today is our second aniversary of moving to Canberra, Australia and we as a family can honestly say we have had no regrets. Both myself and my OH have settled into jobs, the kids have settled at school and made new friends. Our older son has just returned from USA and has found work.We initailly heard bad reports about Canberra but being here for 2 years now we love it, even though it gets too hot for my daughter at times, so no chance of a move to Darwin lol. We have had a couple of trips to the snow and also the coast, its great only being two hours away for either.
Only thing we have missed about England is missing our team Blackburn Rovers beating our arch rivals Burnley in the Premier league and bonfire night.

Good one then on the move. Glad you are doing well....

Yes people diss Canberra but if you have to live anywhere in Australia it is one of the better places to be. Glad it has worked out for you

Glad it has worked out for you. x

A lovely positive post. Glad you are happy (so are we!!) xx

Spent 2 months working in Canberra and living in Kingston.....loved it!!! PS Durham Arms is always good for football!!!!

Canberra does get a bad rap. The main criticism is that it's artificial and boring. I don't really buy either of those two criticisms - there's plenty of sporting and, yes, cultural activities if you look for them. The natural environment is great and the weather is generally excellent. The population is generally highly educated with high incomes and there are good prospects for employment or setting up a business. Social services (not that I use any) seem quite good too. Canberra beats just about every other jurisdiction in Australia in indicators of social progress - educational attainment, health, violent crime, incomes etc. For that matter it would probably come close to or beat almost any city in the world.

To be fair there are a few negatives: It's expensive, too many public servants (if you've worked in the ps you'll know what I mean) and the place is rather over-regulated.