northernbird

It is?

chris955

Yes

jad n rich

Its not about 'bad', but once you move it just becomes another country with its ups and downs.

Money, jobs, marriages, children/grandkids in australia, spouses/family in australia, partner who wont move back, other countries currency/ property is no longer affordable, health reasons, sick relative, family law court reasons, interruption of children's education are just a few of the many reasons people stay.

In hindsight I would have loved to have had the knowledge and experience the posters living here give prior to arrival.

KJCherokee

Australia is a first world country with all the features of such - a democratically elected government which is admired by half the population and loathed by the other half, population and jobs centred around large cities and towns, rush hour traffic jams, graffiti, neighbours of varying likeability: in fact just about all the things we have to cope with in our daily lives are just the same here as in the UK, USA, Europe.

So what makes Australia different enough to make you want to come here? Well, that will depend on your interests: for me the original decision to come was to make a change from a life in the UK that was boring, stressful, and financially gutting: that is obviously not why CherryUK wants to make the move. My epiphany was the first time I was driving along the Strzlecki Track at night and realised that I could see stars all the way down to the horizon all around me: a magical moment and one totally unobtainable in Europe.

CherryUK, why don't you try and list the things that you are hoping for in your move (better weather, open spaces, larger house - anything): that way we can give you a more directed opinion.

BadgeIsBack

Chris I've always found it interesting the way you sound off Brisbane as being the better place and indeed the only place for you but it also seems from forum lore to contribute more than it's fair share of the very things that you have also dismissed about Australia!


To the Op: Australia has been good to me but it is very unfashionable for someone to find Australia great on this forum : for many many years. Years back there were particularly noisy wars between Godzoners and haters...(for some reason if you love all about the Uk like Teabags and Fish and Chips you're not a Godzoner!) Alot of positive posters who had done well had it beaten out of them...what has really changed for all, and I am being less facetious here: is that the cost spiked up about 6 years ago. Some of us who arrived 10 years ago got in before the big increases in housing and when the pound was stronger...

Australia is not for all, for some reason the more pedestrian your Uk life the more equally pedestrian you are likely to find Ausralia: this is because a lot of people come here chasing dreams, houses, space, weather and jetskis when they were better off with central heating, double glazing, the TV Times and mushy peas: and these things are missed by the very people who would never have thought it...

BadgeIsBack

The years of rolleyes and constant anti-Australian jibes told a story that did not match this sentiment I guess but it's fair to say that you seem more balanced these days...

my final advice to anyone; a bit silly but also with a degree of knowing: don't be a ####wit. Don't limit yourself.

Beoz

Yo ..... Some of us came because the pound was shite and the $A was high. Coming because the $A dollar was shite (ten years ago) and reflective cost of living was the same makes horrible business sense. For some, yes can I buy the 5 bedder McMansion and have the best outboard motor on my bogan boat in the street. For others .... Bigger picture.

spouse of scouse

My only suggestion (and it is only a suggestion ) is that you and your partner sit down together with a huge piece of paper.

Name 2 columns UK and Oz. Under the UK column, list your reasons for leaving, under the Oz column, list your reasons for moving there. Let loose and list them all - whether other people think they are or aren't valid reasons is immaterial, these are YOUR reasons.

Then, for each of the columns, list what you know will a positive by staying in/moving to that country. Then list what you know will be a negative by staying in/moving to that country.

Then move onto what may be a positive in each country, then what may be a negative.

Go to comparethemarket.com (ok, that bit's silly, don't do that) - but you do need to have a good look at each column, decide what are deal breakers or otherwise, and go from there.

It all sounds rather pedestrian, but you may be surprised by what's revealed. In the event that it doesn't reveal anything, all you've lost is a bit of paper and time Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of British as well as the best of Australian

PominOz

Hi CherryUK,
I hope I can be helpful!!
I'll start with my story....I first came to Melbourne at the end of 2006 on a temporary visa, my mum in particular wanted to know that I would return to England. After a couple of years I got my permanent residence, the phone call home to tell them was awful and my mum didn't talk to me for a couple of months after. Anyway Aussie citizenship followed and then in early 2012 I moved back to the UK..... I moved back to Melbourne in the middle of 2013 after finding one English winter was enough!!
I went back to the UK mainly because of my parents but came to realize that I really do have to live my life for me. These words are often said but really feeling them and knowing it is something else. I hate being so far away but I am happier in Oz and that's just how it is for me. It is important to look forward, what do you want for your children? If you were in the same position as your parents are now what would you want for them?
As for living in Oz I haven't been to Brisbane yet but I adore Melbourne and hope to spend the rest of my life here. If you come out and don't like it, bear in mind it can be difficult at the start, you can always go back.
Good luck!!!

paulry

Good advice

Once the OP has that bit out of the way, I suggest she and her family progress to stage two: involving airline tickets, suitcases and a couple of bottles of champagne!

jad n rich

Sorry but I really have to disagree with that. Many people cant just go back for so many reasons.

Coming out with an Australian spouse and children together, makes ' just going back' slightly more complicated.

Not being negative, but its something that needs to be discussed way up there above the weather and house size.

PominOz

No wonder this gets confusing!!! Don't take the words so literally 'jad n rich'. If it doesn't work out you do 'just go back' because having some contingency plans in case you don't settle in Australia is essential. If you don't have them before you leave the UK then you probably shouldn't be moving in the first place and that is an entirely different discussion. I was giving 'CherryUK' the credit for already thinking these things through.

quoll

That's it exactly!
There have been so many posts on this and other boards where some poor soul has had the goal posts changed on them and Aus will not let kids go!

Beoz

You are being negative.

paulry

Without a doubt it's a risk that needs to be considered and managed according to the OP's assessment of the likelihood of it happening.