Originally posted by Tapalinga
Why must we keep bashing either country oz/uk. It's not a matter of which one is better, or which one has the best education system. It's about us, people living together and just loving everyday. Just like kids they don't really give a dam about tomorrow, or if its cold/sunny they just live and laugh and play for today. Throw your worries away and just BE in the moment. Try not to put everything into perspective. Listen to your intuition and you won't go wrong.

Originally posted by karawara88
We have been back 18 days now and it feels like we have never been away. The people here are no different to Perth, here when it rains people moan, in Perth when its hot people moan.

The balance of happy and miserable people is the same, walking around the supermarket the other day I made a consious effort to look at people and see if there was any difference, the only noticeable difference is people not wearing summer clothes.

Cost of living for us here is far cheaper, just let one of our houses to a guy from Brisbane, says he lives here because its cheaper and the money he saves here will pay for his retirement in Brisbane.

Coming back has given us a lot more choices in life which may not have happened had we never gone to Perth.

The weather here the last week has been drizzle and a few times I found myself thinking about the sun in Perth, traffic is busy, but driving standards far higher and driving is less stresfull.

The thing is I can now appreciate is why some people find Australia is right for them because as I have been out and about looking for various things I now take more notice of different areas and can see the appeal for open space etc.

For those that feel they should return due to homesickness, missing family etc. (we were never homesick) you will find after 5 days nothing has changed and its as if you were never away. Its good to see them again but thats about it. Its scary how some peoples lives do not change.

Donna is back at work and after 8 months off is finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning. for me staying in bed until 11am is not such an adjustment.

The things we find have changed for us is tele, we dont bother watching it now, where as before it probably ruled what we did, also we find we no longer have a need for flashy cars, where as before I liked a nice car loads of money sat on the drive depreciating, just went out and bought a 1990 Audi 100 2.3 auto with 58k on clock one owner £800 !! its immaculate.

So I guess the migration thing even when it does not work out can have a positive benefit. The biggest problem for Donna and myself is she wants to be settled for a while and ready for the off to places new. Not to live just to explore.

Biggest shock coming back here is house prices. The house we sold went up 40k in 7 months. :scared: :scared:

Originally posted by karawara88
can see the appeal for open space etc.

we find we no longer have a need for flashy cars, where as before I liked a nice car loads of money sat on the drive depreciating, just went out and bought a 1990 Audi 100 2.3 auto with 58k on clock one owner £800 !! its immaculate.

Originally posted by karawara88
The balance of happy and miserable people is the same, walking around the supermarket the other day I made a consious effort to look at people and see if there was any difference...

Originally posted by MikeStanton
So I'm not the only person who did this!

I agree - the same mix of happy and miserable looking people; in Oz and UK.

Similarly, I have found the same mix of good and bad service. Except banks. I find banks in the UK better than Oz - and I thought UK banks were bad...

Originally posted by sparky12
We've just returned to the UK from a 2 year secondment in Brisbane with young (pre school) family in tow. We were tempted to make it permanent on Oz but decided to come home last month to see how we felt before deciding what to do.

Finding settling back here quite hard and that's ignoring the weather- forgotten just how fed up SO MANY people look, how much more "in your face" the social problems that bedevil any big City (drink, drugs, crime generally) seem to be, also noticed how a service culture doesn't exist over here which isn't a major issue but it is very striking when you get back from Oz.

Now faced with the longer term choice of bringing kids up in Oz or the UK and balancing the benefits of having family close at hand (for us as parents but also for the kids themselves) or potentially giving the children a better education (maybe?) and certainly a better environment in which to grow up.

Be really interested to hear others views, especially around how they felt on returning to the UK and what choices were made and how its worked out. Also interested in views on education here and in Oz.

For what its worth, I hate people knocking the UK and also there was a lot about Brissy and Oz that frustrated me BUT the above is just an honest account of how it feels at the moment.

Originally posted by karawara88

For those that feel they should return due to homesickness, missing family etc. (we were never homesick) you will find after 5 days nothing has changed and its as if you were never away. Its good to see them again but thats about it.

Originally posted by janeyray


It's opened our eyes to what 'our' life is about and that is being happy, in Perth we are not.