jeezer73

Hi all,

Been 4 years since my last post (..I think). In that time we left Melbourne after our first son was born and headed back to London to be nearer family, also to see how we felt about the whole situation - Aus/UK etc.

Here we are now in 2016, our first born is now 4 and we have a 1 year old brother for him also, and the whole time over the past 4 years we've been umm-ing and ahh-ing over whether to try Oz again or stay in London? Well we've made a decision - We've decided having Oz as an option is simply too good a card not to try again.

Leaving friends & family is not easy however leaving the grey skies and cold, wet weather will be.

Leaving the variety of places to visit here won't be easy. in the last year we've been to France, Croatia, Austria, Germany & Spain. However having the natural beauty of Victoria/NSW on your doorstep with the option for great camping/exploring with (hopefully) more guaranteed weather is exciting. Not too mention the rest of Oz of course.

It definitely would have been easier to do nothing and stay put here than to up-heave everyone and move to the other side of the world, having to go through the whole process again of packing, shipping, storing etc. But the lure of the better quality of life we will have for the kids (& us) in Melbourne is too tempting not to try again.

I remember when we left Melly in 2012 the prices of eating/drinking out were extortionate, I assume they've only got worse??

Too say we aren't nervous/doubtful would be a lie as you always wonder if the grass is greener, or how our lives will pan out, here in London compared to Melbourne. However I guess life is full of choices and until you try you'll never know.

A question I do have on here though for anyone who cares to answer (in Melbourne but also of course relates to Oz in general) is would you rate living in Oz with a family generally a better standard of life than in the UK?? I know there are so many options/comparables to consider but first thought/opinion would be?

Looking at heading back this July/August. To rent in Melbourne initially but will look to buy hopefully in the next 12-18 months. Also looking at East bayside as this is the area we lived in last time...

quoll

Better? No, not particularly. Different? yes.

Don't burn any bridges and you should be fine. The most difficult thing to cope with is often the isolation from family especially when you have kids. You will have to be very self sufficient and quite selfish in a way (not in a pejorative sense, just a survival strategy). If it works you win and if it doesn't then you still have access to another great first world country.

Beoz

Depends what you class a better standard of life. If your kids are into museums and indoors stuff you might as well stay in London.

If its the outdoors then you have a better chance of bringing outdoor diversity to your children in Melbourne.

Education, medical and other day to day about the same. Swings in roundabouts.

Depending in what you do for a job you may find you earnings stretch a lot further in Melbourne than in London. OR you may find your occupation and salary in London is in demand and can't be matched in Melbourne. Ie if you are a hedge fund manager Melbourne is probably not the place for you. An engineer could very well see some good advantages in Melbourne. The salary ceiling is a lot higher in London yet the average wage is a lot lower proportionally to cost of living.

Bermudashorts

I don't think either country means a better standard of life, that is just down to you. Both countries can be great to live in. I would never have said prices were extortionate in Australia, why do you think that? I thought some things were more expensive than in UK and vice versa, swings and roundabouts.

Ping ponging always seems a worry to me, don't forget why you moved back first time round, possibly those pull factors will appear again.

DC10

Well it has improved in the sense that a Melbourne pub meal of fish and chips that cost A$25 in 2012 was £17 but is now £12, or a pint that cost A$10 / £7 then is now less than a fiver... which doesn't really help much if you are earning Aussie dollars but does affect how "expensive" you view things are if you are experienced in British prices.

Overall I'd say wages have increased more here (in A$) since 2012 than in the UK... most people (someone will sock me for saying this) here expect nothing less than a 2-3% annual increase.

Overall, despite much-hyped "increases" (actually less than 20% since 2011 - again in AUD, so that's a drop in most other currencies), I'd say property (and esp. renting - thanks to that weird negative equity cult which seems to mean 3% yields are acceptable, or even desirable) is still considerably more affordable here than in London.

brits1

You have made the decision so try not to make it "harder" by trying to compare, it's impossible to do that really as the two countries offer completely different things. Look forward.......Good luck

jeezer73

Thanks all for your replies.

Yes we've made the decision to go back and we are looking forward to it, however not living there since 2012 its always nice just to get some independent, maybe even some impartial opinions from this forum, just out of curiosity if nothing else

We try not too compare but of course easier said than done. Although as before, after a year or so it will disappear I hope once we're settled.Regarding ping-ponging we hope this will be the last time, however we've done it twice now but if (would have to be a serious if) we had to do it again its not such a pain. We always make a holiday out of the move and stop multiple times either way, this time heading back no different.

Kapri

Our life is better here in Australia.
The weather make a huge difference: we love camping, walking, boating, going to the beach, sitting outside cafes / pubs in the sun, sitting in our al fresco area chatting.

The TV is worse here - we don't watch it. If we fancy watching something, we watch box sets or Netflix.
The driving is terrbile - we let it wash over us.
There are plenty of bogans with bogan attitudes - we don't mix with them.

We had a huge mortgage in both countries, but our house here is bigger and nicer.

We miss people. But the people who really love us have made the effort to come out, and everyone else is contactable via Facebook, Skype etc

Our kids were 10 and 13 when we came out 3 years ago. Neither of them miss the UK.

It will be different strokes for different folks, but we are happy we came.

alexleeson

After living in Melbourne for 9 years, we returned to UK in 2014. No regrets. Kids never want to go back there - they loved school so much more here in Uk. My kids education is a richer experience in UK. There is just more to see and do and experience in UK/Europe. My wife never wants a big house/garden ever again.

Lifestyle is different - not better - it all depends what you prioritise in life and what you like.

It was like chalk and cheese for us. As a family all four none of us are sporty or outdoorsy, we hate hot weather (even in the UK), the sun was like our mortal enemy and we spent almost all summer indoors. I am not kidding when I say that in 9 years, I went into the back garden only once a year because of all the creepy crawlies/snakes (and yes we had all of them in our garden!).

People were so racist against the English (since I spoke too 'poshly') and actually racist full stop - the way I saw my Indian and Zimbabwean friends treated was appalling. In the end my 'posh' accent got 'posher' just to irk other people.

We had friends who just loved the 'lifestyle'. It just didn't match our family.

My lifestyle in UK is now fantastic - 10 minute walk to work vs 1 hr commute each way in Oz, kids walk 5 mins to school vs 25 minutes drive in Oz, much more family time, more trips abroad. We spend so much more time outside, going on walks, parks etc and no longer terrified of going on a country walk for fear of poisonous/venomous creatures. I can talk with my normal 'posh' accent and just be myself instead of constantly feeling different.

I actually regret ever going to Oz and lament that I wasted 9 years of my life trying to fit like a square peg in a round hole.

I will always say that Oz is a nice place to live and so is UK. The grass is not always greener in either direction.

Beoz

How miserable. Where can I experience such an awful life? (Melbourne I don't believe).