moneypenny20

If you can't get approved for a visa then you have the choice of Cornwall or Cornwall.

stuckinblighty

We could swap.You can have my visa for Aus/Melbourne and i'll move to Cornwall
Cornwall deffo i reckon.

lunny

Thanks so much for the reply's people! I must admit I'm kind of surprised that so many of you said Cornwall. I do take on board the whole 'changeable weather' factor in Mel, but all the same it would surely be better than UK? I'm convinced I have that SAD,'seasonal affective disorder' I think, the depression miserable weathers brings. lol. Honestly, I get up - look out the window, see the grey sky and just think 'not again' Today the sun is shining, and I'm in great form! Up since 7.30, house cleaned already
In an ideal world, where I had no student loans to repay, I would be in Oz like a shot.
The bottom line though is that, they have to be paid back, so if I go to Australia, and for whatever reasons,cannot earn enough to send back €400 pmth, and live. I could end up having to back to Ireland, no money, no job-or prospect of one-things are still soooo bad there, and back living with my parents. That would be a nightmare - I'm definitely not a home-bird!

Stuck in Blighty: I love this idea,PM me the details lol - I wish

WestVic, I wouldn't mind long hours, if it meant the evening's were bright/not lashing with rain and you could conceivably do something after work, even go for a nice walk, go sit outside a cafe with a book-not like para gliding or anything lol(the highlight of my evenings here are Corrie & Eastenders) PS, You have the right idea, married to an Aussie, I might ditch my OH and look for one myself.lol

77hill, coincidence you mention St.Ives, I have applied for two jobs there, It looks really nice, but needless to say I wouldn't be going there unless I had a job secured.

So considering the fact that I haven't really started saving yet, I need to get my ass in gear and decide if I can take the risk, I might talk to my bank and see if there is anything they can do with regard to freezing loans for 3/6 mths just so I wouldn't be under that pressure when I first arrive.

I'm 25, OH is 27, I know for a fact if I don't do this I will regret it. That kind of says it all, doesn't it? So what, if at the end of it I'm broke, I will have had a good time, decided If I want to settle there, and even possibly have a tan. lol

Susan

Nu-Shooz

I'd live in Cornwall like a shot if the we had work down there. Such a lucky place to be.

lunny

Moneypenny20: Good point, but actually the UK is my Oyster. lol.Wow that's depressing! Are visa's often denied? Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting to just stroll into the country, I know from reading so many posts on here, that it's a long slog, but I thought I'd stand a decent chance for a WHV.

moneypenny20

You'd get a WHV, as to whether you'd find work, a sponsor and a future is another matter.

Kapri

The main problem with the Cornwall option is work. There's not a lot about down there.

spottydog

Not yet been to Melbourne but grew up in Cornwall and if I had a choice between Cornwall & Sydney i'd choose Sydney every time.

The problem with Cornwall is a lack of jobs then wet winters and traffic jams during summer. When you look at the house price to income ratio for Cornwall it is well above the UK average due to the number of Londoners buying second homes.

TrentEnd

Spot on. Everyday life isn't that pleasant when you are permanently covered in sweat. On the beach, or in the pool/sea - yes.

Cornwall for me. The most beautiful part of England.

lunny

I understand you are being realistic Moneypenny, but if I'm pro-active about it, register with all the agencies, send speculative CV's to schools, and apply for my teacher registration before I go, surely that would be half the battle. As I said earlier, if I can't get teaching, I will look for other jobs - I'm not picky. If it pays - I'll do it (within reason)

Spottydog, I certainly agree with the drawbacks you have mentioned. My cousin is living in Sydney, he has citizenship, maybe he could sponsor me lol
Don't jump down my throat about that one people...It's a joke

Hutch

Cornwall was always our plan B if things didn't work out here. Undoubtedly the best part of the UK, but the downsides which made it impossible for us were:
1) The lack of work and massive reliance on highly seasonal tourism related employment.
2) The piss-poor communications - the A30's a joke and the train is bloody expensive and bloody slow.
3) The cost of housing is unreal - all those Londoners with second homes - cottages in Mousehole and the like mean that people that actually want to live properly in Cornish towns cannot afford it. This then has the knock-on effect of gutting the town of all useful services (pub, post office, bank etc) because there's not enough population to sustain them.
4) The tourists. I genuinely pitied the poor bastards in places like Padstow who were under seige for six months of the year from the grockles. Such is the volume of traffic that it's virtually impossible to go about your day-to-day business in a timely fashion because of the coach parties and day trippers. But then, without tourism Cornwall would soon be about as populace as outback Australia.
5) Having to wear a steamer for nine months of the year when surfing takes a lot of the fun out of it. Plus the only time of the year when you can switch to a shorty, you're joined out the back by 500 grommits with the surf sense of lemmings.

Never been to Melbourne so couldn't comment. Good luck with whatever you decide - ultimately it's got bugger all to do with the logistics and everything to do with your gut feeling - so follow your heart and don't have any regrets.

BadgeIsBack

We're different, I would never lie on a beach in any temperature, and find working life fine - I am lucky to work in an AC office...! It's not 35 every day and for that I am thankful.

Bix

Cornwall received an official poverty status listing by the EU not so long ago. Nothing has changed in Cornwall but even poorer nations like Albania joined the EU which bumped them from the list.

It's one of those that is always on the bottom of the pile when it comes to government projects or assistance.

Job market is useless. There are no large companies or industry. Lot's of cheap seasonal holiday work.
A like for like job more often than not pays less in Cornwall for no other reason than they do.

Cost of living is high. "Everything has to be transported down here you know". Even a lot of the home grown products get shipped to the cities and back again.

So you get less but pay more.

Cost of housing is high and exacerbated by holiday homes which in turn leaves large pockets of properties deserted in winter.

Summer can be gridlock on the roads due to holidaymakers.

Cornwall is a very beautiful county.
Rugged cliffs and sandy beaches to the North; quaint old smuggler and fishing villages to the South.

Weather in general is wet, windy and damp. Get a fine day and it's as good as anywhere in Europe but those days are infrequent.

BadgeIsBack

Disagree - in my Blyton books, it was always gloriously hot, and all the chums were always brown as berries - in between addressing the local constabluary's backlist.

Dorset, anyone? Closer to the big smoke.

Bix

I remember those days too.
Would go on and on............until I woke up.