Im_a_dreamer

Hi Everyone,

I have just joined and am basically looking for some feedback on Brits who have been brave enough to make the move to Oz.. Have you stayed? is there a better work/life balance etc? cost of living? schools, family life in general?

To give you a little bit of background, my husband and I have been talking about moving to Australia for at least 12 years, we are both 37 now. At the time we didn't particulary want to leave friends and immediate family and were afraid of losing eveything we have here, work, home etc !! basically we were never brave enough to take the leap!!
Anyway we tried to just get on with things and continued working, moving home and having a family, we have a 7 year old and a 21 month old baby, however those old feeling are creeping back and I really want us to consider a move before we get any older and before the kids get any older.
I feel very fortunate for everything we have worked for and we have a nice home, family, friends etc but just feel that something is missing. We would still miss them but I feel that our priorities have changed and I want a better life for myself, husband and 2 sons.
The british weather is awful, the kids love being outside playing but it is not always possible because the weather is so cold and wet !!
I know if we did make the move we would still have to work, pay bills, school runs etc, cost of living much the same, but just feel we could have a better family life for the kids who love being outside all the time..

Still Game

Hi, welcome to BE! do you know your and your husband's eligibility for a visa? all info here www.immi.gov.au

Your best friend on here will be the search button - up above - for any sponsorship queries if you need to go down that route - there are many threads/posts. Good jobs sites are www.seek.com.au and www.careerone.com.au to have a rough idea of where the job vacancies... to be sponsored by a company however, that's an entirely different matter... as mentioned make good use of the search button for sponsorship queries - the successes and otherwise stories... You could also secure State sponsorship - which is obviously dependent on which state you would look to move to. Google Australia state sponsorship for more info.

Best of luck - have fun just reading through all the posts. People here put their timeline up of when they applied and succeeded or still waiting and also many have their one diary

Turban Explorer

Do you have a visa? If you have permant residency sorted out and can line up a job at 2.5 x your english pay before you arrive then take the risk..It's a nicer more outdoorsy life style for us, there is some fascinating wildlife and some lovely beaches. The downside is the cost of living (which for us is much higher than in the UK) and the fact we've ended up living a far more frugal lifestyle than ever before because the job market is tough where we are.

odyssey

visas as the other posters have pointed out are a challenge.
I am far worse off financially
I cant imagine how I would feel moving my 3 children 6,5,3 back to Wales.

On balance my life is far far better, if more stressful here.

If that feeling changes, I know where to go back too - house prices etc Sunshine Coast vs Wales mean that I could relocate home at any time without too much of a worry.

I am really glad I made the move - but with 2 young children you do have to a. choose your location where there will be work
b. Have some money to support yourselves for a length of time.


good luck

Im_a_dreamer

Thats great thanks, I'll have a look at other posts etc and use the search button and hopefully it will give me a better idea of things..

Im_a_dreamer

Hi, no don't have a visa or even know for sure if would get one, it's still very much a dream at the moment. The cost of living in the UK at the moment is really high, petrol is £1.359 litre, gas going up another 18% not long gone up, food etc very expensive too so I expect it to be quite similar. It is definitely the oudoor lifestyle andc quality family life we are looking for.

Im_a_dreamer

Hi, Yes visas look as though they are very time consuming and stressful looking at other posts, but we are in the initial stages so not got to that yet, We would probably consider NSW or Perth, looking at both at the moment, how are they for kids, quality of life etc? or could you recommend anywhere in particular?
We are hoping to visit this time next year, we have family in NSW and are hoping to get over for 3/4 weeks during school hols to get a feel for the place, fingers crossed..

Still Game

Personally I think Perth is a great place to bring up kids. I only have experience of the Northern Suburbs. There will more than likely those who don't agree, however, it's just my opinion.

However, as you know it's one step at a time. Read through all the links and gather as much information as you can.

Hard to say when you want something so badly but you have to try not to get your hopes up and it's not something that will happen overnight.. or even within a year or two. It's not all sunshine and happiness either. It will be long road and most likely rocky with unknown twists and turns. I'm not trying to put you off at all - in fact I think if you can manage it with the visa's then absolutely go for it! Just be aware that nowhere is the grass really greener so be prepared for set backs.

If you want something bad enough - it will happen tho so get that steely nerve ready!

slapphead_otool

Like everything in life, its a trade off.

Its like getting married, you give up your bachelor lifestyle in exchange for a partner for life.

And just like that, there is some good and some bad involved (hope my wife doesn't read this). To complicate matters the good and the bad is different to each set of circumstances.

Some people miss family and friends. others miss the UK countryside and the lifestyle.

Other people struggle to find work, or comparable work, simply because Australia is a different country and a different economy to the UK. Some jobs that pay well in the UK barely exist in Australia, and vice versa.

Other people love the place, and land on their feet.

For me its been a good move. I couldn't stand the inbred pseudo aristocracy of the Sloan Ranger set and the Thatcher "barrow Boys, all money and balls.

I think I made a smart move and good investment in moving to Australia. My friends in the UK agree.

Im happy to be out of the UK, and I don't ever think i would go back. And to be brutally frank, as the sun now rapidly sets on the UK a lot more people will be wishing they got out sooner.

Most of the complains in the last couple of years seem to be that the new migrants cant create a UK ghetto in Australia (coronation street and fish and chips) or cant get jobs. Very few seem to be heading back, and no one seems to complain about the economy - unlike my friends left in the UK.

The other big complaint of course is from those who cant get visas, and those who have visas but find the pound is so weak they cant afford to move here.

chris955

It's an individual thing, I grew up here and we are heading back to the UK later this year.
If you work the same hours here then the work/life balance will be exactly the same of course. Cost of living is widely accepted as being higher here with costs of food, electricity etc rising rapidly. Schools like anywhere can be good or bad. Family life depends on the family and can't be generalised. It depends what each individual family wants and where they live.
For many they find the dream, for many others they don't and they go home.
Australia isn't some kind of magical place that somehow misses out on all the bad stuff and you can leave or your troubles behind. You wont just automatically get a 'better' life here.
All I can say is give it a go, how many times have you visited ?

Alfresco

Hi Im_a_dreamer and Welcome to BE.

I fixed some of your posts so the quotes work properly. Please have a quick read of this thread on how to do quotes.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=639922

slapphead_otool

+1 I couldn't agree more.

Trevski

Re: dreaming of a better life in Oz

Quote:
Originally Posted by chris955
Australia isn't some kind of magical place that somehow misses out on all the bad stuff and you can leave or your troubles behind. You wont just automatically get a 'better' life here.

+1 I couldn't agree more.
__________________

Well said i have not found those gold paved streets yet

verystormy

Totaly agree with Chris. Oz has some things that are better such as weather. But it has its negatives as well and these will vary for individuals. We have been here 3 years and are thinking of going back to the UK. Dont know if that will be a permanent move or a couple of years. Time will tell.

I am glad we did it. But not sure i would do it in your situation. For us, because of the nature of my job moving internationaly is pretty simple. Secure the right role, company pays for the relocators to come in and arranges a visa and all we have to do is get on a plane. But going through the whole visa process and doing it with children i dont think we would have.

You have to ask yourself what it is that you think Oz will give you.

Dont rely on the weather - Your children wont be out playing in summer sun of 40c. They will, like you be staying in the shade and air con of home. Winters can also - at least in Perth be surprisingly cold and wet. Not as cold as the UK but we notice it more because most houses have no heating. So when, like now, it is raining and the temp is pretty low it can feel a bit miserable.

Dorothy

I have said it before and after the past couple of weeks here in Perth I will say it again...43 years of Canadian winters and I have never felt so cold as I do in an Australian winter. The cold here in Perth is bone chilling, wet, miserable, horizontal rainy, windy shit! The houses are so crappily (is that a word?) built with no insulation and single glazing that overnight it's often warmer outside than inside. Last week I scraped frost off my windscreen on more than one occasion.

However, it's only 6 months until I'm moaning about it being 42 or 43 in the shade.