leejo

Been back the UK for 4 long years. It was good at first, but the weather started to take it's toll.

Don't like to see the children sat in the house for 6 months of the year, especially when they are from Cairns.

Mixed feelings at the moment about it all. Difficult leaving family, but thinking of the life the children will get back.....

Well this is where we are at - house up for sale, applied for places at children's school, wife finished work. Next is book tickets.

Is anyone else in the same position?

astera

Where in the UK do you live?

Any school break you get you can jet off to some of the warmer places, but overall if you live on the UK's south coast I think the weather is quite good, albeit not in the same league as in Cairns but then Barcelona wouldn't be able to compete either.

I think it's more about the social aspect. If you like life in Australia then by all means head on back. Personally I feel like I'm at the end of the universe here, a feeling I don't particularly like, but would find acceptable if I lived on some small, tropical island somewhere with palm trees and coconuts everywhere - simply because it would be part of the package.

Have you thought about moving elsewhere in Europe? Being an EU national has its benefits, and loads of English folk are enjoying life in various countries down south without the need for visas, residency permits, etc. If you don't need big shopping malls and the big-city feel then Malta will probably give you the best climate in the EU (barring any overseas French territories which are technically counted as an integral part of the EU - and are even included on Euro banknotes).

cherry6

Im heading back for the fifth time, planning to go Nov 2016. Need to save up first lol. I have been in the UK since 2008 and although I have really tried hard, I just cannot settle here. We have moved numerous times in the UK since coming back and I am currently in the Scottish Highlands with mountain views and im still not happy. Luckily the kids feel the same way so thats why we are returning

Pollyana

Why on earth are the kids in the house for 6 months!? j grew up in the Uk, my sister's kids have grown up in the UK as well, and we all led healthy lives, playing outside all year round. i'd much rather play outside on a grey drizzly day than on a 30 degrees humid day!

BEVS

I must admit , I wondered that. None of our family and pals still back in the UK are like this with their kids. They are always out & about somewhere doing outdoors stuff.

I also grew up in the UK and I was out come rain or shine , all year round. Didn't bother my family at all and we had great fun.

quoll

Me too! I'm out and about all the time and I always see kids out playing on the playgrounds, hear them playing in the back yards, see them out on their bikes (never seen so many kids riding bikes as they do around here!). I was much more likely to be stuck inside in the heat in Aus! - and that was Canberra in Summer! Cairns is worse! I just don't see the "stuck inside for 6 months" thing at all! Maybe the Cambridge micro climate has more to offer than the rest of UK, I dunno.

brits1

Hi

I am surprised that you have such an indoors life here in the UK, since we arrived back home we spend less time in our home than we did in Aus and we live in the "damp" Peak District lol. I think it can come down to a "frame of mind" really, it sounds that your not happy here in the U.K, you can blame this on anything and everything (people do when living somewhere they don't like) and now your returning to Australia. Good luck with everything and hope that you finally feel settled once back in Cairns

bcworld

It was the turkey twizzlers...apparently they made kids in the UK water soluble, now they can't leave the house!

TravellerMan

Fairly similar with us. Currently working out when to return, will probably be between October and April for us.

Summer is ok here, for the few days we've had summer so far (this is in the south of England). Winter is not much fun.

astera

Instead of ping-ponging, why not try something different than Australia? Or is this about heading back to the same city/place, already having AU passports, etc.?

cherry6

For me, I am Australian born but grew up in UK then went back to Aus and so on, plus I feel more comfortable heading back to somewhere I know (and am already aware of negative things about Australia so maybe more prepared?).
I know your question was probably aimed at OP but thought I would put my situation across

astera

Actually I'm in a not too dissimilar situation myself. Born as an Australian national but over in the UK, and although I picked up a UK passport later on I have much more in common with the UK on a personal/cultural level.

To make things funnier my natural accent is American as I've gone through the US educational system (albeit not in the US), only shifting over to the UK system (and actually in the UK) to graduate from university.

Luckily I can change accents and do so everyday - consciously "translating" every sentence I utter, on the run - to prevent unnecessary questions of the "Are you from America? variety.

Where is home? Spread out across the planet. Plain and simple. I feel best, and most at home, in Singapore though, so one day I will probably set up base there again. So in my case things are more similar to a pinball machine, not ping-pong...

Sasha Fierce

I lived in Scotland before coming to Aus and don't agree you can have the same amount of outdoor time in UK as you do here.
Where I lived it rained about 48 weeks of the year, the summer lasted a week and that was on a good year. My kids did go outside in the rain but nobody will ever convince me that being outdoors in the rain is a good experience. Also, looking out the window, day in and day out, and seeing grey miserable weather really gets you down.

I love the weather here. Yes, the summer is hot but that's what your pools for Spring and Autumn are best. Even today, in the winter I look out my office window and its sunny, cold but sunny.

Down South get better weather in the summer than Scotland but even that doesn't last long.

So there is my tuppence worth

SillyOldBag

I'm in Cairns and generally happy enough here but I am vaguely concerned about what the future holds for my daughter, employment just isn't that great up here. I think we would be better off in one of the bigger cities for both our sakes but she's settled at school (she's 13 now) and happy here so here we stay. As I said, I'm generally happy here and love Cairns, in terms of the weather, the friendliness of people usually and that small town thing. However, we'll keep reviewing the situation (sounds a bit Fagin from Oliver Twist there) ... and will see what happens.

Good luck with your move!

nic75

Absolutely agree with you Sacha. Living in Glasgow, I know how the rain curtails outside play. Yes you can go out but it isn’t pleasant. It’s school summer holidays now and every mum I know is complaining about the amount of rain we’ve had. Apparently 183% more than average and unless you’re lucky enough to afford to travel to Europe for some sunshine, it’s a long 6 weeks.
My son and only grandson live in Brisbane and I love the outdoor life they have. My son loves Scotland and coming home to see family and friends but he doesn’t come back for the weather and doesn’t mind putting up with it for 3 weeks at a time. So we will continue to visit every year, we’re fortunate to be able to go twice a year and can’t wait for December and our next visit.
PS. Looking out the window just now, it’s grey and wet