magic_stag

It's a bargain all right, why do you think I wanted to move? Sick of Barrat Homes and their rabbit hutches. I reacted with disgust when I saw them selling 1 bedroom houses(!?) in Merrow Park.
I agree that you need 2 years to acclimatise. But what do you do when you face a family revolt and everyone wants to go home? Then it's a question of cutting your losses and beating a heavy retreat. Do you have children? Even if you don't you must realise that any time lost in their education can never be regained. That was our first priority.
Of course most people are scraping to get by and economise. But I don't think I could survive 2 years on the dole

2plus3

Oh Poo, I've just realised that I missed Phil on Friday

Need my fix so off to watch 4OD ...................

K xx

mohogony

l heard about Aussies down here in Victoria moved up to Brisbane and Queensland for retirement in a warmer climate and didn't like the place , found it too humid and other things wrong and moved back to Victoria.

Lord_Farquar

I think that would be difficult given that Europe is bigger in land area than Australia.

Trevski

I have sat here tonight reading this thread and yes moving to oz is not for every one and a lot of the comments are true to the people that write them, all i can say is if you can give it a go then do it as you only live once.
I moved out to brisbane over four years ago and i kept my house rented in UK until my family were happy to say we are staying in Brisbane, but please my advice to every one is make back up plans because things change.
My 10 year old soon is talking like he is missing UK,so my wife and i have a back up plan if he does get more upset.
One more thing i must add is that we moved out here as many other people do,to make and have a better life but things are getting more expensive here like food ,gas, elec and my wife and i do find our selfs saying that its getting more expensive and its not going as far as it did four years ago,the pull of the family is very hard we just spent feb this year in the UK staying with my wife parents and even tho we have seen them a couple of years ago, this time of leaving was the hardest ever and has had a big impact on my wife parents and it has taken them over five weeks to be able to deal with it, and seeing my wife concerned with that hurts.
So please migrate if you can but be prepared to change your plans for the benefit of your own family
all the best

NickyC

There's not a lot in it. If you pack in the UK, Ireland and the Scandinavian countries into the gaps - I reckon they're almost equal..

moneypenny20

Definitely can't do it twice though

MartinLuther

But then you've got the bit that goes all the way out to Kazakhstan.

On the other hand the original proposition may have been a loose use of the word Europe as Aus is 1.75 times the size of the EU.

moneypenny20

I think it depends on whether you use my definition of Europe or the Eurovision Song Contest definition.

MartinLuther

Said the girl who thought the Gobi desert is in the Russia and Panama is in South America.

Syd1

Its interesting reading these Forums. There is certainly no rights or wrongs about staying in Australia or returning to the UK. Magic Stag gave it a go and thought it was best to go back. Good for him I say! Takes balls to make the move and then he wanted to go back. So what?

We've lived here for three years and have loved every minute of it! But you grow a bit tired of the Brits who just moan about the UK and boast about Australia all the time.

Australia has some major issues at the moment. The middle class have no hope buying a house and are forced to rent. This puts pressure on the poor as they now have to compete with the middle class for rental properties. Which is causing more people to become homeless and live on the streets. I have seen it over the years just from going to work in the CBD. More people are living on the streets, its a fact.

Australia is now the least affordable place in the world for houses. 9 times the average household income is required to buy the average house in Sydney.

At least the middle class can buy a house in the UK.

Lord_Farquar

...and ignore the rest of Eastern Europe.

Australiasia (which includes NZ and New Guinea) - 8,884,516 sq km

Europe - 9,908,599 sq km

littda01

Which makes it about the same ratio as London right? Which would be a like-for-like comparison.

UK faces some absolutely horrible times coming, IMO. Tremendous fiscal pressures which may take 10+ years to fix, no major growth industries (the only one around - finance - has taken a beating and is now politically very difficult), rising costs, rising population, social issues etc etc. Of course, there are some good places to live, as long as you can suffer the weather. But if you want a career, in many cases South East is the only option, and then you're trapped in commuter-ville with no space.

May be a wee bit biased though, as we're leaving in 3 months :-) Just come back after several years in the US and have confirmed our opinion that we really dont want to live in the UK any more. Truly a depressing place IMO.

Feargal

That's a really useful insight - thanks for posting.

TrentEnd

I think the woman was born in Ireland (her name was Bronagh after all..) but she obviously grew up in England (Essex). That's my bet anyway.

I enjoyed the show, but I had to laugh at the bit in Sydney where Phil was making out that everybody in Sydney commutes by ferry! If only! My commute to work in Sydney is much worse than it ever was in London - endless traffic jams and idiotic drivers.

As with most things of course, it depends on your individual circumtances. My commute to work in London was excellent - Twickenham, through Teddington and Bushy Park and down past Hampton Court. In Sydney, it's twice as long as i'm going in the same direction as everyone else on the appalling road system. Commuting by ferry would be nice but i'll leave that to those who can afford to buy a house in Manly ( I can't!).