John Howard

...........I go back there for a 4 week holiday for the first time after nearly 4 years in Australia?

My wife, 6 month old daughter and i are heading back to blighty for a 4 week holiday/stress out at the end of June. Just wanted to know from people who have done similar and what i am in for

skye

Still in the UK waiting to come out!!! - which part are you coming back to.....

C&R

Expect a glorious welcome when you arrive at Heathrow airport and head towards immigration control, everyone is so happy there, and really really love their jobs. So many smiles everywhere it is a wonderful feeling, it really fills your heart up to the brim.







Not.

Just make sure when you get back to the UK, you do actually have a holiday. We usually find you spend the whole time trying to see everyone and making other people happy, that when you return you feel like you need another holiday just to unwind from the UK trip. Have a great time : )

king kong

I loved it so much when i went back for a month ,im planning on going back permanently it was bloody great .

Centurion

The things you like about the place will be there and the things which you hated enough to make you migrate to the other side of the world will be also.

I found it a culture shock. Check out chicks didnt pack my bags which led to a bit of an embarassing moment when the groceries piled up at the end of the conveyor thing.

You convert everything back to dollars and get very scared at the price and start saying things like - im not paying 50 bucks for that!

Remeber to pack nice clothes since they all dress up to go out and wear shoes all the time....

And then after you have caught up with your family, which will take a day, you can spend the rest of the time wishing you were back home

John Howard

Going back to the Midlands- Northamptonshire

cornishoz

we,'ve just got back from 3 weeks in the uk. the traffic jams got too much .it was great to stay with friends & feel that it was as though we hadnt been away for 3 years. seeing all the rellies was exausting but worth it as its so important for kids to keep in touch with their family identity and roots. we shall definitely try to get back regularly( every 3-4 yrs) so that noone forgets what we're like face to face.it was sad to say goodbye but great to get back to Oz as that is where our heart and home is now and we love it. tried not to get bowled away by a shopping frenzy just because there was so much choice close by.tried to be realistic about how much id spend on something back in oz.watch the exchange rate and convert early if you can. bought lots of books for kids as its more expensive here.also stocked up on tesco basics jeans, socks etc for them too. we preordered stuff from amazon ,next and other fave internet sites to arrive at mums as we did, so we'd have time to send it back.the kids 15 13 & 9 soon worked out that ps2 and nintendo games were cheaper but consoles weren't.went to watch plymouth argyll match- boys loved that!.make sure you know what your kids have packed in their carry on bags. my 9 yr old had all his life in his back pack and pockets- string, stones,sticks, glue stick , batteries game boy etc which took 40 mins at the customs scan coming back thru heathrow, while they emptied everything out--. the tears were flowing as he saw his precious things being put in the 'dodgy items" tray-- he let them keep the sticks and stones, but would have fought to the death if theyd confiscated the gameboy!! found the flight back really long with 2 nights trying to get kids to sleep. next time we'll plan in 2 night stopover if we can afford it.kids not fazed by catching up with their uk mates & have settled back really well-something i was really worried about and needn't have been. it was tough leaving my mum this time as she has become very frail and has had to have some respite care in a nursing home since we left.so now im feeling the guilt of leaving all the sorting out my brothers. we had a lovely time but didn't feel like a holiday in the way that booking a 3 week package to fiji or new zealand would.hope you have a great trip too.expect the heart strings to be tugged by the grandparents as you introduce your baby to everyone. that'll probably be the most emotional bit for your OH- you know what us girls can be like

jayr

I imagine at end of June all the Poms will be in shorts and T shirts whilst you are freezing in jeans and jumper.

Rellies will be pleased to see you but ask little of your life in Oz; instead they'll inform you of their latest medical complaints and moan about Polish immigrants or Tony Blair, or the traffic or something.

You may enjoy being a tourist in your own country; it is a strange feeling, we bought lots of tacky UK souvenirs.

Living out of suitcases for four weeks in rellies houses with no space will not be enjoyable (trust me).

Walk around Tesco's in awe and wonder at the range (and price) of food and buy a lot of good quality french wine at less than $10 a bottle.

Promise yourself to "book a proper holiday" when you get home (Oz). We went to the Whitsundays not long after we got back to get over our UK "holiday".

northernbird

off topic, sorry OP, but our Woolies sells JP Chenet at $7 a bottle, cheaper than UK.

NickyC

It's always lovely to catch up with people but, as others have said, you really have to be careful that you don't spend all your time tearing around the countryside meeting up with people in various places and then find you have no time left for yourselves. We made that mistake the first time.

Make people come to see YOU - after all you've done the hard bit in travelling 12000 miles - the least they can do is travel a few miles to see you once you've arrived. I've lost count of the people who moaned because we didn't get round to visiting them on trips back, but they weren't prepared to hop in their cars and drive for 10 minutes to see us.

You'll be surprised at how small things seem - little houses, tiny rooms, minute car park spots. You'll also be surprised at how busy (and narrow) some of the roads are even if you're used to driving in Sydney. You'll also be horrified at the cost when you eat out.

I've never found the shops in the UK to be that much different (neither better or cheaper) to the shops here in Sydney. The last time back I hardly bought anything as the prices were much the same for the things I tend to want to buy. The exception is books but you can't buy that many as the weight is a problem getting them back in your luggage.

I've always found that the first three weeks back are fantastic - after that the novelty starts wearing off and you start to think fondly of home in Australia again.

biggy

What we are going to do when we eventually decide to go back...is to arrange a big party(like our leaving do) for all friends and family, and if people want to come then great.....but we wont be going visiting all the time....bugger that

Mrs Jackaroo

Bloody hell thats a fab idea! I'd never thought of doing that - it'll be a while before we can afford a visit though (not that I'm in any particular rush of course! )

ozzieeagle

Spot on JR, almost exactly how I felt about the place when I went back, after 16 years away, two years ago. I was very suprised at the lack of interest in our life in Aus, however I got over that feeling fairly quickly. Hated the suitcase living, and was pleased we had a mini holiday, were we could stretch out and be away from everyone in the middle of our extended trip. I hated the feeling of being a tourist in my "own manor" back in South London, in fact the feeling hurt a lot, it brought back how much things had changed, and some aspects of what I've missed out on by being a migrant.

I have to go back for personal family reasons next year, a trip that I'm not really relishing (well the family issue that is). I'm going on my Own, minus the Wife and two kids, for 5 weeks, hopefully this time I wont come back wondering what and where I would have been had I not migrated. Hopefully being away from my wonderful and wife and kids, will be enough to dispel the new lingering doubts, which I felt for the first time on my last trip back, about whether life could have been better in the UK.

I've already got plans for a nice cruise when I get back, within a week of landing, told the wife she has to book that before I book my ticket for England, knowing that the cost of the cruise, will be less than the cost of paying for my wife and kids air tickets to England.

I know what to expect now, and hope I have a far more ordinary time, than the pleasant culture shock that England gave me, after the long 16 year gap between my last two visits......

Owise I'm in for a lot of Angst.

jayr

One thing we did to maximise the soaking up of parts of British culture that we have missed was to maximse the number of pubs that we visited. Aside from a large number fo bars visited in one long and poorly remembered night out with friends I think we tallied about 11 daytime pubs.

We aimed to have ceratin 'pub meals' that we wouldn't tradtioinally find in the soulless suburban Australian pubs and managed to have pies, large yorkshire filled with stuff, Christmas dinners, some very satisfying steak and stilton pie, black pudding and a number of carveries. I think I gained about one stone. Mind, I'll be glad not to taste reconstitued powdered potato mash again for a few more years.

We visited over Christmas (perhaps the worst time to visit the UK/visit rellies) and the darl sky, very early end to daylight, dark mornings and people dressed ingrey and black made for a particulalry miserable experience.

We both felt something of a "frisson" of excitement as the plane touched the concrete...back home in Brisbane.

ozzieeagle

That will have been my first big mistake then, in finding the UK overly attractive. I went from the end of May to the Start of August. Going at the same time next year. There are some fantastic vistas in Beer gardens on summer evening in the UK.... Abundant Green foilage and plenty of skin.


Hmmm maybe I should go in the winter.