zakjake

Hi,

I am new to this forum so please forgive me if I am asking questions that
have already been answered elsewhere.

My Wife, two kids (2 Yrs & 9 Months) and myself are seriously considering
emigrating to Australia. My dad has lived in Sydney for the last 3 years,
he is back at the moment but is getting ready to move back with my mom
permanently now he has his PR.

We have heard all about how great it is and are currently feeling a bit
despondent about the UK. We have been thinking about emigrating for the
last 4 years so this is not a rush decision, just a case of finding the
right place. We are going to come over this year to see what it is like
for ourselves but as the country is so large we are trying to decide where
to go to make the most of our visit.

With all the research we have done on the internet Perth seems to be the
place for us as the things we are looking for are :-

Get rid of our high mortgage so we want somewhere cheap to go to.
we are not bothered about night clubs and bars and like the country life
although I still need to work.
I work as a developer in IT so I need somewhere I could get a job although
if we have a low mortgage a large salary is not important and I might leave
IT altogether.
We want somewhere that will be good for the kids when they get older, i.e.
Schools and things for them to do after school instead of hanging around
street corners and smoking like they seem to where we live.
More relaxed life and friendlier people.
and most importantly of all good fishing.

Perhaps we are hoping for too much but we feel we have to try and take the
opportunity while we can and we don’t want to spend the rest of our lives
wondering 'What if' so any advice on places to go or just general advice
would be much appreciated.

Dave & Sarah

bondipom

Are you despondant about the UK or life in general?

zakjake

Despondant about the UK, I just see things getting worse and cannot imagine
it getting any better in the future. I remember when I was at school 15
years ago the worst things that ever happend was a scuffle in the
playground now kids are getting stabed and killed. I even heard the other
day that some schools are introducing metal detectors to search for knives
and guns and some have random drug tests. I just look at America and
cannot help thinking that a few years down the line, that will be us, gun
crime is already rising.

Also house prices, our house has gone from 85k 4 years ago to 180k now and
although the increases have slowed I dont see them dropping, or if they do
not by much. Wages are now so far behind house prices my sister cannot buy
a house now, never mind what it will be like for our kids in 20 years when
they want their house. There is no way people can keep up with the
increases something must happen in the future but I dont know what. Having
said that it does put us in a excellent position to move somewhere cheaper.
I think the current answer is they are just building houses ontop of each
other and we like our space.

Also with the IT industry, the only way I can pay our mortgage is to stay
as a developer but all our jobs are going abroad, I have some people
coming over from India next week to hand over my current role. I am moving
into a new development role but it is not what I would choose to do.
Current stats show within the next 10 - 15 years 60% of developer jobs will
be offshored and I just dont see a future in IT. I know this will be the
same everywhere but if I dont have to worry about paying the mortgage then
I can have a change of career.

ahhhh, I feel better now getting that off my chest but I think different
people want different things out of life. When I was younger I wanted to
go out each night, spend all my money on anything I want and have no
worries, I was really content with the UK. Now as I get older and have a
family I want different things, I want a quiter life, I think about the
future and I want to put something away and I want the best for my kids and
I dont think the UK has to offer what I want for myself and my family.
Finaly I just dont like the way the UK is going, I know that the grass is
not greener on the other side and where ever we go they will have their
problems too but I think that it will suit us better.

Sorry for the rant, the UK is not all doom and gloom and there are plenty of great things it has to offer which makes it a really tough decision which
we have not made yet, that is why we are looking to go out to Australia to
find out what it is all about.

jskogsta

Go for it! As for us we've also thought about a move to OZ for several years.. and it's just now starting since I got a firm offer in Melbourne. As for taking the chance: I would rather be looking back in the future and say I did it .. than .. sh--z .. I really should have done it.

My experience tells me when someone have thought about this for a long time it is really hard to do away with .. so; as Nike puts it: Just do it!

As to where: No idea. But we have family in Adelaide and for a city it is very relaxed and still have the occasional decent job available. I met with a few agencies there while we were on a vacation last year .. seemed quite ok to me.

.. we're off to Melbourne. Not that it was an obvious choice, but my current employer had an operning I got .. at close to my local wage here in Norway .. and if you know the price levels in Norway that should be quite a good deal.

Good luck!

/Jørgen

andrew63

Dave
Totally empathy with you.
Brisbane would be my choice and has all you are looking for and you will be just an hour and a very cheap flight from your parents.
The thing to realise (in my humble opinion), is that Australia will follow the UK/US and eventually will have ridiculously high housing costs and even metal detectors in schools etc. It is an inevitable by-product of the human race "progressing". By coming here you get a big breather from all that for many, many years and maybe hopefully this beautiful country won't become like UK/US.

Andrew

jayr

I'd seriously suggest the east cast if you want the opportunity to see your parents- a lot cheaper than Perth/Sydney flights.

markeh

Hiya,
zakjake i follow your thinking in the way the Uk is going.

Tere is little prospect for most people in the future to have well paid jobs. From my point of view, manufacturing has become a dirty word and the well paid jobs that used to be assosiated with it have all gone. So what do we do now???

The idea that we all move into service industry's is ok, but you can't compete with someone in India with none of the social costs. Tell it to the banks & insurance jobs that have gone there. (i'm alway's getting cold called by people from India, including on a Sunday morning at 8.00 am )


To me Oz is a bit of breathing space and depending on where you wonna live alot nicer. Butr each to there own.


You never know some may like high tax's, one bin bag a week, councilll tax at £1000 year for a shoe box and drugs, prostitution, police that are only interested in catching you and not criminals for speeding etc.

Don't mention the dome! government that's labour and is more sleazy than the Conservatives were in the past. (They could be the Conservatives because they have the same policy's.)

Rant, rant, rant

Bye for now,
Stilll in the UK, Mark

renth

Australia isn't going to be a service economy any time soon, it's resource based and there's plenty of money to be made digging stuff out of the ground and from its associated industires.

anya4oz

But I live in hope that the *supermarkets* will!

(in case you don't know, they are about 20 years behind those in the UK. However, to compensate, the fresh produce markets are heaps better. In the end, it's just what works for you - and I really miss Tescos!)

Good luck with your prospective moves.

Anya.

worzel

There is a West Midlands meet on Sunday 30th Jan if you are interested in coming along for a chat I am in a similar dilemma between Melbourne (where the most jobs are) and somewhere like Perth where life will be cheaper and easier:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/newre...eply&p=1962396