Have you had a look at the news lately? Queensland is/was under water for the last week or so. Victoria is expecting floods today. It's going to be 37 in Perth again today (too hot to be outside) and our dams are at about 30% capacity.

Yeah! Move for the fantastic weather!!!!! Oh, and don't believe everything you see on TV. I always thought Manchester looked great from what I saw on Coronation Street.

you forgot UV radiation levels of 12/13 and brisbanes latest recordings of 16/17.

Weather is one reason I would not move to OZ, too extreme a climate.

BBQ lifestlye needs a bit of caution too. IME it means your neighbours and their screaming kids are in your face 24/7, and aussies are not the most refined people on the planet

However the OP sounds childfree, young probably the best time to move. But dont do it for a cheaper cost of living and research the teaching thing, lots of registration process and if you want to be a state teacher, you could end up with a lot more than a yorkshire type commute, you could end up placed 17 hours from any diving spot Plus if your into travel, maldives etc will cost you a heap from OZ despite it being closer.

IF you both take out working holiday visas you can be here within days working. You're both eligiable. But this will last 2 years at maximum and you will need soem sponsor at the end.

hmmm...I'd go along with what other people are saying.

With your professions, salary expectations and no capital to bring over
the general cost of living is no better. Even with a rough measure, for many, it is worse.

At one time, I would say that your relative youth is on your side.

Now I would explain that people who can expect to do well and have a 'BBQ beach lifestyle' are people in niche jobs or industries who have put a fair amount of work behind them already and got a lot of other things in place first. A poster springs to mind who managed it all - but he is 40odd, not 25odd, and had the proceeds from a London home.

Working holidays - bear in mind this might go against your partner as there must be recent time served in her role.

speaking as a fellow tight ass yorkshireman, it's chuffing expensive here!!!

Especially in Sydney, weekly rent for a crap house same as a months rent in Halifax for example!

Beer 3 quid and not even for a pint, it's a girls glass!

Cars, chuff me, my car in UK was worth 500 would cost 3000 quid here!

But - wages better I find so all relative!

that was like reading "your house has burned down, but the heat in the garden has caused your roses to grow"

Holiday packages for 7 nights from Brisbane to the Maldives seem to cost $2500-3500 per person. How would that compare with the cost of similar packages from the UK to the Maldives?

the maldives varies wildly by island. weve spent over £7k and weve spent £3k and had an extra week in sri lanka too, just depends on whether you want ultimate luxury or not. i guess with the barrier reef on your doorstep, bali etc not far away, the maldives could be compromised.

as for the weather, i have seen the floods etc but this is freak weather i am assuming? weve had 4ft deep snow this winter, and massive flooding not far away, so as it is occasional freak weather it wouldnt put me off, after all you wouldnt not get on a qantas plane just because of the problems they had with the a380.

as for spedning 40% of my waking hours at work, im desperate for that!!! i leave the house at 630am, get home at 7pm, on good days, i am working every hour under the sun here, there are genuinely days where i dont see daylight.

37 degrees heat is no problem either, we both love the heat, we've experienced over 50 celsius in egypt several times with no problem.

looking at the cost of cars, it may be worth us bringing at least 1 of ours with us by the looks of it if we do go ahead. is it possible to get european cars serviced etc?

Don't bring your car over.

Check out diveoz.com.au for more info on diving on oz. The barrier reef really isn't 'on our doorstep' for diving...to get to any of the good diving spots (not completely damaged by tourists) it's at least a 2hr boat ride each way from cairns. And cairns is about an hour by plane from brisbane. QLD also has some of the tightest diving regulations in the world due to the number of deaths on the barrier reef. I'd personally go for sydney, melb or perth if its diving you are after. Melbourne has seriously under-rated diving. Water temps of 10 in winter up to 21 in summer. Awesome temprate reefs and a ships graveyaed full of wrecks if that is your thing.

Also check out sights like travel.com.au and zuji.com.au to get an idea of the price of flights to the maldives. Then look at the diving operators websites for prices of packages. Many of the dive operators in asia price their packages in USD which if you are paying in £ is great, but not as good if paying in AUD (especially if the ozzie $ drops from near record highs against the USD)

I think all the comments are excellent and valid comments and there's a lot to think about and a lot to work out- but the biggest test of it all is- actually going out there and trying it.

As you're both under 30 have you thought about the working visa option to try it first and then moving out there for reals when you get out there if you like it (many people i know have done this within the last couple of years so it is an option).

I'm Yorkshire but living in Manc, I can't wait to get out there.

In Australia expect to be leaving the house at 6:00am and getting home after 8pm.

At least 2 hours

....and plenty of days where you won't see daylight in Queensland. It is always dark before 7.0 pm or so.....and that is in summer

Last project partner was on, left at 5.00am and got back around 6.30 pm. Pretty standard for those on a salary on that job, plus you worked saturday as well. He became a zombie no really the only thing he did outside of work was sleep. Some days in summer blokes on the site would pass out, health and safety had a meeting and decided on a saturday roster so you could get the odd full weekend off, it never happened.

This project now seems like a part time, mon - friday 5.30 till 4.30.