Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

Hi Renth - you have my sympathies & I echo most of what others have said. I guess it boils down in the end to how much your marriage means to you both & who is going to compromise. I know of at least one other family on here where one partner is miserable in Oz, but stays because the other loves it so much.

Just to let you know a bit about our situation, because it might be similar to yours - OH works in IT in the City, he earns around £80K with bonuses. Travel from Tonbridge (Kent, East Sussex not too far away) costs just over £300 per month on the train - there's no way on God's earth he'd do the M25! Rent on our 4 bed detached is £1600 per month & the Council Tax is over £200. His bonus is calculated quarterly & this quarter there has been a definite downturn. Despite what others have said about the Olympics & so on boosting work, it hasn't filtered through to IT & when companies cut costs, it's the "invisible" stuff that they think they can do without that goes first. So firewalls don't get upgraded, new systems don't go in, that sort of thing. 1600 posts per month are being lost in IT.

Oh, & we've had out summer already by the way - May was mostly gorgeous, so it's due to bucket down with rain now until September :thumbup:

Best of luck to you all :)

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

[QUOTE=Amazulu;6403115] the wanker pommy kids

Wash your mouth out you cheeky monkey, my beautiful well mannered 15yr old daughter is a Pommy and she certainly isn't a w*nker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :sneaky:

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

Sounds like you are stuck between a rock and hard place Renth. Does your wife realise how stretched you would be living on a £25K wage?

I don't know what to suggest but hope that you find a way through this that is satisfactory for you all.

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

What an awful position to be in Renth :(

it's hard when you want different things. I'm not settled here in dorset but my OH would like to stay. Ultimately though he will emigrate because that's what I want. Unfortunately us women can be very driven by emotion :o

Re: primary school : I think it's well documented on here that the primary education is very different in Australia - not as academic - but that the end result is similar. In fact I think Australia comes out ahead in OECD polls.

It will be tough living here on £25,000 per year if you have a mortgage. If you are mortgage free then you would be ok.
Weather wise - May has been mostly great but my road is flooding as we speak due to very heavy rain over the past few days.

Is there anything that would help your wife feel more settled? Has she got a good network of friends? A job? A college course?

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

the UK is utter shite! australia aint perfik by a long way but it kicks the arse out of this dump and i can't wait to get back in 9 weeks.
i've made the mistake of coming back and even though i'm earning more than double what i was in oz it's still not enough to keep me here.
but after saying all that my wife doesn't want to go back! i suppose it's each to there own.

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

That's what I was thinking!

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

I'll swap with you:thumbsup:

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

Sympathies to both of you - I agree it is a rock and a hard place. As the one in our marriage who has had to make the biggest compromise (sometimes I dont think he is making any compromise at all!!!!) I really understand where your wife is coming from. However, my logical side would also see where you are coming from with respect to needing to earn enough to support your family and all the stresses that brings with it.

Personally, I think the "better opportunities for the kids" argument is a red herring. As long as kids have parents who love and care for them and encourage them to learn and take responsibilities for their own actions it really doesnt matter one whit whether it is UK or Aus - one of mine has gone back to UK after a lifetime in Aus because of the better opportunities and career prospects, not to mention the lifestyle that he couldnt find here! I compare my kids with my friends' kids who have grown up in UK and apart from a certain eccentricity from DS2 (which has more to do with his dad than the country I suspect):sneaky: they have all had similar sorts of opportunities.

What it comes down to for me is a sense of belonging and that encompasses a whole range of things including family, culture, humour etc and if you dont belong here then that is a real problem and unfortunately not a problem that goes away with time - it actually gets worse as the resentment of having to be in a place that you dead set do not want to be in grinds on you every day.

I have absolutely no idea what the solution to your problem is but I do hope you work it out to everyone's satisfaction. BTW wrist slitting doesnt answer the question:sneaky:

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

Great post and you make a good point, however a disagree on your statement about better opportunities for the children being a red herring.

I think children in Aus have a better lifestyle as children, they spend more time outdoors and less indoors. they have more sport, the country has much better funding for sports facilities in AUS than in the UK.

How many kids do you see on street corners in the UK between the ages of 14 to 17 ? Loads.

How many in AUS? Far less.

That is because there are more opportunities to be entertained.

I agree about prospects long term, they could be the same regardless of where you live, however part of you has to live for today and part of you for tomorrow, so if tomorrow becomes irrelevant because the prospects are the same and the only change you can make is for today, then surely Aus is better for the children whilst they are children to grow up in an outdoors, well funded, safer environment!

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

In Australia they still teach the basics well but there is also a lot of emphasis on the whole child teaching them to be confident, well rounded individuals. For example, my 10 year old daughter is in grade 5 and the teacher often starts the day by reading an article from the newspaper. The class then discuss and debate the issue and perhaps form a small groups to further investigate the topic. Or they watch a documentary or news story on the smart board and then incorporate that into their literacy so they are not only learning the basics of grammar, spelling, writing etc. but being educated on other levels too about the world around them, current issues and especially Values which are an important part of Catholic school education. Sure they do plenty of worksheets but overall the teaching is quite creative and it makes it much more enjoyable for the kids.

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

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Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

Renth £25 k is grinding poverty for a commuter, also houses in commuter belts usually cost a lot so If you have a mortgage it just isn't feasable. Your wife would have to work full time so how is being latchkey kids a better opportunity for them?

However only you and your wife can decide this , so best wishes, I sincerely hope it turns out well for you

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

Are you still planning on going back to Perth?:)

I loved reading your posts in the past about how much you loved it and your passion for the place and found them very inspiring when I was planning to move.:thumbup:

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

Your wife was to go and you want to stay, shit!!! Good luck, I would hate to be in that situation.

Re: Is it a good time to move back to the UK?
 

To be fair, once you run through the finances, it almost looks like a no brainer, unless poor old Renth wants to be destitute for the rest of his days...


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