To move or not to move?!
 

Hi - I'm not sure if this is the right place for this post, please feel free to move me if I'm wrong:)

I'm new here, so hi everyone :wave:
I am welsh born and bred and currently living in Wales with my 3 kids and my husband. My husband is Australian - we were married in Australia but he has lived here for 18 yrs. We have a business here too.

In the past year we have discussed moving over to Australia. I have only been once (for two months) and loved it, although I never thought for one second of moving there. My whole family is in Wales.

We actually made the firm decision about two weeks ago to make the move. We both felt really good about it but in the past week I have started to have doubts.

I suppose what I want is reassurance? I want to hear people say that you can successfully up sticks?!

We would be moving to Beerwah in QLD to a road where my mother in law, my sister and brother in laws (x2) and my nieces and nephews live. We would be building our own house on land my husband owns.

My kids are 2, 3 and 12.

Please make me feel better.

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

It is a big decision to make and you are bound to get the collywobbles.

It is hard to leave family and friends, but how nice for your OH to be near his family, and for your kids to be able to build a relationship with them too. But you also say that you have a sister, nephews and nieces and your husband's parents, so it is not your whole family that you are leaving behind either. It isn't as if you are taking the plunge knowing no-one, like I did nearly 5 years ago when OH, DD (aged 12) and I flew out to Sydney.

Your children are young enough to settle and find new friendships. DD still keeps in touch with one of her 3 best friends in the UK, and when we go back (every 2 years) it is like they have never been apart. The other 2 have moved on, although still FB her sometimes. But she is happy and thriving out here.

OH is Welsh, and is the only support for his aging mum (now 80) so there is that worry to be added to things, but all in all we are happier here than we would have been in the UK, although not so comfortably off, due to having to pay a larger mortgage and school fees - however, DD finished in November, so things will get a bit easier financially. There is a big Welsh society in Sydney, so he can get a tste of home if he needs to.

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

The question you should be asking is why do you want to move in the first place?

If you have an established business, family and income stream then what is the purpose for you moving?

It will cost you a fortune and you will have difficulties with establishing a stable income stream at first due to difficulty in finding work. If you choose to start your own business then that will cost even more money.

You will be stressed out and will have many different kinds of problems.

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

I think you need to be clear about why you are making the move. What is it that you think Oz will give you that you don't have now?

What work are you both planning to do? Have you researched the economy?

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

Well I could tell you some wild stories about beerwah:lol:

Used go work with a girl from there and it apparently has a very active sex scene going on among neighbours and families:blink: :lol:

Small country town with the usual supermarket, shops etc. Houses cheap as.. Straight out on the highway to north brisbane, prob 30 mins on weekend. North brisbane has masses going on, Ikea, and Costco going in, high growth areas, massive shopping centres like chermside:thumbsup: 20 mins to surf beaches in other direction.

Not a bad spot as oz goes, work opps with north bris, caboolture areas and coast in drive distance.

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

I echo the others - why do you want to move?

I would also (and you won't want to hear this) add a serious note of caution - once you are in Aus and, heaven forbid, you decide that it isn't for you (and Beerwah certainly wouldn't be for me!!!) but your husband doesn't want to move back to UK he can stop you taking the kids out of the country (read The Hague Convention, it's scary!). This really could be a life sentence for you (and does your DH have his UK citizenship so that if you don't like it and if he is one of the good guys who will return with you, you don't have o jump through the dreaded spouse visa hoops)

Secondly - it sounds like your DH has managed to live quite happily with you and. Yours all around him but for you to do the same may be different and I always suggest moving away from where he has people and connections - go somewhere away from his folk to a place where you have to work together to set up your lives and not with the power in the relationship skewed to his folk, his mates, his place while you have bugger all of your folk, your friends, your place. Anything over a 5 hour drive should be enough!

I can certainly sympathise with your DH - returning to your roots is a great feeling but I think you need to go into this with eyes wide open and all sorts of (formal?contract?) agreements about what could happen in future. Good luck with your adventure, I hope that none of my warnings is ever required for you!

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

Didn't she say her sister was there, and nephews and nieces?

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

No. She said her entire family is in Wales but her mother in law, sister in law, brother in law, etc are here

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

It's not 100% clear but I think the OP means she has a sister-in-law and a brother-in-law (as well as a mother-in-law) and their children all living in the same street. They are her husband's siblings - not hers.

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

X 2.

+

I wouldn't move to Beerwah unless the pay was beyond astronomical , it was tax free and god promised me absolution for all my sins past present and to come - and on second thoughts not even then .

Or any other country town come to think of it.

I also note (IMO) this would seem to be the chanciest time in 40 years to move to Australia , there are some current unfavourable predictions as to the country's short to mid term economic future .

Horrible decision to have to make all the best whatever you decide.:)

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

Thanks for the replies guys!

To clarify - I have no family in Australia. The Mother in law, sisters and brothers in laws are DHs family. I would say I am close to them though - we talk frequently.

I guess the main reason for wanting to move is family. I've always lived in Wales (within a few streets actually), my family all live in Wales. It has never been on the cards for me to move abroad anywhere! I was well travelled as a child and I think as a result never had the "travel bug" as an adult. When my husband and I went to Australia last year all that changed! I felt soooo comfortable in Beerwah with his family. My kids spent their days playing in the pool, riding horses, going for walks etc. We also did a bit of the "tourist thing" and visited theme parks, zoos, beaches etc. My kids all got chicken pox when we there too so we spent a lot of time confined to non public places. I feel like we had a true representation of "real life" there. We spent evenings at families houses or at home watching tv. My husband also went off at various points and did some work with his brother (family business).

Here, my kids spend absolutely NO time with my family. Although they all live between 5-15 mins walk away (obviously even less in a car), we don't see each other much at all. We have very little in the way of outdoor space, our kids don't get to play in the garden etc. Because of the small age gap between my two youngest, I am not able to take them swimming here (ratio of adult:child and local rules). My husband works very hard and long hours (for our business) as do I. The quality time we spend with our kids is nowhere near enough, IMHO.

Wrt work - we would continue to manage our business from australia (for a few years at least), so that would provide us with an income. I have decided to take a few years off work to spend time with the littlies (whichever country we end up in) so any work I do would be a bonus financially.

I didn't realise that about DH not being able to return to the uk. I trust him completely not to make me leave the kids there if for some reason I wanted to return and he didn't. I presume if he got a British Passport (which he is entitled to, just has never got) then he could come back in with no problem?

This is all massively helpful, thank you! :thumbup:

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

First off beerwah is a fine little country town and on the rail link into brissie should you need civilization. Also a very short drive to caloundra where we lived which has all the shops you will need. Didn't know about the car keys in the fruit bowl evening activities which may be a plus or minus for you.
Having all the family on the same street is a bit "deliverance" but at least you will have friends and family immediately on tap.
I liked beerwah but didn't rate Sydney or Melbourne so perhaps you are a queenslander or not

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

Beerwah's a great place to live, it is small town QLD but we do have a Woolies an Aldi a very good pub with an excellent bistro and an RSL. If you want a mall theres large plaza's at Maroochydore or Caboolture, both under 30mins away.

Brisbane central is an hour and half on the train, I used to commute there for work and it got old really quickly but I just hung in there whilst finding a job on the coast, I wouldnt look back now.

Theres one primary and two secondary schools in Beerwah (one is private) and both have decent reviews and excellent extension programs.

The area has an abundance of outdoor recreation possibilities and the range at the back of Beerwah has some stunning views over the glasshouse mountains one way or all the way to the coast in the other direction.


Since moving here theres not a thing I really dislike.....Good luck to you

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

I must admit I couldnt see myself living in Beerwah or ndeed any small Australian town but we are all different. I love the Glasshouse Mountains and the area but not to live.

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

yes you can do it successfully many have as evidenced here. :thumbsup:


BUT
how close are you to your Welsh family? if you are all very close and see each other weekly you will probably miss them a load and find it very hard.

If you are well off financially and happy where you are why move? Aus is a similar place with different weather.

If you were happy with the decision to move, think about why you were happy and try and keep in that mindset. We can't really know how you feel about things, only how we and our friends do.
whatever you decide to do good luck :thumbsup:

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

I am close to my family but don't feel at all dependant. We have more family in Australia (who would be very local to us) than we do here.

My wanting to move to Australia really has nothing to do with the weather. It was a negative actually as I gather Beerwah can be unpleasantly hot and humid in the summer! I also have a mozzie allergy and ended up on antibiotics due to cellulitis when I visited last year! I'm hoping if build up a bit of an immunity!
X

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

I lived on Bribie Island down the road from there for 10 years and know Beerwah well. Aldi opened a store there recently and the area is going to boom when the Citytrain rail is extended to there with a full city timetable.

However that's a couple of years away, and at the moment the area is still a bit "hick". It gets oppressively hot and humid in the summer, no sea breezes. Also it was bypassed by the main highway a couple of decades ago as hubby will attest, so any local business is dependent on local trade, and hanging on the rail improvement, and with the current economic downturn in Queensland I wouldn't be looking to establish a new business.

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

Hiya! :)

I found it pretty easy to get anything I needed/wanted when we were there last year. Big shopping centres at Morayfield or Caboolture. Local IGA and Woolies and Aldi pretty basic but necessities catered for. Local pool, schools etc. good.

My husband already owns a row of shops in Beerwah (he's had them for yonks) that he rents out. He's got a career that could be transferred easily and could locum if need be. I won't be working in Australia but will be managing our business here remotely (short term at least).

We live in a small city just outside Cardiff (I have done all my life), everything you could want/need on your doorstep - I could walk to the city centre (should I choose to, which I tend not to tbh) in about 7 mins. I actually want a more basic life. I want the kids to have a garden (our here is not a child friendly space and is small), I want them to ride horses, I what to own chickens, I want to pick fruit (husbands family business), I want to get involved with their schooling, I want them to get to know the other side of the family better.

I'm not a person who complains about British weather at all - I love the seasonal changes. I like the excitement of spring time and the birds singing, the breeze, I LOVE autumn - the leaves falling off the trees, the smell of bonfires burning in the evenings, I like winter with it's cold (freezing) winds when you're all wrapped up with scarves, gloves etc. Waiting for the magic of snow to appear. I like summer (we are having a beautiful one at the mo) - spending my non working days with the kids at the park, local outdoor water play, picnics etc.

I worry I will miss the variation of weather. Hor, hot and more hot doesn't excite me at all.

My best friend lives about 7 hours drive away from me at the mo so only see her about twice a year. I will miss her but will probably speak more as will make more effort. I have a large family I suppose but I'm not close to mAny of them. I have five brothers, only two of which I see "regularly" and by that I mean 4/5 times a year? I have 4 nieces I see just as often. My dad is dead, my grandparents are dead, my mum has her own life - we see each other about once a week and is a bit pointless (not quality time at all, just we are both in the same building for an hour or so). As for everyone else - my DH and I have spent so long working over the past........several years that we don't see people outside work much. There are people I would miss but am thinking Skype will help.

I'm not 100% sure that we're doing the right thing BUT is anybody ever!? Really?! There's so much to think about. I think it's a risk worth taking. As my DH always tells me - very little in life is irreversible.
:thumbup:

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

Sounds like you have a pretty good idea of what it will be like good luck and keep us informed of how it goes for you

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

Its not all hot hot hot here, today theres lovely blue skies but a chilly 15° right now at 9am.

I pine for the seasons and especially Christmas, some of the things you describe are some of the things I sometimes wish for, its strange because I couldnt care less about them when I was home....My OH is indifferent in that regard.

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

Small city just outside Cardiff??? Is Newport now a city?

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

Has been for over 10 years now.

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

I remember walking up the main street after midnight in the snow- it was the only time the place looked pretty- but then it was the early 1980's, and all that it had going for it was the transporter bridge. I was doing my teaching degree in Cardiff, and my then boyfriend lived in Newport. Went to the rink a few times- not ice, but some plastic stuff which was weird to skate on.

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

Ha ha!! Yep Newport is indeed a city! There is no High Street anymore. Well, technically there is but it's full of closed/boarded up shops - having lived here all my life it's pretty sad to see (even though I would never choose to go there now).

Graham and Maria - I've been thinking about the seasons again today, totally agree with you, I'd miss winter/Christmas. Every year I go to Bath Chridtmas shopping to the little Christmas market. It's full of pretty little stalls and mulled wine and baileys hot chocolate :-) mmmm. I really can't imagine a hot Christmas!!? That and birthdays I can imagine feeling "homesick".

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

I love Bath, especially at Christmas - but it is a nightmare to drive there. Have they done anything with that stupid one way system?? The only time I went was on my motorbike, as it was easier to park it. But it was extremely chilly, so sometimes my hands had almost frozen to the handlebars.

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

We hummed and hawed for years about making the move and have finally done it. It's too early to say how it will work out but we are enjoying it so far.
We are having to start again and don't know anyone, you will have a massive advantage in that your husbands family are there and you will be able to build a house.
Can you get your husband to agree to a years trial on the understanding that you all return if you're not happy?
You sound like you have a good positive attitude and we are finding so far that it goes a long way here in Australia :)

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

Hi Kapri,

Pleased you're enjoying it so far - how long have you been there?

I think a years trial is wise. We are thinking it will take a year or so to build and settle into a house so it's a fair timescale. My worry is messing around with the kids schooling. I don't like the idea of them chopping and changing schools. It's weighing that up against taking the risk of all the things we believe they (and us as a whole family) will gain from the move.

I definitely think it is a HUGE advantage having my husbands family nearby. I know it wouldn't work for everyone but I think we will appreciate having them around. I am a VERY sociable person and one of my biggest worries is how I will make friends.

Re: To move or not to move?!
 

We have only been here a week! :D
I haven't started work yet and my husband hasn't started looking for work yet so it's too early to say how all that will pan out.
I won't regret giving it a go though, even if things don't work out. It's an itch that had to be scratched.
Good luck with whatever you decide :)