Stuee

My family and I have lived in NZ (Auckland) for 6 years and have decided to move back to the UK, reasons well there are many but this is just to name a few of the main ones:
1. family support
2. Higher wages in UK
3. Holidays to Europe
4. ANNUAL PAY RISES!!!!!

Dont get me wrong, we absolutely adore NZ, but financially this country is to expensive compared to the salaries, food is more expensive here when you are earning the dollar and you just never seem to have any extra cash. Both my husband and I work full time and we are in good jobs here in NZ, we have not had a holiday since we have been here where in the UK we went abroad yearly. In the UK I could work part time and still have cash left each month??

When we arrived 6 years ago the houses were cheaper, shopping cheaper, bills cheaper, but NZ has got so expensive and unfortunately they do not give you the salary to cover it.

It has been a very drawn out hard decision for us to make but to sacrifise living being near family in the UK, for living in a beautiful country with debt is not worth it. We have sold our house and in the process of booking flights, not told anyone in the UK we are coming so that will be a shock for them!!

My main concern is my son who is 11, what year will he be in at a senior school and will he be behind?? Also kids in the UK appear to be a bit tougher than the kiwi kids??

Anyway life is what you make it, and we have our citizenship here so if it all goes pear shaped we could come back + when our kids are older they will be well travelled and hopefully know exactly where they want to be in the world. Knowing our luck it will be America? and we aint got passports for there????

Ian & Sharon

Good luck.

We are also leaving NZ for the same reasons as you, however we have only been here 3 years.
Were going to Oz, why not try that first?

Ian

milligano

Empathise completely with you. We are doing the same thing and mostly for the same reasons as you. We've been here 3.5years and live in Taupo and although we love it too my OH's job changed 6months ago and so we had to look at either moving within NZ i.e. AKL or home. I refused to go to AKl after we looked into it - we have a one year old and want more kids and I just didn't want to start over again in a city that is expensive to live in and without any support. No thanks. we would be better off at home working in a city (which we used to do) and at least we would have more support and money in doing that.

We've been in touch with recruitment agencies and there are a lot of good opportunties for both of us at home and coupled with the fact we have support of family & friends and we would be earning heaps more it really became a no brainer but it took us a long time to accept that.

The decision has taken us 6months to make and it was me who put my foot down and said right we have to make this decision to enable us to get on with our lives and start living again as I couldn't take any more of indecisive limbo we were going through and sleepless nights. Now we've made the decision the cloud has lifted albeit I'm now sad and scared witless but we did it coming this way with no knowledge at least we know what is waiting for us and have help to get through it.

We're due to be back in UK on Boxing Day - curried turkey for us!

I hope it all works out for you. When do you aim on going back?

Whitby whaler

Best wishes to you all.

Sparkle2nite

.....from me too, it's certainly made me feel better knowing we're not alone and I hadn't realised just how many people had or are planning to return home.

Had the best fish and chips ever the week we came back.....at Whitby!

Sparkle

LouiseD

Good luck Stuee & family and to everyone else who is heading home.

It's really surprised me just how many people are returning home just now and how many expats are so unhappy. I suspected that there was a moderate number of returnees but am shocked at just how many. Blighty mustn't be as bad as some would make out after all. It's strange too how those who haven't lived anywhere else are often the ones most vocal about how bad it is there. It's only when you've lived in another country that you see Britain's many good points.

ClareEdm

Are most people here returning to the UK from OZ or NZ ?or maybe i have missed the ones that are returning after emirgrating to Canada ??
i came to Canada 6 months ago to be with my canadian fiancee but im very homesick and am worried that it wont ever feel like home
i wonder how many people have emirgrated to Canada then returned to the UK then decided that Canada was where they wanted to be afterall and returned again ??
im hoping it will have this affect on me when i go back to the UK at christmas...

joh117

We left Oz for the same reasons listed about NZ. It is very expensive there too. We had no holidays no spare cash etc.....

KiwiDollie

Good luck to everyone returning to the UK.

My husband and I moved over to NZ in February this year with our two children. Kids and I were on a plane heading home by September - it just wasn't for us but my husband loved it and is still there.

Life is what you make it and it's too short to live somewhere you are not happy and missing friends and family so just go for it!

Best wishes

PS. Forgot to say we are absolutely loving being home and are very, very happy!! We learned a valuable lesson by going to NZ - the UK is FAB!!!

Ian & Sharon

I know that, but for my trade the pay is a lot better and you only get one life so stuff it were going

Nomore

I do believe me and the kids will be back in UK after Xmas...without the hubby also.
This has been a valuable lesson and expensive one too, but it has opened my eyes as to what the UK has to offer us. The kids are excited about going home and thats all that matters.
Wouldn't wish this on anyone, the feeling of being a nobody in a foriegn country...but no heads hung in shame in our house, we gave it a go, more than what others would do...now thats an achievement..

LouiseD

Good on you Rachel for being so positive - things sometimes just don't work out how we plan them but like you said, you at least had the guts to try it - and life is far too short to be stuck somewhere being miserable. Good luck

LouiseD

Same here - we've just been sat out at lunchtime on St Kilda beach - hubby been sent home yet again from work!

Beautiful sunny day, not a cloud in the sky - lovely clear blue sea. But it's cost us so much financially that it just isn't worth it. We're skint so are off home to the cold damp weather to earn some money so that we can start living again. It does depend of what job you are in as to whether you can afford to live here.

Laura in China

Is your son 11 turning 12 this year, or was he 10 in September and has turned 11 since then?

Laura

Stuee

He is 11 turning 12 next year