After lots of umming and ahhing, have decided to rent house not sold yet in NS and return to Norfolk, England, booked flights for 2 weeks time to return indefinately!
Found out from Canadian lawyer that we will be taxed in the UK on our worldwide income so that will include our Canadian house, but as we will be renting property and not buying in UK we may not have much of a tax bill from our Canadian property, and if we sell soon we will not have much tax to pay as we are permanent residents of Canada at the moment and we have not made any profit from our house at the moment.
We have nearly sorted out the rental, and it leaves the door open for return to Canada, as being permanent residents we only have to be resident for 2 years out of 5, so never say never....
How we will feel on the flight back to the UK and when back to reality is anybody's guess, but our hearts are definately in Norfolk, UK, this emigration business has really made us realise just how 'English" we are!
Hubby's sister has come up trumps with somewhere to stay initially, need to get kids back into old schools, realistically we need to stay put for the sake of them, although surely their different life in Canada has been good for their different take on life, to realise that life does not start and end in England!
We will come back next summer, all going well, and see our home as an investment, know tax will have to be paid, but doesn't it always come back and bite you in the ass!!!
Will update on how we get on back in England...
Can just smell those Norfolk Strawberry fields...
Sim

Hope you dont mind me asking but for what reasons are you moving back to the UK, cos for the love of money do not want to return, we are on twp's at the minute and fast tracking for PR and are so anxious as want this so much. Im not judging just curious everybody's circumstances are different.

Janeymay

good luck to you all with your move back.

We have the same scenerio...want to sell up, move after school ends and start up in sept in new schools...We can't sell our house either , in Ontario..but then its only been a month...just patience i guess...

Lucky you to have it sorted so quickly...we are hoping Suffolk area..but still don't know what we'll do once we are off the plane...rental, schooling? ohhhh the worries..
glad you had help on the uk side!!!

Mainly work for hubby, he is a fully qualified plumbing & heating engineer, corgi registered, city & guilds advanced plumbing craft, etc, etc, but OMG how different is his working life in Canada, everything is different, health & safety non existent in NS, -25 working conditions in the winter, digging your rear wheel drive plumbing van out of the snow and ice in winter, 2 weeks vacation iso 5 weeks in Uk, the list just goes on and on...
My life is boring compared to the UK, nowhere near enough places to go in NS, the weather sure puts paid to that, the blackfly will be here imminently....
Other than that our Canadian neighbours are very friendly, although our fantastic friends here are UK northeners, what a laugh we have had with them, will definately be exploring northern UK, as from south and lived in East Anglia the past 10 years.
But have opened up pandora's box, and probably will never feel the same again....
Sim

Good luck Sim, I have to admit that I miss Norfolk too - there is something very unique about the area! However, having been here for 20 months, I still don't think that I have given NS long enough. I am happy here, but do look back fondly. Maybe with rose tinted glasses. I have been back for a visit and although I loved catching up with friends and family - the small town had changed quite alot. It's definitely not my home anymore. So I will carry on embracing my new life and look forward to my extra long vacation in Norfolk come the summer!! But all the best to you and yours!

Thats fair comment, understand your reasons, like i said everybodys circumstances differ, although must admit we love Canada not saying it hasnt got its faults, cos it has, but also think that the UK has nothing to offer us and our children for the future. Good Luck anyway and safe journey HOME.
Janeymay

Good Luck!!! Sounds like you are in a similar situ to what we were in on VI, apart from the weather.....We have now been back for almost 11 mths and are so happy to be back home

Best of luck to you. This last winter has certainly tested out long term loyalty to Canada. I can certainly relate to your comment about boredom. The weather dictates your every move. Although the seasons are beautiful they are becoming tiresome.

(this is stu-pots other half) Good luck! Just wondered are you renting your house out furnished or unfurnished? Shipping your stuff back for your rental in England?
We have only been here 6 weeks but i am feeling like i made a wrong decision coming here. I know its early days yet, but hubby and kids think its great, i don't!
I don't blame you one bit for going back to England! for you

Best of luck with your move back. We returned from Oz just over 14 months ago, after just over 5 years there and still not settled despite planning our move back over 16 months. You are certainly right about opening the Pandora's Box and I am not sure that we will ever feel the same way again. Still yearn for Oz many days, but really need to try and settle here. You can't help your feelings though.

Kathryn

Glad you've found a solution that works for you. Good luck with the move back I've a feeling you won't regret it

Good luck with your return....

I used to spend a lot of time by the Norfolk coast - North Walsham/ Mundersley/Swafield.....Although I am quite happy in Canada, it is an area of England that I always think of very fondly...

Enjoy being home!!
Lisa

We are renting it out part furnished, there are still a couple of rooms that we have not managed to furnish due to lack of funds.
Sorry to hear you are not settling either, can't really say give it more time as we are going home after only 9 months. To be honest it is more work related for us, hubby has had lots of problems here and has got a good opportunity back in England to be a plumbing lecturer, getting paid whilst doing his teacher training, so it will mean 6 weeks off in the summer, and if the rental goes well we will see it as an investment, and mabey come back for the summer holidays next year, we are not going to beat ourselves up anymore about it not working out here to live permanently, but will try to salvage something from all this by not having to let go completely and getting something good out of the situation.
Thanks for the good wishes, and all the best of luck to you with your decisions about your future in NS, please send me a private message if you want to talk about it, I know I am not the most ideal person for you to talk to at the moment, but I understand what you must be going through...
Sim

Been back in Norfolk 6.5 years, after NZ, hubby a plumber too, he found things so very different there, amazing what u get used to. Anyway hope all goes well for you, where in Norfolk are you heading ???

Good luck to you. I haven't even gone yet, but am already thinking I might stay anyway. I don't have any particular gripe with the UK, as so many expats seem to. Many of the reasons people are citing for wanting to return are the very things that worry me. I'm not sure, at my time of life (50) that I want to make such a huge move only for it to be the wrong thing. Different if I was 30, perhaps.