golgo13

Hi Guys,

First time poster, I have been reading BritishExpats.com since 2005 when I decided to move to Canada for a year. I then followed my wife to Australia and after almost 4 years out here I will be moving back to the UK. The main reason is family for since I gave two nieces in the UK I havent spent much time with. I really love Oz but its time to go...

The "why would you want to come back to this S***hole brigade" is already unto me but sometimes you just know when the time is right.

moonsurfer

Woolworths' 30 per cent off if you buy more than 6 bottles of wine. Pretty good with all the NZ sauvignon blanc being so cheap over here Seriously, I guess it would have to be the sense that you can still, if you really want to (and yes it has become harder), have any level of education you want or entry to a profession without the invisible barriers of 'background' that were at least very much there in the UK when I left in 83.

golgo13

Ah yes I almost forgot about the whole background thing...
Seema to the the good old british throwback from when we all build steam engines out of pig iron and landowners where kings....

Irony is I have furthered my career here in Australia a lot quicker than I would have done in the UK.

I wonder what they will make of my 'background' upon my return... ha ha ha

canadaeh

I'd miss something very simple and silly..... 'Chicken Salt' lol I'm addicted to it.

Carrianne

Hi,

I cannot believe I am even writing this, but for us we have been here over 6 years, have a great life, great friends and great jobs. Live in a beautiful spot. However none of that makes up for the connectedness of family, we had a daughter here 3 years ago and we miss them being with her and her having a family. No one is aware of our thoughts yet and we want to keep it to ourselves.

The sun I will miss that is the ONLY reason we moved was weather, but the sun cannot fill an empty heart and the loss of being cuddled and cared for by your family. But we know we can nip on a plane for just 2 hours and be somewhere warmer.

quoll

Were I lucky enough to be freed from Australia there would be two non family things that I would miss for a short while - one is my shower: no matter where I have been in UK they just dont seem to be able to get the shower power going enough for me to really enjoy it. Mind you, I wouldnt be limited to 3 minute showers so probably a swings and roundabouts thing going on there.

The other thing I would miss is wide car parking spaces - either that or go on a serious diet so I can get out of the car in an inner city car park in UK. The park and ride spaces are usually very generous but the multistoreys were built in the days of the mini minor and anything even vaguely wider than that can be a bit of a challenge.

People wise well yes I would leave a son and, by then, a couple of grandkids but people can take holidays so it wouldnt be that big a problem.

Other than that, there would not be a single thing about Australia that I would give a second thought to.

Retseh

Speaking personally, putting up with the tiny shoe box houses, the lack of parking, crowded roads, high tax, hatred of successful people, violent kids, miserable people, lousy weather and ridiculous prices don't outweigh being able to say hi to my family.

I think you'll spend the next 3 years regretting your decision, and then the following 3 weeks reversing it.

Good luck, and remember to wear a stab proof vest !!

sallysimmons

Yes, all my friends are family in the UK are stabbed on a regular basis - at least once a month. (We don't have an eye-roll emoticon do we?)

iaink

Erm, yes we do...

quoll

Yes it really is shocking - got stabbed at least once a week on my last visit home. The weather was terrible too, although every picture I took seems to have an ocean of blue sky except the one day when it snowed.

canadaeh

You may get stabbed all the time in the UK, but at least then you know you're alive. I feel dead over here most of the time.

Oh and just so you know, Australia has knives too.

quoll

Hmm yes, actually quite a lot of knife crime in Canberra - largely swept under the carpet however! Also a bit of an increase in the reporting of gun crime as well with our own local assassination recently.

salopian

I got stabbed every half an hour the last time I was home (actually began to look forward to it) and I never even left the 'tent' because the roads were always jam packed. Oh, and it rained twenty-four hours a day for five weeks and the average temperature was minus 10. Can't remember laughing at all because everyone was soooo depressed. Hated the family in the next tent to us as well, they could AFFORD to buy bread. Bastards!

quoll

Stop boasting some of us just have to make do with a swag and newspapers when we go and visit!

LIBBY

Idiot...what was the point in that!!??