Merlot

Can't wait to get back to the old dart but a little wary of my first winter.

How has other returning expats coped?

dugongs

One thing I realised when I returned from Australia was the winters and rain are nowhere near as bad as you start to think after living in Australia for a few years and listening to all the experts on British weather that live there.

Irish Guinness

I have just returned from the u.k. after 5 weeks holiday, could not agree with you more, the weather was mild, Christmas Day we wrapped up went for a walk,along a lovely Devon beach called Dawlish Warren, had a few drinks in a little pub, then headed back for our Christmas dinner.
they can say what they want there is nothing to beat Christmas in England.
they can have there 37 deg heat dinner on the beach:scared:
flies heat sand, need a drink already
glad to hear you are happy to be HOME AGAIN.

dotty

Not returned yet but spent the whole December in UK. Total relief from the oppressive heat the minute we arrived. Saw far more sunny days/blue sky than expected. Frost twice, cold enough to add gloves but the rest of the time, all we did to go out was quickly pop on a jacket.

Back in OZ now, disgustingly hot, day and night, uncomfortable to say the least. Frankly if I never saw 30+ again it would still be too soon.

The difference, I felt like I could get on with living, not be dragged down by stinking heat day and night.

Herman

We are quite enjoying our first winter for 4 years! At the weekend we went for a walk in the Surrey countryside and cold fresh air was blasting down our lungs for the whole time. We loved it and laughingly recalled our Sunday walks around Sydney, dragging litres of water, covered up against the UV, choking on the thickly polluted air and sweating uncomfortably at the slightest incline. The rain has been a drag this week as its been accompanied by umbrella breaking wind. Generally though, the English winter is now a fairly mild affair, especially in the South East and does not prevent us from getting out and about.

flashman

Where can I buy one of those f*rt*ng umbrellas?

heading downunder 2002

Well folks it is snowing at the moment here in the Lake District, its lovely, like you say dotty at least you can get on with living unlike in Oz in the heat

dunroving

No, you don't get it - a farting umbrella is like a farting dog. When your wife says "Ooooohhh, what's that horrible smell", instead of saying "Bad Shep!", you say "Bad umbrella!"

Merlot

That's exactly how I feel, dragging myself around, even going out for a daily walk to keep fit - the heat is a killer. Then supermarket shopping, pulling a heavy trolley around a car park in the heat. Not all that glam is it.

Like today, it is overcast here in NSW but boy the humidity is up there - 96%. Disgusting.

I am a cold weather type of gal, I think I function better in the cold.

Thank you for your posts, it is very heartening to see it is not all that bad as people are painting.

booboo1

Winter in the uk is not as cold as it used to be... I think it is to do with the gulf stream warming up.

We had much harder winters in the 70s but nowadays it is not so cold. It is just the grey skies and rain that it depressing

booboo

bromleygirl

I'll be glad to get back to UK winters. Here in the upper midwest it was -20 today and with the windchill it was -45. It is so bad that my lips are sticking to my braces!!!

theguitardoctor

Hi there,

UK winters are never that bad anyway ... I am having a real taste of the extreme here in Pittsburgh...it's -20 C average and there's about 8 inches of snow - some places, such as 7 springs, 2 hrs to the south west have had a total of 99 inches of snow (fallen - some has melted in between of course.....99 inches of snow at once would be pretty radical !!).

I have ridden my motorcycle every day through UK winters for years now, and have never been halted by the snow. With milder winters and better summers (the last few years have been excellent), I have no complaints about the UK weather...it was never a factor for me leaving the UK.....it always makes me smile when people go on about it.....try Alaska....now there's weather to complain about !! A bit of rain never hurt anyone.

I love GB winters with the cool, crisp mornings...nothing beats a walk in the cool air, and the stopping off at a country pub which has a roaring open fire......especially around Christmas. Christmas with the hot weather is just wrong.

Rich.

Merlot

Steady on Rich, you are making me even more homesick!

Moonstar

I am sorry to encroach on your journey to the UK (not meant sarcastically) but I have to ask you all why, why did you leave the UK in the first place if you loved it so much.

I personally can't wait to leave, we have thought of emigrating for many years and one reason or another have put off - this time we have decided to go through with it. The reasons are as follows:

1. Absolutely fed up of this country catering for everyone but the taxpayers (I live in Kent and believe me our Council Tax Bills are so much higher now!!)
2. Education for your children is absolutely appalling,Kent still has Grammar schools, so consequently if your children are not clued up enough on the Grammar school tests won't get in. Our daughter now goes to Private School (after attending an appalling Comprehensive in our area we decided to send her to a good Private school to ensure she receives the best results and in the year she has been there the results she has shown are amazing).
3. Lifestyle...........we all would like a more outside life, which we cannot have here due to the absolutely unpredicatble weather here,ie 2002 most of the summer was raining how depressing!! We went to Menorca for our holidays that year and I came back with a cold where it was raining all the time.
4. We have a standard 3 bed extended semi on a good plot, which we bought in early nineties and although we are both good wage earners we could not afford to upgrade without extending our debt, which we will not do. The house prices in Oz are amazing and yes with the equity we have built up we know we will own our own home outright nearly.
5. Motorways in the morning (have you all forgot!!!) to get into the City should only take 15 minutes on a good day will take nearly two hours with the terrible congestion.
6. Oh and Tony Blair what more can I say.

I have seen the negative posts on here....... but you all seem to forget why you left in the first place....... DImma have a table where it shows all expats to Oz - 50% who go there and leave nearly half come back.

Good luck guys you know more than me why you are coming back.......but remember it has got worse here and you will all slowlly realise that. I personnally have no allegiance to the UK at all and I am appalled at the way this country has more precedence over attending to political asylum seekers than Mrs Brown who is 85 and was born and bred here and needs help - not to mention I am actually paying for them to live in good homes and then to go into London and see them begging for money that appalls me.

theguitardoctor

I have to say that you are living in a fantasy world if you think that any other Western country has no problems. All you will find is that Oz or NZ or the US has similar problems to the UK, though they may be somewhat different....i.e, the general standard of education in OZ is behind the standards of the UK.....the heat can be as hard to live with as the rain...(your Summer must have been different to ours in the North - we had loads of sun); there are plenty of Asylum seekers in Oz too .. all paid for with the taxes of Australians. The outside lifestyle is there ... though you'll need a lot of sunscreen to enjoy it.....you see, I could go on....

I'm not out to knock Oz or NZ or the UK...all I am saying is that you'll exchange one set of problems for another, and added to that you will be away from friends and family. A lot of people realise this and figure that if they are just dealing with a different set of equally problematic isssues, then they may as well at least be near friends and family....a lot of times it takes the move away for people to appreciate what they do have in England. In many cases the solution to a lot of issues can be found closer to home...it doesn't take 10,000 miles to solve.

I hope you do find Oz to your liking.....for some the advantages you list are not enough when the problems are balanced against them.....don't knock these people for their choice...it's their life.

Rich.