Main reason for moving back?
#61
BE Forum Addict
Joined: May 2007
Location: England
Posts: 4,206
Re: Main reason for moving back?
Totally agree with this posting. When we moved to Brisbane at the beginning of this century we were in the throes of the "California Syndrome" that is sunshine every bloody day - not just endless hours and days (and months) of sunshine but humidity that makes you sweat at 6:30am when you've just had your morning shower. Then you take the 10min stroll to the train station, in 29 degree heat and get attacked by the mozzies - on the way home a repeat, even more mozzies at dusk awaiting your virgin blood. I kind of think the weather man (and woman) is redundant in Brisbane, or at least should be a casual posting - only come on at the end of the news if it's not going to be sunny!
I know when we return to the UK in the next few months, we'll be endlessly bombarded with Brits asking us "why did we return". I think a lot of Brits are under the illusion (as you may well be) that Australia is a mini-England but with much better weather and beaches. Well I just want to let you know that it's not a little England, it probably has more in common with the US - it's a huge contintent but other than the coasts, there's not a lot to do in-between. The tv is crap - honestly, it is and I know you probably think, hey I'm coming here for the lifestyle not the tv, but when you don't have any good pubs and no daylight savings there's not a lot else to do.
I'm sure there's lots of people who love it here, all the Brits I know absolutely love it, they've been here for about 3-5 years and think it's great, but then they're all married to Aussies so they have some family here.
For me personally I just find it incredibly dull (I'm over the beach life and putting myself at risk of melanoma anytime I want to get my post from the mailbox) and it's very empty if you don't have any family here. And please give my English humour - thank god England has awful weather, it's created a population with the funniest (and sometimes warped) sense of humour on the planet!!!
I doubt these are enough reasons to put you off and I'm not trying to do that - you have to consider your own circumstances and reasons for wanting to make the journey and I wish you all the best. I know where there's a car for sale soon and a few large pieces of furniture...watch this space!
I know when we return to the UK in the next few months, we'll be endlessly bombarded with Brits asking us "why did we return". I think a lot of Brits are under the illusion (as you may well be) that Australia is a mini-England but with much better weather and beaches. Well I just want to let you know that it's not a little England, it probably has more in common with the US - it's a huge contintent but other than the coasts, there's not a lot to do in-between. The tv is crap - honestly, it is and I know you probably think, hey I'm coming here for the lifestyle not the tv, but when you don't have any good pubs and no daylight savings there's not a lot else to do.
I'm sure there's lots of people who love it here, all the Brits I know absolutely love it, they've been here for about 3-5 years and think it's great, but then they're all married to Aussies so they have some family here.
For me personally I just find it incredibly dull (I'm over the beach life and putting myself at risk of melanoma anytime I want to get my post from the mailbox) and it's very empty if you don't have any family here. And please give my English humour - thank god England has awful weather, it's created a population with the funniest (and sometimes warped) sense of humour on the planet!!!
I doubt these are enough reasons to put you off and I'm not trying to do that - you have to consider your own circumstances and reasons for wanting to make the journey and I wish you all the best. I know where there's a car for sale soon and a few large pieces of furniture...watch this space!
#63
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Joined: May 2007
Location: England
Posts: 4,206
Re: Main reason for moving back?
Have loads of faimly all over Melbourne, not exactly decided on where. Think it'll depend on where OH gets work, can stop with relatives until we get sorted. Also my sister may be out there before we get there, so could possibly want to be near to her?
When we've been in aus we've not sought out British food stuff and found fod shopping to be better than UK in some places! Don't want to recreate UK life, just want to do something different. I'm very much aware we'll be worse off when it comes to wages, but hopefully will be able to get on housing chain far quicker and cheaper than in UK (halifax now wanting average £30k + deposit on house, more than I earn in a year before tax , would take years and years for us to save that much)
When we've been in aus we've not sought out British food stuff and found fod shopping to be better than UK in some places! Don't want to recreate UK life, just want to do something different. I'm very much aware we'll be worse off when it comes to wages, but hopefully will be able to get on housing chain far quicker and cheaper than in UK (halifax now wanting average £30k + deposit on house, more than I earn in a year before tax , would take years and years for us to save that much)
All the best
#64
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Joined: May 2007
Location: England
Posts: 4,206
Re: Main reason for moving back?
Hi Aussie Bound
I have read all the posts here and I must say I agree with most of them.....love quolls, brit 1 and jumbo celcius rants the best. My story is sligthtly different....I moved to Aussie when I was 15 in 1973......I realy hated the place, moved there weith my family...my widowed mum was going to re marry. Ended uop moving back by myself at age 17....found it hard to live there and moved back to aussie(family had then moved to Perth) a year later.
Stayed in Perth for many years, had a sort of good life but the feelings of not belonging, boredom and wanting to get the hell out of there would constanly make me feel very homesick.
To cut a long story short, I married an English Rose and settled in UK(Greater Manchester) in 1989 and 7 years ago moved to the Isle of Man.
I have been out of Aussie now for nearly 20 years and miss my family a lot.....my mum, brother and sister all live in Perth area. My mum and brother have boomeranged that many times I am sure they could be in the Guiness book of records.
When quoll mentioned about her son leaving and not returning, that is what my nephew has done....he is a typicall Aussie surfer and left with his mate to do 12 months in the UK over nine years ago and is still in London, loving it, earning plenty of money and catching loads of cheap flights around the world.
The only advice I can give you, for what it is worth, is make a list of pros and cons about moving, and if you feel that you have to take the plunge dont burn all your bridges in the UK.
If you love the SUN and dont mind the isolation, lack of cuture etc it might work for you, but if you are posting on MBTUK site I guess that yiou already have reservations.
Have you thought about moving away but closer to the UK......we moved to the Isle of Man seven years ago and must say it is the best move we have ever made.....great way of life, super beaches, no unemployment, VERYLOW TAXES, and great public services......If you want to know more please let me know.
The only thing I miss abou Aussie is my family. The last time I was there three years ago I enjoyed the holiday but three weeks was more than enough for me and I was yearning to return to my little island in the Irish Sea.
In the meantime I hope everything works out for you and you make the right decision. Take Care.
I have read all the posts here and I must say I agree with most of them.....love quolls, brit 1 and jumbo celcius rants the best. My story is sligthtly different....I moved to Aussie when I was 15 in 1973......I realy hated the place, moved there weith my family...my widowed mum was going to re marry. Ended uop moving back by myself at age 17....found it hard to live there and moved back to aussie(family had then moved to Perth) a year later.
Stayed in Perth for many years, had a sort of good life but the feelings of not belonging, boredom and wanting to get the hell out of there would constanly make me feel very homesick.
To cut a long story short, I married an English Rose and settled in UK(Greater Manchester) in 1989 and 7 years ago moved to the Isle of Man.
I have been out of Aussie now for nearly 20 years and miss my family a lot.....my mum, brother and sister all live in Perth area. My mum and brother have boomeranged that many times I am sure they could be in the Guiness book of records.
When quoll mentioned about her son leaving and not returning, that is what my nephew has done....he is a typicall Aussie surfer and left with his mate to do 12 months in the UK over nine years ago and is still in London, loving it, earning plenty of money and catching loads of cheap flights around the world.
The only advice I can give you, for what it is worth, is make a list of pros and cons about moving, and if you feel that you have to take the plunge dont burn all your bridges in the UK.
If you love the SUN and dont mind the isolation, lack of cuture etc it might work for you, but if you are posting on MBTUK site I guess that yiou already have reservations.
Have you thought about moving away but closer to the UK......we moved to the Isle of Man seven years ago and must say it is the best move we have ever made.....great way of life, super beaches, no unemployment, VERYLOW TAXES, and great public services......If you want to know more please let me know.
The only thing I miss abou Aussie is my family. The last time I was there three years ago I enjoyed the holiday but three weeks was more than enough for me and I was yearning to return to my little island in the Irish Sea.
In the meantime I hope everything works out for you and you make the right decision. Take Care.
Hope you all have a good weekend......
Jackie in a rainy,cold (ish) Perth and loving it (the weather not Perth)
#65
Banned
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Vejer de la Fra., Cadiz
Posts: 7,653
Re: Main reason for moving back?
I have to say I think Australia bound is taking a very intelligent approach.
If she is bright enough to enquire here (instead of on the 'everything is perfect in Australia' threads), then she is more likely to succeed if she does go.
At the risk of being trolled, my advice to her is this.
1. Find out what it is REALLY like out there.
2. Look at the UK and Australia with a jaundiced eye and no rose tinted specs, and remember What you want the most you must question the hardest.
3. If you can't integrate with the real Aus, don't go.
If she is bright enough to enquire here (instead of on the 'everything is perfect in Australia' threads), then she is more likely to succeed if she does go.
At the risk of being trolled, my advice to her is this.
1. Find out what it is REALLY like out there.
2. Look at the UK and Australia with a jaundiced eye and no rose tinted specs, and remember What you want the most you must question the hardest.
3. If you can't integrate with the real Aus, don't go.
#66
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Was Gold Coast, Australia... now living in Notts, UK
Posts: 135
Re: Main reason for moving back?
I'm very much aware we'll be worse off when it comes to wages, but hopefully will be able to get on housing chain far quicker and cheaper than in UK (halifax now wanting average £30k + deposit on house, more than I earn in a year before tax , would take years and years for us to save that much)
They're nowhere near as affordable as they were a few years ago and all prices are at least comparable to UK prices... and the home loan interest rates are higher than UK mortgages... and wages lower. Strong Aussie dollar, comparatively weak pound = even more tricky to get a foot in the property door. There are some areas that aren't as bad as others, but prime locations such as Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth etc are all v.expensive.
Sarah
#67
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,053
Re: Main reason for moving back?
Flipping heck, and there was me thinking it was because your hubby was away for weeks at a time and you missed your family and mates back home.
Sorry you wont miss much about it. Im sure you will find most of your things on your wont miss list are pretty much the same back home.
Dont look back in anger dude, look forward and enjoy planning the next exciting phase of your lives.
Id ask you to meet for a Timmies over the weekend but its on your list now so, mm can I treat you to a Starbucks instead.
Take it easy and if you need another pair of hands or a monkey sitter give me a shout.
x mrs minihaha x
Sorry you wont miss much about it. Im sure you will find most of your things on your wont miss list are pretty much the same back home.
Dont look back in anger dude, look forward and enjoy planning the next exciting phase of your lives.
Id ask you to meet for a Timmies over the weekend but its on your list now so, mm can I treat you to a Starbucks instead.
Take it easy and if you need another pair of hands or a monkey sitter give me a shout.
x mrs minihaha x
I am trying (in desperation) to make the whole leaving thing seem a bit better. It's not really working.................
So anyway, better go get the aul fella and the kids sorted before the drive up to Calgary ()
And I have never been for a starbucks!
xxxx
#68
Re: Main reason for moving back?
Don't you think we all wanted to "live differently"? we came over here and wanted to live like the locals......sometimes life does not go to plan. Unless you come over with a lot of money you will also pay through the nose in an ordinary suburb for a decent home here in Aus...gone are the days of "cheap" homes. The sun is fine, some people love sunny back to back days, months of it....but you do have to be careful, I find a lot of people here age quicker due to being in the sun so much.......I wish you well and hope Aus is the place for you, I cannot say about Melbourne but here in Perth/W.A food is more expensive on the whole and the range of food is just not to the standard/choice of the U.K.......neither are clothes.....you will also have to have refs,deposit and work before you can a home here if you are having a mortage......
All the best
All the best
Aussie homes far cheaper in some areas than where I currently live £200k + for a small 3 bed bungalow I'm currently renting. Could buy my Grandma's house in Aus (3 bed and bigger than one I have here around the same price in Au$, so less than half the price).
Can understand why prices are more in Perth as is very remote so must add to costs when transport is added on. Personally found food shopping decent in Aus in certain stores doesn't seem to be much agreement on that though.
#69
Banned
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Vejer de la Fra., Cadiz
Posts: 7,653
Re: Main reason for moving back?
Read thru the threads here. You'll see people bitching about the flies, the heat, the lack of culture, the insensitive male population, and so on.
They really aren't kidding. The flies and the heat will grind you down.
I'd love to know tho don't people build those mesh cages in Aus? When I see travel progs on Florida, they often have the pool and patio enclosed in a huge mesh cage like a conservatory to stop them being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
Or do they have them in Aus?
The worst single thing IMO seems to be homesickness. The more closely you are bound to place, the harder it will be for you. ie, if you MUST eat English, would die for your football team and so on, the more likely I think you will be to suffer crushing homesickness.
Don't underestimate it. It positively oozes out of some people on this part of the board. (That isn't meant offensively btw.)
They really aren't kidding. The flies and the heat will grind you down.
I'd love to know tho don't people build those mesh cages in Aus? When I see travel progs on Florida, they often have the pool and patio enclosed in a huge mesh cage like a conservatory to stop them being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
Or do they have them in Aus?
The worst single thing IMO seems to be homesickness. The more closely you are bound to place, the harder it will be for you. ie, if you MUST eat English, would die for your football team and so on, the more likely I think you will be to suffer crushing homesickness.
Don't underestimate it. It positively oozes out of some people on this part of the board. (That isn't meant offensively btw.)
#70
Re: Main reason for moving back?
Would depend on how you term different? Not criticizing people expectations of Aus, just wanting to know why it doesn't work for some.
Aussie homes far cheaper in some areas than where I currently live £200k + for a small 3 bed bungalow I'm currently renting. Could buy my Grandma's house in Aus (3 bed and bigger than one I have here around the same price in Au$, so less than half the price).
Can understand why prices are more in Perth as is very remote so must add to costs when transport is added on. Personally found food shopping decent in Aus in certain stores doesn't seem to be much agreement on that though.
Aussie homes far cheaper in some areas than where I currently live £200k + for a small 3 bed bungalow I'm currently renting. Could buy my Grandma's house in Aus (3 bed and bigger than one I have here around the same price in Au$, so less than half the price).
Can understand why prices are more in Perth as is very remote so must add to costs when transport is added on. Personally found food shopping decent in Aus in certain stores doesn't seem to be much agreement on that though.
#71
Just Joined
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 22
Re: Main reason for moving back?
I guess you would be getting your grandma's house at mates rates because there are not a lot of $200k homes around at the moment, unless you fancy a tiny little weatherboard out at Cabbage Tree Creek or something. Anything remotely suburban is well over that now. Unfortunately those areas with cheap housing are really not the places that most people (especially migrants) want to live - there is often not the job market out in the sticks that people need in order to pay their mortgage (higher interest rates too). Combine all that with relatively lower wages and there really isnt that much of a difference actually. It is getting nigh on impossible for young Australians to get on the property ladder these days.
What you dont have here is huge council taxes and fuel usage, petrol IS slightly cheaper here but you do travel more so get a comfy car. The cost of living here on the whole is cheaper so wages to reflect his. You will be able to do more with your money depending on where you live. Inner city is expensive Perth extremely expensive but if you are willing to live away from major cities then you will be OK.
#72
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 32
Re: Main reason for moving back?
Yes, you hit the nail on the head with this one Brits1. When we went back to the UK last year for "the holiday" (that unexpectedly made us want to pack up sticks and return to the UK), we caught up with a lot of my OH's uncles and aunties, who were either turning 65 or had recently retired at 65, and honestly, I couldn't get over how young they all looked. I think here, people haven't aged as well, as it's due to the sun. Of course people are more aware now of that nice happy yellow blobby thing in the sky and what harm it can do, but it really is hard to live anywhere without going outside at all.
Another thing my OH said the other night, that made me laugh, was in Brisbane (where we live) there's not a pub on every corner here, oh no, instead on every corner you'll find a church. It's true, we've been here for almost 6 years and every suburb we've lived in has never had a "local" pub. When we up the coast to Buderim on a Sunday, wherever we saw lots of cars parked tended to be a church - and for a small community, there sure were a lot of churches.
Australia_bound - it sounds like you've decided to come, and it is good that you've braved this forum given that most of us are wanting to or are planning to return to the UK. I understand your draw card is family, and a different lifestyle, but as a couple of others have written, you might want a back-up plan as like many of us, you may find that Australia isn't utopia, and even though there are many things that appear better, I think it's balanced up - financial-wise. I think the houses are as expensive as most of the UK, and I think the cheaper houses may be in the rougher neighbourhoods, you might just have to do a lot of looking before you can find that "cheap" house.
#73
Australia's Doorman
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: The Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia
Posts: 11,056
Re: Main reason for moving back?
It's a big country - you don't have to live in the tropics with year-round 25+ temps. We get four seasons here - plenty of rain (more than the UK actually) - and despite the fact that it's quite a rural area, no huge problem with flies. And if you want a truly chilly winter, then there's the mountains or Tasmania to consider. You can't tar the whole country with the same brush, any more than you'd compare living in the highlands of Scotland with life in London.
#74
Banned
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Vejer de la Fra., Cadiz
Posts: 7,653
Re: Main reason for moving back?
What has struck me here is that Australia sounds so much like America.
As for the heat and flies, I suppose that will depend where she wishes to go. If it's fly central, then it will be a consideration.
As for the heat and flies, I suppose that will depend where she wishes to go. If it's fly central, then it will be a consideration.
#75
Account Closed
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 8,913
Re: Main reason for moving back?
Where's fly central? Plenty here in Perth, the fly season seems to be all year round, not just Nov-Jan (which is pretty horrendous)