Dills

Hi everybody,

I havent been coming to this site for very long, but oh boy am I glad that I did. I grew up in Australia, came over with my mum, sister and brother, us children lived in Fairbridge in Pinjarra WA for two years and then went to live in Carlisle with my mum...I loved it, really loved it.

My mum returned with me and my brother 7 years later, leaving my sister who was in a relationship, behind. Two years later my sister returned also.

I have harboured the desire to return to WA ever since, its almost become an obsession of mine, however my skills were never in demand, until Child Care directors made it onto the sol list, fantastic I thought, this is it.

I am on my own with my four children so would need fathers consent, thought this would be a momentous battle, but low and behold he said he would sign..great! Just waiting now for the new sol list and my application is in.

While waiting for this list, I really started to look at what I had already. A great job, my own house, now very big, but its mine. My family close by and my kids who are all happy doing their thing.

Then I started to really read this forum, and slowly started to realise, that I have a pretty good life. I love having 'choices' in the UK, which I dont think I would have in Oz, for example, next week we are going away for a few days, so I asked the kids where we should go, the list so far consists of, London, devon/cornwall, france via Eurostar, Longleat, Drayton manor, the list goes on and on. Would my children be content with camping in WA, from my experience as a child, its all we ever did, although I loved it, would my kids be content with this, as I dont think I would be able to afford travelling around Oz that much.

Shops, I just love all the shops here, could I live without them?, probabibly but with four kids to feed and clothe, I dont think I would be able to do that very cheaply in Oz.

The weather, now it can be pretty horrendous here, but in all honesty is hasnt stopped me or my kids from doing anything, ever! Would they enjoy the Oz summers, as keen bike riders would they be able to go off for hours on end in summer, like they do here, or would be just be to hot.

My dogs, who have had off lead walks in woods, beaches, parks etc since they were born, would they enjoy it??

So I have finally made my decision, that everything I hold dear is right here in the UK, I have told the kids, who arent bothered about moving anymore, instead we intend to spend the visa application money doing our house up and going on holiday, its a relief really and I would like to thank this forum, for all the honest posts about life in Oz. Even the posts that love life in Australia havent swayed me, as the things people mention, such as a great outdoor life etc, I have right here, ok the summers are a bit hit and miss, but that is why god put us right next to Europe, as my dear old mum says LOL.

Cant rain all the time2

A great post and pretty much sums up the reasons why we are heading back to the U.K in 8 weeks after 2 1/2 years away.

Just hope we feel the same when we get there, don't want to be ping pong pms!

salopian

Thanks Dills, a great post. All I can say is it has inspired me even more to return home after almost 19 years in Oz.

uklass

Dills, this really hit home, thank you!

Not quite made my mind up yet but after 4 years of changing career, saving as much as poss & talking (incessantly) about moving to oz, am having wobbles & doubts! Thinking much along the lines of you, different circumstances but think everything I need is here. Will always love oz but can visit, don't need to burn bridges. Not completly made up my mind yet but thank you for sharing your thoughts, I know no one else can make my decesion but it is helpful reading others (clearer than my own!) thoughts.

Uklass

Dills

Wow 19 years! Another reason why I have decided to stay in the UK, is I couldnt handle being responsible for breaking up my little family. If I had of moved to Australia, the chances are one of my children would have married an Australian, then had kids etc, I just know that I would have felt stuck. Now as they grow up and leave me they may decide to move to another country, which I would support and visit as often as I could, but I would be able to sleep at night knowing that we all made our own choices, a bit like my mum did when she came home.

Dills

This is the thing isnt it, we kind of put our lives on hold here trying to get everything in order before we move, I know that I sort of stopped living in the real sense. The more I read, the more I realised that Oz couldnt offer me anything in terms of a better life. The posts I have read discuss how hard everyone works, how oppressive the heat is and annoying the flies are. The creatures to beware of, how awful the shopping is, to be honest I am bored to tears reading about Woolies, Coles and Aldi. Shopping in the UK doesnt take much effort and everything is reasonably priced, even during this recession I havent struggled at all. I would miss not being able to pop into ASDA and pick up a quality T.shirt etc for the kids for peanuts. It really is the very basic and simple things that have swayed me and made me remember my time as a child in Oz. Such as running to the corner shop and literally burning the soles of my feet (I kid you not, I know should have put shoes on). One memory has recently resurfaced and perhaps somebody could shed some light on it, but I have a vivid memory of going to the park in my street, again without shoes on and running to the swings, only to stop half way screaming my head off as lots of pointing things dug into my feetf, my friend said they were double gees or something like that, took all the fun our of running in a park shoeless. Yesterday I took the kids and the dogs to our local park and my daughter kicked off her shoes and was doing roly poly's down the grassy mount, in Oz she would be covered in either ants or those double gee's. We finished our day eating hot dogs from the catering van infront of the lake, whilst the dogs roamed freely around us, this is what I mean by the simple things. Finally I actually enjoy the weather in the UK, I like the fact that during the summer is stays light until 8/9pm, that I can sit on my patio and eat and drink without worry about creatures, but by the end of September I have had enough and look forward to the dark nights and being cosy under my duvet in a centrally heated home. I have read so much about Australians being cold in the winter because the houses just arent insulated etc.

Anyways goodluck with what ever you decide, I am so pleased I have made mine, I now feel lucky, grateful and blessed to be happy in the UK and will visit Oz with my sister for a trip down memory lane.

sallysimmons

Dills, it's great that this forum helped you make up your mind.

I'm in NYC, have been away from England for 20 years and am now considering returning. Like you I read the forums as a form of research. Sometimes I think 'ooh yes, that reminds me how annoyed I used to be about that when I lived in the UK.' Then other times I think 'ooh yes - I loved that about living in the UK!' Either way, I'm remembering things I had forgotten and it helps me decide.

By the sounds of it, you definitely made the right decision for you. I hope you enjoy your vacation and doing up the house!

salopian

You've hit the nail on the head re the weather. The weather in the UK is better than Oz simply because it does change significantly, there actually is that cold dark winter season to snuggle up by the fire, followed by that wonderful rebirth of Spring - it's so uplifting, re-energising, you just don't get that over here. The summer's are too long and unpleasantly hot, there is no autumn to speak of, winter's are just bland and Spring is a bit of blossom on a few trees for a couple of days. It's funny, for so many the weather is a major reason for coming to Oz and for us it's one of the reasons for going back!

livinginreality

Dills,thankyou for sharing your thoughts and being so honest.I spent 30 years in Australia(moved there as a child in 1970).Those prickly things you were on about are called three cornered jacks!I remember them well and so do my kids!So painful hey?Even with flipflops on,they can still break through to your skin!Summers?As kids we would spend the summer holidays at the local pool,but got burnt to a shrazzle on a regular basis(this was pre skin cancer awareness days!!!)and half the time it was so bloody hot,you'd be fighting for a tiny bit of shade to sit under!It sounds like you have thought all this through very carefully.Good luck and atleast you can now move on with your lives.All the best!

chrisfromusa

Yeah I know exactly how you feel, I'm originally from the caribbean and as you may know it's practically the same climate as Darwin, Cairns, etc. and living here now I miss that, but the one thing that Pennsylvania has that Puerto Rico will never have is the spring revival

king kong

good post , i returned in november 09 ,no regrets at all coming home to the uk . After 20 years i thought it would be hard , but no its not .Better go off to brugge on the piss for 5 days with my aussie son ,boat to catch . Ah bliss the life of choice at last ...........................................

Elvira

Indeed. To my eternal chagrin, the weather was a significant factor which allowed my DH to persuade me to move to California. Here I am, 9 years later, not giving a toss about whether it rains or shines.

Since moving to California, I have spent between one and three months back in London each year. I don't know whether I have just been bloody lucky, but I recall only a handful of truly awful rainy days. Most days - even in winter - the sun puts in at least a brief appearance.

Will I miss the sunshine once I move back? Probably. Is it worth it? Nope.

robin1234

I've decided (having lived in New England & Northern New York for 19 years) that sunshine is not all it is cracked up to be. I find too much blue sky & sunshine to be stressful, quite apart from the uncomfortable extreme heat that comes with it in the summer here.

My son lives in England now. He went for a walk from Kings Lynn last Sunday, looking over the Wash, Great Ouse and the fens on the landward side. He posted his pictures and the weather was fortunately dry, but with unbroken grey clouds overhead all day .. makes for a better photograph, but also I realised that that is the kind of weather I would happily live with 80% of the time (whether it is January or August!)

I spend time over at the UK Yankee site, and over there all the American expats living in the UK are advising using an artificial sunlight light to combat the seasonal affective disorder! Are we hardwired for the climate of our place of birth??

uklass

Thank you! I have definately put my life on hold & my indecision now (its only come just at the point when I am eligible to apply!) is crippling me, driving myself mad!

Agree completely its the simple things in life, they are the things that make me re-think :walking the dog with my Mum, a friend dropping round for a cuppa, especially friends I've grown up with - for all the new friends you will make in life it means a lot to me have a shared history with someone. I'm not sure how something I was so sure of for the last few years could now be in doubt but it is making me realise how much I have to be grateful for which is a lovely feeling I have to say

quoll

It sounds like good logical reasoning to me, Dills! I must say I agree with you on pretty much all counts. Around here the things that dig into your feet are bindiis (bindy-eyes) and nasty little buggers they are too.

I just spent a month in UK Feb-March and was quite taken aback by the number of days which were nicely sunny, cold but sunny and quite pleasant to be outside. It's the variety that I crave after having lived here for 31 years - variety of scenery, weather (it's a sad old life when you live indoors scouring the bom site for a patch of blue rain because it is too hot to go outside!!!), entertainment, shops, buildings etc. And one other thing which I adore in UK that I never get here anymore is birdsong - we live in the "bush capital" where the prevalent bird noise is cockatoo screeching (can you hear it? I swear it is loud enough!), magpies and indian mynahs - it's all so loud and downright cacaphonic. I just love walking out in my folks' village and hearing REAL birdsong, tuneful and sweet.

Enjoy the summer Dills, you've got a good range of places to visit!