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8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Old Apr 28th 2016, 3:27 pm
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Default 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

We moved to Australia in 2008, to Sydney. But, just after moving the GFC hit and I was warned my job was at risk and that they would keep me for as long as possible, but I need to start looking urgently - we were on 457 visas!

Luckily, I found a new job who were happy to take over the 457, but it was in Perth, so in less than 6 months, we did to massive moves.

The company went on to sponsor our PR and we later obtained citizenship.

It was not a plain sail though as I never really twigged in WA for a long time. In fact, at one point I sent my wife back to the UK to do a house hunt around Devon and Cornwall. But, she came back pleading not to leave Australia and I agreed, even though I had been offered a dream job back in the UK.

But, we marched on, and eventually I became more settled in WA and started to enjoy a lot of it. Though I always hated summer and each year started to dread it more and more. I also always felt more like an Englishman living in Australia than an Australian citizen.

We decided though OZ would be it and bought a block of land and built a house. My wife poured all her time into its design and I have to say everyone was impressed with the design. The pad was poured and then the day the first brick was laid - June 2014, I was made redundant.

Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one made redundant and my entire industry was in turmoil with people getting laid off all over the place and obviously very few jobs coming up and now massive competition for the few that did. I am a geologist by the way in the mining industry.

I was lucky though and managed to get some contracting at different sites, but it was not really paying the bills - in the financial year 14 - 15 I made the grand sum of $22k. Things actually picked up a little bit in the second half of 2015, but then died a total death at Christmas.

I poured out CV's to everywhere, both in my occupation and anything - Macas, Burger King, you name it. Zero.

At the end of February, I told my wife I was going to include jobs in the UK in my search and she agreed. To our surprise, I was inundated with interviews straight away.

In the first week of March, I had an interview for a small quarrying company which sounded great and the following day I got the call to say I had the job and I would be working in Colnbrook - between Windsor and London. The only catch. I had to start work the following week!!!

So, we had a mad week of selling all our possessions as there was no relocation deal and we didn't have any money. In fact without the sale of everything we didn't have the cash for the flights. So, everything went on forums, gumtree and posters made for the supermarket. I was still having a garage sale the morning of the flight! But, we got rid of everything except 8 boxes of personal stuff which we sent with a move cube and I jumped on a plane on the Saturday with my wife and dog booked to follow 6 days later - luckily we had already got him his rabies jab when I started looking at UK jobs.

We booked at little holiday cottage through AirBnB which was fantastic and was perfect. I started work 24 hours after landing, which although I was still a bit dazed worked out well as it meant I got the company car.

We have found a flat in Windsor which is a fantastic place to live and the flat is stunning, though longer term we are looking to rent a house. We wont buy for a while and probably not in the SE as prices are too crazy, but will buy in the next few years and rent it out - probably somewhere in the NE.

Work is going wonderful and I am very lucky to have found the job I have.

My wife is also very happy we have moved back and she is loving Windsor and our new life where I am home every night - I get home before 5pm! Instead of being away for weeks at a time. The dog has acclimatised and is actually loving England and going for great walks in the countryside.

So, our Oz adventure already feels like a lifetime ago and almost not real. But the next chapter now starts
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Old May 3rd 2016, 9:06 am
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Sounds like one hell of an adventure. It's great to hear when someone lands on their feet too. Enjoy this next chapter of your lives.
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Old May 3rd 2016, 9:26 am
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Really glad all worked out so well for you both, including the dog too!
Sounds like you've really landed on your feet and definitely onwards and upwards.

Must admit, with an imminent move to Perth on the cards, this comment below scares me hugely....

Originally Posted by verystormy
I poured out CV's to everywhere, both in my occupation and anything - Macas, Burger King, you name it. Zero.
Was your wife working in Perth at all?
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Old May 4th 2016, 5:43 am
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Originally Posted by Still Game
Really glad all worked out so well for you both, including the dog too!
Sounds like you've really landed on your feet and definitely onwards and upwards.

Must admit, with an imminent move to Perth on the cards, this comment below scares me hugely....



Was your wife working in Perth at all?
It does depend slightly on your occupation, though every occupation is now getting hit and lots of people are leaving. Before we moved we were desperate to sell all our belongings and spoke to all the second hand shops, but they were all full to the brim and couldn't take anything else. So, I would urge some caution.

My wife managed to find a part time job - 4 hours a week cleaning at a local hotel. She is normally a senior administrator / customer service.

The problem is that it, initially it was just miners due to the downturn, but, take out a huge amount of high end salaries from the economy and it soon trickles down. Then, the state government faced a massive decline in income due to lower royalties, so started slash and burn of jobs in the public sector - it is just about to lay off a massive amount of healthcare staff.
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Old May 4th 2016, 5:59 am
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Great post.

Can you change your name to VerySunny?
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Old May 5th 2016, 9:07 am
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Did you manage to complete the build as you had hoped?
Or did it have to go by the wayside in the end?

Wishing you well with the "new" adventure mate. Onwards and upwards.
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Old May 6th 2016, 5:38 am
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Unfortunately we did complete the build and lived in it for nearly a year, but now having a hard time selling it
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Old May 7th 2016, 12:20 am
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Originally Posted by verystormy
Unfortunately we did complete the build and lived in it for nearly a year, but now having a hard time selling it
Darn. Sods law.

Let's hope for a pleasant surprise on that one.
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Old May 9th 2016, 12:52 pm
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Very pleased you've got happily settled in Windsor. for the house sale.
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Old May 11th 2016, 7:35 am
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Originally Posted by moneypenny20
Very pleased you've got happily settled in Windsor. for the house sale.
Me too.

Sounds like a hell of a ride but it is good to read you are settled in the UK now.
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Old May 25th 2016, 5:09 am
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

No idea that the house was still on the market. I must say the market doesn't look like improving anytime soon, but realistically priced real estate, taking into account the present climate, should move in time. Good luck with the sale.
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Old Jun 2nd 2016, 1:47 am
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Pleased to hear you have settled and that you are all happy.Good luck with the house sale. I have a friend who is struggling to sell down that way too.She has dropped hers by $150,000 and still struggling. We were very lucky to sell ours when we did in November close to asking price. Hang in there.
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Old May 30th 2017, 3:48 am
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Originally Posted by verystormy
We moved to Australia in 2008, to Sydney. But, just after moving the GFC hit and I was warned my job was at risk and that they would keep me for as long as possible, but I need to start looking urgently - we were on 457 visas!

Luckily, I found a new job who were happy to take over the 457, but it was in Perth, so in less than 6 months, we did to massive moves.

The company went on to sponsor our PR and we later obtained citizenship.

It was not a plain sail though as I never really twigged in WA for a long time. In fact, at one point I sent my wife back to the UK to do a house hunt around Devon and Cornwall. But, she came back pleading not to leave Australia and I agreed, even though I had been offered a dream job back in the
But, we marched on, and eventually I became more settled in WA and started to enjoy a lot of it. Though I always hated summer and each year started to dread it more and more. I also always felt more like an Englishman living in Australia than an Australian citizen.

We decided though OZ would be it and bought a block of land and built a house. My wife poured all her time into its design and I have to say everyone was impressed with the design. The pad was poured and then the day the first brick was laid - June 2014, I was made redundant.

Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one made redundant and my entire industry was in turmoil with people getting laid off all over the place and obviously very few jobs coming up and now massive competition for the few that did. I am a geologist by the way in the mining industry.

I was lucky though and managed to get some contracting at different sites, but it was not really paying the bills - in the financial year 14 - 15 I made the grand sum of $22k. Things actually picked up a little bit in the second half of 2015, but then died a total death at Christmas.

I poured out CV's to everywhere, both in my occupation and anything - Macas, Burger King, you name it. Zero.

At the end of February, I told my wife I was going to include jobs in the UK in my search and she agreed. To our surprise, I was inundated with interviews straight away.

In the first week of March, I had an interview for a small quarrying company which sounded great and the following day I got the call to say I had the job and I would be working in Colnbrook - between Windsor and London. The only catch. I had to start work the following week!!!

So, we had a mad week of selling all our possessions as there was no relocation deal and we didn't have any money. In fact without the sale of everything we didn't have the cash for the flights. So, everything went on forums, gumtree and posters made for the supermarket. I was still having a garage sale the morning of the flight! But, we got rid of everything except 8 boxes of personal stuff which we sent with a move cube and I jumped on a plane on the Saturday with my wife and dog booked to follow 6 days later - luckily we had already got him his rabies jab when I started looking at UK jobs.

We booked at little holiday cottage through AirBnB which was fantastic and was perfect. I started work 24 hours after landing, which although I was still a bit dazed worked out well as it meant I got the company car.

We have found a flat in Windsor which is a fantastic place to live and the flat is stunning, though longer term we are looking to rent a house. We wont buy for a while and probably not in the SE as prices are too crazy, but will buy in the next few years and rent it out - probably somewhere in the NE.

Work is going wonderful and I am very lucky to have found the job I have.

My wife is also very happy we have moved back and she is loving Windsor and our new life where I am home every night - I get home before 5pm! Instead of being away for weeks at a time. The dog has acclimatised and is actually loving England and going for great walks in the countryside.

So, our Oz adventure already feels like a lifetime ago and almost not real. But the next chapter now starts


WOW... Well Done!!!
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Old Jun 6th 2017, 11:22 am
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Good luck x
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Old Jun 7th 2017, 12:36 pm
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Default Re: 8 years UK to Oz and back to UK

Thank you.


We have had a few changes since I posted this.


We decided that although Windsor is a fantastic town, it is incredibly expensive and that we wanted a more rural life.


So, last September, I changed jobs and took a job based in Glasgow. We have never lived in Scotland before and had never thought about it, but an offer came up and we decided why not.


So, we moved to a tiny village in the countryside south of Glasgow - so small we barely appear on maps with no shop or anything, though we have an amazing village hall which does all sorts of things such as a monthly cinema to quizzes and parties for big nights. Hogmanay was incredible and a night I will never forget - the entire village danced all night.


We have also fallen in love with Scotland. My wife was a bit concerned before about the cold as she is a big heat lover, but it has been fine and although we have certainly had a lot of snow over winter, we loved it.


We rent a small very pretty cottage in the village and the village has an amazing community spirit and is very diverse. One neighbor is a shepherd while the other is one of the UK's best opera singers.


We are also thinking about starting our own business, which is something I have dreamed about for years.
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