re the what you are leaving behind - I suppose I must admit that if i was living in a high rise flat in the middle of some awful inner city housing estate, with very limited opportunities and a real chance of my children being a victim of serious crime/drugs - then I would think that Perth was safer and 'better'. but saying that, how many people in this situation can get a visa and afford to migrate? it seems to me that those people will be trapped in such a world whereas others would have used their skills/resources to escape the ghetto so to speak therefore wouldnt necessarily need to migrate to escape - if that makes sense???

we saw it all as a bit of an adventure - lets see what its like. i have never ever used the words dream and australia in the same sentence!! but the australian PR machine is very good at selling the place - credit to them for that. but then they need to as why else would anyone isolate themselves so much from the rest of the planet??

The Australian PR machine is very good indeed. Sure the really poor with limited skills in the UK would find it hard to get a look in,although far more folk are far more poorer with the Stock market losses and housing down turn over there and do feel pretty poor....
The isolation issue is a concern to me as well here..not only geo location(but that also) but also how life is lived here.
Just hope i can convince my OH the importance of this issue when back in Europe next year.

Thanks to you all for the feedback I enjoy reading it.

We came here because we could and for the adventure which is maybe why it has not worked out, also we had a great life in the U.K and was aware of that at the time. I speak to a lot of people who are running away from something or live in a bad area in the U.K which has been touched on in previous posts and maybe it works better for them???

I will update after 3 months in the U.K

Hi FM..i lived in Carramar. I think emigrating is something we have to get off our chests. We probably chose the wrong place, we definately did, but we learn quickly from our mistakes and recover.
So all the best when you get 'home', it was the best decision we ever made

Good honest update FM. I wish we had had the same realisation after 1 year, the slick PR worked on us for a bit longer!

Good luck with your move back (ours is not until next April), I will look forward to your update.

Good luck with your move forwards in life! I hope that the next step takes you closer to where you want to be, where you can live life to the fullest and make the best of every opportunity that comes your way.

l think perth would be worth it if the houses were alot cheaper then East, but as the are as expesnive or even more l think the east is better. Remeber Perth is a small isolated city, some find boring, 1.5 million people live in the west 20 million live on the east side of OZ so east in where the action is,

Thank you FM for an interesting and balanced post of your experiences. I can empathise with a great deal of what you've said, although I am on the east coast not the west. I agree that people should be consider carefully how important friends and family are to them, whether being in Europe is important to them and whether Australia really will offer them a better work/ life balance than the one they have already.

Like other people we came here because we could and because we did not want to look back with regret at a missed opportunity. We have enjoyed much of the time we have been here (three and a half years), but the UK (and London in particular) still holds a special place in my heart and I'm not sure how much longer I can ignore its attractions. However, realistically we're here for some time yet because we have children in high school and do not want to mess up their education completely.

Indecision is difficult to live with so I'm sure it must be a huge relief, FM, to have made the decision to return and I wish you and your family all the very best for your move back to the UK.

You are right Quoll, even returning to the UK is a move forward in life. We shouldn't look at it as going back, only onwards and upwards.

Hey FM! Great update & we all need to hear the experiences of those for whom it has been a great decision & those who have gained something else from the experience! For you will have gained, in many ways that you may not fully appreciate until after your return & you gave it a go, something many people shy away from even trying!
Sorry that it was not for you but it takes huge courage to accept that, so well done!
Good luck on your re-settlement in the UK

Simple - the weather here is WAY better than elsewhere in Oz and on a different planet compared with the UK ! And for some of us with not so good health that's a BIG factor. Same reason so many people moved to Spain in the 1980's (and are now going back to the UK coz their pensions won't stretch any more!).
If that's not important to you then go elsewhere coz (as loads have said) property prices here are silly - but coming down thankfully (despite what the real estate agents say)....hours worked are like the UK (silly too)....wages are not that good, unless you own your own business or are in mining.
I'm also not sure I get this isolated city bit either.
Yes it's miles from anywhere but so is every other city in Oz. How often did you visit other major cities in the UK .....or Europe for that matter? Many people spend a lifetime in their home town.
And SE Asia is a short hop away and I haven't seen most of that yet either.
You won't get what you had in the UK as far as culture is concerned. But there's a music scene, clubs, pubs, restaurants, theatres. I probably do less than I did in the UK but then you have to be adaptable or you won't survive. Change your habits. Do something different. I get bored here sometimes but I did in the UK with LOADS to do around me.
Best of luck whatever you choose to do !

Hi we are the same as OH is a joiner and work here is not that good for him had a good job in uk and had good life boys went to a really good school and we just decided that we should try it while boys were still young 9,7.so we are looking at going back but not until March having a good summer and going to enjoy it stop worrying about OHs work and schooling as boys are way ahead and are not getting what they should be but they love it but they also lovd uk so it was worth it for us good luck with your move Kate

To the original OP hope you are happy on your return to the UK.

Was talking to my friend yesterday about living in the UK and both of us said yep we could live there but its the weather, we do not like the weather in winter. So Aus is where we live. Simple as that.

No gold at the end of the rainbow just a milder climate.

We also thought it would be as simple as that. Thought we would prefer the better climate. Then we realised weather wasn't important whatsoever.

Emigrating makes you realise what is important when you think you're missing out.

Why not choose Perth? If you live on the other side of the world and know nothing about Australia, and lets be honest, it's impossible to grasp its size till you actually live here, then of course you're going to choose a city you hear so many talk about. And there are tons of British over there. It's comforting to think you know something about where you're about to move to, even if in reality you don't!

Well, fair play to you for making the plunge in the first place. You sound a bit sad in your post about going back, as if you have failed. Far from it!

It's so true what they say, regret the things you didn't do, not the things you did (in reason of course lol!)

Best of luck and i'm a teensy bit jealous of you! Goddam Aussie hubbie can't stand the Irish winters and the longer i'm here the less able for them I am too!

Also fair play to you for taking your children into account like that, bit of a bugbear of mine is that.