If you had a choice between Western Australia and North East England, which would you choose and why?

[Glitteryrosette]

NC for this as could be outing.

I have potentially got the opportunity to emigrate to Western Australia with DH and my two primary age DC. I have close family out there who would be relatively nearby (in Australian terms- a sibling less than an hour away and a parent 4 hours away).

I currently live in a lovely house (mortgaged but at least we are on property ladder) in a place I love, with lots of close family on the doorstep (including my other parent and in-laws). My two DC enjoy their school and are settled and happy.

I am finally in a position where I am progressing my career, making good connections with other professionals (crucial for my role), have paid off my student debt (it cost me £50k to qualify!), and all being well I will be promoted in the next year or two. I love my job and the people I work with. My commute is manageable.

About 12 years ago DH and I considered a move down under, but at the time I had only just qualified, had a lot of debt, and I would have had to do it all again to do the same role in Australia, which put me off and we decided to stay put. Then we had our first DC.

Following Brexit, the pandemic, the cost of living and the state of the UK generally, we are now considering whether we should make the move to Australia before it is too late in terms of both our ages (im late 30's, DH is early 40's) and before eldest DC starts high school. Whilst I would probably have to do some form of studying, I no longer would have to re qualify, but I would need to have my qualifications assessed by the equivalent Australian governing body, and would inevitably be in a slightly junior role and have to prove myself before any chance of promotion. So career wise, a move would set me back a good 3 years or so.

However, my family in Australia, who have just spent a month in the UK, cannot believe the state of things over here, and reiterated all the opportunities available in Australia, and how much better life would be for us and our DC.

I have visited Australia, and loved WA. Perth in particular. It is beautiful and a great city. So is the surrounding area. My DH lived in Australia for a year before we met and is desperate to make the move. He LOVED it.

But I love this little pocket of the UK. I am feeling torn. Would life really be better for my DC in Australia both now and in their future? I am happy to make sacrifices for my children but only if I am fairly confident they will pay off.

DH and I have both put feelers out with potential employers in WA, and (to our surprise!) there has been interest in both of us and we are waiting for an emigration consultant to get in touch.

I would be interested in hearing the opinions and thoughts of others, especially those with primary age DC who have made the move (either way)!

Op join the Facebook group called Ping pong poms, lots of families
in Perth can't wait to get back to the UK.
The life you describe and enjoy at the moment is the one many aspire too.

@BoganKiwi
the highest temp in London last year was 40.3. It was only above 40 for one day. It was high thirties for a few days.

I have just googled this as was curious and is correct.

It's 17 degrees in Sydney right now in the middle of summer. Of course, Australia is hotter than the UK, but we also have air conditioning and solar panels in the roof of our houses and apartments.

I spend more in heating in the 3 cold months of winter than I do the rest of year including summer.

Wanted to pop some thoughts here for you OP as someone who has made the move in similar circumstances. Own home with DP in the UK and we were relatively settled. However DP is Aussie and was ready to come home. We currently rent our house in the UK and also rent in Perth. Rental market here is slightly bananas so definitely worth researching areas before you arrive and have an airbnb ready for at least a month.

We're mid summer and as yet its not been higher than 37 degrees. Yes of course that is hot and it can get muggy but we have air conditioning. Secondly, Spring and Autumn are noticeable, so many lovely flowers in the Spring and crisp fresh days in the Autumn. Regarding fires - there are fires rurally and it is scary, however there are processes and protocols in place. The chance of fire in suburban areas is very small.

Perth is isolated, however that doesn't mean there isn't things to do. I do miss the cultural differences of neighbouring cities but that doesn't mean there is nothing to do here.

Ultimately I think the two are not comparable, there are things I miss from the UK but equally if we were ever to move back I know I would miss things here too. Only you can make that decision for you and your family.

Your life sounds fab in the UK.

I have lived in both places and my only regret is that I didn't come to W.A. earlier. The way some people talk on here about culture you would think that we bbq on the beach 24/7 and there are no such things as museums, art galleries, festivals, theatre and music.

My kids have grown up here, had a good high school and university education and are now working in well paid jobs. One of them is earning $150k (approx 85k GBP) a year in an allied health profession that would pay 40k per year in the NHS. I earn 1.5x what I would in a government job without all the drama and stress I hear from my UK friends in the same occupation.

I live in a 5 bed house, pool etc in a very well serviced suburb- huge shopping mall, leisure centre, drs, dentists, parks, cinemas, restaurants, cafes etc. 25 mins on a train/30 mins drive into city. Trains are clean and cheap. 5 mins to beach. My house is worth about 400-450 GBP (hardly ridiculous compared to much of the UK), cheaper housing available, of course, but smaller or a bit further from the city, but still well serviced. I've spent a fair bit of time in the UK since I moved and what I've noticed is that supermarket food is cheaper in UK, but my council tax, petrol, insurance, eating out and utility bills offsets that by far.

As far as travel goes, yes, I can't do Europe easily, but I've travelled to a lot of Indonesia, Malaysia and other parts of Asia which is cheap and has been fascinating.

I have lived here 20 years now and i don't recognise what many people say about expensive/isolated/culture void etc. Life is what you make it. My work/life balance, family, access to health (fast Dr/dentist/physio appts), weather, travel (so much to see and do without even leaving the state!) etc etc is so worth it.

I do wonder how many people commenting have genuinely lived both lives.

Speak goes yourself! I’m Australian and was bitten by a red back. Very nasty acute symptoms and left with some chronic knock on effects. One of the reasons I chose live in the U.K. is its lack of nasty spiders.

If you live in deep inner city Sydney (in an apartment) sure, spiders aren’t a factor.

But if you live rural, or just suburban leafy they’re an issue. In Canberra our car was infested with red backs, white tails used to launch at us from our kitchen cupboards and in outer Sydney orb spiders completely took over our balcony and yard in summer (orbs are relatively harmless but dodging their webs was a pain).

Snakes are a non issue, though. Although where I grew up in FNQ taipans were a problem.

the good points. My kids life in Oz.

Rarely gets over 30 in Summer where we are

mountain biking in Forrest, swimming in our friend’s farm dam, paddle boarding, beach trips up north when it’s cold in the south, taking our Labrador to every beach…

oh and dropping the kids off at school so you can hit the beach alone with a book without kids or meet a friend for a walk.

Wine on the balcony with friends while kids run in sprinklers.

Taking the Labrador on walks.

Spotting kangaroos in the Forrest surrounded by giant, enchanting karri trees.

Pool swimming under the stars.

Bunnings sausage sizzles.

You have to know the parts of the country/the cities/the weather that suits you and go for that.

controversially, also, I live in a surf town where men go to the supermarket shirtless with back muscles after the beach & catch crayfish with their bare hands/will catch you a fish if they love you - I mean not all men but it happens. If you like rugged men move here.

Oh and living somewhere with music festivals, wineries, organic farms and fresh produce and a culture and a pretty relaxed class system compared to the UK.

A possum ther lives in our backyard tree, little kangaroos that hop on the lawns

How does your DH feel? Does he have family in the UK?

My dream once the kids have finished schools (3 different schools as have two have Sen and I can’t risk moving them) is to move North to Northumberland so any recommendations on welcoming areas @Glitteryrosette would be welcomed

My concern trialling it would be if your DH and kids want to stay but you want to return you’d end up stuck.

Ultimately if you’re currently happy with your life why move?

I live in Western Australia and it is absolutely beautiful. People go on about isolated. It's not Perth and then desert, there are incredible places here to see and explore.
There are so many UK families here, especially where I am, all who say they could never go back to the UK, as it is such a beautiful place ti raise a family socialise and live.

I want this life, sounds ideal. What part of Aus are you in?

The South West of Western Australia. It is a holiday and winery region and surfing region in WA. However as it’s on the West coast and more isolated, it’s not as crowded and popular as other places. its like Byron bay but without the celebrities and crowds. Lots of English ex pats.

NE England. I'm not good with hot weather and if I moved down under I'd prefer to move either to Tasmania or possibly Melbourne or New Zealand

Ohhhh no, they absolutely do say all these things, including that the USA has no culture, that Americans are all racist and sexist, that you'll die in the street for lack of health care. There's loads of American bashing threads on Mumsnet; see also people complaining about saying "gotten". Also, Canada? Boring and Canadians have no sense of humour and the politics are bad and they treat Indigenous people poorly.

The USA does get a pass on the spiders and snakes; I wonder if some people don't realise the USA has them.

I take it you have trouble sleeping?! 😂

This! Me too, I adore Australia and would move there in a heartbeat. I've been twice. Have family there.
People who say they could never live there cos of spiders, snakes etc are incredibly ignorant and have probably never even been to Australia!
I hate the UK! And I'm British!
Australia any day!!

Oh I'm so envious, my family live in the Blue Mountains, it's so stunning there, I'd move tomorrow!

Relatives moved to Canada , now they would like to come back to the UK but the DC are Canadian, they are settled and won’t leave. This wasn’t something they’d thought about or considered 25 years ago.
Not to say it will be good here, but the other thing for me would be climate change, it looks worrying in Australia with record temperatures fires and droughts .

It is a lot hotter in Oz than the UK though and some people find that unpleasant. Not sure what's so awful about that.

And here we go again! Take a look at a map, see how large Australia is - do you really think the whole country has the same weather? Yes, it is hot in Perth, but its a different type of heat to what you get in the UK, and as a pp has said places are set up for hot weather, air con is everywhere.

Not to say it will be good here, but the other thing for me would be climate change, it looks worrying in Australia with record temperatures fires and droughts .

You forgot to mention the recent record floods!

The UK is going to suffer from climate change, too. We don't know what the effects will be, hotter or colder. If the Gulf Stream changes, then the UK could be bitterly cold. Nowhere is going to be safe, I don't think.

I do suppose that if you dislike warm sunny weather, and some people do, then yes the climate in most of Australia won't suit you! Certainly not Perth. I have a friend who adores Glaswegian weather.

saying Australia is hot and isolated is true

OK, I'm not Australian, so I don't have a dog in this race, and the stereotypes of no culture/racist/Straya wants to kill you are boring (do you know I've been here 15 years and never seen a snake outside of a zoo? I was in Slovenia 3 days once and saw a snake. Slovenia must be sooooooooooo full of snakes!...oh wait). Having said all that the quote above really pissed me off. Australia is HUGE. All of Europe would fit neatly inside Australia. There is not a single climate, or even a single culture. Some parts of Australia get hot some of the yearbut London hit 40 this year (and was unbearable; I was therebecause you all aren't used to it). Some parts are hot all of the year. Some parts are rarely hot. Close by there is NZ (same distance as Helsinki from London), Indonesia, New Caledonia, the Cooks... SE Asia is only 7 hours from Melbourne, one of the furthest points. It might be far from London, but it isn't "isolated".

It's a no brainer for me. Western Australia. It took me 17 yrs to escape the bleak Northeast and I've never and will never go back. The NE is an absolute shithole. 😆