To emigrate to Australia?!

[DarlingDuck]

DH and I are 30 and have 3 DC's, we've wanted to emigrate for a long time. It would mean me re-training and doing a midwifery degree but I would earn twice the salary in Australia as I would here in the UK. The only cons we can think of would be missing our families and all the huge spiders/snakes!

I realise it will be a huge upheaval and our eldest will be around 10 years old when we plan to go which may be hard for her. Ideally we would like to do it sooner but we want to make sure we can earn a good wage.... AIBU?

Crappy voice recog, sorry

I've been thinking about the perception of the cultural gap, as in, Oz being a young country, and a long way away from anything.

It's about expectations, do the reading, see what you feel is important.

I lived in London for most of my adult life before coming to Oz, and I feel that much of the "feel" is just being there, awash in a soup of history, fab buildings and exhibitions, usually unexplored, unseen and unattended.

I was absolutely aware that I was moving from a world -class city to something quite different, but Melbourne, and the rest of Australia, has nothing to apologise for. (Actually, Melbourne is way too preoccupied with food, but that's another thing entirely).

The vigour of the cultural life is intense, people throng to exhibitions, much of it fuelled by the knowledge that it won't be coming back any time soon.
I've seen more bands: Gotan Project, Sigur Ros; speakers; Barry Humphries, Clive James, John Waters, ballet and opera than I did in London.

The home grown art/music is excellent, too, a strong identity developed as the big names routinely ignored Oz on their tours.

I can see this sounds a bit like poor little Australia, all ignored, but it is in many ways, and has responded by making a distinctive culture, not confined to beaches, barbies, sunshine and footy.

I have to say, echt, that I love that big bands and things come to Newcastle (our nearest city). I haven't been to any (too old now! ) but it's great that we don't have to go into Sydney for everything. I know it's the second biggest city in NSW so in reality I shouldn't be surprised but I still am, a bit.

I migrated To Newcastle Australia 3 years ago having never visited with my 4 DC and Hubby Those first two years nearly killed me!

However I am settled now the People sickness is dealable with (not homesickness Newie is now home)

Oh and any day now I shall birth a little Aussie :D

TW, which Aussie bands do you like? I'm still stuck on spiderbait, gerling, friendly etc... top 100 predictability.

oh I'm useless on new bands! although I did see this country rock band called Round Mountain Girls who were very good - I'm not a big fan of country music when it's all twanging geetarrs and wailing/crooning, but I like the rock version. Their didgeridoo player was off sick the day I saw them though.

I like Jet (not new) and of course who couldn't like ackerdacker?

cjdamoo - are you in central Newie?

Kotara so outer suburbia. Still I can walk to westfield :D Or at least I could before I ended the size of house

Useful if you don't have to drive there, that's for sure - that carpark is the biggest nightmare! When are you due?

well Im 37 weeks today and would like it over now please

The different parts of Australia are really different. Think about whether you want to live in a big city with great coffee, theatre, festivals etc plus traffic congestion and huge house prices or somewhere smaller and more rural. Do you want to live in the tropical north or in the south where it can be cold and wet?
Australia is the size of the US with only about 22 million people and a very skewed population distribution. Most people live in cities on the East coast. Country towns can be very small, very dull and very isolated.
Don't write off Adelaide! There is a lot going on there culturally, three good universities and lots of beautiful places to live.

I moved to Australia 9 years ago with my husband (who is Australian). We have a wonderful life here and are very happy. However, I feel that the life we have here is the product of hard work and investment in our local community rather than simply a result of our moving to Australia. I guess what I am trying to say is that I don't think emigrating automatically guarantees you a ticket to a better life. Yes life in australia could work for you but I think you really should do some serious research. Like anywhere there are pros and cons to living in Australia and I think you should become really aware of as many of these as you can before making the decision to move. It took me years to feel at home here and it was very very very hard at times. I dont think you can underestimate what a terrible feeling homesickness can be. I have had so many friends move here with the expectation of "beaches, sunshine and money" transforming there lives only to find out there is another side to the story. I don't mean to sound negative, as i said, I am very happy here but I have seen so many friends come and go because they have only considered the pros of living here vs cons of living in England.

You have to take into consideration a few things

You have to renew your driving licence every so often. It is not a life time one like the UK. It's $70 (47.00gbp)per year here (Adelaide - which is generally thought of as the cheaper state)

You have to pay to see the dr. We have to pay $60 (40.00gbp) per visit & penicillin cost me $20 (14gbp) for dd when she was a baby.

There is no affordable dental care. If you are on low income, you get a health care card, but have to wait 2yrs for an exam. Or you can pay privately, or take out (costly) health insurance.

There are property taxes (but no council tax)

No TV licence. But you get 4 channels of crap...unless you get foxtel, which costs, obv.

Food cost a lot. Organic food costs more. And it is rising.

Eating out is reasonable in some places.

Clothes/books/electricals cost a lot. It is cheaper for us to get books sent form the UK, with postage costs!

You have to pay for education as well as book lists that the school asks you to buy.

I love it here, but it is getting very expensive. And yes you may end up earning more, but comparable to your cost of living, it work out to the same, really. We are planning to come home asap.

One of my main concerns is education. Dd1 is getting an adequate state education, (we can't afford private). There seems to be no world education, they are taught very much about what goes on in Australia & that's it. Most People I have met here think that if it doesn't happen in Australasia, it hasn't happened.

People say that the weather is better, ell yes it is...but in the summer we are stuck inside due to 35 -43 degree heat. And today, we are stuck inside (as we have been all week) due to rain etc. So, it is what you make it. I'd rather be out in the UK, in summer rain, than out here in 43 degrees!

A1980 Most of your info is incorrect. It certainly takes us a lot longer to get to the city. You cannot get a huge house with a pool for $250K. Not a nice one, in a nice place, any way.

I don't consider it dull, but dh does.

There is a lot to consider, op. Things that you don't find out during a holiday. You really need to dig deep.

My friend had a $180k mortgage when I first moved here (she bought her house years ago) and her repayments were $4k A MONTH. Because interest is so much higher here. Worth thinking about.

Agree with everything ThumbsNoseAtSnapewitch said.

We are planning a holiday to the UK next year & our flights alone are $10k. That's for 2 adults, 2 children.

We did a online shop at Tesco & Asda recently, for comparability. I spend over $200 (131.00 gbp) all in each week on groceries at the moment. The online Tesco shop cost 80gbp ($120). That included all basic cleaning products.

Also agree with savoycabbage re 'wanted down under'.

I was on MSN with a friend recently when an Adelaide one was on. She was telling me about this fab house, with lost of rooms, pool, nr the beach etc for this great price. But the suburb wasn't the best &n was certainly a lot further from the city than they implied.

The city is not just 20 mins from any suburb, I thought it is called the 20 minute city because that's how long it takes you to walk the main streets...because I know plenty of suburbs that are much further than 20mins from the city.

There are a lot of international baccalaureate schools in Adelaide where we are and dd1 goes to one. They learn about a lot of things all over the world. You just need to check your local area. Also I think that if you like it in Australia, that is all that matters. If you are constantly complaining about the cost of living, small amount of culture, no international bands playing in your area then now is the time to hit the road and go back to where you came from as it was obviously better and leave everybody else to enjoy the beaches, mountains etc.

YANBU, but the first thing you need to do is work out if you can actually get a visa. If you are re-training as a midwive (an area where there are shortages here) how much post qualifying experience will you need before you are eligible? I would say a good start would be one of those "Emigrating to Australia" Expos where there are always hospitals and health boards represented, talking to them will give you an idea of what to aim for.

We moved with three children and are all now citizens, you would have to drag me kicking and screaming back to the UK. I think a part of the problem for so many expats is the fact that if you grow up in the UK/Europe that is your focus in terms of history, culture etc. so it can seem very strange here at first; you need to remember that Australia not having a UK/Europe focus does not make them in some way inferior, it just isn't particularly important if you are living here. It is much more useful for kids here to learn an Asian language for example as that is the future here for business. The UK is no longer particularly influential in global terms, the world has moved on. I am very happy being part of that different culture but it really isn't for everyone and if I hear anyone else (in RL, not here ) moaning about how much they miss Asda and Primark I will scream!

I cant wait to go.

I think it depends where you are in the UK and where you are going in Australia as well. We are quite rural here but hope to go near Brisbane, which has a lovely coffee shop and outdoor culture. The city is shiny and a bit glam (they have tiffany's there) whereas I am in greysville here. Shops are great stores are convenient there but I need to catch a train to any decent shopping areas here.

Its more expensive there but I have been watching property and its dropping slightly. Thank goodness because there is no way we could get like for like for the amount our house here is worth.

I dont have any concerns re education as in the cities, the schools are good. Each child gets a laptop and has done for at least 10 years in the primary school ds will go to. Its just a run of the mill one too. Rurally, however, the schools dont look very good academically but I guess the UK leasds us into a different headspace for achievement in the very early years. Here we have the 11 plus but in the area we chose, you just choose a secondary school and go. (fee paying).

Job wise difficult though as they do seem to require higher skills and qualifications that we are used to. I have 3 postgrad quals but none over an MSC and have been working as a senior lecturer in a good uni here for quite some time and have even created a few very well known international Msc programmes but would not get a job in a Uni Australia as I dont have a PHd. I'll still try though.

MrsK, are you sure about that? Have you tried? I didn't think a PhD was as necessary as a teaching certificate of some kind - I have a UK friend teaching in the university in Cairns and I'm pretty sure he's not a PhD.

All the job ads for my area of specialty have phd as a minimum requirement :(

I would get cracking in terms of looking into visas and university applications.

If you apply to university to study midwifery this September, you will be starting in September 2012, graduating in 2015. Midwifery degrees are extremely competitive (I've got an email from King's College saying it is their most competitive course!) and it will explode this year as you don't pay tuition fees on midwifery (and nursing) degrees unlike everyone else who's forking out £9k a year.
You will need some healthcare work experience under your belt, and academic study within the last 5 years to be considered, potentially a lot to sort out by the time UCAS opens this year!
Of course, if you are already a registered adult nurse then it's a lot more relaxed and you apply directly to the universities for the 18 month conversion.

Good luck OP. I considered midwifery before facing up to the fact I actually want to be a doctor. I got interviews at all the unis I applied to (pulled out for aforementioned reason) so if you need any help with the application or personal statement just PM me.

To be honest unless you are a nurse already it could take you yup to 5 years to train as a midwife 3 years for the degree and another to till your at a level were any one would give you a job, i find it a little vile you will use the tax payer like this competition us tuff for this course and you basically want to use the little resource the nhs has so you can fund your lifestyle. Mybe it is better you do go .

You children are small so it will mean they wil
Grow up with put really knowing your family skpe is not really the same as seeing you nan or having you cousins round for tea.

Who would look after your kids when your doing shit work when a midwife ? As I presume you oh would need to work to

Also who will have your children while your planning to train you will have to do placements and they will be shit

Even though their are lots of jobs , Australia is really expensive And the schools are not that good, living in the capital can be almost as dear as living in London so you end up living in hicks vile yes you might have a 5 bedroom house but you will be in the sticks, you could have a five bedroom here if you want to love up north.

Personally I think people go into a big move with Rose tinted glasses thinking the grass is greener.

5 bedroom houses "up north" here are rather out of a lot of people's price ranges

Thinking on....I dont know why some people put such a large emphasis on staying due to grandparents. You need to live your own life and do what you think is the best for your own and immediate family. I know my In laws here feel that way when we talk about moving.
You cant put your life on hold.