To think the families on Wanted Down Under are a bit spoilt/delusional?

[Hatchinganegg]

Almost every episode involves a family with pretty average jobs living in your average 3 bedroom semi detached. They go to Australia and turn their noses up at massive houses because they don't have pools and walk in wardrobes. Or they're 10 minutes from the beach rather than right across the road

They never seem to want to start off a few rungs down from their eventual goal, it all has to happen right away.

They all want identikit houses too- those shiny kitchens and acres of cream carpet. I'd like to see one where the family was after something a little different personally!

[TakemedowntoPotatoCity]

Anyone who moves away from family with whom they are close is an idiot doing a disservice to their children. Those connections are really important. They will regret it one day.

[Alohagirl]

I’m an Aussie, living in the UK. I had to stop watching it when I was particularly homesick once and burst into tears looking at an Australian electrical socket when they were viewing a kitchen ...more than a little hormonal!

[losingmymindiam]

Takemedown You have no idea the reasons people move, how frequently they see those loved ones, or speak to them on skype or whatever and how well those connections are maintained. It is a tough decision, one that is painful and guilt ridden and not taken lightly, so to dismiss it in a blanket statement like that is, to be honest, insulting.

[tillytrotter1]

The shopping lists amuse me, do people expect to buy exactly the same in Aus or NZ? each country will have things cheaper than the UK and some dearer, we were astounded at the cheapness of green lipped mussels in NZ, could live on them if necessary.
If you live in the sticks in the UK you're not going to be able to buy in a major city anywhere.
The follow-up programmes are interesting, around 33% seem to make the move.

[areyoubeingserviced]

They are definitely deluded. They have been watching two many episodes of Neighbors and Home and Away.
They irritate me too

[MrsMaxwell]

I went to live in NZ 20 years ago as I married a Kiwi and had a newborn.

The sunshine does not make you happy. I was homesick, lost, exOH couldn’t find well paid work (even though he was skilled) and I missed my family enjoying my son, their first grandchild.

I found it beautiful but very sexist and racist and about 10 years behind the UK, we couldn’t afford to buy a house.

We came back after 2 years 18 years ago and I have never ever regretted it.

[LoisWilkersonsLastNerve]

I have a neighbour making the move down under, someone who prattled on about how its to give the kids a 'better' life as if the rest of us are shit parents for bringing up ours in that well known gulag Bonnie Scotland damn those disgusting lochs and mountains

[MrsMaxwell]

Although my sister lives in a Europe and constantly goes on about how much better it is there than in the UK. Pisses me right off.

[saltandvinegarcrisps1]

There was one a few years back that was hilarious. Mum, dad and girl of about 10. Whole move down under seemed to be on the back of the DDs love of dolphins (she was very much still PFB). Then they went swimming with dolphins on the show and she had a complete meltdown and has to be removed screaming from the sea. Poor girl but it was tv gold

[treaclesoda]

I love it when they interview the couple and they say they hate the high cost of living here in the UK, and they want to spend more time together and not work such long hours. You know, the usual. Then it shows them sitting with a calculator and the voiceover says 'Brian and Julie's weekly grocery shopping in the UK costs £120' and it cuts to Brian saying to Julie 'ooh, so groceries here would cost us £800 a week'. And then the voiceover reminds us that Brian will earn half of his UK salary in Australia, and Julie won't be able to work at all because her teaching/nursing/counselling qualifications aren't valid in Australia. So Brian is going to have to work about 500 hours a week for a disposable income of about £5 a week. And then they spin their stupid wee flags round, having looked at the figures, and insist that Australia is where it's at. Yeah right, you're fooling no-one. You just don't want to admit on TV that you were wrong

[echt]

There's nothing like a bracing icy walk with the dog in December, wrapped up cosily, and ending up at a country pub with a log fire burning, for a beer or some mulled wine. Don't get that in Australia.
Bah! Change it July, go to the right parts and you can do it.

Seriously though, I've only ever seen one ep where the couple's housing standards/value matched that of their aspirational one in Au. Almost all are completely deluded, with no idea how much it costs to live near the sea, have the pool and a reasonable commute to a well-paid job.The same as in the UK, a fucktonne.

I can only catch up on old eps, but note that the destination of choice is rarely Melbourne, and wonder if that's because you get something resembling winter here, not the 365 days year sunshine of popular imagination.

[megletthesecond]

Yanbu.
Love WDU. I have fond memories of a week off sick and bitching posting on the WDU thread every morning. Happy days.

[froodledoodle]

FitBitFanClub : There's nothing like a bracing icy walk with the dog in December, wrapped up cosily, and ending up at a country pub with a log fire burning, for a beer or some mulled wine. Don't get that in Australia

Just a query (and a serious one) - is there actually something magical doing this in December, as opposed to June/July?

Zaphodsotherhead: My daughter (who has moved out to Australia, Melbourne) has been told that she can't buy a house unless she takes Australian citizenship. They currently rent because they are not sure they want to take that step

I don't think that that that's accurate. I know people who have bought properties whilst they are only temporary residents.

[juliesaway]

WDU is entertaining, however the average families are unrealistic and have an perception of what Australia is like from 30 years ago. You may as well take the average family from the UK and send them to London - as that’s how expensive the property is and the cost of living in the main 3 cities , Sydney and Melbourne where the bulk of the well paying jobs and much of the population lives. People think they’ll have a big house by the beach near a city are dreaming unless they are selling a house with big equity in London or other high value areas. The days of the average regional Brit on average wage with average wealth in the UK being able to drop right into the perceived “beach, relaxed lifestyle” with no money worries are so over - and have been for some time. The UK, is on the whole, a fair amount poorer than it was 30 years ago relative to other countries and Australia comparatively better off than it used to be, this is reflected in exchange rates and wages. People in the Uk are slowly waking up to this fact and the dashed dreams and unrealistic expectations on WDU are merely a stark representation of this. 30 years ago they would have been more attainable. Sydney and Melbourne are fairly fast paced, complex cities with nearly 5 million people each. The idea that everyone lives at a beach, does a bit of part time work here or there, or has a pool is laughable - I think only 10% of households in Melbourne have pools and nearly 50% of the population in Sydney now live in apartments or townhouses with smaller back yards than your average Uk terraced house. Large pool type properties within range of these “dreamers” prices are up to 40km+ from the Centres and long commutes are involved if you don’t work locally. It is cheaper regionally but there, there are fewer jobs and a less dynamic job market which favours “locals” over new foreign immigrants. For anyone moving to the major cities here from regional UK I would say - would you contemplate a move to London? As that’s what the large cities here have more in common with nowadays in terms of lifestyle, rather than some idea of laid back, sit by the pool life. I love it here and have a great standard of living ( better than i had in the UK) after many years of hard work and adjustment here - thankfully I didn’t come with any illusions about the myths about Oz prevalent in the UK. And also, the weather is probably almost the last thing to consider when you move. Jobs, family, support network come first by a huge stretch.

[juliesaway]

Would also agree that if you want “the weather” year round and a relaxed carry on move to the Canaries and open a cafe.

[SingaSong12]

I do wonder how old the episodes are. The ones I really dislike are Escape to the country and Under the Hammer. On Escape they seem to want to be in the middle of no-where, close to all local services. Quite a few seem older and I wonder how they will cope with the long bumpy track to the dream home if one of them finds they can't drive through failing eyesight or illness. Rural public transport is pretty rubbish. I don't watch this one any more

On homes under the hammer just once I want them to not read the legal pack/view and it go horribly wrong rather than making a profit even though they had to redo the roof or buy a strip of land from the neighbour.

[notapizzaeater]

I follow one couple who went on it years ago, she was a midwife working in London during the week son and dad stayed at home up north. They had already decided to go when they applied so went for the free holiday 😀

[OlennasWimple]

I love this show for all the above reasons that it infuriates others! I also love Homes Under the Hammer when the estate agent goes round to value the property after 6 months, but no work has been started (usually because there's some tricky lease issue to resolve, which is why the property was up for auction rather than regular sale). The agent still has to go through the rigmarole of opening the windows and running their hand along the kitchen counter, just so that they have some footage to pad out the show.

Anyone who moves away from family with whom they are close is an idiot doing a disservice to their children. Those connections are really important. They will regret it one day

Anyone who makes blanket statements about other people's circumstances is an idiot and a disservice to empathetic human beings everywhere.

[MidniteScribbler]

The ones that annoy me are the 'we need to move because we haven't got enough space' then cut to shots of rooms full of crap. Why don't you try bloody cleaning up first?

[echt]

Another vote for oddness of "the outdoor life" argument. I love living in Australia, but I'm pretty sure there was plenty of outdoors stuff to do in the UK last time I looked. I think what the people on the WDU mean is sunshine, which 1) isn't true everywhere and all the time in Au 2) Doesn't stop you from having fun outdoors in the UK.

[SarahBeeney]

Agreed that they never seem to have done their research.

Also,the wives are often the sorts of people who see members of their family on a day to day basis. Of course it would be a wrench moving to Oz. FFS.

[SarahBeeney]

Is it a new series?

[limitedperiodonly]

Of course they are. There would be no point it they were sensible

[CheapSausagesAndSpam]

Cement re the Aussie houses looking depressing ....I moved here to Oz three years ago and hated the decor.

There's no real culture of interior design unless you're loaded. You can't access really lovely bedding or soft furnishings for example and a lot of people just don't care.

People build a house and then live with the same, dated tiles for 40 years!

It's a weird part of living here that I havent got over. I've got used to it but only because I live now in a house which isn'tas bad because it was built in the 20s and has a lot of original features.

[Argeles]

I think they’re really selfish, especially when they have children and think that taking them to the other side of the world away from their extended family is the best thing to do.