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!

[Thermowoman]

I know a family that were on wanted down under, and also two follow up programmes. They've lived in Oz for five years now, and have built a beautiful house near the beach. So they didn't just come for the free holiday!

As for all the people who laugh at the people emigrating for the outdoor lifestyle, saying you can do all that in the UK. Well I guess you can, and it depends what you prefer, but I much prefer being outside in the sunshine than in the rain, and we do a lot more outdoorsy stuff here. Of course its not a holiday all the time, but it does feel like a holiday every weekend. And guaranteed sunshine for a large chunk of the year certainly makes for a better quality of life and improved mental health for a lot of people! It isn't for everyone that's for sure, but emigrating here has improved our lives no end.

[BanyanChristmasTree]

I spent 16 years overseas in a HR job where I recruited expats including from the UK. Almost without exception they felt that because they had skills needed, they were entitled to a bigger house and more money. Some also asked for a car, club, schooling and flights home. Senior roles would generally get all that.

[KateGrey]

I think it feels sometimes they under estimate the importance of close family and friends. Also it’s a huge culture change and it’s not cheap. Personally I couldn’t stand being somewhere hot everyday. I remember reading that someone couldn’t walk the half mile to their kids school as it was too hot. It’s an expensive country and I always laugh when people say they love spending time together as a family that they can’t do in the UK but then they’re essentially on holiday. Of course you’re all together.

[CaraBosse1]

The producers do pick 'me though. I'm sure there are plenty of Brits who do extensive research about emigrating to Oz but we wouldn't be able to mock them so they don't get featured!

[HotelEuphoria]

I like it best when the family will earn less in Australia, can't afford a house, will miss their families massively, find food extortionate and then still wave their Aussie flags at the end.

[Hmmalittlefishy]

I've not seen many but it's the leisure activity bit that makes me laugh.
One family from Wigan went to feed giraffes at the zoo and were saying 'we definitely couldn't do this at home'.
The dad was working every weekend to afford their current home and would have to do the same if they moved.
I doubt many Australian families get a one on one giraffe feeding experience
They already lived in relatively close distance to Knowsley safari Park and Chester zoo but hadn't gone

[juliesaway]

Some people simply aren’t made to move away and can never cope with any adjustment. Moving back after two months in horror at the lack of Robinson’s Squash and the cost of tea bags.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2341588/Family-swapped-Hull-life-luxury-Australia-return-home-months-later-shock-cost-living-lack-Robinsons-fruit-juice.html

[BalloonSlayer]

17 years ago we went to stay with my sister in her house in a suburb of Sydney. It was so big we instinctively asked "which half is hers?" the first time we saw it in a photo. It was worth the same - 17 years ago - as our rather run down 3 bed end of terrace in the home counties.

However, things have changed hugely in those 17 years and now it's a completely different story. But had DSis not recently railed about how unaffordable housing in Sydney is getting I would have assumed it was still the same as when I last looked!

[MerryShitmas]

I agree that most people on that show are thick as mince and there's still a widespread belief that your 2 up 2 down in the midlands on land the size of a postage stamp will buy you a 5 bedroom mansion with a pool and you'll only have to work a 3.5 day week to achieve it while one of you stays home with a tribe of kids! I hope eventually wanted down under becomes common enough to
Dispel that image.

I do feel awful for some people though, I remember via a fb group someone posted her husband had a resident return visa after his family moved here when he was a child (he never lived here though)
He dragged her out here which cost $10,000aud for her visa alone, they bled straight through their savings, costing a total of (iirc) about 40,000aud when all was said and done... Her husbands family member filled his head with shit about how they'd be able to get a house with a pool and a 4 day work week for him and she'd be able to be a SAHM. They ended up in Brisbane with him earning barely $850 a week (pretty much minimum wage) with 4 kids and she was trying to find a way to get them all home which was near impossible with 0 savings and $850 a week (in Brisbane rent for a 2 bed is easily $300-400pw let alone a 4 bed, plus food of $140+ a week minimum if they're frugal and eat lots of carbs, utilities and other expenses etc very little left).
Iirc she was trying to find a job but had difficulty due to childcare... I don't think she's the only person who's experienced that unfortunately. There is financial support available to some degree but that only applies once you've lived here for 2yrs as a permanent resident or citizen....
how foolish!

[WatchTheFoxes]

Completely agree with TakemedowntoPotatoCity and other pps, the people on the show take for granted the importance of family connections, I think it’s so selfish I can’t watch it!

[wedontallliveinsydney]

I moved from the UK to Oz. If people were genuinely looking for a warm weather, lovely house and outdoorsy lifestyle they sure as hell wouldn't be moving to Sydney or Melbourne. There is more to Australia than that.

If you want a relaxed, hot, outdoors lifestyle move to Queensland. Not Brisbane. Move to Noosa, move to Cairns.

Beautiful house, large blocks, hot weather, everything in good close proximity (city, beaches, wine regions) - go to Adelaide. One of the most gorgeous places.

Like cold weather and beautiful scenery to walk the dog and go to the pub after? But still enjoy heat?! Tasmania is for you.

Personally I bloody love Australia. A hot Christmas is bright and cheerful. We leave the city the day after Christmas and head to the beachside for a holiday surfing and drinking wine on the beach. We have bbq's regularly, sunshine makes everything feel cheery. I get depressed during winter.

[juliesaway]

Seriously, the pool and lifestyle thing. It’s of course what you choose to buy and what you make of it and many Brits come with the aim of getting near the beach and living a certain lifestyle and end up striving and do just that which is great. But most Aussie property buyers actually shy away from properties with large pools and land, and nearly all new developments or subdivisions in the big two cities affordable to the average person reflect this, by cramming the houses onto the blocks of land with inches to spare on either side and just enough room for a outdoor entertainment deck at the back. Average Aussies generally prefer to have a big house, loads of rooms they never or rarely use, a tiny garden requiring absolutely no maintenance as they work and commute such long hours and are unlikely to have a swimming pool if it comes at the expense of house size. “bigger is better” is very much the belief when it comes to houses here to the exclusion of everything else.

[differentnameforthis]

There is financial support available to some degree but that only applies once you've lived here for 2yrs as a permanent resident or citizen as a permanent resident you are entitled to child tax benefit A&B straight away if your income fits the parameters.

[KERALA1]

Often they seem sad and think a drastic move will solve everything - like the mental health nurse with no friends.

Surely you should try and improve things at home if you can before throwing baby out with bathwater. De clutter, move house, make an effort to go on family days out, get a hottub to deal with "the pool" at his me" cravings. If you're still miserable maybe.

[Santasbigredbobblehat]

I can see how people latch on to the idea that moving somewhere exotic will solve their problems and ease the drudgery of everyday life, but it’s so often the case on this show that these people have wildly misjudged how easy it is to actually move to Australia. I turn over at the crying grandparent bits.

[SusanneLinder]

Friend of mine moved to Oz 5 years ago. Wife didn't want to go, but off they toddled. Stayed one year. He hated every minute of it, wife ended up loving it. She didn't want to come home, but he had the reserved occupation so back they came. Luckily they had rented out their house here so had somewhere to live. Couple split up soon after.
My cousin is desperate to go to Oz. Applied for visas. No idea how they will manage as they can barely afford to live here, but not my problem.
I'd love to visit Australia, can't imagine living there.
DH is also on reserved occcupation. We considered it for 5 mins and googled jobs, but they would be in outback, miles and miles away from any city and I would have struggled to get work, so it was a non starter.

[SD1978]

@Zaphodsotherhead not true- you don’t need citizenship for a house- I was never asked my immigration status. I am a resident, and have a mortgage. Probably can’t on a 2 year visa, but after 2 years you can apply for residency anyway if you have an ongoing contract

[KermitsLoveChild]

Does anyone remember the bizarre couple who came from near Inverness? They'd moved there from Bristol and their house was a shack in the middle of nowhere. She was a 'flower therapist' and he fixed computers as a hobby.

They honestly thought they'd be able to go to Australia without a skill between them and with no money. Their faces when they discovered this wasn't the case were amazing. An update later told us that they didn't go .

[SD1978]

@CheapSausagesAndSpam- Adair’s & Bed, bath and table all do good linen and bedsheets. Also don’t mind KMART, cheaper than Target, but I find they last a bit longer. They’re not top of the range, but ok.

[JapaneseBirdPainting]

It's the classic 'running away from whatever makes you unhappy' in my opinion for many.

I really love watching it, but mainly because it makes me rethink my lifestyle here. So yes I want to get the Dcs off the screen and out and about, so it might motivate me to book them into riding lessons for example. Dreaming about something (orbeing envious about something someone else has) is a really neat pointer to what will make your inner self a little bit happier. So I use it as a tool or a guide really.

So, the MH nurse without friends.... instead of chucking in her entire life she might need to think about clubs or groups she can join. The desire to have more outdoor time with the family- go on a white water rafting weekend wherever. Want heat (I dearly want that) then book a trip to Spain or something. Right, it's expensive yes- but as others have pointed out, a visa alone in Oz is multiple thousands.

But sometimes I want to scream at the telly that it's not all Home and Away and why the fuck did they not go out for a holiday at least before deciding they want to migrate?

[MidniteScribbler]

This thread shows why the phrase 'whinging Pom' is so common in Australia.

[Unfinishedkitchen]

From my experience the Aussies outwhinge the Poms by a country mile and are only beaten into second place by the French.

[JapaneseBirdPainting]

Do we have to descend into stereotypes really?

[juliesaway]

Ha ha Aussies love a good whinge too they spend as much time whinging about other Aussies whinging as they do about poms! Then pretend they don’t but get caught out. They are believe me world class whingers. 😂

[losingmymindiam]

The Poms that have moved to Aus don’t seem to be the ones whinging either