To want to move back to the uk

[Huldas]

Have been in New Zealand many years, husband is a kiwi and kids were born here. My DDs are 7 and 10 now and I don't think the education system here compares to the uk. Standards for educational achievement are just not as high. Plus I want DDs to have a sense of their UK heritage. And I am very homesick. Dh has lived in the UK before, we could both get good jobs in the UK assuming we can get dh a visa (not easy when in 40s)
But- logistically is giant hassle to move back, I have no family in the UK at the moment, and right now it is just me who wants this. DH and DDs are quite happy here.
Would it be unreasonable to pursue this? Do my concerns re education/heritage have any actual grounds?
Any advice appreciated (including areas to move to- am originally from Devon, want to avoid London if poss.)

OP - I'm from Scotland originally and emigrated 15 years ago to NZ with kiwi hubby, 2 kids same age as yours but however homesick i get, i just couldn't move them back, and my whole family is still in the UK.

I also miss the history, choice of shops/food, and of course family, but that's pretty much all i miss - i don't miss the freezing winters (our winters here in Bay of Plenty, North Island are usually 10-15 degrees during the day, maybe down to 2-4 at night, but lovely clear sunny days), i don't miss the tiny houses, small gardens, crowded and narrow roads. I love the fact we have a huge garden, 200m to the beach and can rely on the weather playing ball when planning a bbq.... Re the heritage, i try and instill some sense of non-NZ history into them, but it isn't their heritage, they are kiwi's not scottish (however many times i get them to wear the 'see you jimmy' hat :-))

I know one family who moved back to England for 18 months - lasted one winter and came back, the kids (age between 5 and 10) were sick all the time and hated the cold.

i think going back for an extended trip would be the best thing to do, but i do feel for you if you really aren't happy here and have never really settled. Good luck with whatever you do decide!

I think having a mild climate is great if you are sporty/like being outdoors, so being in the UK or NZ are both great in this respect.

If you ride horses though I do think the UK is brilliant for having bridleways and byways which basically means you have unlimited access across the length and breadth of the countryside, and certainly, a well established horsey culture which means a huge variety of clubs/societies/events/shows so it's unsurprising NZ Olympic team members like Mark Todd are based here.

Likewise with the coastal paths for walkers and cyclists: I think the UK is unusual in the rights of access the general public has to cross private land that isn't just designated national parks.

At the end of the day people need jobs, and a good standard of living so a safe and buoyant economy; if they are into competitive sport then they'll need plenty of events at all levels.

NZ is known to be a millionaire's playground, fantastic fun for people who have the money to go heliskiing etc. Not such fun when job opportunities are limited or pay badly. Then travelling outside the country becomes very expensive, compared to the UK where a flight to a European city is comparatively cheap.

And as I write this the first flurries of snow fall gently in my garden, mixed in with the very early spring flowers. Would I live anywhere else now.....absolutely no way.

You can get this in both NZ and Aus, just sayin'.

Thank you rocketgirl and juneau and others for describing why the UK rocks. I came to England from a country which is sunny, hot and humid almost all year round and I absolutely adore English weather in all its varieties - in fact, its variety is one of the draws. I am never going back home.

The education system (I only know independent) is top class and teaches critical thinking and creative writing to a high standard. Ok, math standard is a little lacking, languages not taught to a high standard. English people are generally polite. Culture, music, fashion. The telly tubby countryside. No nasty insects or animals.

No severe weather conditions or earthquakes. I believe that with global warming, UK's temperate and wet climate is best placed to last it out. 'Tis the land to be, as a counterpoint to UK bashing.

Brexit is not my choice but I have belief that British resilience, pragmatism, creativity and charm will win the day eventually.

No severe weather conditions or earthquakes. I believe that with global warming, UK's temperate and wet climate is best placed to last it out. 'Tis the land to be, as a counterpoint to UK bashing.

Clearly the teaching of sciences is lacking in the UK if you think that particular countries will be exempt from the effects of global warming simply because they are colder...

Stay where you are op, UK is FUKD.

Superbeagle I wasn't taught science in the UK, haha. Maybe read my post more closely.

No severe weather conditions or earthquakes.

I just heard on the radio news driving to work that the UK is having some kind of Big Bad Weather Warning (can’t remember terminology but something like that 😆). People being warned to stay inside blah blah? (I’m in West Oz, so obviously a very slow news day, mind you.)

Dunedin will obviously be cold, clues in the name.
I presume you are joking.

Oh, no, I must apologise. I forgot: when I visited Wales, I was struck by the incredible similarity to New South Wales, in every possible way.

HuskyMcClusky :People being warned to stay inside blah blah? (I’m in West Oz, so obviously a very slow news day, mind you

I'm from NSW. I worked in Scotland for a year in the 80s. It was amazing the news that slow news days and the silly season would cast up on the TV. A very popular one was the Harbour Bridge had come to a standstill in, for example, December as the cars' radiators would boil because of the heat.This appeared other times that I was in the UK around Christmas. Strange that I had never heard of that happening when I was actually in Sydney.

cue, well, you’re probably onto something there, given that it was commercial radio news (and the next ‘big topic’ was the DJ’s 30th birthday party )

I would stay in nz. The uk is not what it used to be.

Husky: Yes, like one-upmanship for the bizarre news stories - however, I sadly must admit I like a touch of the bizarre.

I just heard on the radio news driving to work that the UK is having some kind of Big Bad Weather Warning. People being warned to stay inside blah blah? (I’m in West Oz, so obviously a very slow news day, mind you.)

Yet another example of someone who doesn't even live here bashing the UK. FYI we have a dusting of snow - actually it's really pretty. The roads are clear. Scotland is having a lot of snow today, but the bit I'm in is having a beautiful, sunny, crisp day. I just walked my kids to school. Yes, you need to wear a coat, hat, scarf and gloves (gasp! imagine that!), but if you're properly dressed it's a lovely day to be outside, if only because the subzero temps have frozen the mud

I know one family who moved back to England for 18 months - lasted one winter and came back, the kids (age between 5 and 10) were sick all the time and hated the cold.

And yes, if you move back here for one winter your kids WILL get sick all the time. It's because the native stew of viruses is different wherever you go, so if you move to the far side of the world you're going to encounter ones that you don't have immunity to. It gets better after a couple of years. When we moved back here from the US everyone apart from me (a native Brit), got colds and coughs, etc, because they didn't have any immunity yet. My advice - come anyway, get a flu vaccine, avoid sick people if you can, and accept that if you have a bad winter for illness it doesn't mean that every winter will be like that - it's just a phase in your adjustment to a new environment.

Not enough snow where I live to go sledging unfortunately but from my home in the UK it's cheaper to ski in the Alps (Geneva £32 RTN) than to ski in Scotland!!

Yet another example of someone who doesn't even live here bashing the UK. FYI we have a dusting of snow - actually it's really pretty.

www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-43207709

TBF, looks like more than a pretty dusting of snow for most of the UK. Glad you’re enjoying it, though.

NZ is known to be a millionaire's playground, fantastic fun for people who have the money to go heliskiing etc. Not such fun when job opportunities are limited or pay badly.

Median earnings NZ: $48,000 per year (2016).

Unemployment rate NZ: 4.5%.

Median earnings UK £22,400 (2017) ($NZ 43,232 at current exchange rates)

Unemployment rate UK 4.4%

Note that as these figures are median (not averages) they won't be skewed upwards by the super-rich (although in fairness this would probably affect the UK stats much more: it is the UK and London in particular that is the playground of the super-rich).

They show that on average, middling households in NZ have somewhat greater income than in the UK, and unemployment is the same in each place.

Unless you live in the SE of England it's quite likely that you will be poorer than your equivalents in NZ. This has been the same for some time: I remember meeting a family from the east Midlands nearly two decades ago. I'd taken a huge pay drop having come from London. Their income had increased.

Just don't spend too much on Marmite, Frey Bentos pies, Atora suet or other English things that are priced as luxuries down here

the other reason Dunedin will be cold is its location. But that may be too much science for MN.

Yet another example of someone who doesn't even live here bashing the UK. See my earlier comment about boiling radiators.

It's endemic in a certain class of media - and not always the ones you would expect.

Additionally, that comment is hardly "bashing" - but is in context to postings from other posters.

Just popped to see how the OP, and I can't leave without refuting some of the stuff being said about Dunedin- I really don't understand where this myth that it is cold and miserable comes from- and particularly surprised after a summer where Dunedin has been experiencing tenperatures in high 20s and 30s. It is nowhere near as cold here as London in winter. We're named after Edinburgh because the city was designed and settled by Scots, not because we're anything like the original town!

Would just like to add that while NZ summers in some regions can be similar to UK summers in some regions - UK winters are utterly in a league of their own!

#depressing

A NZ winter is generally colder inside your house than outside.We lived in Hawkes Bay, renowned for having a pretty mild climate but the first winter we lived there was a massive shock! It was arctic inside most buildings due to the lack of insulation, central heating and double glazing in most places.

I loved NZ but our children were so sick every winter, the cold damp climate caused a lot of problems. Yes winter was brief, but it was brutal.