Would you rather stay in U.K. or aus

[whytesnow]

And what's your reasons? Just had a crazy idea to move over as I don't have any commitments here and life is getting boring for me here

UK.

Everyone I know lives here. Well actually I do have a few friends/rellies in Australia but they are as far apart as Melbourne, Perth and Townsville.

Australia is very cut off from the rest of the world.

The summers are hellish, even in temperate Melbourne.

I just can't think why anyone would want to live there - other than a born & bred Aussie of course.

You in Queensland?
My friend there has them as well as other critters.

It really depends what you like. Personally, though I adore sunshine, I loathe the heat. The 2022 summer nearly killed me. I'm also not an outdoorsy kind of person – not mad on the beach, can't ride a horse, terrified of spiders, etc. I also love history, literature, art and architecture. So the UK suits me. It may not be perfect, but it suits me. I love places like Bath, York, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, London, etc. I love the layers and layers of cultural history. And I love the way the literature is woven into the landscape (the Yorkshire moors connected with the Brontes, Dorset with Thomas Hardy, London with Dickens, Oxford with Oscar Wilde, Bath with Jane Austen, and so on). I spent the weekend in Oxford, for example, and just happened to pass the pub in which Tolkien met C S Lewis. Someone casually pointed it out to me, as if it was a trivial fact! That's the amazing thing about the UK. The cultural history is so rich that no one has even bothered to put up a sign saying that this was the pub in which Tolkien wrote and recited parts of Lord of the Rings!!

That said, there are lots of things I like about Australia. It's bright, young, full of energy. The people are generally more friendly. The schools and universities are good. It's an amazing place, and I totally see the appeal. For me, the single best thing would be the amount of personal space. The UK is suffocatingly overcrowded.

Don’t forget the Drop Bears!!

Also, with Australia it's very expensive there. Just your day to day grocery is notably more expensive, and hardly anyone seems to own their own property.

Hardly anyone seems to own their own property?????????

Also you don't have to pay for healthcare as the UK has a reciprocal agreement where UK citizens are entitled to Medicare and despite what some people claim it is very possible to find a doctor who bulk bills so there's no gap fee to pay. I don't think the OP is serious though as they haven't been back to reply.

I’m genuinely impressed by the level of knowledge about the ins and outs of life in Australia by people who have never even been here or visited once for a week 20 years ago. 🙄. But by all means continue tell us about how we live. How poor our education is, how we don’t go outside for half the year, how we are all walking on tip toes to avoid the wildlife. All you are doing is proving the notion the the uk is full to the brim of people with a chip on their shoulder and a stick up their ass.

@Blackheath95 I'm the one who mentioned education. I was born there, educated there, and lived there for the first 23 years of my life, so I expect that qualifies me to comment.

Reminds me of one more thing about Australia/ns - can't take criticism. You're not allowed to say anything is better than it, and there's a constant dialogue in the media about "what people say about us".

Why not give it a go, OP? You only live once and it will be an interesting/exciting experience which you'll learn from even if it isn't a permanent move. I know a few people who've moved out from the U.K. and love it there. I also know a few Aussies here who've chosen to live in the U.K. over Australia. We all like different things. Yes it's isolated from rest of the world but it sounds like there is a vast amount to see within the country itself and if you find life too isolated or hate the weather you can come back. I'm happy in UK and am settled down so I want to be near family. However if id had the opportunity to go live in Australia on a working visa in my younger years I would have done it.

I don't know where you are in the U.K. or your circumstance but that makes such a difference when it comes to living in this country. Some parts of the U.K. are so depressing whilst others are great but the gap between rich and poor seems to grow bigger and bigger at the moment. I live in London which is such an amazing city full of culture, history and opportunities and are many other great places around the U.K. where I could live happily too. However there are lots of places I wouldn't want to live and the general state of politics here is really toxic and depressing and has been getting consistently worse since Brexit. The NHS is in such a mess so if Australia has better healthcare that is a big benefit to gain from a move. I have to say I don't mind that climate here, I went running in the rain today and it was lovely the weather never stops me getting outdoors as that's to do with state of mind.

Give Australia a go and decide for yourself what you prefer.

Yeah I’m in Qld!
I remember when we first moved over and there was a gecko in our house. The children, husband and I followed it with curiosity while being petrified. Now we see them (like on the ceiling while showering sometimes) and we’re just like “oh hey there Borris, apologies for my nakedness”!
Same with monitor lizards and water dragons, we just learn to live alongside nature. Most, if not all, creatures are more scared of us than we are of them. The only things that aren’t are those bloody magpies! We had redback spiders in the brickwork of our old house, outside, we just didn’t pay any attention to them. Could have bought spider spray, but they weren’t doing any harm. Huntsmen spiders kill other spiders so they’re welcome in our home. If the children are too scared of any of them we just scoop them up and put them outside. We barely ever see spiders.

Someone said that barely any Australian’s own their home. That’s a huge myth. Home ownership here is very common and it’s so easy for young people to get on the property ladder here providing you’re not in Sydney CBD. There’s plenty of my old students who are 18/19 who already own a home. Investment properties are also common. So no idea where that poster got his/her information from?

The main difference I find between UK and Aus is that there’s more opportunities here. Home ownership, education, work, social life.

So many posters have commented that Aus is too far away from the rest of the world for holidays. I spent a year and a half travelling around Aus in a caravan with my husband and children. You don’t need to leave Aus to see the most magnificent sites or to experience different cultures. I’ve worked in schools across the outback and have stayed with indigenous communities. I have never ever in my life felt so welcomed wherever I have been. Nobody here gives a shit what car I drive, where I went to school, where I have come from, they judge me on how I treat them. I never ever met a single person like that in the UK. I’ve lived in big cities too and have felt just as welcome. There is so much variety and stories and culture. Yes, I can’t fly to Benidorm in 2 hours, there is that!

And the uk doesn’t hold itself in higher esteem than Australia? @FatCatSkinnyRat . Seems Pretty obvious buy this thread that that is not true.

I agree to an extent. Early childhood and primary education here in Australia is predominantly play or inquiry based. It does sometimes feel that the children aren’t being ‘educated’. It wasn’t until my own children got older that I realised those skills learned in their early education adapted them to become lifelong learners. After finishing secondary education, most Australian children are equal to British children. In fact, my own daughter’s high school have a bridging program with a local university where students achieving a higher ATAR (a level) score are able to begin units of university courses alongside their high school education. My daughter is doing law, and when she finishes year 12 next year, she’s already have completed a year of her law degree. I know there’s likely schools in England that may do the same, but she has been so well supported that she’s found it an absolute breeze with no pressure. This is the same child who was struggling at a British primary school to do the ‘big write’ everyday and struggled with the pressure.

TDLR: Here, there is SO much less pressure on the children. Children are taught inquiry based learning / learn through play rather than didactic.

*taught in both UK and Aus. Aus = less pressure for teachers too but that’s a whole new thread.

It used to be that you have 12 months to start using the visa. My advice would be to apply for the visa before you're too old to and then decide if you want to go. If you have nothing keeping you here, just go, it's only for 12 months - unless you manage to get another visa and stay longer.

Really surprised at the Aus negativity. It's a great place to live, amazing people and opportunities. And definitely a healthier lifestyle.

I don’t recognise what @FatCatSkinnyRat says about education, either from my own experience or that of people I know. But that’s ok, different countries suit different people and everyone does not have to move here.

Summers might have been 30C every day years and years ago, but the summers in Perth are stifling hot. According to bom.gov.sun the next 7 days will only see Perth CBD getting 1 day of 30C or below! (It’s actually 30C that’s forecast).

January 2022 saw 10 days in Perth CBD below 30C, February 2022 saw 5 days at 30C or below and December 2022 saw 15 days at 30C or below. December 2021, which is when the summer of 2021/2022 started, had 18 days of 30C or above, 5 of those were 40C or above (the hottest day was Boxing Day 43.5C)

There were 32 days of 35C or above (which mainly came in clusters and the heat does build up over days) and in Jan/Feb of 2022 there were 8 days of 40C or above.

Suburbia tends to be hotter than the CBD and whilst there might be wind sometimes to cool things down, it doesn’t seem much cooler when it’s 40C or above.

Comparing the Perth data with Sydney, in 2022, there were 3 days at 30 or above in January and 4 in February. None at 35/40 or above. December 2021 had 3 days of 30 or above, the hottest being 34.9

There is a lot of data online from BOM etc., that you can look at but 30C days for days on end, in December, January and February (the defined “summer” time) aren’t really a thing in Perth and perhaps you got mixed up with Sydney? Or Brisbane which has plenty of 30 and above days but not really many 35 or above days.

"2 hours on a plane from Australia - a town/city exactly the same as the one you just left, desert with nothing for hundreds of miles around, or....the sea."

I saw this comment and it really annoyed me. It really isn't true, Australia is the size of Europe and there are significant differences across the states. Even within the states! It's not the same types of differences within European countries but this is an ignorant comment or bad travel experience. Just a few examples below....

I live in Melbourne, the sporting capital. Incredible sports like Aus Open and AFL, best coffee in the world, fantastic theatre scene. An hour drive away is the Yarra Valley with fantastic vineyards, food, wines, and B&Bs. 90 minutes away is Daylesford, a stunning country town with 5* restaurants, spas, and fab market.

I grew up in Tasmania which has the best air, best hiking, stunning scenery, beautiful main city. Mona gives a world class art gallery, and bi-annual arts festivals, which mainly sell out to international visitors! Hobart in particular is becoming very cool with the food, arts and drinks scene.

Queensland has the best beaches and active lifestyle. Still a bit bogan, but covid has seen a migration of people from VIC and NSW which is changing the demographics significantly. Yes we have sharks but you are much more likely to be killed on the roads in the UK. Or win the lotto!

Northern Territory is stunning. Here you can really explore our Indigenous history, with Uluru life changing. Darwin is one of the funniest experiences you will have. The Kimberly's, well there is nothing like it in the world. One of my best experiences was a helicopter tours, including dropping in on waterholes with no one around.

I am in Perth and this summer has been slow to start, its only really warmed up in the last few weeks. Last summer was a hot one, I loved it! If you enjoy the sunshine, and you'd be a fool to move here if you don't, its paradise! Hot days (over 35 IMO) are easy to cope with when you have aircon and a pool, and the Freo doctor helps most days too.

One other thing, 30 degrees here does not feel the same as 30 degrees in the UK. Its a lot more bearable as humidity here is low. Even my mum who usually can't cope if its over 25 in the UK was perfectly happy at 32 degrees here.

Also the person who said hardly anyone owns a house is just plain wrong. Its pretty easy to buy a house here, unless you are somewhere very spendy like Sydney and Melbourne. Last year two sets of friends built new houses using a government incentive programme called Keystart, which means you only need a 2 % deposit. They also got government incentives of over $50k cash. They now have beautiful 4 bedroomed houses, and have paid a lump sum off their mortgages. Not bad for people on a so-called 'low income' (under $150k joint income approx).

Anyway, lots of misconceptions and incorrect info on this thread, like every other thread about Australia. It's not prefect but I love it!

Queensland, bogan pah! I’d be offended if you weren’t correct. 😂

(I am a Qld bogan and proud)!

i’ll start with the cons

-it’s a long old slog home (but I love flying so don’t mind too much) and I do miss my fam & friends a lot sure. But I made loads of new ones here too and now with messenger,FaceTime etc it’s not like you’re just waiting weeks for snail mail standing or having to tactically co-ordinate a ring on the pay phone.

-they only seemed to have got potato smilies and canned spaghetti shapes (spag-o-saurus for the 0 interested ha) in the last couple of years. We do say (in jest) that in some aspects like that Aus seems to be about 20 years behind the uk. Oh and don’t be fooled by the creamY Heinz tomato soup. It’s NOTHING LIKE cream OF tomato soup!! There’s also UK/Irish import shops that stock that, and many of my faves like chilli heatwave Doritos, Quavers etc.
I do really hanker a ‘proper Englishh’ Chinese takeaway tho, nothing here’s quite touched that. Too many authentic and extensive other cuisines. My waistline doesn’t complain tho!

-Yes it can get bloody hot. Luckily there are things such as beaches, pools, and also malls, and other such civilised places with air con for those days.
You acclimatise or ya sweat. shrug.
Winter can get cold too (location depending) but nothing a heater, leccy blanket and an Oodie can’t fix. But fuck, even on cold days the skies are blue and in the sun i’ve found myself in a t-shirt in mid-August. And blue skies & sunshine from 7am- 7pm year round rather than shivering yer arse off 80% of the time while it gets dark before 5pm? I know which puts me personally in a better mood. (This also differs slightly location depending.)

-are there racists, snobs, yobs and general arses? Yes there are. Best sticking to the UK or Americ.. oh wait..
Humans can be dicks and they exist literally everywhere. I went to a pub on halloween in Devon couple years back and there were two white men in literal brown face paint dressed as Tupac and Biggie so… . I’d say similar about the majority of politicians too but yeahhh..
There’s also efforts to convey much respect and acknowledgement for the First Nations people all over tv, radio and the majority of humans really, at least in the circles i keep, and a lot of calling out of nasty racist shite too. Thankfully this seems to be a growing trend in general.

-T’internet wifi is a little bit crapper/slower than the UK. Can’t download a whole series on the Arr-me-hearty Bay in 10 minutes, more like a solid 8 hours. Not that I do that anyway ahem. Luckily the phone data plans and 5G are fast and pretty reliable. Oh and they say data funny, like dahtah

-Stuff can be muuuch further away because, well, Australia is B I G! My bestie lives in Melbourne which is a 12 hour drive. But the flight Syd-Mel takes about an hour, and costs ~40 quid, which isn’t far off what my south coast mates pay to get to London on the train nowadays! Plus I have a bed to stay in her state (and others) and going to each state is a total new vibe so feels like a real holiday/adventure every time. To me anyways.

-Yes there are snakes, sharks, crocs and LARGE spiders. But personally I’ve lived in Darwin, Queensland (Tully farmwork woo —not and Sydney and I’ve seen 2 brown snakes (one dead, one from a car), never been bitten by a spider and the biggest I’ve seen is a Huntsman the span of my palm, whom I’ve [un]lovingly named Michael Myers due to the fact that the twice I have er.. gracefully and unscreaminly released him into the bushes below, he has returned to scare me shitless twice. Not as deadly though. I’ve also swum in beaches and lakes all over and never seen a shark or been got by a croc, as ill-advised as some of those escapades may have been. Yes there are relatively rare attacks, usually wayy further out than most people would be having a swim from the main beaches, and certainly not like Jaws, nor be an absolute reason to just write the entire country off! They also have sooo many amazing animals like Platypus (otter shagged a duck) Echidnas (porcupine shagged a platypus) and koalas and Roos and many more that still bring me joy to see them! Even seeing flocks of beautiful lorikeets, loud bastard --Cockatoos, Galahs, congregating in trees & flying free, not just in sad little cages. Can’t beat that feeling of joy.

Whew ok, now the pros!

I fear i may have to keep it brief at the risk of coming across biased, but in a nutshell, for me personally moving here, my life has changed exponentially for the better. Barring the dickheads everywhere caveat above, the people are just generally friendlier, nicer, happier. I’m still delighted when I hear a “G’day”, “Holy Dooley!”, so many little things bring me so much joy, I’ve experienced the backpacker lifestyle and been settled in one place for 4 years now and adored both lives, for 30 years I lived in the UK and honestly, I never knew there was a dull, gnawing unhappiness, just something that was missing, something just a bit.. not great. When I got here, it felt like a weight had lifted from my bloody SOUL. Maybe I’m just easily pleased, idk, but for me personally my mental health improved from day one. Was it damn scary to whittle down all my “stuff” into one backpack? Yep i didn’t even pack til the night before. Did I have to be basically shoved onto the plane? Kinda, haha. But I did it, with my mum counteracting my “but but what IFFF” with “Come on Jadie. If you hate it you just get a plane back, it’s not the bloody Hotel California!”
Hell my mates had a “how long will she last” game, shortest guess was two weeks, longest 6 months. I cried with happiness when I just got my Permanent Residency visa last month, and will have been here 6 years in Feb (suck it, Claire ) And yeah there have been some shit times, but hell even those shit times i still felt every day so so thankful that I was IN AUSTRALIAA!!” Even the lowest times didn’t feel as low as if I’d still been home. I’ve never a single day regretted it. And I’ve met so many people herd, some who loved it, some who were happy to just do the year or 2, a couple who were on the fence but decided to at least stick out the 3 month one. But I’ve never met a single one who’d said they wish they’d never come here. SO many had to go back after their WH visa, and were beyond gutted, but had no choice, i was and am indescribably lucky and grateful every day that I did get to stay.
Yeah some stuff is expensive, but mostly just seems expensive because it took me a good year to stop thinking in “oh god that’s 60 bucks! That’s THIRTY EIGHT pounds!1!!” And just start thinking in terms of how much relative to my earnings. Like shit, i worked in a tiny cafe with Bondi Beach right out the window, and I was getting paid about equivalent of £15 an hour, PLUS tips, where I’d been working the same hours, same job (busier even, and a fraction of the tips) for about £6.50 an hour back home.
I also can admit I didn’t have kids or a house to sell etc but leaving lifelong friends, a long term (toxic but still) relationship, my family, it was the biggest decision I’d made after being such a timid person with zero self-faith, fearful of what I was leaving behind and if everything would go wrong, everyone would forget me.. but yep. The best choice i ever made,

I could go on but i think I’ve made my own point, based on my own mileage of course, but I can and do tell every single person I ever meet who even expresses a “what if…?” To just DO it! The ones that did, didn’t regret it. The ones who didn’t, sure they’ve lived their lives and seem mostly fine, had kids now, settled down ok but they still say “i kinda wish I’d tried it before.. just to see” it’s always worth a go, even if it’s another story to tell at some point that was “Nah, wasn’t for me

Sorry everyone the TL;DR- Go for it! Best things in life can seem the scariest!

Aussies and fellow happy expats here I’ll just wave and probably go name change now after getting off my soap box!

i just love it so much, truly enriched my life and want others to experience the chance of it if they can!

runs and name changes

I'm Perth too, and totally agree, love the hot weather, if anything I find winter drags on a bit too long here, would love summer to get going a bit earlier. And yep, the dry heat is so much easier to cope with than humidity, I can remember going from 35 in Perth to Bali, and thinking it must be in the 40's in Bali as I found it so difficult, only to realise it was only 28. The Freo doctor makes a massive difference too, even on the hottest 40+ days I can still chill at the beach.

I've been more than happy with education too, and I've not sent mine to private, my eldest is in final year of Atar and some of the maths he's been doing is topics my partner only started at uni for part of his physics degree. There are more options for non academic kids too.

And just within WA there are so many different options, I love the wineries down south, Margaret river and Denmark in particular, but Karijini is great for hiking, Exmouth for snorkelling, and the Kimberleys are almost other worldy, so beautiful.

Onya ladyjadie! I feel the same. I knew as soon as I got here I had finally found my place. Looking at the blue skies, walking on my local beach, having a beer by the pool, every day I am glad I made the leap to move here too.

Ha ha!

This made me laugh, very far from the actual truth!

I'm the one who mentioned education. I was born there, educated there, and lived there for the first 23 years of my life, so I expect that qualifies me to comment.

I'm not in the UK or Australia, but having been on MN for a couple of years and having read hundreds of posts I would't be bragging about the UK education system if I were you! It seems to have failed a lot of people.

Yes! Thank you for reading my essay hahaha I just so know how incredibly daunting it seems to leave everything you’ve known, but it’s just such an indescribable feeling to even know and you just want others to even get the chance to feel that too! And if they don’t that’s ok too but they’re never sorry they tried it!
Also second/third the GPS and hospital, I’ve almost always managed to get a same or next day appt with a dr and never waited more than 3/4 hours in A&E and always free. Hell I’ve had headaches/chronic migraines since I was 10 and despite a few diff tries of various meds in the UK and a referral to a headache clinic (and this is NOT a dig at our woefully underpaid and overworked NHS heroes) but the first Dr I saw here, heard my symptoms (was just there to get a script for codeine as assumed it was just ‘one of those things’, sent me off to the nearest scanning centre for a CAT scan the next day just to rule out any more malignant possibilities (I lose motor function etc when really bad) of which I had to pay a portion upfront, which was then rebated! Coming for a holiday or even a couple months doesn’t really let you even begin to wrap your head around how much it is so good! And they swear (to a point haha) on TV and radio, was a bit shocked to hear “ah look yeah that was a bit shitty ay” after being used to the relatively reserved mainstream media over the pond hahaha. And the adverts! “Did someone say KFC?” “Yeah, BUCKET why not”. It’s the little things isn’t it
Another thing, yes renting is expensive in Sydney but my partner is a carpenter and I’ve not been able to work for the last year and we live a very happy life in our small 1-bed apartment (feels like a palace after hostel living for 2 years!) on just his wage, 10 minute drive from the beach. And our mates have just got a mortgage on a house near us and she’s an engineering assistant and he’s a labourer so it’s pricey yes but not completely out of this world impossible, and cheaper the further inland you go!
I can see myself settling in QL on one of those houses on stilts, rocking with a tinnie in me hand.
Oh and there’s no FOSTERS HERE! Was a treat to see their faces seeing the adverts we get shown in UK “what, for that piss?!” And yes, they were laughing about it. Cos contrary to posters above, they’re more than happy to take a good natured ribbing and dish it right back! Might get aggy if you’re being a prick too though, as humans can tend to do. You can even call them a cunt and no pearls will be clutched! In fact most of the time it’s an endearment.. it’s the “Ah yeah alright. mate.” you’ve gotta watch out for!
I’ll even attach my fave stubby holder from up top, brought from a souvenir shop where (gasp-) children might see it!

Someone once told me if your good at something you'll be successful in Australia.
9 years later I agree with him.
I had a great lifestyle in the UK, moved to
Australia for love and haven't looked back. DH and I are paid well, but we work hard for it, like most people. We own our home, we built it and were helped to do so by government assistance. But again renting and paying a mortgage whilst we did so was tough.
It's 33 deg today, I'm watching 4OD (uk TV is better) in my garden in the shade, with my fan on. DH and DSS have gone for a kick about, no doubt they will be straight into the pool when they get back. Yesterday was spent at the beach, but we went for a beer on the way home and a pint and a shandy was $37.... £20, in a small country pub.
Like everywhere - life is still hard / stressful, but there are lots of opportunities here.
I really do think you can have a really nice lifestyle here, but it isn't handed to you with your WHV.
I'd be so curious to understand how many posters, the ones about spiders, sharks, education and lack of home ownership have actually spent time here.