Calling Oz expats living in London

[Mozette100]

Just wondering if there is anyone else out there considering a move back to Oz after having had a baby in London? I have been living in London for the past seven years. I love it but since having had a baby a year ago, am wondering if we can give her the best lifestyle here or in Australia. The cost of housing here is prohibitive and for what you get, I'm wondering if it would be better just to move back to Oz. Anyone else in the same boat?

Hi Mozette, I'm an Aussie living in London. I hadd DD 14 months ago and am now desperate to get home! It's not that I hate London, I love it and will miss it but I miss my family and I don't want my DD to go through the school system here (nor does my husband who is not an Aussie). I feel as though we could give DD not necessary a better life, but a different life back in Australia and so we will move back in the next 12 months.

We bought a house just before DD was born thinking we would be happy to settle here but since she's come along, I can see that I don't want to raise my family in London, and if we were to move out to commuter haven and be a fair distance from London and all that it has to offer (including our jobs) then we might as well move back and give DD the childhood I had (not that it was perfect! but just what I'm familiar with )

What part of London are you in?

Another here. Ask me one day and I am desperate to go back.
Other days happy to stay here.
DP doesn't want to at all!!!

Hi there, it's a real dilemma for me. What part of Oz are you from? I am from Perth and if we moved back, that is where we would go. Both cities have their pros and cons. The family thing is defnitely a consideration although sometimes I wonder if it is a mixed blessing having family far away as I know that I like raising my baby without too much input from my family. I guess if you want the support, you also have to accept all the other stuff that comes with it. I live in Wimbledon which is actually really nice and green etc. I find London as a whole much more liberal and accepting than Oz and that is something I struggle with in terms of going back. Whereabouts are you from in Oz?

We just brought our tickets! one way! Hoping OH visa is granted.

Haz-woohoo
When are you going?
Where to?

4th of October. So a while away but when I think of packing up ( and selling) 8 years worth of stuff not that far.
We are aiming for Canberra (I know, I know) but it's where I grew up and close to my parents who live on the South Coast.
If OH can't find work in Canberra we will look at Melbourne also.
We think the visa should go smoothly.

We are thinking of attending www.expo-australia.com/ has anyone been to one ?

very jealous Haz! Our leaving date keeps swinging (partly because I know I'll miss London so much that some days I think lets stay longer!) But we have said definitelly next year.

xmyboys - does you DP not want to leave the UK or he doesn't want to stay? My DH is a funny one...he'll happily live anyway but he hates the whole moving/starting again process so once he's accepted an idea it's OK..it's just getting him to accept it!

Mozette - we are moving to Melbourne, we've lived there previously and my DH loved it (and I'm from Vic). We've also lived in Sydney and Brisbane so I haven't influenced him! (well not much )

We've just moved back after almost 8 years in London. It's not been without difficulties, uncertainty or expenses but I think we made the best decision. I definitely miss some things about London - shopping, travelling, Ocado! - but these are outweighed by the general lifestyle. Everything just feels easier here somehow! Being closer to family with small children is definitely a plus.

Been in London 7years now, DS is now 2 1/2. A lot of our friends have moved back and I'm starting to feel the impact of raising a child here without any support ie close family etc. My DH wants to stay and hates the idea of moving back to Oz so I'm stuck here until I can convince him otherwise. We are fortunate to be in a good school area though. We are from Melbourne. Where abouts are you from?

Can anyone that's from Melbourne and also knows Perth give me their opinion which would be the best city to live in Oz after London? Perth is our primary option as I grew up there and know it well. However DH loves Melbourne, not Perth.

Hey. I'm a Brit in Perth. Been here 6 months, and I want 2 go back 2 the UK lol! But, I do like Mel, as a lot busier, and looks a lot homelier 2 me. Can't put my finger on it. Mel is also cheaper 4 lots of things, as Perth can be quite pricey, especially 4 going out.

Hmm. I lived in London for a long time and now live in Melbourne, but never been to Perth. DH has done all three and wouldn't live in Perth.

Depends what you mean by "best after". If you mean the greatest contrast, then Perth, if you mean most like, then Melbourne.

Yes I mean for the easiest transition after London. Not for me but for DH. I know that Perth is great for family life but Melbourne also better perhaps for adult life as well.

One of the biggest pulls back to Oz for me has been the lack of support here. OH family isn't big and are not that helpful.
Is that important to you Moz do you still have family in Perth? are either of you in construction/ mining/ geology?

I have family in Perth and close friends too. Also close friends in Melbourne. No family in London. It would make sense to move back to Perth to be close to family but for me, family is a double edged sword. You get the support sometimes but it's not unconditional. You also get the "advice" as to how you should be rearing your child/children. Not a radio station I'm a fan of. No we're not in mining or geology and will not be.

My DP has no interest what so ever in going back. We've had our ups SMS downs relationship wise (big moans by me on here!!) but at the moment things are ok and we are plodding along. Wonder if I just need an oz fix to get it out of my system or maybe I will never feel settled.

I would say Mel over Perth. Perth is so far and so isolating. But property cheaper?

Mozette My DH hasn't been to Perth but he thinks Melbourne has more of a European feel. Maybe though your DH might like the complete difference between living in London and living in Australia?

We both likes seasons which is another thing we like about Melbourne.It can be hot but it can get really cold too! (ok not snowing or anything )

I have lived in Melbourne and whilst there was nothing not to like especially in Albert Park and Middle Park where I was based, DH would like us to look into Perth to go out on a 457. We have family in Sydney but I suspect it might be harder to find work in Sydney and more to the point sponsorship.
Is there anything I really ought to know about Perth ?

Hi I am an Oz living in deepest Wales. We have no plans to go anywhere yet but that may change:) someone up thread said that housing prices in Perth might be cheaper, since the mineral boom and the huge FIFO work boom Perth prices have gone through the roof! Good luck.

I would love to go back but when I do the figures we are better off here (not in London but not far out). Melbourne is so expensive. I currently work part time and we have an ok house with a reasonable mortgage. When I do the figures for Melbourne, I would need to work full time and either live in area I don't want to or have a massive mortgage which would take one whole salary. Not quite ready to do that while the dcs are small. I am hoping the exchange rate will improve and then we may think about.

Hi Mozette, another Pertharian here, been over here six years now. It's interesting you're having a dilemma choosing which city to return to, as my DH (a pom) and I have similar discussions. We have a six month old DS, and for the first time I am missing home and seriously considering starting the process of applying for his spouse visa and getting the ball rolling. He's happy enough to leave the UK BUT he hates Perth. Finds it really soulless, sterile, boring, conservative and one-dimensional (to use just a few of the adjectives he's come out with over the years!) while he loves Melbourne. I can see his point, and I do think that Melbourne is the city more like London. But in my mind, going home would mean family and familiarity, and that's Perth.
I have to say that over the past few years my annual trip home has become more and more expensive. Initially, going home would be like walking around in a sale - everything was half price! But now I cringe just buying a coffee in Perth. The exchange rate is a killer, but the price of everything has noticeably increased. This especially applies to housing. We couldn't afford to buy anywhere desirable in Perth at the moment, so moving back would most likely mean moving in with my mum for some time. Luckily she's in Freo, one of the few areas DH likes, so he could countenance that. The pay-off is that his salary would probably triple moving back to Perth, so we could save relatively easily to buy somewhere decent.
We're happy here at the moment; I love walking down to the high street to buy all our organic vegies, I love the newspapers (massive moan from DH about The West, understandably!), I love the fairs and parks and National Trust, I love the history, the proximity to Europe - I even love the poms themselves, bless them. But what I want for my DS is freedom, space, sunshine, fresh air, that smell in the air after it rains, the bush, the stars, backyard cricket, running around with a dog - everything I had and don't see here. So we will go, in the next couple of years I imagine. I think it will be Perth. DH will just have to whinge, but then he is a pom...

We are financially better off staying in London too at the moment, and we ummed and ahhed about going home, but I think once we get there and get ourselves sorted with jobs, house etc it will all work out about the same. We have one DD and I feel that we can make the move with her and risk it but it might seem undoable with 2 DC?

Melbourne is expensive but my wage there was a lot more then here so it's a bit difficult to sit here and compare. Once you are earning the aussie dollar it should be a lot better. Well that's my dream, please don't shatter it!

On a different track I remember when we first came over, London seemed bloody expensive! And the exchange rate was shit...but we did it, so we can do it going back.

I will miss living here, but I want my DC to grow up in Australia, and so I think because I feel that way I'll find a way to make it work. (And hopefully not have too many regrets about it...)

Interesting thread. I've lived in London with dh for almost 10 years. We've had four children in the past five years, now aged 5, 3, 2 and 11 weeks. It's been tough work on our own with no family support. Really tough (as someone has already mentioned though, an advantage of this is that you don't have your family telling you how to parent!). For us at the moment though, the costs of going back home are too prohibitive, and London comparitively a much cheaper place to bring up children. We kinda don't want to go back yet, we love London, but ultimately I we think Australia is the best place to bring up our kids.

DD1 is in reception and loves school, I love seeing her love her life, school, her friends, the whole set-up she has here. DD2 starts reception in Sept, and I hope it goes so well for her. We're in the catchment for a great school, live in a lovely home we probably couldn't afford back in Australia. We can afford for me to be a sahm here (regardless, I would like to go back to work when the youngest is settled in school). I feel terrible that we are going to make them change school, country, friends, everything, in the middle of their childhood; but ultimately the lifestyle is better for them in oz. And London will be a fantastic place for them to rediscover when they are adults!

Our plan is to stay here till dd4 is ready to start prep then go home. one of the numerous downfalls of this is that dd2 (july baby) will have to repeat about 16 months of school - and even then she still may be one of the youngest in her class. fwiw, and financially speaking, I think going home just before starting primary school is the best bet. The nursery set-up here seems to be superior to kinder at home (imo). It breaks my heart to know how sad we'll all be to leave London, but ultimately I think it is the right think for us...

Oh, Melbourne.... is there any other place (parochial pride .

I take it childcare is horrendously expensive ? We are taking grandma with us to help out with that but is there any free nursery (kindergarden) ?
Ours are 11, 10, 8 and 2 so the timing is great for us, I love that they start high school in year 8, that extra year will make such a difference to my daughters confidence.
I don't care what it costs tbh I'm pretty determined we'll go back.