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Living overseas

Whether you're considering emigrating or an expat abroad, you'll find likeminds on this forum.

Original poster

Olive's dh is doing his yearly "this country is rubbish lets go to Australia" speach - am being swayed

183 replies

oliveoil · 05/09/2006 11:04

His brother lives in Perth and loves loves loves it there, has been in Australia for about 4 years or so.

Dh is always going on about emigrating there, espeacially when the weather is crap here (ie most of August ).

I am scared thinking that by the time immigration is sorted, I will be nearing 40 and it is a big move to make - am 36 now, girls are nearly 4 and 2.

Pros and cons please from those that have done it and those that thought about it and didn't.

Thank you!

xx

OP posts:
DaddyCool · 05/09/2006 13:37

weren't entirely sure (it's no australia!), came back to think and replenish our money supply and decided a month ago to go back and stay a minimum of one year.

nailpolish · 05/09/2006 13:37

i lived in nz

found it very boring

coderoo · 05/09/2006 13:37

aaaah
so its jobs then

DaddyCool · 05/09/2006 13:37

pmsl. sounds like a charmer!

DaddyCool · 05/09/2006 13:38

no. why jobs?

we came back to think. i just happened to get a good job to replenish the money. the idea is to work as little as possible in canada.

DaddyCool · 05/09/2006 13:39

we spend alot of money travelling. hotels and rentals cars for over a month... only because we were indecisive. we know where we want to settle now though.

Original poster
oliveoil · 05/09/2006 13:40

lol

very polite actually, he is nice

OP posts:
Mercy · 05/09/2006 13:40

Piffle, dh finds it hard having no family in the UK.

And foxinsocks is right - friends/family cannot and do not back and forth. It's a really long flight and expensive.

suzywong · 05/09/2006 13:40

Olive, why are you NOT leaping at the chance to have lunches with me, hmmmmm??????

Where does your BIL live in Perth?

DaddyCool · 05/09/2006 13:40

i used to ski right after work. used to go night skiing. bliss.

Piffle · 05/09/2006 13:42

nailpolish I am bored shitless in the UK
At least in NZ I can bored shitless by a nice beach eat fresh fish and not be extortionately charged for everything I eat or consume.

Piffle · 05/09/2006 13:42

Oh and I could have a freehold house/farm

Rhubarb · 05/09/2006 13:43

She sells the house, keeps a huge chunk of it and rents a house over there. If she does decide to come back here she rents and uses the profit she made on the house as a deposit on another house.

The house market is stable and I don't think we will see another boom.

nailpolish · 05/09/2006 13:43

piffle i live beside the beach

its great

but i see your point

Original poster
oliveoil · 05/09/2006 13:44

I would love to have lunch with you MsWong!!!

Not sure of the area, but it is in the city in Perth, he sent us some pics and you can see the skyline and the lake/ocean (!) in front.

Do you miss England?

OP posts:
bundle · 05/09/2006 13:45

haven't you gone yet olive?

DaddyCool · 05/09/2006 13:45

listen to rhubarb. me and her have been living this decision for a long long time.

melrose · 05/09/2006 13:45

Have not read all of this but have friends who ahve made the move. i think there advice would be to remember you are moving to live/ work/ go to school/ do the housework etc etc. In other words you are not on holiday for eveer. Places we visit on holiday always seem appealing places to live cos we do not have the daily hassles of being in our mormal life. Having a bad day at work or facing a pile of washing is not that much better just cos the sun is shining!

That said, financially they are better off, they ahve a bigger and nicer house and the pace of life is definitely different. Having spent 6 weeks out there w ith my brother I can definitely see the appeal, but I would miss my family too much. My brothyer loves life over there (he married an aussie who hateed our weather!) but misses his family, has only seen his nephew once, and worries about what he will do if something was to happen to parents etc over here.

Good luch whatever you decide!

Original poster
oliveoil · 05/09/2006 13:45

We sold our house last time to go travelling/move to Canada, spent loads having a ball, came back with a deposit to put back on our current house.

Not in the fab area we were in before but we would have moved from there to be near MIL anyway.

I am being very swayed I must say and it is sunny outside atm.

OP posts:
Mercy · 05/09/2006 13:46

I though house prices in NZ were sky high atm?

Sandcastles · 05/09/2006 13:46

On the family thing..I am very close to my dad and when dh asked if we could come here I sked my dad what he thought. He said "if you stay just for me, I'll be pissed off. get yourself over there & get on with your life" Dsis & dbro kinda echoed what he said, but not as blunt.

I haven't missed them too much yet as we are constantly on MSN & the phone. I speak to them more now I'm here. I've had 1 bad day so far, but that was triggered by a letter from a friend.

I only have pil & sil here, the one person I did meet has moved to NSW, so it's just me. But hey, I go to playgroup, playgym & chat to the other mums...or I sit in the garden with dd in her sandpit/swimming pool reading a book, not a care in the world

suzywong · 05/09/2006 13:46

Good, well get your skates on then
That is the mighty Swan River which forms a huge lake around which the city is built. Pretty innit?

yes I miss England, English culture, Boots, Waitrose, the smell of old churches, but MN does keep me going and give a me a good link to it and I don't miss.....well lots and lots of things. You know, the things that probably get on your nerves.

And the kids bloody LOVE it over here, that's got to be a big draw surely

Rhubarb · 05/09/2006 13:47

Don't listen to DC, he munches vomit - listen to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Original poster
oliveoil · 05/09/2006 13:48

oh I missed Boots too last time (saddo)

they have good shops selling shampoo though iirc (even more of a saddo)

OP posts:
Piffle · 05/09/2006 13:50

House prices have gone up tons in NZ but chuck in an exchange rate of 2.5 and your UK house equity and you can always find a nice place. At a push we could get a mortgage if we had to