Emigrating from the uk to Sydney - any stories?

[Maybemoving84]

My DH has been offered a transfer from London to Sydney. He hasn’t accepted it yet, we’re still deciding. We have primary-aged children and family in London, and we’re excited about the prospect but also apprehensive. (I’m a bit terrified to be honest!) I’m worried we’ll miss family as it’s so far and the kids will lose the close bond they have with their cousins.

But the quality of life looks far superior!!! And we’re an outdoorsy family (although not beach people necessarily) so that looks amazing.

Please tell me your stories about emigrating to Sydney! How was it?

Of course we can give it a year and see. But our kids are at an age where I don’t want to move them around too much - I want them to find a safe, happy base of childhood places and friends - if that makes sense! Whether it’s here or abroad.

Ok well that was my experience in a 1970's house but also it had a gap underneath so that kept it cold. No central heating radiators etc, just a single aircon unit on living room wall to warm the air for entire house. They don't feel the cold, I froze!!
If I do ever move there, I now know to push for buying a newer house!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/13/freezing-indoors-thats-because-australian-homes-are-closer-to-tents-than-insulated-eco-buildings

thelatch.com.au/why-are-australian-houses-so-cold/

www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/virtually-no-protection-why-australian-homes-are-so-cold-20210722-p58bxw.html

All recent articles....so it's not 'utter bollocks'...

Ok well that was my experience in a 1970's house but also it had a gap underneath so that kept it cold. No central heating radiators etc, just a single aircon unit on living room wall to warm the air for entire house. They don't feel the cold, I froze!!

In fairness, my friend in Sydney also said how cold his house was.

My huge new build house in Victoria circa 93 was plaster board type stuff & a single skin brick veneer with ducted heating as were all the surrounding homes. My Aussie mate called them tissue box houses & I got chilblains there & never ever had these since in the UK. I'm presuming new builds will be different nowadays with climate change. Lived in Sydney too in a trailer & it was fab there. Loved the Blue Mountains. Stunning. Lived in Queensland too in a rented unit which is like a terrace of bungalows, the weather was mad in all States, tropical heatwaves, floods, hail the size of cricket balls, bush fires. The wildlife is amazing. Really loved it there too but missed old Pommie land alot. It's a very car orientated country & cars & insurance are costly. Be prepared to travel long distances to go places. Sport is a religion so wits alert for some Pommie ribbing during rugby & cricket. They are freindly direct people and very open. Lifestyle is great if you like beaches and barbies.

A similar move has resulted in our family split up as well. Parents in Australia with my sibling and their child. Myself, a sibling, and soon to be two of our children here. Sibling in Australia looking to return also.

Yes I live in U.K. and family in Aus. I’d be wary of encouraging such a huge geographical split with my dc as my dc would love to be with her cousins more, uncles , aunts and gps

It gets more pronounced as you get older, when you’re young it’s not as apparent

Rent out your house and go and enjoy it while the children are young and your parents not too old.

I live on the Northern Beaches within walking distance to a beach. Not that I have been much in these last 3 years of La Niña and endless rain. The water temperature might also shock you.

For me , the worst part of living here is the distance from family, friends and places I love in Europe. The price of flying to Europe has almost doubled, especially during the holiday period. The flight is very long so you "waste" days just for the journey. The BA flight leaves Heathrow in the evening, and you arriving at 5 am two days later (as an example leaves on Monday evening, lands on Wednesday morning) . When you go during our winter / Europe's summer, the holidays are short and during our summer, it is winter, people have school, work, it is cold.
I was shocked when Australia closed the borders for leaving Australia. My friend couldn't say goodbye to her dying mum. Her application was denied again and again. She didn't even make it on time for the funeral.

I do not agree on the definition of amazing healthcare system. It is very hard in my council to find a free (bulk billed) GP, to see a free specialist, there is a years-long waiting list, otherwise you pay $280-320 private fee and medicare will give back around 80, so you are out of pocket. The private insurance will NOT cover specialists visits or tests.

I have lived in Sweden and Switzerland and never felt as cold as I have in Sydney, Houses do not have radiators. The houses are heated with electricity or a weird bayonet kind of thing in the wall to which you attach a gas heather ($1000 a piece)

Groceries are quite expensive. I still remember the shock of my first supermarket trip. We eat 99% fresh food, so vegetables, fruits, fish, meat and the fluctuation in price from one week to another is crazy.

I am not into mountain biking or bush walking so can't comment on the outdoor part. The price of shows / theatre is quite high, and the variety of exhibitions quite low.

I find the quality of education, the content of the curriculum, a bit bare compared to the French system I did, so I complement at home, especially on the general knowledge side of thing.

Rent is crazy. Not only the price of housing but the rental market as well. Living on the beaches is very expensive. If you live away from the beaches, you will not go to the beach after school because of the length of the drive, price of parking, and so on. If you live on the beaches, you get a parking sticker.

I was lucky to grow up and live in amazing places in Europe (Monaco, Barcelona, ...) so I don't see Sydney as an upgrade in my life, but as I said, I am not a mountain biking type of girl.

The view is gorgeous, but what makes you feel good wherever you live, is the people , and it is quite hard to make friendships, compared to say Italy.

.... and everyone goes to bed so bloody early!!!!!

I know someone who came back from Sydney last year having previously decided the family would stay there long term.
2 reasons he says

1. Sydney cripplingly expensive.
2. in the last 10 years he has noticed the weather getting steadily worse - the heat and wildfire were awful. Weeks/months of not being able to really leave the house.

that said these would necessarily rule out a 2/3 year stay IF the financial package was good.

Why does everyone quote weather as a draw card?
Summer is blisteringly hot- you can feel your skin cooking.
Winter is very similar to UK. We have had bushfires and now floods as a result of La Nina weather patter. Winter seems to have been going on since April.

And houses are appallingly build. Tents could be warmer. My mates who are WFH wear coats indoors!

There are great things about Aus but weather and building standards are not them . Look at this for shocking building standards www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/watchdog-orders-more-defects-to-be-fixed-in-sydney-s-opal-tower-20210723-p58c8t.html
These poor people have been out of their properties for 2 years but still have to pay the mortgages.

Like all things there are good and bad about all countries. Aus is struggling to fill job vacancies since the long harsh lockdowns - apparently people are wary of coming to Aus as treatment of visa holders and citizens was not regarded favourably

Yes, winter in Sydney is awful. Coat or duvet inside, three wool blankets on the bed. Electric oil heater that costs a fortune to run and heats a one metre radius as the house does not hold the heat.

Aah yes, I remember when we lived in Sydney several years ago, staying in a tiny warm zone around a heater in the living room for as long as possible in the evening before braving the chill to get to bed!

We came back after 5yrs just before our first Aussie-born was due to start school as we'd given ourselves that timescale to reconsider whether to stay longer or not. We came back due to many of the cons PPs have mentioned. Could you give yourself a similar time frame? I don't think a year is not long enough unless you treat it as an extended holiday.

You will miss the autumn & winter! I was determined to learn all about Aussie nature including their seasonal changes, especially with young kids, but still missed it here. Now I love it more every year here due to ageing I guess but also knowing what there is to miss.

Ulimately, in post-Covid times I would never consider moving abroad again, even temporarily. Even the time difference can be annoying but I couldn't bear to be effectively trapped so far away, potentially indefinitely.

DH is from Sydney. We live in London.

If I were you I'd rent out your house here and give it two years there. Depending on how old your kids are, of course.

Housing is super expensive and if you end up buying you could be a long long way from central Sydney and this popping to the beach after work bubble may be burst.

(Good) Clothes and food are expensive. Going out is expensive. Flying back for a visit is expensive and time consuming. It's hard to make proper friends as PP have said if you're an expat (obviously this didn't impact us but I know some emigrants were deeply unhappy and lonely - takes a good few years to feel settled).

Sydney CBD is very small (coming from
London) you a shopping spree in two hours. It feels restrictive to me and as my DH says; he knows all the pubs in Sydney but there's always a place to discover in London.

Yes it can be great but don't be blind to the difficulties also.

If we went back we'd live in Melbourne.

My nephew been there 15 yrs, he eventually married an Aussie girl and they now have a child 9 yrs old. He started on the rail industry and now is a consultant working for himself. They have opened 2 gyms, so are doing quite well.

4 yrs ago niece went to Sydney with her 6 yr old dd (that’s her bother who’s there)
she too is in the rail industry, she rents her house.

She as to pay for school fees (not private school, just same as our state school)
food she says is expensive and rent.
but she’s a single parent and manages financial
not on mega money by any means.

She says the same about weather
summer can get upto 40* but it can also rain and when it rains it pours massively

Ditto, housing , not many have central heating, so it gets cold in the house. This year they bought fluffy hooded big sweatshirt for sitting round the house in.
Again when it’s hot, you can’t get to buy fans etc because they’ve sold out. Unless you have air con in the house.
She likes Medicare, but she’s not an Aussie citizen so as to pay towards it. She had to have root filling 1 tooth nearly 1000$

She doesn’t want to come back and neither does daughter and is awaiting decision of a visa to stay (don’t know the number of it) it’s to do with work
my sister 67 goes out twice a year to see them for 3 mths at a time, flights length is getting to her now thou
she as flight booked for dec
shes says the beaches & parks etc are well set up for kids nothing like uk

More bogans in Australia

That wouldn't be hard as there are no bogans in the UK - they're all in Australia,. If you mean a certain kind of working class person (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogan) then statistically there will be far more in the UK as the population is bigger.

We have been in Sydney for 15 years, would never leave. I am not going to try and counter all the negativity here but for our family of five it was the best move ever. I had my "expat girls gang" round yesterday, we all arrived within a year of each other and have made very good lives here. Our now adult kids are all doing really well, some have had (an affordable) private education, others State but we all agree it was better than they would have had in England. Some have spent time back in the UK but everyone has come back, my kids would never want to live in the UK again. Come, give it a go. Worst case it will be an adventure, best case you will fall in love with the place like I did.

Hi, we are thinking of crossing the pond and found this post , just wondered what you decided in the end?

I'm interested too how it worked out....

No mention of if you divorce you can't bring your kids home if the husband blocks it,
shiver