Please can I have your HONEST opinions on Australia

[gem1981]

Hi

Hubbie and I are looking quite seriously into moving abroad

DH lived overseas (mainly the middle east) when he was growing up as his dad travelled alot with his job.

He has alsways had ambitions to move away from the UK and we have looked at the options and decided that Australia is probably our best option.

we want to move for the following reasons:

1)Better quality fo life for our DCs
2)more relaxed way of life
f3)ed up of being fleeced for every penny we earn in taxes by the UK

I suppose what I want to know is how realistic are we being in thinking that moving to Australia is going to give us this type of lifestyle or is it just a pipedream?

I would love to hear all experiences good and bad.

If you have emigrated there do you have any regrets?
Thanks

Where are you going thumbwitch?

My dh is an Aussie (also fairly sexist and somewhat racist in a mild tongue-in-cheek way) and we moved back to his home town which has been good as he has all his old chums here which made the move a lot easier for me.

we moved to brisbane 12 months ago.. and did 5 yeras in sydney and melbourne before this.. so ar we love it.. like anything it costs to live... but we do find alot of free stuff to do with the kids. i have a theory.. if you like living in london stay there! we moved from north yorkshire. wouldnt want to live anywhere near london, my brother does and i avoid visiing, so there may be thousnads of things to do but most require deep pockets and a love of big crowds..neither describes us.
dd is happy at a small bush state school, i am returning to work in a few months and ds wilkl start nursery. a choice of two good ones just in our small village.
weather is bris is warm in summer and cold at the mo! still better than the uk! drought is pretty much over but it does depend where you choose to live. west of bris is still dry. and will probably stay so for a fair while.
I think alot of people emigrate thinking it is a golden cure, having chatted to friends who have also recently moved to bris we have the same thoughts at the end of each month we look at the bank statement and say where did we go wrong... again! i figure it takes about 5 years from settling to find you feet. know really how much you need to live on.. save each month etc. but thats just our findings.
taxes are high here if you earn alot. but some good perks and good tax return system.
cost of living is cheaper if you buy fresh food. fuel is half the price of the uk but you wil probably travel further.
still kids are very happy

Christchurch (okay I'm cheating it's in NZ) is an excellent place to take out the family without crippling yourself financially. Most of the places let you become a member if you are resident and it's only the price of going just over 1 time.

We have lots of completely free stuff and lots of children's plays and festivals.

Okay there isn't heaps for adults compared with the UK, but getting a babysitter for Bill Bailey was so energy sapping that I'm not sure I could manage to get out more than once a year!

Remember for NZ or OZ to factor in the fact that some healthcare is not free (in NZ children are only free to 6, and even then you sometime have to pay supplements on medicines that are only for children).

One thing that always strikes me on Australian holidays is that the news is about 90% Australian focussed and the other 10% is bought from CNN. Anywhere else in the world - forget it.

NZ is subtly different in that they only report international events if they can claim a small (and no coincidence is too small) link with NZ.

We moved to Sydney at the start of this year and I am a little shocked at all the negative comments! My DH, DS and I are "living the dream" out here. Yes, there are negatives as there are with any place but in my opinion the positives far outweigh them. The lifestyle is amazing, I have made lots of friends very easily (have been very shocked about the "rude", "arrogant" etc comments about Sydneysiders as I have not found that to be the case at all) and as for the winters being freezing... well it depends what you're used to. I am sitting here in the middle of winter in a t-shirt and jeans in brilliant sunshine. Last week I went for lunch with a friend and we sat outside at a cafe overlooking the beach while people sunbathed and swam!! Mid-winter! Bizarre. (OK, it's not like that every day but on the whole it's been pleasant. Certainly no need for a coat. It can get cold at night and early morning before the sun heats things up. Invest in a heater!)
The lifestyle is a LOT easier than it is in the UK and I love the fact that it feels safer and that my DS will be able to grow up being outside and active.
Negatives.
It IS a long way away.
The "news" on TV is utter shite (so watch BBC or SBS not the commercial channels). Shopping is rubbish...however, to be fair I haven't explored it extensively because my DS HATES shopping with a passion! I wonder whether I just don't know which shops to go to. I have heard Melbourne is good for shopping.
I was expecting a lot more racism/sexism than I have found. I think it gets worse the further away from the cities you get. I have encountered a shocking lot of homophobia here... but it's all been from ex-pat Brits so can't blame the Aussies for that
Overall we love it here and while I miss London terribly, on balance I think we made the right decision to move here. Nowhere is perfect so you have to decide what's important to you and go to the place that fulfills those priorities.
Sorry - this turned into a thesis!

I have to say, I'm slightly stunned by some of the smug comments on here about Australians. I am a kiwi but lived in UK for years. I too have met some awful Aussies in the UK and in Australia, but so have I met some absolutely awful Brits (racist/sexist/pompous etc). Didn't stop me loving the UK and having loads of fabulous British friends.

And I know a lot of lovely Aussies too. Agree with Claudia Schiffer and Getting Serious about the good and bad points.

You've got to figure out what you want from the move and take it from there.

Don't move in search of lower taxes, unless you are planning to die (no estate tax in Australia).

In 2003, total taxation was equivalent to 31.6% of GDP in Australia and 35.6% in the UK, so there really is not much in it.

If you are after low tax, move to Hong Kong (income tax capped at 15%) or Singapore (similar figure, but I don't know it off the top of my head).

I think you would be very unwise to emigrate to somewhere you had never been - you should at least do a reconnaissance visit or you run the risk of becoming just another moaning Brit who has failed to find the streets paved with gold, and believe me there are thousands and thousands of those.

We're on holiday in Oz at the moment, and I can tell you that the papers are full of the same doom and gloom as they are at home - credit crunch, mortgage/interest rate hikes, binge drinking etc.

Worth finding out more about the real situation here rather than the 'dream' or the holiday-infused glamour.

Also unless you have some serious equity in your UK home it could be expensive to buy. Some of the places in Oz and NZ top the table for home affordability.

We live in Christchurch rather than Auckland because in Auckland we would still be living in the equivalent of Slough - and it's just too far away to continue to live in Slough!

Thanks everyone you have all been really helpful. I appreciate the time you have taken to answer my questions.

Dh and I are planning to take the kiddies out there is March time to do some exploring and get a feel for the place. Don't think I could go there without seeing it for myself.

I don't know what I was expecting from this thread really - I just know that reality is a lot different from what you expect sometimes and I guess I was hoping to find some sort of idea of what day to day life is really like in Australia.

I am just scared that we will go and then 18 months into it realise that we are still faced with the same problems that we have in the UK (high taxes, rising cost of living etc) - someone mentioned loads of Brits go out there and moan when it doesn't turn out to be the perfect solution/Eutopia they were expecting. I think I have my head screwed on as so far as I don't want to turn into one of thaose people who regrets moving.
(what sorts of things to do these people moan about?)

I am VERY close to my family and whilst I would not let this stop me moving to improve my kid's lifestyle I KNOW I would struggle with homesickness.

The whole point of us moving would be to improve the quality of life and improve our standard of living.

sorry this has turned into an essay - any more comments will be be well received !!

i agree its VERY sexist and VERY VERY racist

NZ the same

and why do Ozzies shout all the time?

I love Australia and am emigrating soon

good site is britishexpats.com they have a forum there where you can post questions

love the generalising on this thread

gem1981 - DH and I are Aussies, but we live in the UK (and had children here). I really miss the extended family and it is too expenisve for us to get back more than once every 2-3 years, but we are on email and webcam every other day so that helps.

We have stayed in the UK because...

1)Better quality fo life for our DCs
2)more relaxed way of life
3)fed up of being fleeced for every penny we earn in taxes by the Australia

But to be fair, we lived in Sydney and moved to a country town in UK (we may not have lasted as long in London!)

Australian's aren't all rude, but they are a lot less reserved than British, so sometimes it may come across that way

Plenty of cultural stuff - I think someone started a thread on Australian culture (artists, musicians etc) sometime back. And with something like 1 in 2 Australians being only 2nd generation, there are plenty of multicultural influences, In sydney for example, there is a big south east asian influence.

If you are living in the cities, the cost of living is very expensive. Cheaper in the country, but very remote and may be difficult for jobs. The cities do tend to be more spread out than here in UK, so if you are living in the suburbs, be prepared for a long commute. Public transport is OK, but lots of the motorways have tolls now. It would be easily a 2 hour commute from the outskirts of Sydney to the middle of the city.

TV is rubbish (free-to-air). No nice way of putting that, but it isn't a big a part of life as in UK I think.

Customer service on the whole is generally better I have found in UK.

Shopping not as good generally, but that is improving I think. Plenty of supermarkets though, and you can do online grocery shopping. Like here, they are experiencing the credit crunch so fresh food prices are expensive. When we were there in May this year, we found food relatively expensive to UK, but clothing (especially basic clothing) relatively cheap.

Country areas - sexism and racism is an issue, but not so much in the city. Certainly no more than what I have seen in the UK. You will get the p*s taken out of you because you are a Brit, but the same way that we Aussies get the p*s taken out of us in UK. Its all good fun and not to be taken seriously. Also don't forget that Australians have a habit of shortening names as an endearment - the cricket teams are known as Kiwis, Pommies, Pakies, Windies etc - but this is not a term of abuse of racism!

Hope that helps...

I haven't read all the replies. But my uncle emigrated to Australia a long time ago with his wife. They went on to have 3 children, but wanted to return to the UK. However, time moves on, all 3 kids are Australian - all 3 have now settled with Australian partners/spouses and one of them has own [Australian] kids. There is no prospect of them ever coming back now and my aunt and uncle are unhappy.

All the above are really nice people. However, I've only met them twice in 30 years and it's really sad. I don't know my cousins well, even if I did, Australia is so far away.

You mention the quality of life for your DCs. Will it be improved by seeing very little of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc? I personally think there are better places to live than the UK, so can see why you are thinking of it. However, I am from here, my family is here so I think I belong here.

IME, moaning Brits moan about f-ing everything. The sun is too sunny, the wind is too windy, the rain is too wet.

Again, IME, it is about a mis-match of expectations and reality. People move expecting it to be exactly like London only sunny, and it's not.

People have watched Home & Away for 10 years and get a nasty shock when confronted with the reality. They sell up their two-bed terrace in Luton and are surprised when they can't get full beach frontage, a boat slipway a triple garage and a servant. If you want to live at the beach at which Home & Away is filmed, a three- or four-bedroom family house is anywhere between 1.5 million and 4 million pounds; the TV show depicts working-class people living a life that is just fantasy.

The cost of living is just as high relative to salaries as it is in Britain, and that is before you factor in flights home.

Claudia - sorry for delay, ewnt to bed! I am going to be moving to a town called Morrisset (STILL not sure how to spell it!) up near Lake MacQuarie; nearest big place is Newcastle. I have been there a couple of times already and it is ok as a place, not that different to where I am in the UK as a town but has the big difference of the lake and the mental hospital which is set in fab countryside and has its own herd/gang/whatever of kangaroos which are tamer than normal wild ones. DH has lost touch with lots of his old friends but MIL plans on taking me under her wing (she will be a few km away) so we shall see.

I'm going to add to claudiaschiffer's list as she actually does live here: And seems not to get her knickers in a twist about having to wait for cups of tea (wtf?)
Hello, am I the first to post who actually lives out here?

I emigrated to Oz and have been in Perth for 4 years and honestly my feelings are . . .

a. It is a great place for young children - lots of good weather (yesyesyes sometimes it is too hot and sometimes it is too cold but honestly no where is perfect just wear an extra jumper if you are cold and I'm afraid you have to put up with the hot days, but you get used to it). But the air is clean, the beaches are lovely - lots of focus on well maintained parks and general outdoor life. It feels very safe here. Amazing open air swimming pools in the local parks. - TICK

b. Australians are superficially very friendly - but I do find that because most people tend to stay close to where they grow up lots of my 'Australian mummy' friends here really have enough friends from school days and tend to be in fairly close knit groups so it is hard to feel like you have made good mates. However I have met lots of other Brits and we have bonded over our shared ex-pat experiences. TICK
c. It is a farking LONG way away from ANYWHERE. If you are at all interested in current affairs then I think you will feel totally out on a limb - at least I do. The media here is mostly terrible - really amateurish and very um . . . low brow. TICK - avoid terrestrial Australian TV, get foxtel and listen to radio 4 online

d. Homesickness is a killer - it is unremittingly awful to miss ones loved ones. - TICK (but dh is Australian and we always knew we'd bring the kids up here so I've been steeling myself for years, however it may be a bigger issue for you gem1981)

e. Shops are pretty rubbish - I really miss Waitrose and M & S. Also the high street clothes shops are pretty average, I miss the style of Zara, L K Bennett, Top Shop etc etc TICK - but then you find great boutiques and buy good pieces rather than pick up something for thirty quid in your lunch hour

f. You will probably be able to buy a nice house with a garden in a good suburb here - At least if you are not moving to Sydney or Perth that is. NAH - Perth is hugely expensive but you will get more garden and less proximity to your neighbhours even if you have to live in the sticks. If you move to Perth you will never be more than a 25 min commute from the CBD

g. Life is what you make it. It's easier in the sunshine but most of your quality of life comes from your own attitude. Just call me Deepak.

I couldn't live there
(well I could as I have dual nationality but it isn't for me I know)

The racism and sexism and the men
(sorry that is huge generalisation obv there are lovely Aussie men)
And most of all the accent
gah

yes, the accent is absolutely fuckin dreadful. I've had enough of it now thank you very much. No offence.

My DH speaks Chinese to MIL and the Kids and although a real Australian he still has he London accent so that's a blessing.

But as for the men, well it is possible to find erudite sophisticates. But I have to say most of the husbands at the school gates make me want to poke my own eyes out and fill the holes with hot sand.

But look, just find people with similar qualities to yourself and also be prepared to expand your own parameters.

Ive only been on hol but have two sets of friends who live in Melbourne.

I think you are mad to consider living there unlessyou have visited at least (your post sounds like you havent). Can you at least go for a longish hol there and see what you think initially.

I would say that it is nice to go there on hol but i really wouldnt want to live there (NZ better IMO), personally i really love living in Europe, being able to go to a diff country for a weekend is fab.

Re the quality of life argument...that is down to you not where you live...you can make lifestyle choices to enable you to be more relaxed in the UK. If you want to live by the coast for eg then why couldnt you do this over here??

I also have a friend with a turkish wife and they lived in Istanbul for a couple of years and he said something very telling i think...that it doesnt matter where you live, you still have to get up and go to work each day. Its not the same as being on holiday and thinking oh this place is fab!

Taxes...you might pay less over there but you dont have NHS...cost of living less in Oz but they also earn less so outr friends out there arent better off than us in that respect.

Where do you live in the UK...why are you unhappy with it??

I think go if you want, but not until youve sussed it out better first, incl a visit.

havewn't got time to read whole thread sorry but I hope people are warning you that Aussie taxes are much worse than UK ones - any professional position will chuck you into a 5o% tax bracket!!

I agree the general population are racist and sexist. however there is a thin layer of extremely generous, sport-resistant, laid-back, egalitarian people - we met them all through universities - the thousands who support Sydney Mardi Gras, etc. Hard to find but bizarrely* well networked once you reach us

(* recently found a mate of mine for past 10 years, is best friends with people I worked with 15 years ago, that's what I mean by bizarrely well-networked!)

Ah, apparently to my list you can add that they moan about the fucking accents.

I am not they though
I am one of you

heheh

(and yes I live in nice house with weekender on Palm Beach so Home & Away was a reality and yes I still hated it)

I can't believe all of this negativity.

I think Australia is fantastic. My life here is so much better than when I lived in London. I live a 1 minute walk away from the ocean but can be in the office in 20 minutes.

I can sit in the Opera Bar and look over the harbour or go and see the ballet or babies proms or an opera in the Opera house. People smile at me in the street and parrots fly overhead. The sun is out and I can watch dolphins in the ocean. DD plays in a gorgeous, well-equipped playground that is a million times nicer than anything I've ever seen in the UK and overlooks the beach.

In London I had to leave the house at 7.30am to do the 16 mile drive to SLOUGH in order to get into the office by 9am. It was freezing cold and everybody was miserable. I sat in traffic for 3 hours each day.

When I went back to the UK last year I was completely pissed off within one hour of leaving Heathrow. DD and I got shoved out of the way and barged by the crowds of rude, unsmiling people, the sun didn't come out from the grey cloud cover for 2 weeks and we both froze to death (in May).

I am not going back.

Well obviously if you compare Slough with anywhere in the world, Slough is going to lose!

arfishy i could write just as much about how i love living in Edinburgh

its all relative