MNers in Australia - please remind me why moving back was the best idea - am having a wobble.

[Astrophe]

Been back a year now and it still doesn't feel like home

Hi Astrophe - not sure if I can help. Been here only a month !
I like Austrlia because we are renting a lovely 4 bedroomed house with a lovely garden and swimming pool.
We are having a new adventure every day - dicovering new shops / play areas / views / birds / insects ....

We have lovely neighbours and have had a couple of block parties in the month we have been here !

We are on the Central Coast - where (ish) are you? Always up for a chat if you want one !

BonzaBlue

It is hard to settle again. I moved to London and live there for 10yrs before moving back to Melb in May 2007.

I would say it was a good 2 yrs before I truly felt settled and Australian again IYKWIM.

It is tough having spent most of my adult years in London having a bloody good (irresponsible) life! But what I have here I could never have in the Uk - unless I worked too.

Dh (Brit) has a job he really likes with a lot of oppourtunities.

We are moving into our new house this weekend which we built. It's 4 bedroom, big garden and affordable on 1 salary in a nice area.

DD 5 yo will be starting at the local primary school next month in prep and the school is lovely. I also have a DS 2yo and expecting DC3 next month. Yes I am bloody busy atm!!

But my point is that we have so much more here than in the UK and our life is easier if that makes sense.

You will get there, things will get easier and you will feel settled.

Do you have family living nearby? Good friends?

hiya astrophe

we spent 9 years in Cardiff - not quite so hard to leave as London . Settling back in is hard - a year in and I still desperately miss the weather (yeah yeah I know), landscape, history, etc. But then I think of why we came back - proximity to family (even including my mother in that, it's still a plus!), quality of life (what others have said about gardens, space etc.) and for us, opportunity. At least I hope that'll pan out, once I'm ready to stop SAHMing.

why did you move back? Maybe it'll help to focus on that?

Hi astrophe,

I'm not back in Oz yet, still living in london (8 yrs now) but plan to be back in Sydney by the end of next year for DD to start school.

The main reason for us is to be close to family. I grew up as part of a big extended family and want the same for my children. We have friends over here, but noone as close as my sisters or cousins.

At the moment I feel like I am constantly juggling things in London - two small kids, husband who works long hours and no support. I am due back at work in 4 months when my maternity leave ends so life is only going to get more complicated! The weather has been bitterly cold this winter and it's a struggle to find things to do indoors to keep the little monsters entertained.

I think it's only natural after such a long time away from Australia that it takes time to settle back in. I left 8 years ago as a single, care-free backpacker, so the life I knew in Sydney all those years ago is not the one I will be seeking when I return.

It's a big adjustment, it will take time.

Thanks guys.
I wasn't even living in London! And was only there 3 years! Sydney is home...but really doesn't feel like it. We had a good community in the UK, and now we have friends scattered all around the city and seem to spend forever driving back and forwards accross town.

We moved back for the good weather (and of course now I am missing the snow and being inside all cosy etc) and family (which is good - its nice to have theor help, but its always with the guilt and angst that goes with those relationships) and because we thought we'd be better off financially - which we are actually not at all. We are realising that there is no way we can buy a house here, whereas we could have in the UK

About to move again, signing another lease which just feels like postponing decision making for another year.

Sorry for the whinge, just really fed up at the moment.

ah, poor you.

I know how you feel. I really only moved back for my family.

If I'd been a rich orphan I'd probably have stayed in the UK forever. I left because I read an article in the Guardian in 1999 saying that a single person had to earn GBP55k/year to buy a one-bedroom flat in London. I wasn't anywhere near that level at the time so I reluctantly upped and left.

Where are you? I am in the CBD and generally up for lunch, if you fancied a face-to-face whinge.