Quoll

Pretty much. First time I Just had my backpack. Second time we bought a trunk to send over to supplement backpack. Third time we posted over 40 parcels of books and made a 1m cubed box (we had a baby at that stage) plus backpacks. This last time, just turned up in UK with our backpacks (all our stuff is still in Australia but on our last few holiday we've been chucking stuff). Next time I'm going to need a container for all my wool stash!

The international fees thing is probably going to bite you with your eldest but your intent to get your daughter onto an IB course is a good one - its an internationally recognised qualification whereas Aus yr 12 results don't compare really well with A levels and you'd need a very much higher yr12 result to get into even a mediocre UK Uni. Another solution could be to send your eldest daughter back to UK to live with family to do GCSE and A levels and she could visit you in the holidays. That way she keeps all her options open for Uni wherever you end up (A levels travel well for Aus Unis).

Nobody said English migrants should take precedence over anyone - however an Englishman's ability to stand in a queue might be helpful. You've applied, you're in a queue, your application is being dealt with. If you've proved your relationship to be genuine (and bear in mind that the queue is inflated by many applications which aren't genuine and which require more time consuming investigation) then when you get to the top of the queue you'll get the spouse visa. Better spend your energy on a campaign to tell people to avoid making spurious claims because it clogs up the works for genuine applicants. I'm sure as a citizen you would want immigration to be ensuring that only genuine relationships are acknowledged for entry into your country.

That's always going to be the case!

Never think you can go back to what you had before - always view a move as a move forwards because the hole that you will have left in the lives of others will have been healed over, often with scar tissue. Personally I have infinitely more opportunities for doing what I enjoy here in UK but everyone is different and what floats my boat may well not float anyone else's. Looking at what my grandson enjoys here in UK, there isnt that much difference with what my Aussie granddaughters have except the grandson has more holidays away/overseas, a more rigorous education experience and access to a wider range of experiences (historical, cultural, social). Some of that may well be because my UK son has a great career and my Aussie son doesnt (his choice). Both are first world countries offering kids amazing opportunities.

Spent this afternoon with a retiree from Port Macquarie - she's very happy with her choice, moved down from Queensland recently but she's a Western NSW gal by birth. I also have a friend who retired to Port Stephens and only moved away down to Tasmania to be close to her grandkids but she was very happy in PS. There is a nice range south of Sydney too - the "hour from airport" could be a bit of a challenge there though.

Nothing is forever and if it works you win and if it doesnt work you reevaluate and move on. Go with low expectations and you will be sure to better them but go with high expectations and you could fall flat on your nose. Your kids go where you go, they dont set the agenda. They may love it, they may hate it but they have to suck it up whatever. If they're enmeshed with extended family expect that they might hate it. It's an adventure, that's all - I never got the jitters because I always viewed it as "the next step" but not the "last step".

Yeah, of course. I can imagine that someone who has been happily spliced to an Aussie for decades with a couple of Aussie kids would be a tad ticked off but at least it's a less demanding process than for an English woman trying to get their Aussie husband into UK. I know several English citizens who cannot get their foreign spouses into UK even with evidence of being settled and having children. For some, especially women, the salary bar is just a tad too high although I know of one chap who is stuck in Japan, unable to get his wife here and another whose income has excluded his Balinese wife (although he was a bit of a prat and thought he could circumvent rules and found to his disgust that he could not)

Not a scandal at all. Processing times are what they are due to the volume of applications and, perhaps, the number of spurious claims. Every man and his dog wants to move to Australia but there has to be some control. I'd say Dutton does a great job.

No, I didn't cry the first time either, nor the second, third or fourth either but when my parents got old and I wasn't there for them, then I cried. The first few times it was an adventure, the tears started when it stopped being an adventure. Nothing is forever if you don't want it to be! Unlike Bob, I ended up hating the place and even after a lovely holiday in Australia last month I still can't feel that it's home. Weird but that's how it went for me. Hopefully I will be back in adventure mode when my dad pops his clogs and we depart again.

It's not just the freezing of the pension it's the variability of the exchange rate - you could be living like a queen one day and a pauper the next if the pound falls against the dollar. But the freezing certainly doesnt help. I think a bigger concern - as some have found to their cost - is not "when" permanent residency is granted as much as "if" permanent residency is granted. There are all sorts of stories of folk who have found that out the hard way - having been in Australia for a while and sold up everything only to fail the medical to be permanent and then selling their sob stories to the papers. Have you thought about the straightforward CPV and regular visits until its granted?

NSW is a bloody big state, it's not just Sydney so perhaps you might need to adjust your thinking. You could be up very close to Qld if you can find work, if that's the kind of climate you're after. Or you could go inland to places like Wagga, Dubbo, Tamworth or down to Albury. There's a lot of scope there and most of NSW is not big city suburbia. Think outside the capital cities. But I'm not sure there is anywhere with the "laid back lifestyle" - work is work and Aussies work long hours with fewer holidays and generally longer commutes.

Not if that includes rent/mortgage. We are mortgage free and even some time ago, paying everything (except the rates) on the credit card then paying it off, our average monthly spend was $5k - we didn't stint ourselves but neither were we profligate. There are all sorts of things like health insurance, technology, medical costs, holidays, hobbies, gym - they all add up. I'm guessing you wouldn't want to be restricted in any way but that would be about as low as you would want to go for comfort. If you have a mortgage or rent to pay, then all depending on where you are, factor in another $2-3k per month.

If your local state PS school is competitive then go for it but belt and braces and all, perhaps look at putting names down for private for HS, that's when a lot of kids move over. Mine were in private all the time and I've not regretted it but the amount it cost us would have set us up nicely in retirement if we hadn't spent it on them! They don't regret it either and appreciate the different experiences they were offered.

No broadband? No car? No other insurances (contents)? No holidays? No clothes? No medical expenses? Food is probably a bit on the low side given what we spent on food this past month whilst on holiday. You'll probably be ok.

They're public servants and public servants are generally Monday to Friday people. However, if someone fancies overtime or is overly conscientious they might work on Saturdays but emails may arrive on Saturdays (or even Sundays) because there can be delays in bulk sending. However, generally assume that COs aren't at work on the weekends.

If you're like us. Pack backpack. Go. Probably more tricky than that for most though. When I do it again it will be ruthlessly declutter, take career break (if working), rent out home, put things I might one day think I need in storage. Pack backpack. Go. If it all works out then you can return to clear up the odds and ends if you need to. Meanwhile, start applying for jobs you would kill to get. I'm sorry to hear about the trajectory your life had taken off late but remember - the best is yet to come!

Not there yet, just a holiday this time. Back to care for the nonagenarian leaving in an hour for the airport.

Yup. I’ve decided that being a grandparent on the other side of the world sucks! Said goodbye to the girls yesterday - stalwart on the outside on both sides but tears on my inside. And I’m not even an enmeshed grandparent!!!! Last year I met a little girl with her baby sibling and we got chatting she was so excited to be going to see her grandparents and I teared up when all I wanted to say was “and I’m sure your nana will love to see you too!”. Most of the time you cope because you have to, but it’s the little things!!!

Quite normal. You'll either get over it or you won't. Early on I never minded returning to Australia, it was still an adventure but after a while I hated to have to return and on several occasions actually threw up when I had to leave and bawled all the way in the train to the airport. We should have left Aus earlier (but the DH wouldn't) and now, apart from the need to be in UK to care for elderly dad, it isn't financially viable for us to live there permanently - we drifted past the point of no return. Don't be fooled into thinking you HAVE to stay in Australia because so many people think it's the best thing since sliced bread - its your life to do with as you want and there's little to choose between two first world countries. I'm in Australia on holidays now and I still don't feel I belong after 40 years. On the plane over I had a chat with a woman much my age who had lived here almost as long as I had and she was still quite distressed at having to return to Australia after her annual sanity hit in UK - she was on the point of announcing to her family that she was going to move permanently (like me, split kids, some here some there) and was fearing ructions from one of her Australian kids (I hope she weathered the storm). Whatever you do, don't let yourself drift past that point of no return, make active decisions at regular intervals because there's nothing worse than finding yourself trapped at some point.

So, basically what you're saying is that you don't like temporary visas. If employers didn't like employing temporary visa holders they wouldnt employ them. Seems pretty good policy to me, why import people when you can train up local talent to do the job.

Well, I guess if people don't understand the concept "temporary" then that really is not the fault of Immigration. A lot of people are quite happy to take contractual work and move on whether for their cv or an adventure. There is no reason why temporary should become permanent just because someone loves the country. No one is under any obligation to take a temporary role if they don't want to, but to take it assuming that the rules will change and it will miraculously become permanent and then whinge when it doesn't is, itself disingenuous.

Interesting about the pneumonia jab - I'm planning on getting mine when I go back to UK along with the shingles jab, for which I will then be eligible. I knocked back the pneumonia jab a few years ago but think I should have had it. I had shingles at 21 and I would rather not get them again - very painful, hence the rush to jab. Flu shots rarely knock me about.

Grey House Spider?

You can’t cuddle a country. I left a life I loved for the man I loved and with him in a place I hated was less worse than without him in a place I loved. Need to talk to the GF and see if you both plan on growing old with each other. If you do then you take the best compromise situation. If you don’t then you do what the heck you want.