Jon the Hat

That settles it, I am definitely staying SoR. If you are saying all shopping centres the world over are morphing into the same Westfield you are basically right.

Leave it here for a year in specialist storage then ship it! You will have plenty to do in your first year without enjoying your classic Landy (I'm making assumptions here, but if it isn't a Landy I don't know what your husband is thinking :))

I would choose Emirates in normal times for sure, but not if they are not flying to London. Seems mad to book with an airline not flying to your start point even if they should start again by the time you are flying.

As you have probably read, Qatar are the only airline who kept flying throughout and have not restricted transit through their hub. I will be booking with them. Fingers crossed!

I have just had a quick look at some Market salary rate data I have, which is pretty general to be honest, but it suggests a ratio of more like $2.2 to the £. That said, you need to consider the cost of moving yourself to Aus and the visa etc. If this is a 3 year adventrue then having someone else pick up the tab for the relocation is hugely beneficial. Typically they would be spending ~ £30-40k to get you over there if you have a family, and Maybe £20k if you don't

10% of the Perth population are British born apparently, but must be a pretty low % in some old Suburbs and much higher in the more recent ones.

Sounds to me like you have given your kids everything, and it is time to do something for you. Just make sure you get good pension advice, it can be tricky managing the financial side. Sounds like you are ok generally. Personally If I was coming back I would be looking to move somewhere lovely, not just where I came from Love the West Country personally but lots of choices.

Not their problem! Commbank closed by wife's australian account a few years ago as we hadn't used it for 12 months. Very annoying! Sent a small cheque to her mum.

the other factor for us might well be how built up these close suburbs are becoming - I know there are a lot of apartment buildings going up on Canning Hwy in Applecross / Ardross / Mt pleasant so it might feel different to when we last stayed. It also depends on work - If I land on my feet with a jib at my current level it is doable, if I have to take a step down for a couple of years the budget won't be $1.1M!

My Wife grew up in Applecross, and we rented there in 2004 - our little old cottage is now gone and replaced with a magnificent home on the full 1/4 acre block. Several million at least.

If you are both up for it then why not, however I am sure i don;t have to say now is not the time to be moving to the UK! Wait until Spring 2022 and see how things are then. Its not great here now.

I agree, why go with airlines which have a track record of stopping services, when Qatar have continued throughout - and not just on AU routes. SIA is out as you cannot transit Singapore, and Emirates because they are not flying to the UK. QANTAS are not going to restart until caps are lifted substantially, and I don't see this in 2021. Qatar are also offering fee free changes for flights booked before I think end f March and taken before the end of 2021.

We are bit biased towards those we know, which is around South Perth and Applecross. Plus Maylands, but never liked the mosquitos over there! We will be looking around other really good schools, so Churchlands, Carine as well. We are clear that this is probably a decision between nice big house further out and townhouse etc close in. We might also decide not to spend that much. Would be happy with a nice $700k house if we can find one!

If we have seen anything on this site and others it is that people who are rejected don't always tell the whole story.

Yes indeed. We are about to complete on our sale in the next few weeks, and might have to move into a Air Bnb as we can't find a rental nearby at the moment. If we think 2 weeks Q plus 3-4 weeks in a temp apartment you are only looking at a few weeks either end. Manageable!

It was already well rooted in the country in February; pretty sure I had it then. Border closures such as they are in March would have been too late imo. We should also note that there was no increase in any movement before the current spike, this is typical of seasonal respiratory viruses.

Different numbers by an order of magnitude though - tens of thousands a week. I seriously doubt the Australia or NZ numbers are anything like that. A very different and integrated economy in which is was essentially impossible to keep the virus spreading.

It was already rampant when you are suggesting we should have close them though. That's why they didn't.

Indeed, we are in West Sussex in a new build very close to countryside (over the road) but a village or rural property the same size would be out of reach. That said we probably going to spend a similar amount in Perth as we are selling for here ~ $1.1M. Won't get us a huge house where we want to be but similar to now at ~200m2. Also means we can move further out in future if we need more space.

Singapore I would prefer, but at the moment we cannot transit Singapore and I'm not sure when that stops. Better to choose somewhere which already allows it imo, and Qatar are allowing full transit to and from anywhere on their network. Qatar are also waiving all fees for change or refund if you book before end of April and fly before end of Dec, which is quite appealing. Should a better option come up, you want to be able to take it.

Qantas would be ideal, but unless anything significant changes I don't see them adding that direct route back this year. Emirates and Qatar though are not like other airlines, they are less worried about cash and more about long term marketing. I think Dubai will work something out in the coming months, and Emirates and Qatar are the best bet. I think I will be trying economy first, then book Business later if necessary. It's just so much flipping money!

My first inclination is to ship it all. If we end up where we need more than half because of a few items I will rethink.

I wish, we accepted an offer on the 15th November, and we are still waiting to Exchange..

It isn't as simple as the UK is an island so should have done what Australia and NZ did. The UK is an integrated part of the European economy, and to cut that off would result in shortages of everything from food to medicine to cars. Australia and New Zealand import stuff of course, but the majority of that comes in containerised or bulk shipping, not in a trick with a driver from the Tunnel or Ferry. You could argue that allowing holidays was stupid and I think you would have a point, but the idea that we could close the border in any meaningful way is nonsense.

Feels like years already!!