Still at the ‘what if’ stage, but me and the missus have been given the opportunity to emigrate to Oz, working for Queensland Health.
Realistically, I know the cost of living, including property, isnt that much different from the UK, and the wages are if anything lower, but still…
We’ve got two boys (4 and 5), and cant help but think it would be a better place for them to grow up, or is that just me being naive?
cock, a*se, and furthermore, b******s – advice please!

cant help but think it would be a better place for them to grow up,

Why would that be the case? I’m not saying that it’ll be a bad move but just because it’s sunnier doesn’t necessarily make it better.

Go, you can always come back……If you don,t give it ago it will eat away at you forever.What if etc.I know it happend to me.

Do you have any family in Oz?
If not, your kids will miss that.

check out the schools etc (can be done online) also crime rates and other such stats also where are you in the uk? i’ll bet to be honest that yes, it would be a better place fpr kids to grow up, most places in the uk are shit.

Its what you make of it. That applies to almost anywhere. Ive lived in 5 different countries and each had good / bad points. Have a good think about the things you like here in the UK and try to imagine if they will exist in Australia. Then do the same for the bad things.

You really need to find out what you want / like / hope for and try to see if Australia will meet these. Or are you just dreaming about something that dosent actually exist. Dont forget, your views will be different to your Wifes once your there should you go.

Things will be different if you go there for a defined short lenght of time – say 2 or 3 years. That way you know you will come back and can put up with the bad things quite differently to if you actually go for good. Dont burn your bridges.

Have you been before? Sounds a daft question, but you didn’t mention it…

I’ve been for an extended holiday and found it a much more relaxed country, better weather, and nicer people. Generalisation – yes, but I’d go if I had the chance!

I’d just hate to get to retirement age and regret never having made the move, but is it fair to uproot the kids, not to mention the ridiculous costs involved

where in Queensland?

Think of all the deadly critters 😉

never say what if, worst case is that it is an expensive/long holiday.

I havent been before, but my wife Jude has. She has a brother in Melbourne and we’re planning on going out in December for a month and travelling around as much as our limited time will allow.
I’ve tried to remove my rose tinted spectacles whilst thinking about this, and Trimix, are you actually my wife, cos your views match hers pretty much exactly ?

Psychle – hopefully Brisbane, but they (Queensland Health) seemed very keen to push Townsville and Mackay, which seemed a bit suspicious, or am I being needlessly cynical ?

I’m from Townsville… I’d prefer it to Brisbane tbh.

Townsville and Mackay are both relatively small cities, but Townsville is the regional capital and is the bigger of the two (around 200k people I think). Great place to bring up kids I’d reckon (you’ll get used to hearing that word if you move to North Queensland, that and nearly all sentences ending in eh 🙂 )

Townsville has 300+ sunny days a year, is hot as heck in Summer though and very humid (it often misses out on the normal Wet Season and just gets very hot and muggy, the place is then known as Brownsville 🙂 )

Great fishing, beautiful Magnetic Island 20 minutes away, Castle Hill in the middle of town to ride up (2.6km road, 286m climb and plenty of MTB tracks snaking off it to ride back down). I love the place but my wife doesn’t and that’ll be a problem for us when we eventually go home 🙂

Any questions just ask, hopefully I can answer them 🙂

I wouldnt go, too bloody hot.

Diary of a Perth Summer (by a Pom ******* )

*August 31st*

*Just got transferred with work into our new home in Perth, Western Australia now this is a City that knows how to live!!

Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. What a place! I watched the sunset from a deck chair on the veranda It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my home. I love it here.*

*September 13th:*

*Really heating up. Got to 35 today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun everyday like this. I’m turning into a sun worshiper.*

*September 30th:*

*Had the backyard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing lawn for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.*

*October 10th*

*The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s kind of windy though. But getting used to the heat is taking longer than I expected.*

*October 15th:*

*Fell asleep by the pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body.
Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though. Got to respect the ol’ sun in a climate like this.*

*October 20th:*

*I missed Kitty (our cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got to the hot car for lunch, Kitty had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and stank up the $3,000 leather upholstery. I told the kids that she ran away. The car now smells like Wiskettes and cat s***. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this heat.*

*October 25th:*

*The wind sucks. It feels like a giant friggin blow dryer!! And it’s hot as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the blink and the AC repairman charged $200 just to drive over and tell me he needed to order parts.*

*October 30th:*

*Been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bloody $600,000 house and we can’t even go inside. Why did I ever come here?*

*November 4th:*

*It’s 38 degrees. Finally got the ol’ air-conditioner fixed today.
It cost $1,500 and gets the temperature down to 25, but the bloody humidity makes the house feel like it’s about 30. Stupid repairman. I hate this stupid friggin place.** *

*November 8th:*

*If another wise arse cracks, “Hot enough for you today?” I’m going to throttle him. Friggin heat! By the time I get to work the car’s radiator was boiling over, my clothes are soakin wet, and I smell like baked cat!!*

*November 9th:*

*Tried to run some messages after work. Wore shorts, and sat on the black leather seats in the ol’ car. I thought my friggin arse was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and my arse. Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried arse, and baked cat.*

*November 10th:*

*The weather report might as well be a recording. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. Hot and friggin sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week.

Doesn’t it ever rain in this damn place? Water rationing will be next, so my $5,000 worth of palms just might dry up and blow into the pool. Even the palms can’t live in this heat.*

*November 14th:*

*Welcome to HELL!!! Temperature got to 41 today. Now the air-conditioner’s gone in my car. The repairman came to fix it and said, “Hot enough for you today?” My wife had to spend the $2,500 mortgage payment to bail my arse out of jail for assaulting the stupid nut job. Stuff Perth! What kind of a sick demented idiot would want to live here?*

*December 1st:*

*WHAT????? This is the first day of Summer???? You are kidding!!*

As another Aussie, I’d never discourage anyone from going Down Under. It is a great place for sure.

But be wary of rose tinted specs, or of making comparisons with the UK. The UK is the UK, and Australia is Australia.

The bottom line is be clear about why you want to go there – running away is not a good enough or positive enough reason. And remember, same shit, different place.

Mitch, Im moving out to Hobart in December, for similar reasons….better weather, much cheaper housing, better pay (as a nurse), superb beaches within a few minutes walk, good schools, lower crime, much less intrusion from the Police State, No Gordon Brown (though it seems that Kevin Rudd is heading that way), cheaper petrol, incredible mountainbiking, empty roads…without the new 50mph speed limit, less crowded. I also have kids, 9 years old and 18 months old, so hopefully they’ll benefit greatly from it all. Who knows, we may get there and find we dont like living there, but at least we will have tried. Truly sick to the back teeth of the UK at the moment…

I’ve got friends who teach in UK schools (London mainly) and I know teachers in Aussie schools (Queensland). For me, for bringing up children, it’s no contest. I know there are good places in the UK and bad areas of Australia but in my opinion kids have a much better chance of growing up happier and healthier in Oz. Yours are at an age where they’d settle in very quickly. I’d do it without hesitation.
As for the Bris vs Townsville debate… Without wishing to contradict psychle’s fond memories of his hometown, I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Townsville and it’s not somewhere I wish to return to any time soon. It’s a big military base, has a lot backpackers hanging round to get to Magnetic Island and is a bit characterless. The list of deadly jellyfish at the beach will put you off the water. Personally, I love the rural area just inland from Brisbane, on the border of NSW – amazing state parks, close enough to the Gold Coast, plenty to see and do (wine regions, Byron Bay etc). I’m off to Melbourne again next week and can’t wait.

Having moved to NZ and not regeting it, all i would say is same shit diff country once the holiday thing wears off and you still have to go to work 40hrs a week and all your family are in the uk and you start to miss them.

If you have the chance though do it, whats the worst that can happen? if you find you dont like it come home – maybe rent your UK house for a year or 2 then if it doesnt work out its easiore to return.

i’d go – you can always come back if it doen’t work out.
Both my brother and sister went to Canada (Ontario), my brother + family is coming back due to his jobing ending and his visa being tied to it, but my sister + family has been there over 2 and a half years and loving it.
If your family mean alot to you they’ll visit – also webcamming is great – we try to do it every week if possible.
ps my mum worked in madrid for two years in the 70’s as a nurse, and loved that too.

Many people will say your giving up a lot, but you need to take a risk once in while/ do what you’d like to do.

I’ve lived in Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns and Mt Isa.

My older kids were brought up in Queensland, and it offers a lifestyle that is hard to beat for active people. The heat is something you adjust to.

Brisbane has a great city centre, and a good bike scene. It also has a suitably hilly hinterland. An active fixie scene too.

Townsville can get hot, but there’s not many days you can’t ride. It has a problem with violent feral drunks mainly indigenous but not exclusively. I would not let my kids go up town alone there. However it’s an avoidable problem as the city centre is just about dead and everything happens at the large suburban malls.
It has one of the most attractive seafronts in Queensland, but swimming is best restricted to the designated areas. The closeness of the islands is great. Get a surf-ski and paddle over. Generally a good place so long as you avoid it’s bad bits (easy to do).

I never lived in MacKay, but I think the combination of smallish town and a great hinterland make a good combination.

Best place is Cairns though!

it has a problem with violent feral drunks mainly indigenous but not exclusively. I would not let my kids go up town alone there

You talking about the long-grassers? No different to the homeless folk in any city really, I’ve seen plenty of ‘violent feral drunks’ right here in London. And as for going ‘up town’ alone, what are you on about? I grew up there from the age of 12-16 and did everything by myself or with my mates, riding my bike, going fishing, getting pished myself… never had a problem! I’d be more worried here in the UK, I’ve never heard of some kid in Townsville being knifed in an arguement… 🙄

And Cairns has the same issues with long-grassers as any regional town in Australia…

Its a no brainer,lets face it unrestricted movement, absolutely to much to do in your off time a climate to die for,no winter full stop,a country thats not restricted by weather or attitude or pessermistic people.The only thing in your way is u.

No brainer.

I’d be gone tomorrow if i had the offer.

Coasting – let me tell you there is most definitely a winter in Australia. So much of a winter that we go ski-ing.

Agree that it’s a great place, but if you are from the UK and you do winter in somewhere like Sydney – you’re going to whinge and suffer. There is relatively little daylight and the houses don’t have heating so mornings can be very hard on the old getting out of bed front.

Wouldn’t even want to contemplate the cold in Tassie 🙂

“is it fair to uproot the kids”

I moved about a lot as a kid. Your kids are young enough that it will not be a problem.

Nowhere is paradise, and there are still problems with Australia, but I think it would be well worth serious consideration. There are just as many venal, bent politicians and culturally/commercially it’s a bit of a backwater (Dylan Moran showed up for a tour and got 15 minutes on Newsnight).

I think that the Aussie economy is only a few months away from a serious kick in the nuts (it’s been insulated so far) but that might actually work in your favour, as property prices should fall and retailers will cut prices. Other people think that things won’t get any worse than they are already.

You should go and look at britishexpats.com forums – there you’ll find tons of poms, nursing poms, nursing poms in Australia, nursing poms in Qld etc.

Move to London, when your kids grow up they’ll thank you for the “enrichment” they couldn’t have got living anywhere else. RB will confirm this is the case.

I’d grab the chance with both hands. We are only here for a short time – go enjoy. The kids will be fine – they are way more adaptable than they get credit for. And if you really don’t like it, pack your bags and find somewhere else – healthcare professionals will always be able to find a job.

go for it!

aus is a great place to live – i travelled all over during a 24 month trip and have lived in various places (all the major cities) at some point or another including just south or Brisi (suburb called marsden) for 3/4 months. overall i got the impression that the aussies have a great time and a great lifestyle. i’ve discussed this many a time (usually drunkern) with aus residents and travellers alike and the one thing when comparing the UK to aus that stood out was the fact that in aus you get to spend more of your time outside and in the sun. sunshine makes you happy. fact. of course you’re still going to have to work, same anywhere so it’s irrelevant (unless you’re being offered your dream job) but instead of watching cr@p tv of an evening you’ll be able to throw your kids/dog/wife in the back of the truck and head to the beach for beers and a bbq. sounds like a bit of an aussie cliche i know but once you start it you’ll wonder what the hell you were doing previously!

there are things to consider, like the cities being nothing like here in the UK. you can walk around places like townsville at 10pm and it’ll feel like a ghost town. obviously brisbane’s got more going on but still nothing in comparison to here. and if you go to QLD expecting to while away sundays in the beach dont go too far north as the stingers will ruin everything (having to swim in an enclosure in the sea sucks!).

you get used to the heat (eventually), although i never went mountain biking in 37degrees yet…

hope my experiences help your decision! 🙂

I went to Aus many years ago and really enjoyed it – but no way could I live there. Parochial, racist, dull cities, the lack of greenery and many other things.

I would say go but don’t burn your bridges. rent your house here out if you own one and rent there. If you want to stay in 2 years then sell up.

TandemJeremy –
I went to Aus many years ago and really enjoyed it – but no way could I live there. Parochial, racist…

Jeez mate, you must have been mixing with Poms. 😀

Seriously though, there is a bit of that, but it depends who you mix with.

psychle –
You talking about the long-grassers? No different to the homeless folk in any city really, I’ve seen plenty of ‘violent feral drunks’ right here in London. And as for going ‘up town’ alone, what are you on about? I grew up there from the age of 12-16 and did everything by myself or with my mates, riding my bike, going fishing, getting pished myself… never had a problem! I’d be more worried here in the UK, I’ve never heard of some kid in Townsville being knifed in an arguement…

And Cairns has the same issues with long-grassers as any regional town in Australia…

Ah, a real Townsvilleite! Always the Cairns/Townsville competition, eh? Yup, he’s right, both places have the same problem, but Cairns being a predominantly tourist city has a police force that er, sweeps the problem out of the main streets. The reason I prefer Cairns has nothing to do with that, but because I think the mountainbiking is better around Cairns, and when it’s too hot a short drive up to the Tablelands gets you 10 degrees cooler.

Mainly rural farm boys, some city kids, some street kids. I found it all over. ’twas many years ago and things change for sure.

A mate of mine who went out there told me it was like the UK in the 70’s. His wife hated the sexist attitued of the blokes out there. If you go, dont make it permanent.

Bear in mind that anyone with enough interest to reply will probably be polarised one way or another. Australia has lots to offer, so it definately worth considering. On the biking front, the bits I went to did not have the ROW network we are used to. 95% of my relatives have emigrated/were born in Aus, but I have been and it isn’t quite for me I think. Fabulous place for a holiday mind!

It is very different and Australians are very different. I did a year there and missed decent media but that’s less of an issue now with the internet. At parties, the men and women always seemed to be in different places. You’ll need to work hard to keep off the consequences of all that beer and barbecued meat. Australians are the earliest to bed I think in the world but I’ve been on beaches at 6am and they’re alive with activity. Don’t sell your house here.

Brisbane is SO different to Melbourne…which is quite different to Sydney…

I have relatives in the Brisbane area…the elderley one has always complained of the ‘unbearable’ heat of the summers there…(even before she was an OAP) …probably a typical whinging POME.
Personally I found that area pleasent enough in their winter but I would (did) only consider living in Melbourne (1st) Sydney…or (at a push) Perth area. Personal choice…

…although Tasmania had a certain attraction

I love shopping in Melbourne and the casino in Bris is great.

Doesn’t matter where you go you still get filth.

Stay clear of the rubbish areas.

Weather is great I love the heat and I’ll be heading there one day.

I’d be back in Queensland like a shot. (I’m here for family reasons)

Living in the Highlands almost makes up for it.

“A mate of mine who went out there told me it was like the UK in the 70’s. “

Naah, that’s an exaggeration. There are knuckledraggers in every country.

“Stuff” is more expensive and retail is a little bit behind what it is in Europe; but once you get in a job, rates of pay + holidays + conditions are better than the UK afaics. There is still a lot of govt intervention in the economy. People seem to be pretty well skilled and take their jobs seriously, but they love sport and outdoorsy stuff too.

There are (far) more positives than negatives IMO.

But (obviously) a lot depends on where you live: the WA Premier has just said, basically, that Perth is a backward dump and getting more boozy/violent, and they had a big court case that put the city in a bad light. (Basically – a bunch of English painters and Scottish layabouts got in a fight at a pub; Aussie/English cops show up and start beating the crap out of everyone, tase some guy and are about to tase him again; layabout’s son headbutts him to prevent second tasing, but cop falls over and is paralyzed; son is charged with attempted murder/GBH and is acquitted on grounds of self-defence because cops assaulted everyone before trying to arrest them).

Similarly, I wouldn’t want to live in some backwater town where everyone’s an alcoholic and life expectancy is in the 50s – but then if I were moving to the UK I wouldn’t want to move to Easterhouse, so…and the big cities and towns can be really nice and comfortable and good for bringing up kids etc.

Also – are your kids non-mainstream educationally (i.e. special support, SEN)? If so, check that the local school has some sort of structure in place – they are not hot at that at all here. But the people with kids I know in Oz have their kids outside all the time, swimming, football etc etc.