Moving to Australia and Moving Back to England Again.

Last week I told you about my night out at the pub when a group of us went into the city to have a farewell do for some good friends of ours.

You can read about the “leaving do” here. But in a nutshell, our friends came here to live in Australia for two years as a trial. They’ve now gone back to England, the Midlands, to see what they think of Old Blighty again.

It’s a canny plan, as our mutual friend from Sunderland would say. So how is the canny plan going?

return to England

I sent our friends an email the other day to find out. All names have been changed to protect the innocent……

Duuuuuude! and Mrs Dude…

How’s the black country? And the working mans club? Heard the weather’s great. Flight OK? Settled in?

Miss Oz yet? Come back, we miss you!

I’m off to play football.

Later….

Bob

Over the weekend, I got a reply and I thought it might interest some of you. Of course, I didn’t want to publish a personal email from a friend without his permission, so I shot off another email asking if it was okay to put his reply on this blog.

“Sure” he said “Just one more thing to add.” So I added it, starting from where it says “Just one more thing to add.” Here’s his reply……..

Hi Mate,

Yes we are firmly back in Chav Central, the weather is grey and drizzle and the house seems very small, as for the flight, it’s welcome Homenever a pleasant one.

According to my Dad, the Working Men’s Club is struggling for business and will close very soon.

We haven’t settled in yet, we have had to start cleaning the house, (BobinOz note: They rented their house out in the UK whilst living here) as it was in such a mess left by the tenants and so far, Dame Edna (real wife’s name removed for security reasons) is not impressed, but it’s early doors and we are still a bit grumpy from the flight.

We went to a quiz night at the local pub and it seems strange slowly watching the pub get busy at around 10:30 and everyone was still knocking the pints back till around 1:00am and the nights stay light till about  9:30, but all that said I can’t see me enjoying too many nights in the local pub.

I guess once you have stepped outside the box and moved to a better place, it’s going to be a struggle to settle back in.

Just one more thing to add.

We are starting to worry about our eldest son, who is 13 years. Having let him out on the streets to play for the last 2 days, he already seems to have gained an attitude in thinking that he can roam the streets from 9am till 11pm, just like some of  his other friends.

We were walking back from our friends house between 10:30 and 11:30pm and still roaming the streets were some of his friends, who were smoking cigarettes and drinking  cans of lager which I know the local shop sell to under age kids, because I have seen it happen. Then they decided to ride down the middle of the one-way street with no lights on their under sized BMX bikes, shouting and screaming as they diced with death.

I’m sure our son knows better, but it’s still a worry and a big wake up call to remind us of how much easier it is in the UK for young kids to get mixed up with the wrong crowd.

All the best and love to everyone

Cheers

Sir Les Patterson. (another false name for fear of BMX biker reprisals)

————————————————-

Well, there you have it! False names, yes. But a real exchange from a real mate who really went back to the UK last week. Sort of “What it’s really like moving to Australia and moving back to England again”.

So anyway, I’m stopping here.

Visa Assessment Service
{ 12 comments… add one }
  • Sean April 1, 2017, 7:20 pm |

    Bob,

    What a bunch of fantastically-written, insightful articles! This one in particular resonated with me – I’ve been woefully homesick since we got to Perth 5 year ago from the south of England (perhaps a bit sunnier and more affluent than up North? :p Not that affluence ever necessarily made anyone happy…). I’ve been considering moving back to Ol’ Blighty since we got here… alas, I have two lovely, thriving girls – the apples of my eye – the very purpose we elected to emigrate to Australia – and I have zero doubt that being in Perth has had a truly fantastic effect on their first few years at school. The “just one more thing to add” in this post gave me shivers – it’s exactly the reason the girls motivated the move – we felt that the UK, from our own experiences, would offer them a very poor childhood, with many opportunities to end up behind the bike sheds at 13. I’ve been hoping recently that this thinking was misguided and we blew it out of proportion, but your friends seem to have confirmed our apprehensions. Damn. What to do? Perth is quiet, dull, bland, soulless and forgotten by the rest of the world – nothing noteworthy happens here! Adele was here a few weeks ago – the entire city ground to a halt and was buzzing for the preceding and following fortnights – news, radio, papers etc… Just a regular Saturday evening in London. Perhaps it’s as simple as saying I’m an extrovert, so I thrive on “stuff” going on around me, and enjoy feeling like a part of something.

    It’s a fantastic place for children here – free parks everywhere, well-maintained, free community events, and I *honestly* haven’t met more than a couple of grumpy people in my 5 years here – such wonderfully optimistic, buoyant and friendly people. But, for adults, it does feel depressingly lifeless, and I use the term “depressingly” advisedly.

    BTW I play Futsal here, too – great game! Although I bust my ankle last week… 🙁 Merseyside Derby “tonight”. 😀 Now, where would you get that kind of thriving, century-old rivalry atmosphere in Australia…?

    • BobinOz April 4, 2017, 6:34 pm |

      Thanks for your comment, I’m glad it ‘appears’ to have helped you, well, maybe not helped, but it seems it has certainly reminded you of some of the reasons why you left the UK in the first place.

      I think it’s easy for people who don’t fully fall in love with Australia to get homesick and become nostalgic about the UK, but the reality of returning is a very different story as my friends found out for themselves.

      So, at one stage you ask what to do? My suggestion would be to move out of Perth and into Brisbane. Why Brisbane?

      Similar climate to Perth, house prices are very reasonable, not great for beaches but easy access to the glorious beaches of Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast (with all its theme parks), very family orientated with lots of open parks and spaces and a significantly more happening city than Perth nightlife wise, in my opinion.

      Okay, Brisbane certainly doesn’t match Sydney or Melbourne on the nightlife front, but for the reasons I’ve given here, I’d still choose Brisbane.

      Whatever you do, don’t choose to return to the UK, I’m pretty sure it will end in tears. As for the football, no, we won’t get that kind of rivalry here, but at least we get to watch it live on TV every week, something you can’t do backing Blighty. It’s one of my weekly highlights.

      Good luck to you Sean, whatever you decide to do.

  • BobinOz September 2, 2010, 12:20 am |

    Thanks GetaLife, the stat you quote sure puts that one to rest. And yes, I’ll take it easy.

    Cheers!

  • GetALife August 31, 2010, 1:47 pm |

    BobinOZ, I agree on the topic above. That’s what you agreed and voted for, Bob. Btw Bob, more than 90% of the crimes committed in QLD are committed by QLDers. So why the high blood pressure about crimes in South-East QLD? Move up north, Australia is BIG!

    Take it easy!

  • BobinOz August 28, 2010, 8:44 pm |

    John

    Yes, I know you have commented here before, because you mentioned previously that you lived in the UK from 1986 until 2004. So you lived in ‘my’ country for 18 years. Did you give up Australian citizenship? Seems not, because you’re back. I haven’t been here three years yet, but you expect me to reliquish my UK citzenship before I comment further on Australia? That would be stupid considering I can’t even apply for Aussie citizenship for another 15 months. I’d be citizenshipless!

    There also seems to be some double standards going on here, you think it’s okay for you to travel to and live in England yet you want to close down Australia’s borders to foreigners.

    But then you have a problem with me watching English football so I suppose nothing you say should surprise me.

    By the way, I have never lived in Logan, I have no idea where you got that from. But I have to say that to suggest the problems in that area are somehow down to the ‘influx of these people’ is really quite insulting to all foreigners here.

    This is a blog about an Englishman who has emigrated to Australia, and what he thinks of life here compared with his old country. Nothing more, nothing less. Chill out man!

    Sorry to disappoint you John, but I will be continuing to talk about Australia and I’ll certainly be watching the football tonight.

  • John August 28, 2010, 5:29 pm |

    Bob,

    I have commented before and I am 4th generation Qlders and extremely loyal to the state. I still miss the Tick gates, believe that AFL and Soccer should never be played on Qld soil, went to the first State of Origin and want Death duties reinstated in Qld to stop southeners retiring here, .

    In my life time and I am only 47 the area between Brisbane and the Gold Coast has gone from loving farming and diary land to be suburbs full of foreigners. There was even a Lion park at Beenleigh and you stopped at Yatla to cool the car down and buy a pie.

    But this influx of these people have brought problems that never existed in youth. From your previous mail you live in Logan where the crime rate is extremely high. The District of Ipswich and Logan. Increased Gang Activity through-out the vast areas of Ipswich and Logan, had also shown a frightening increase in armed robbery, production and distribution of drugs, assaults and homicides. In 2009 alone, Logan reported over 1300 assaults while, Goodna in the south-western areas reported over 900 property offences alone.

    I am having trouble coming to term with an Englishman who still follows Uk socccer and would appear can not break free of his mother country commenting my country. Enough is enough if we do not close our borders Qld will be ruined. The paradise my parents and grandparent fought for is not I want for my children. Lets not go to population of 35million and all the associated problems.

    Before you comment again reliquished your UK citzenship and your standing in my eyes will increase.

  • BobinOz August 13, 2010, 7:51 pm |

    Hi Ricardo

    I’m glad my blog is helping to keep you motivated, Australia is a difficult place to get into at the best of times, but even harder with the language barrier.

    Keep at it, you will pass it in the end, I’m sure. I hope everything works out good for you and maybe we’ll see you here soon.

    Good luck!

  • Ricardo August 11, 2010, 11:16 pm |

    Hi BobinOz,
    It’s very nice to see the comparison between Australia and England. I live in Argentina and I think this comparison would be stronger. Despite the fact the weather and the country is very nice, I mean it’s not as cold and rainy as it is in the UK, we have many other problems such as the corruption and insecurity on the streets.
    My girlfriend and I want to move to Aus since 1year ago but the VISA’s paperwork is very slow for us because we must take an English exam (IELTS) and we need a minimum score for passing it. I took the exam a couple of months ago and I did not pass it just for 0.5 points (very sad) althought I studied very hard.
    Reading this articles you have written about Australia life is very motivating for me to keep me struggling with the paperworks and the language.
    Thank you!!!

    Ricardo! 🙂

  • BobinOz August 9, 2010, 11:32 pm |

    Interesting thought Phil and I suspect we all do that sort of thing all the time to justify any kind of decision.

    From my point of view, I spent more time thinking about what was wrong with the UK while I was living there. Now that I’m here, I rarely think about it, too much occupied with enjoying what I like here.

    But I don’t think I’m ‘typical’ because I’ve never had any doubts about the move or even the slightest thought of even missing England, let alone returning there. I don’t even want to go back for a holiday.

    Hope your visa comes through soon and the move goes well. You’ll be sure to make new friends here.

  • Phil August 7, 2010, 12:19 am |

    Bob, interesting post – I’m waiting for a visa to come through – as soon as it does I’m over there to start a new life so I read these posts with great interest.
    Do you think it’s a case of human nature? Just referring to the use of the rainy picture (which is accurate for today as weather is miserable in Notts) – for expats that are in Oz you naturally want to look at the things that are wrong with the UK in order to sure up the decision to emmigrate.
    I know personally I have done this almost subconciously as I’m wresting with the idea of leaving friends and family behind in the UK.

  • BobinOz August 6, 2010, 10:42 pm |

    Well, it’s just a picture John. It breaks up the text. I used it to depict the drizzle more than anything. When it was taken, I don’t know. But I think you are right, it may well be Edinburgh. I don’t know for sure, I got it from my collection of stock photos.

  • JOHN WILKES August 5, 2010, 7:17 am |

    Bob, the photo above of ‘ England ‘ could it really be Edinburgh, Scotland ? Also could it be in March and not now ? So I was wondering, what was the purpose of the photo ? We all know what rain is.

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