Relocating from the UK with a young family...

Hi Andy, unfortunately having spend a month investigating as well as evaluating Sydney we couldn't find a location that really provided what we have back home in the UK, it was hugely disappointing. The company I was going to work for would not support us living in Brisbane (where the rest of my family are) & me commuting into Sydney (at my expense) for the week so it all ended up as a non-starter. Maybe we have too much of a good thing where we live in the UK, we really struggled to find a suburb in Sydney that we liked, maybe we where being too fussy but we couldn't find a compromise to enable to move, in some cases it felt like we were taking a step backwards & would still not achieve the "Aussie Dream" lifestyle that we so wanted. Suggestions a year on - seek far & wide for somewhere to settle, be prepared to have to make some compromises, maybe we should have persevered more & accepted less, my biggest fear was that my wife would be un-happy & not have the support network around here until it established, I feared that had we have made the move we would have returned home as a result. Hope that doesn't put you off, let me know how you are getting on. Regards, Carl

Hi CarlP, Thank you so much for your response. You were lucky in the sense that you stayed back in the UK.Unfortunately for us, that's not a choice as we are expats here in UK too :(. We have been here for almost 6 years now and have come to love the place. My son is settled in his school and has made great friends. Our visa expires early next year, so Sydney/ Melbourne are our best options. I have a couple of friends who have recently moved from UK to Sydney and are not too happy with the school there ( they have chosen one of the best public schools on the North Shore) I don't know what's in store for us. I think we just need to bite the bullet and take the leap. I am mentally preparing myself to be let down by things but just hope to at least find a school that my son will come to love and a neighbourhood reminiscent of the one we have here in the UK, and hopefully the rest will fall in place. thank you once again. Cheers.

Hi CarlP, interested to hear more about what you have in the UK compared to what you were looking for in Australia? We have 2 children who were born in Oz, we moved back to the UK to be near family but after 2 years although we like life in the UK we miss Oz terribly and plan to move back for our children's and our own futures. Still looking at suburbs and where to move to, so would appreciate your info. Thanks Katie

Hi Katie - Upon reflection of the whole experience it made us realise that we're really lucky to live where we do in the UK, we've worked hard to be able to afford & live in a great house within a great community & we have a good support network of friends, all of which I'm sure we could have re-created in Oz but it seemed a tall mountain to climb at the time & we thought it best to not risk what it is that we had worked so hard here for. Upon reflection I wish that I had reached out to the Company that I was going to be working for who sponsored us to ask for ideas of where we should have looked, maybe we were looking in the wrong locations & just couldn't see it. Hope that helps ?

Hi Renee, Apologies for the late response, just wanted to say Thank You for your response, we're looking into those areas now & trying to establish together with a school for my 5 year old where to try & settle. Thanks again !