Please don't read this post...

[Guest TC for short]

... if you're homesick & missing England!

 

We're going to be heading back shortly - probably around the end of May. Anyone got any hints/tips on the whole thing?

 

Things we're looking at are -

Removals - we've got a few quotes coming in. We're looking at upwards of $13k for a 40' sea container plus insurance which is running at around 3.5 - 4% of value. Anyone got any particular recommendations?

House cleaning - just to make things easier for us. Carpets really, and a general wipe down.

Telephones - we've got telstra mobiles, landline & broadband. Are we likely to get hit with huge fees for termination? Should we just quietly leave it?

Cars - we will have two for sale - a very nice 2004 Toyota Kluger Grande 4x4; Silver, 7 seats, all leather (rear two fold away into floor), integrated touch screen sat nav. Touch screen also controls climate control, radio, cd stacker, tape deck & various information screens. Wood trim, sunroof, electric seats, roofbars, nudge/roo bar at front, Toyota tow-bar at rear, chrome side-steps, privacy glass on rear & side windows. Absolute top of the range. New was $68 000. Selling for $30 500 to include service now & 30 months factory bumper-to-bumper warranty.

Also a 2001 (I think) Suzuki Baleno Cavaliero - 3-door hatchback, white, 1.6l manual, air-con, cd/radio/tape, tinted windows side & rear. A terrific little car, asking $6000 ono.

 

Also... the house! Lovely 4/5 bedroom house in Coromandel Valley. Big open fireplace in lounge. Generally open-plan downstairs living plus 2/3 bedrooms & bathroom downstairs. Upstairs master bedroom with en-suite, another bedroom, minstrel gallery landing & study with desk & bookshelves. Very large plot with lots of trees & 3 lawns. Double garage plus double carport. Covered outside entertainment area. 15 mins walk to Craigburn Primary school & 5 mins drive to Coromandel Valley Primary (International Baccalaureate). Both very good schools. $440/wk

 

Please give me any hints & tips on the move back. PM me if you're interested in the house or cars.

 

TC

[Guest Django]

As far as house cleaning is concerned speak to Cornelia. She did a fab job on our last rental before we moved out. Carpets, walls, floors, windows, the lot. The agent was well impressed.

 

Pete

[suziewozie]

When we left our rental we had our carpets cleaned by Guzzler & Sas's father Len , he was very good too.

Contact him on 8387 1131.

The rest of the cleaning we did ourselves, not that much too it really.

 

Good luck with the move home.

[ozzieclare2be]

Hi we are also heading back too hopefully by end of september (once weve saved up enough) and are looking for tips. My mind is in a whirl atm not sure where to start!! Need to sell my car which is on finance to pay the finance off, arrghhh!! maybe we should put our lives on ebay lol xx:biglaugh:

[julie-ruth]

OMG this is so sad why are you going back, (clare and Tc) you've always seemed so positive..

 

Julie

[Guest TC for short]

I am positive - positively going back!

 

Seriously, I love Australia & like Adelaide much more than I expected to. Sadly though, the company I work for & who sponsored my visa have rather let me down - amongst other things, I've had 3 days leave since we came out in Jan 2008. They are the only people I can do my current job for in Australia & since Qantas have just made 1700 folk redundant I would have a battle should i decide to move out of my sphere. On the other hand, we still have our house in the UK & my old boss wants me back, so that seems the sensible option.

 

Clare - I like your thinking!

 

TC

[ozzieclare2be]

OMG this is so sad why are you going back, (clare and Tc) you've always seemed so positive..

 

Julie

 

i could give you lots of reasons, main one our life was better in the uk , im not going to dog down aus, its a great place, just not for us. We've done alot of soul searching over the past month and feel we have to make the right decision for us. Sorry to jump on your thread tc.

[Guest TC for short]

The more, the merrier Clare!

 

Are you still with the RDNS?

[ozzieclare2be]

The more, the merrier Clare!

 

Are you still with the RDNS?

 

yes, really like my job, not told em yet as i dont have any firm ideas about when, we need to sell the house too. arrghh lol friend just told me about a company where you can sell it yourself privately avoiding huge fees www.anreps.com.au. Hope this helps x

[Guest TC for short]

Thanks Clare. I'm a complete plank - the house is rented fortunately.

[Guest Devon]

Hi there TC and OMG Claire must have missed the one about you going back

Well not many weeks left for us now so just a thought:

 

Removals - we are doing it as cheaply as we can - every penny will count! 20ft shipping container delivered to the house and packed everything and filled it ourselves. A lot of work but has saved us thousands and thousands of dollars looking at your quotes TC. I know our container was smaller but that is a huge difference. Any chance you could do it yourselves also? Or at least get quotes for doing it that way as well and seeing what the difference is? Just something for you to think about maybe. We actually got it all arranged in the UK as even that worked out cheaper for some reason. They obviously are using a company this end but it still made it a lot cheaper arranging it there than this side of the pond

 

Cars for sale - we put both our van and car on Trading Post - the van went within a week - sold to someone who saw it advertised on there, the car took a couple more weeks but has now gone

 

Telephones - we are lucky in that we are well and truly out of the min contract period. I do know though that some do charge quite hefty termination fees. So better off checking with them first how much they charge.

 

Cleaning - Again we are doing it ourselves but if I was going to pay someone it would deffo be Cornelia!

 

Hope this helps a little and Good Luck to you

[Guest Lisado]

Sorry to hear both of your news, especially after you have both made helpful comments in the past to me.

 

I wish you both lots of luck for the future

 

Lisa

[Guest TC for short]

Thanks guys.

 

TC

[Guest cunnah10]

we arrived back in the UK recently (March 12th)....like you we had all the stress & hassle of tying loose ends up before we left Adelaide .... did get a bit daunting at one stage..BUT we did it!

Like you we had vehicles to sell,a tenancy to off load..telephones & internet to sort out,removals etc...but you will do it!

We used GRACE REMOVALS if that helps in anyway...they were excellent and very "flexible" with their quote (we ended up taking 3 extra boxes at no extra charge).

Good Luck with your move back....you have to do what you think is right for you and your family!

Gill x

[Guest harper210267]

How come your moving back to the Uk?

[julie-ruth]

Hey good luck with the move back I'll be thinking of you Claire shopping at next and I'm not going to be envious not one bit honest HONEST, good luck again to both of you.

 

Out of interest though could you give us update of moving back what it intales and how you feel about things when you get there. Just to see what adjusting back is like.

 

Julie

[Runcorn2Adelaide]

Good luck to you all moving back to the UK......for whatever reason.

 

Everyone makes there own decisions about what is best for them and their family....

 

Si n Kaz

[Guest TC for short]

Will do Julie-Ruth. To be honest, although obviously I'm looking foward to seeing family & friends, I'm not really looking forward to life back in Britain. The reasons we came out here still exist back there and, by all reports, some are even more acute than they were there.

However, when you work in a very narrow, specialist field you sometimes have to be pragmatic & go where the work is. The company, not Australia, has made my postition here untenable & so we're going back with much the same view as we came here with - to seize life with both hands & make it scream!

[Guest TC for short]

Gill (Cunnah10)

 

Meant to ask - how have you all found it; the move back, settling back in etc? Are you back in the same area & same jobs?

 

TC

[Guest mayjess]

I will tell you about how we feel about our return back to the UK, we came back after a year in Adelaide, been back 2 yrs, we are glad we done it although we wish we hadnt bought a house again! anyhow we have achied quite a few things since our return, eldest passed her driving test, youngest got her teeth sorted (braces) Im finishing a diploma in CBT, so its all been good, but we cannot wait to return and get started once again in our dream of living in OZ, we had to come back BTW for numerous reasons, I just hope you settle well bk here and dont regret it like many who do!

 

Mayjess

[Guest 3 go mad in adelaide]

Well we head back to the UK next week after a year in Adelaide and are all very much looking forward to it!

 

As much as I would never slag off Adelaide (it's been good to us) we have decided (unanimously) that it is not where we want to live and that our lives in the UK were actually rather good! We would never have missed this opportunity and really have had a great year - met some fab people (and a few not so!) made true friendships and had a lot of fun. Mainly though, it has taught us just how much we already had in the UK - we were never disillusioned, running away, in debt, unhappy, had family problems - OH was offered a job and we thought we'd give it a go!

 

we are all rather philisophical about it and in no way sad, good life experience, but not the life we want to lead. Won't be ping ponging, as the path will be closed to us anyway now, which is the way we like it - we are drawing a line under this episode of our lives.

 

I am truly glad to see it work for some people, it's bloody hard work getting here, so if it comes good, it's well deserved! But going home is not an easy option, we have thought long and hard - but in our hearts it's right.

 

Best of luck to you all, whatever your current position, I hope all your dreams come true.

[Guest mayjess]

Its funny reading the posts of ppl about to return bk to th UK, Its exactly like what we were saying 2 yrs ago,,`good experience-never want to repeat it tho`, some come bk & are happy enough to stay in the UK for good, we just feel the UK is good for us but OZ is better, each to their own, we too have all we need here, home, jobs etc, but we miss the space, the smells, the lifestyle etc of OZ.

I wish good luck to everyone coming back,, it is hard but you soon get back to normality.

 

Mayjess

[ozzieclare2be]

our sentiments exactly xxx

[Guest 3 go mad in adelaide]

Its funny reading the posts of ppl about to return bk to th UK, Its exactly like what we were saying 2 yrs ago,,`good experience-never want to repeat it tho`, some come bk & are happy enough to stay in the UK for good, we just feel the UK is good for us but OZ is better, each to their own, we too have all we need here, home, jobs etc, but we miss the space, the smells, the lifestyle etc of OZ.

I wish good luck to everyone coming back,, it is hard but you soon get back to normality.

 

Mayjess

 

We have can have homes, jobs, etc in either place - that is not all we need. What we need are our people, the people who make us laugh, cry and everything in between. The people that have never questioned our reasons for going home, just said 'good, get your arses back here, we miss you!' friends and family both. They have my history, my best intentions and my love - I CANNOT have that anywhere else.

 

Life is not about stuff, or weather, or a lovely view - it's about people, simple as.

[sueoc]

Best of luck my friend.You know whats right for you,and thats all that matters,all the best.