If you haven't left the UK yet..........

[Guest Guest75]

Hi Tyke, no problem with you asking; it's a fair question. We'd discussed for several years the possibility of moving somewhere else for the experience of doing it. The 'somewhere else' might have been as close as some croft in Scotland (which we very nearly did), to somewhere much further like Vancouver (we put a lot of effort into exploring the pros and cons of living in Canada and might yet put that research to good use). In the end, though, we agreed that if we were going to do it then we'd go for somewhere with a Mediterranean climate (at least as our first stop) but without the language barrier of the Med itself. Our search eventually landed us here. I've no idea if we're here for good, but there are no plans to move on just yet - especially as we're having a house built.

 

As to why, there's no single answer. 'You only live once', 'regret the things you do rather than the things you don't', 'the world's your oyster' - choose your cliché! We thought that wherever we went we'd have fun along the way, learn new things, have enriching experiences, and we were fairly confident that we'd get back on our feet eventually even if we spent most of our savings setting ourselves up in our new lives, and even if - as is likely - my earnings never match what they might have been in the UK.

 

Jim

 

Thanks Jim - thought it was that

We are very similar on your second paragraph - "because we can / new challenges"

Canada was an option for us too as was ( or may even be in years to come) quiet parts around the Adriatic.

[Guest JoTanCalOwen]

Hello all,

 

We are looking forward to a new style of life, yes hopefully more out doors this will be due to nicer weather, beaches fishing and walks etc, I have no doubt about getting cold in Oz, as we did get cold in Sept when we were there. This is going to be an adventure and with a positive outlook it will be a great one and hopefully a life long one, but never say never, I have family up and down UK, but unfortunately some crimes are on our door step, so close they even used my car rear screen wiper to wrap the police crime scene cordoning tape round!!

 

I do not hate the UK, and yes if we were rich enough I would stay in various places for months at at time, but being the mere working class mortal that I am, I will be working (hopefully)...

 

Until such a time that we are in Oz, we will work and play in the UK.

 

Tanya

[ShaunWilson]

Great to see balanced discussion on here with everyone respecting all points of view.

 

We didn't hate the UK, and thats not the reason we left. We just didn't want to be the couple who had the opportunity and not take it. As someone said, regret what you have done, not what you haven't. We had a decent life in UK, but can honestly say we have a better one here. Our kids have flourished and become much more outgoing and confident, and to us that's the biggest plus we could ever get.

 

As for the original point, crime is everywhere, UK can't be singled out as being worse or better than anywhere as, as pockets of areas have different crim e rates depending on unemployment, education etc. And if you look at the tax aspect of it, I pay much more tax here annually than I ever did in UK, again, all depends what your willing to pay and put up with to be happy. So make your decisions, stand by them and good luck whatever decisons you make.

[coolerking]

Jim - I'm not picking an argument here - but why did you come - if you had a good life in the UK.

I'm genuinely interested.

 

We too loved the UK but I grew up overseas and the OH was an army brat so I reckon it was in our blood. I grew up on the beaches in HK so that has always been at the back of my mind and our four kids love the outdoors and don't seem bothered by the heat and have been fine with the sun cream.

 

I'll not be back to the UK for a very long time as we've to much to get on with here. Watching the eldest two at surf life saving on the beach beats a freezing November in Manchester. If we ever felt the urge to move, we'd move to Qld as we have good friends there and I love the SS coast.

 

Australia has a lot to offer some people and certainly offered us a way of life we could never have afforded in the UK

 

Cooler

[Guest moonraker1959]

I'm in the UK but had lived in SA for 30 years(grew up there,my kids were born in SA).I think it truly depends where you live in the UK.I live in a small village on the Wilts/Somerset border.I also live near a fairly big city (Bath).I have never seen any yobs patrolling the streets,have never been a victim of crime or know anyone who has,no one I know is out of work.I don't know of any illegal immigrants where I live,the price of food is cheap as is most other things.We are just your average working class couple.We are NOT living in poverty.We both run cars,we eat well,we both have fulltime jobs,we go out alot,travel alot overseas's (3-4 times per year)and do not want for anything.I'm not the exception.Most people I know are exactly the same as us.I do not fear walking down streets ect and I have to say,this country has been truly good to me since I returned 10 years ago.As I said,it depends alot where you live.There are area's/suburbs I would hate to live in in SA,just as I would here.

[Guest rachinadelaide]

I live in a decent part of Blackburn, quite a sleepy location and my son's bike got nicked on Saturday out of his friends drive. We have not had any thefts before (prob quite lucky), but that has really sealed the coffin for me. We fly to Adelaide in 14 weeks & 6 days and cannot wait.

 

 

My bike (locked to a bike rack with 2 sturdy locks) got stolen from outside Semaphore library!!!!! There is crime everywhere.....

 

I keep looking in the second hand shops to see if I can find it and buy it back - we'd had some good times together.....!

[Pommy99]

Sorry about your bike, I hope you find it, but the post is really for people who haven't left the uk yet.

[Anne B]

I've been here nearly four years now and read the british news papers online. The Daily Mail paints a picture of a lawless, violent crime ridden place where decent values in society have broken down. The ploice are never there when needed and honest decent middle class working famalies are taxed to the hilt as the economic depression forever deepens.

 

If you still live in the UK, do you think this is an accurate picture??

 

It's only 4 months since we left and I think the Daily Mail vision does apply to some areas of Britain but other parts of the country are relatively unaffected.

 

In some areas decent values are breaking down, children and teenagers roam the streets at night, ambush the emergency services, steal cars, carry knives etc etc - it certainly doesn't paint a pretty picture and you wonder what has happened to the nation. I used to watch The Jeremy Kyle Show (if you've never seen it it's a bit like Jerry Springer) in astonishment that the people on it were my fellow countrymen and despite the benefits of free education and the welfare state they seemed to have learnt little, have minimal intelligence, have absolutely no pride in themselves and no manners.

 

However my knowledge of this world was purely via the media, by watching tv documentaries or Jeremy Kyle or Big Brother or reading the newspapers (not the Daily Mail !), I had no first hand experience of it. We used to live in an affluent semi-rural part of the south east - unemployment was low and people didn't seem too affected by the economic recession. Most people were decent and life would have been fine if the weather were better. Just before we left England we visited my cousin in the Cotswolds, which seems to be in a parallel universe of pretty cottages, country houses, olde worlde charm, antiques shops and general affluence. The vision of England that we want to sell to tourists, but one that looks to the past not the future and is becoming increasingly false.

 

So I think Britain is getting more polarised, there are more extremes of wealth and poverty these days. It is like several different societies sharing the same island with little in common. I didn't feel that Britain was the same place that I grew up in anymore, which is why I am quite happy to leave. In coming back to live in Adelaide after 12 years I can see changes here and believe that Australia is sadly heading down the same path, especially in parts of Sydney and Melbourne, but it is a long way behind the UK and I don't feel it's problems will be as extreme as Britains.

 

So yes, it is an accurate picture of parts of Britain, but it is not the whole picture.

[Guest moonraker1959]

My bike (locked to a bike rack with 2 sturdy locks) got stolen from outside Semaphore library!!!!! There is crime everywhere.....

 

I keep looking in the second hand shops to see if I can find it and buy it back - we'd had some good times together.....!

Jeez there are some low lifes around are'nt there?I hope you manage to find your bike.Have you informed the cops?

[trevorpayne]

I've been here nearly four years now and read the british news papers online. The Daily Mail paints a picture of a lawless, violent crime ridden place where decent values in society have broken down. The ploice are never there when needed and honest decent middle class working famalies are taxed to the hilt as the economic depression forever deepens.

 

If you still live in the UK, do you think this is an accurate picture??

 

THIS IS AN ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF THE CITY I LIVE IN WHICH IS BRADFORD AND PROBABLY OUR MAIN REASON FOR EMIGRATING TO ADELAIDE. ALTHOUGH THIS IS ONLY A PERSONAL OPINION AND PROBABLY NOT ACCURATE OF ALL AREAS.

PERSONALLY I FEEL WE ARE TAXED MORE THAN EVER AND YET WE GET LESS SERVICES FOR MORE COST AND IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE IN THE FUTURE.

[Guest Guest75]

THIS IS AN ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF THE CITY I LIVE IN WHICH IS BRADFORD AND PROBABLY OUR MAIN REASON FOR EMIGRATING TO ADELAIDE. ALTHOUGH THIS IS ONLY A PERSONAL OPINION AND PROBABLY NOT ACCURATE OF ALL AREAS.

PERSONALLY I FEEL WE ARE TAXED MORE THAN EVER AND YET WE GET LESS SERVICES FOR MORE COST AND IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE IN THE FUTURE.

 

We are from Pudsey (txwixt Leeds & Bradford) - we could see it going very downhill 10 years ago!

 

It certainly had not improved last year when we visited!:shocked:

[Prema]

We bought our house 7 years ago in Ponders End, Enfield. I was 23 and hubbie was 26. I was expecting our first child. I felt very proud that at such a young age we worked so hard saved our money and bought a house, it wasn't cheap for us at 185k.

Actually the house we bought was opposite my mums, and I had lived on the street already since I was 16. We felt safe to put roots down. Mum lived at no 41 and we were at no 62.

In the 7 years we have lived in our house we got burgled 4 times and all in the last 3 years of being there. One time was just after Christmas, everything was gone, seems silly but even our 46" inch lcd Sony got nicked. The robbers just walked out with the lot. Did I mention that we even got robbed with a yellow box stuck to our house marked ADT, did nothing. Police didn't even turn up!!

From private residential road turned into refugee camp. Please do not think I am a snob as I am not, just letting you know how life was where I lived.

We would put out the bags for charity clothing collection only to have lovely people walk right onto your driveway and rummage and take what they wanted, and leave the mess for you to tidy.

We decided to build a extension to our house soon after we bought it and as I mentioned I had already lived on my street so I knew most of the people. We were like the kids that had grown up! My new neighbour decided to take us to court, she was just jealous I guess, she ended up with a 2 year suspended sentence, very long story but was not a nice 4 year period for us. She ended up moving in the end, but was all that trouble work it. we also had a nice 10k bill for having solicitors representing us.

When it came to looking for schools, as we are not church goers the 2 schools located close to me were unattainable. The close state primary schools, had classes that the kids could not even speak english the reports by ofsted were appalling. Even when you went to look around the teachers didn't seem to care.

We spent £1400, each month for the kids to go nursery to get a head start, thinking about sending them to these schools was an absolute no go. I finally got my son into a great school but had to commute 20 miles each day, my choice, but at least I could sleep at night.

Both me and hubbie have worked and never claimed a penny. I have worked full time since I was 19, and hard work does not scare me. I enjoyed my money when I was young aimed for all the things you want. Went on holidays, went out with my friends, bought the latest phones, although a lot has changed for us, we still look at what we have achieved, and doing so on our own. I just can't understand why others are not like this? I see kids & adults everyday, drunk causing trouble on the streets. Even as I am writing this I can hear screaming and shouting outside, and we are now staying in Winchmore Hill, a very nice part of Enfield.

Yes there are nice places in the UK, and I wouldn't suggest that there aren't. But what good are they of you can't find work? How do you live and pay the bills?

We looked at moving out into the countryside but financially we couldn't as there was no work for us.

We are not running away. But just want to try something new. I feel aspiration when I hear on this site that kids are riding their bikes and enjoying the outside. My kids only know the garden, our parks were ridden with needles, and teenagers smoking joints.

I used to ride my bmx and had Roche's roller skates in the good old days, I can't say I would let my kids do that here, on the streets.

Hopefully I can try and give my children a chance to enjoy their childhood, before its way to late.

Anyway that's my take on it, really looking forward to arriving, please god we last the flight. we have chosen to go the whole way LHR to SYD, then SYD to ADL, just hope the kids will manage okay....

 

Prema

[Anne B]

Prema - where I used to live in Essex near Stansted airport there were loads of people who had moved there to escape from Enfield - reading your post I am not surprised!!!

 

In contrast this morning I helped walk my son's class from school to the beach for Surf Safety lessons - the sky was a cloudless blue, the water was calm, the children were laughing and excited and I thought what a lovely childhood.

 

I am sure you will love Adelaide - I bet you can't wait to get here. Good luck with everything.

[Mini2005]

THIS IS AN ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF THE CITY I LIVE IN WHICH IS BRADFORD AND PROBABLY OUR MAIN REASON FOR EMIGRATING TO ADELAIDE. ALTHOUGH THIS IS ONLY A PERSONAL OPINION AND PROBABLY NOT ACCURATE OF ALL AREAS.

PERSONALLY I FEEL WE ARE TAXED MORE THAN EVER AND YET WE GET LESS SERVICES FOR MORE COST AND IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE IN THE FUTURE.

 

We moved from Bradford in 2005 and have to say that certainly wasn't my opinion of my home town (although born and raised in Pudsey). Having lived in Adelaide for almost 5 years I have to say it certainly has its fair share of violent crime. I haven't had personal experience of this but my husband visits dozens of different suburbs all around Adelaide and there are quite a few which he describes as "very dodgy". There's good and bad in both places and as you say a lot depends on your personal experience.

 

We will be returning to live in Bradford in the next few months having made the tough decision. Adelaide is a beautiful place but on balance Yorkshire is the place for us to call home. We visited "home" for a month in 2008 and it may have had grey skies but its where home and family are.

[jtct]

We are from Pudsey (txwixt Leeds & Bradford) - we could see it going very downhill 10 years ago!

 

It certainly had not improved last year when we visited!:shocked:

 

I live in the South East - inside the M25 but not quite in the London suburbs. Being a 'grumpy old woman' of pension age I have seen huge changes in the last 20-30 years. I find we are now very much a multicultural country and that brings its rewards as well as problems.

 

I have seen a huge decline in morals, family values, living standards, education standards and behavior, and a rise in vandalism, racisim, and food & fuel prices. I have visited Australia 5 times (usually for 6-8 weeks at a time) and am glad my children and grandchildren are living in Adelaide. They are proud to be Aussies and we can't wait to join them even if it's going to be a long wait for Visas!

 

The Mail may not tell the whole truth and some of the reports need to be taken with a pinch of salt but they are not completely inaccurate. Britain is not what it was but neither is the rest of the world - times change but not always for the better......Rant over!

[Guest Janine3979]

Hi,

 

We came over to Adelaide last year expecting to stay as were told our visa was imminent, but due to changes in Septmeber had to come back to the UK. We are expecting to return soon just waiting on the visa.

 

The main diffenrence we noticed was the kids we saw, they were friendly and always doing something instead of hanging around outside shops etc.

 

The weather means there is not much for kids to do outdoors, and when it is ok weather your worried about letting them play out.

 

The area I live in has always been pretty good in the UK but has started to decline, the local paper shop has recently been robbed by a group of young lads, I try to keep my kids active, but find myself having to be really carefull about who my kids become friends with at school and can literally see the changes in my childrens behaviour when they play with kids that haven't had a great upbringing.

 

It seems there are no house wifes any more in the UK just single mums who have more kids to get more benefits or mums that have to work to provide for their family as one income doesn't seem to be enough any more.

 

I think the UK is a really difficult place to bring up kids.

 

I can't wait to leave.

 

Janine (28), Darren (29), Connor (8), Melody (5) and Cody ( 5 months)