Has anyone who is not Swiss or Aussie left CH to move downunder?

We have been here for almost 4 years, and am considering such a move, and wanted to see other people's opinion.

As no one has replied yet it could be that they have gone to Australia and not come back. That could be a good sign!

You could try asking the question on pomsinoz.com which is another forum I keep an eye on from time to time.

There is also a good thread on here somewhere Switzerland vs Australia for the pros and cons. I'd be tempted to go for the experience, especially if you have no ties over here. Have you been there for a holiday?

Friends migrated there just over 2 years ago. Their dreams of a big house with a swimming pool in Sydney became somewhat smaller when they saw how expensive houses were. Renting is very expensive and new residents can't buy anything already built until they are there for 2 years.

It ain't all what it looks like from here. Food has become expensive than here and my house would cost more in a similar location in Sydney. All that outdoor lifestyle isn't all that great either. It is so hot in the sun between 11.30 and 4pm that you head inside. Flies, insects and spiders. Cockroaches like you have never seen before

We were back there for a month over Christmas and after 12 years outside of Sydney we still aren't tempted to go back. My husband (non Aussie, non Swiss) immigrated to Oz in the 80s but life here for us is so much better!!

exactly my feelings..I'm from Melbourne and it's a known fact that Australia has the most expensive housing per earnings in the world. Apart from meat, things are generally cheaper here, including electronics, cars and so forth ( and naturally taxation).. I love Australia and I go back for a quick hop every year for friends and family, but would find it very hard to go back in the short/middle term. You'll learn to love the spiders, bugs and flies after a while though
good luck with your decision

If you don't like cockroaches, then yes go for Melbourne instead of Sydney. I lived in Sydney for 2 years and the cockroaches were rampant. In Melbourne, it was just ants.

I'd go for it if I were you. If you've got the thought in your head and there's nothing holding you in Switzerland, then why not?

A lot of people dream of living in Australia and a lot of those who realise the dream really love it. You might be one of them.

I prefer Switzerland because Australian summers are too hot, you are reliant on having a car (and usually one car per adult - except in parts of Melbourne), you can't travel to another country or another culture easily, mountain sports options are poor, there are fewer heavy metal concerts, and supermarket food is rubbish.

Then again, in Australia you get more sunshine, better restaurant food, more houses rather than apartments to live in (although I prefer apartments) and they have better sports.

I'd recommend Melbourne if you have a choice. But if you're craving sunshine, intense heat and/or bugs and spiders, then go further north or to Perth.

But do it for the adventure and the change I reckon.

well, thanks for the input guys.

We have no ties in CH, but then Aussie is just too far away. However, the experience, adventure and change of scene might be what we need.

I emigrated from London to Australia 11 years ago. I spent the first 6 months in Melbourne then moved to Sydney where I still have property. I've temporarily moved back to Europe for family reasons but will definitely move back to Australia at some stage. The prospect of being old and going through northern European winters is not appealing.

Now, being a 'pom' (but now also an Australian citizen), I can whinge of course about Sydney but I reserve my biggest whinges for the UK. I moved firstly to get a better lifestyle, weather, nature and a more positive attitude 'joie de vivre'. The food quality is better but it's not that cheap.

Australians are rightly proud of their country and it seems like every town/city is called 'God's own' as in 'God's own country'. For me, it is great to be able to live in a big city that has all the distractions of a big city but the reality is that I only experience a tiny part of it as I live on the Lower North Shore so 15 mins by ferry to the CBD (Central Business District) and 15 mins walk to the beach so all I need is within a 7km radius of where I live.

I'd be cautious when Aussies bang on about how great the weather is. It's not that hot in Sydney, at least I don't think so having spent many years there where Christmas day was low 20s. This year Sydney had over a week of over 30 every day which is exteremely rare whereas this is quite normal in Perth and I would imagine anywhere in Queensland. Summers are clearly better than northern European summers but I expected barmy nights in Sydney but they rarely happen (go further north for them). However, on average, Sydney has 300 days per year of sunshine (source is Air NZ on their introduction to Sydney). I personally find Melbourne's weather awful and not much better than the UK's. Of course it has these odd days of 40 degrees but then a cold front moves in and it's back down to 18/19 sometimes.

Once you know that a huntsman is your friend, you'd rarely have problems with insects. My 'unit' (that's an apartment/flat) has its fair share of 'cockies' (cockroaches) but there are some great sprays to knock 'em out.

Happy to answer any questions about the place. I've only experienced living in Sydney and Melbourne so I cannot speak about the other places. It's a tricky place to get into with regards to immigration as well so perserverance is the key.

With regards to winter sports, NZ is a mere 2.5 to 3.5 hour hop over the ditch and the winter sports are fantastic there and it's often cheaper to go to NZ for the week than spend a weekend at an Australian resort like Thredbo or Perisher.

Good luck with your decision!

I am an Aussie and second what has been said above, I have been here and in spite of "official" inflation rated at 2/3% the cost of living there has doubled in 5 years. Also factor in AUD/CHF15/20k a year for a holiday home to see family ect, it is one of our big costs here. Also with the current weather crisis' they are having on the east coast and a lot of houses damaged/unihabitable it is really pushing (already inflated) rents through the roof. Or New Zealand, livingcosts ,housing and public education are cheap but the NZ dollar isn't worth much so getting back to Europe or the UK might not be so easy.

I moved out to Sydney a little over a year ago from Bern (not for any ideological reasons - it was just the first job going and my contract was up). I'm happy I made the move, but it's just worth bearing a few things in mind. If you come out as a short-term resident, you'll have several disadvantages comapred to the locals (no social payments, very short time to find another job before you have to leave, paying a shed load to send your kids to school if you're in NSW or ACT, etc), but overall, I reckon it's worth it, especially if you are put forward for employer-sponsored permanent residency.
The Aussies will lead you to believe it's considerably better than it is in some respects (it's pretty expensive to live out here), but in many others, it really is better than CH. I'm hoping to get a long-term position here so I can be put on a permanent residency contract, so it can't be too bad. Saying that, it's harder for us as neither of us can drive and don't have the money to get a car or start learning just now, so transport options can be very limited as this is a country built for cars.

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New book out now: European Bird Names: A Translation Guide.
www.tonykeenebirds,co,uk - photos, paintings and drawings of Swiss, Australian, NZ and British birds

Another thing in general - if you're from Britain and looking to come out here, don't think that it's some sort of South Pacific version of Britain. It's not and it's one of the reasons over half of all British people who move out here with a view to it being permanent leave in the first year. My parents had that difficulty when they visited and I had to constantly remind them that it was not their country.
For the most part, it certainly does retain some British character (although don't tell them that), like being able to queue, but it also has a lot of American character (again, don't tell them that). Some find it infuriating that they still cling to some First World War principles in an effort to give the idea of a completely independent culture - anyone who actually does their job is a 'battler', anyone who shuffles papers in an army supply depot is a 'digger', etc (as well as horrid words like 'mateship'), which gives the impression in some ways that they don't want to progress in the world, but it's not really the case. And for the love of god, don't ever mention the number of casualties from other countries in relation to Gallipoli. Personally, I find ANZAC Day to be one of the oddest things - I actually had someone wish me a happy ANZAC Day. For a date set aside to remember the fallen at Gallipoli, they sure like to whoop it up with barbecues and parties...
Anyhoo, if you come out here, enjoy it for what it is, not for how it compares to Blighty (which many locals here seem to think is a small town on the outskirts of London).

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New book out now: European Bird Names: A Translation Guide.
www.tonykeenebirds,co,uk - photos, paintings and drawings of Swiss, Australian, NZ and British birds

Or it could be they decided not to go. Speaking personally, we were very unhappy there.

sorry yes an aussie replying here, but it is true life in aus has become very expensive and with a large part of the east coast just wiped out it is only going to become more so, but aus is a huge country and so its hard to generalise, in cairns i know MANY germans who have found various ways of beating the system to get residency cos they love it so much, i would say it totally depends on what you are looking for, but if its the Australian Dream of a large house somewhere close to a vaguely large city then forget it

Go , but consider Brisbane as an alternative to Sydney or Melbourne...its a bit different to the others but like most places you make the life you lead .

Don't forget to get your own copy of the Aussie English dictionary!

I have dual UK/Australian nationality but lived for 7 years in the UK before moving to CH for 18 months and then moving to Melbourne (where i currently live).

Although i was initially unsure about moving (back) to Australia (my home and heart is in the UK), i now feel it was one of the best decisions i've made. I personally, do not find Australia to be any more expensive than CH. The quality of fruit and vege here is far better quality and generally less expensive (when comparing like for like) than in CH. There are plenty of food markets in Melbourne where the cost of produce is actually cheaper than the supermarkets, unlike in CH where i found markets to be more expensive than Migros and Coop.

There is so much more competition here in Australia, compared to CH, in terms of products and services and in my experience so far, this results in far cheaper costs and improved quality compared to CH.

My quality of life has improved enormously since moving to Australia (of course, i can only speak for Melbourne), for so many different reasons, and i would definitely recommend trying it.

I'm happy to answer any specific questions you might have about the move....

I'm English and emigrated to Australia in the early 90's - I lived there (first in Sydney and then Adelaide) until 2000 when I came to Switzerland.

On the whole - I found Australia to have a better quality of living, but how do you measure that? Food - much fresher, better quality and more variety when eating out. So much open space, beautiful long, empty beaches, stunning ocean and coastline, amazing natural beauty. Also, incredibly friendly, easy going people - very easy to make friends there. And I didn't own a car in Sydney (I lived in Neutral Bay and would take the Ferry across the Harbour and then train from the Quay to Western Suburbs to work. Or Adelaide (I had a small apartment in Norwood and would cycle into my workplace in the City) In Adelaide, I could cycle from Norwood across the city, down a lovely cycle path and be at Henley Beach in about 40 mins. If I wanted to go further I'd rent a car.

I'm afraid of spiders and was faced with huntsmen on several occasions in my apartment - but that and being quite a long flight from family in the Uk were the only downsides for me about Australia.

Yes, shaking your shoes before you put them on. Watching for snakes on the path. Having your fishing rod stolen by a shark that eats a fish you just caught. Been there, done that.

Read no further if you're scared of spiders.

I stayed at my aunties house in Australia, a part of a fairly large house (for 2 people) which wasn't used that much. The room was stuffy (since it wasn't used that much) and so I opened a window.

Later that night I came back and began reading my book. An hour later, I was dosing off and turned around to turn the light off only to touch what turned out to be a huge hairy spider (as big as my hand) on the wall. Shocked, I jumped out of bed. Only, on the floor there were at least another four.

They must have climbed through the window while I was out. I got my shoe and hit one, but the shoe just bounced off and the spider went ape, running everywhere.

I get shivers down my spine just thinking of this.

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Gone, deleted account, left forum.

I have only seen one at once, but apparently they can "live in family groups of up to 300"

http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Learning+Re...an_spiders.pdf

I grew up in the bush and I remember mum cutting a snake in half with a shovel

As an Australian, do yourself a favour and forget sydney. Its the worse place in Australia by a mile. I go there every few years to see my mate and its awful.

It depends what you want out of the country. Go for Melbourne (my favourite city in Australia - and i'm from Perth) if you like something a lot more lively, Perth or Adelaide for something a little more laid-back and relaxing. Those are the only 3 places I could see myself living in Australia now.

Yeah its not as cheap as it used to be especially food prices. But if you work in the mining industry you could be earning a lot. Talking from experience, the housing market in the northern areas of Perth has dropped dramatically and there are some awesome places to live there. Plus it has probably the most stable climate in Australia (no floods here!!).

Some useful threads to read up as well:

Switzerland compared to Australia

Australia v Switzerland

Thinking of moving "back" to Australia for good...

Anyone can compare Geneve cost of life vs. Australia (sydney)

Lucy's threads:

This took me sooo long

bye guys