Almost 18 months after migrating, Ms Dawdy said the move had been the hardest thing the family had ever done:

• “we expected to pick up where we had left off – we sold up everything we had in England and took it for granted that everything would fall into place over here”.

• “It hasn’t – and we’ve come close to moving back many times,” Ms Dawdy said.

As Australia’s only guide to major property markets, Where to Live Guides is answering this question for anyone new to a city or just relocating across town. 

Where to Live Guides publisher Chantal Dunbar said people were quick to rely on guidebooks when travelling

• “but when making the largest financial commitment of our lives, until now a single source of information simply hasn’t been available”.
• “Educating ourselves about the attributes of each suburb and determining which best suit our needs is a time-consuming challenge,” Ms Dunbar said.

• “When undertaken from interstate or overseas, the obstacles are overwhelmingly greater!”

• “We had a massive response – about 5% of people who bought the guide contacted us to share stories and let us know the difference the guide had made in making such important decisions,” Ms Dunbar said.
• “We have heard so many sad stories of people failing when they relocated to the Gold Coast because they didn’t have knowledge of the area.”

• “Some of these people face financial ruin, divorce and just return back to their homeland thinking Australia wasn’t for them – when really they just moved into an area that didn’t facilitate the lifestyle they wanted to lead,” Ms Dunbar said.

• “There are some things you can’t learn until you get over here – like licenses, schools and what different areas offer – the guide is so accurate, it would have helped us to address these before we got here,” Ms Dawdy said.
• “There was nothing to guide us through the process – what area suited us best, what education considerations we should make and what impact the move would have on my husband’s career” .

• “Although Rob owned a successful plumbing business in the UK, he has had to go back to college so he can work here, so financially it has been really hard going.”

But while 25,000 New Zealanders relocated to Australia last year, 13,500 returned to their homeland.

Sue and Marty Johnson were two of the 480 Kiwis following the long white cloud across the ditch to Australia’s warmer climes every week, in search of better career prospects and improved lifestyle for their children.