Cornish Family Wanted Down Under Revisited

If starting a new life halfway around the world

promised your family more quality time together,

you might be sorely tempted,

but what if it meant having to leave one family member behind?

That was the dilemma facing the Cornish family back in 2014.

We've caught up with them two years later to find out if they

took the plunge or stayed put.

Pulling pints and being a travelling teacher meant James and Lisa Cornish

hardly ever saw their two little boys...

I would absolutely love for us to feel like a family again,

and for me to feel like I'm a mum and a wife again.

..so they were considering moving lock, stock and barrel

to the other side of the world...

I'll get more time to spend with the boys in the evenings.

I'll be less tired because I won't be working 100 hours per week.

..but moving to Australia would mean James saying goodbye to his daughter

for months at a time.

This week in Australia is going to be really important,

because it's going to change our lives, really,

whichever way we choose.

Two years on, where do the Cornishes call home?

It's something we've done before,

but we're still, kind of, learning what it means for us here.

With more than a quarter of its population born abroad,

Australia's long been a dream destination for people in search of

a better life.

Around 34,000 UK residents flock to the country every year,

hoping the healthy, outdoor lifestyle and prosperous economy

will improve their standard of living.

James and Lisa Cornish were desperate for more time together

with sons Sammy and Louis,

and believed Australia could be the answer.

However, moving would come at a price,

as James's daughter from a previous relationship would be

left behind in the UK.

Even if the family could persuade Lauryn to visit regularly,

James faced the prospect of being separated from her

for most of the year.

The Cornishes' journey began with a 10,000-mile flight from London to

Melbourne via Dubai.

It was the family's first time in Australia,

and the reality of just how far they'd come had hit home.

It really puts it into perspective how far away Australia

is from England.

The flight had taken its toll on Sammy and Louis,

but Lisa and James were raring to go.

We're really excited about the week.

It'll be nice to see everything in the flesh,

so we've been looking forward to it.

If the week went according to plan,

Lauryn faced the 20-hour flight on a regular basis.

It means I get to see what they're doing, and be a part of their lives.

The family faced a life-changing decision

come the end of their trial week.

In 2014,

James and Lisa Cornish lived above a pub near Sheffield with

son Sammy, who was then five, Louis, who was two,

and James's daughter Lauryn, who was 13.

James had been running the pub since 2013 after taking

voluntary redundancy as an accountant,

but being a landlord had proven much harder

than anyone had predicted.

I've been working much more than we expected -

up to, sort of, 100 hours per week.

For James, the pub has completely took over his life.

If he's not running the business, nobody is.

Lisa's job, as an accountancy lecturer at colleges

across the country, meant she was also missing out

on quality time with the children.

There have been weeks when I've left the house on a Sunday evening,

and I haven't seen the kids until the Thursday evening.

And there was no let-up at the weekends.

With Lisa drafted in to help James behind the bar,

Sammy and Louis had to stay with their grandparents.

It's a horrible feeling to feel like somebody else is...

enjoying spending time with your kids all the time.

The couple had reached breaking point.

It does upset me that I can't spend the time with the boys.

It does cause tension, just because we've both been so tired,

erm, and so stressed with everything that it's unavoidable.

Desperate for more quality time together,

Lisa and James were considering a drastic change -

moving to the other side of the world.

It might be slightly naive, but, at the moment, Australia,

to me, I'm...

I feel as though it's going to give us that family life together that

we just don't have here in the UK.

And it will strengthen our relationship

and bring us all closer together.

But while Australia could reunite James and Lisa with their boys,

it would mean James leaving a daughter behind.

Lauryn's my daughter from my first marriage,

and she spends half the time with us and half the time with her mum.

If we do decide to move out to Australia,

she will stay here until she's 18.

13-year-old Lauryn was faced with the prospect of spending

months at a time without seeing her dad and his family.

It's just... It's not ten miles down the road any more,

it's across the world.

I'd miss them a lot if they went.

But she understood their life couldn't carry on as it was.

I want them to have a better life than over here.

James and Lisa faced an agonising decision.

Being a father to her and to the boys,

it makes my decision much more difficult.

I would miss her, and I think the boys would miss her more so.

I think the boys really dote on her.

Lauryn could spend holidays down under,

but if she didn't like Australia,

Lisa and James's dream could be over.

That would be, like, a game-changer, really,

because I don't think that I could, erm...

spend my life without her.

James knew something had to give if he was to spend quality time

with his wife and young sons,

but, to make a move work,

he had to persuade Lauryn Australia could be her home for part of

the year, and come to terms with being separated from her

for months at a time.

The family visited Melbourne,

Australia's second most populated city

and capital of the state of Victoria.

Their temporary home was a three-bedroom house in Williamstown,

a popular coastal suburb 15 miles from the city centre.

Wakey-wakey!

It was the family's first chance to see what living on

the other side of the world could be like.

It looks lovely.

-Let's go in and have a look.

-Come on, then.

Oh!

It looks lovely. Open-staired.

Yeah. It's really modern, actually. I like that.

First impressions were good, but then...

I'm not so sure there that would be enough space.

-No, we're used to more space than this.

-Long-term.

Upstairs, Lauryn wasn't impressed with the views.

-It's not unique.

-There's no...

real wildlife or anything to look at.

They had just arrived, but James and Lauryn's thoughts

were already turning towards possibly being separated.

It's something that we've, kind of, put on the back-burner to say,

"How do we all really feel about

"spending four or five months apart at a time?"

This week in Australia is going to be really important,

because it's going to change our lives, really,

whichever way we choose.

It was a case of upstairs-downstairs for the Cornishes in the UK,

living above the pub James managed.

We've got three bedrooms.

The boys share a room, and Lauryn's got her own bedroom as well,

but we don't have a huge amount of space.

It doesn't really feel like home to us.

Whenever we sit upstairs and get any time off,

it feels like people are in your house.

More space was at the top of James' wish list for a property down under.

Modern, spacious, with four or five bedrooms.

Plenty of room for the kids to play.

James and Lisa had a budget of £250,000-£300,000

for a home in Australia,

but could possibly stretch further depending on their salaries.

To give them an idea of Melbourne's property market,

we showed them three houses -

two based on their budget,

and a third based on everything they wanted.

Only after they had seen each one did they find out its value.

The search began in Werribee, a suburb 20 miles west of the city.

With good commuting links, plenty of schools and green spaces,

it's a family-friendly area which could have been perfect

for the Cornishes.

I really like the area, kind of, driving through.

The outside wasn't overly impressive.

It looks quite...dated.

But appearances can be deceptive.

Oh.

Oh, this wasn't what I was expecting.

Now... I want to see the rest of it now.

Yeah, I do, too.

The property had the open-plan interiors Lisa wanted,

but did it have the space James craved?

I think once we get the kids' toys in here and everything,

I think we'd struggle for space and we'd feel cramped again.

The kitchen wasn't perfect either.

-Certain parts of it...

-Yeah.

-..feel modern and updated,

and other parts don't.

The house did have five bedrooms, though,

meaning Sammy and Louis could have their own rooms,

and Lauryn, too, if she visited,

and there was plenty of room for storage, too.

Wow! This is a walk-in wardrobe and a half.

It's just that everything at home is so cramped.

So, did the house have all the space needed?

Oh, gosh.

-Wow.

-Wow.

Not in every sense. LISA LAUGHS

I don't know who was going to fit in that bath.

-Louis.

-Louis!

-LAUGHTER

-Oh, I can't take this seriously.

Fortunately, the garden wasn't quite as cramped.

This is far more what we were looking for.

You like this one, don't you?

Yeah, and from the windows upstairs,

you'll have a view of the garden and the trees and things.

The house was somewhere Lauryn could call a second home,

but could the family afford it on their £250,000-£300,000 budget?

OK, how much do you think this one's worth?

210,000.

It's going to go under the 200 mark, maybe something around 185, 190.

I'm going to say 230.

230?

-OK.

-Shall we have a look?

-Yes, go on, then.

-Oof!

-Oof!

-Oh, dear.

Wow. 262.

That's a lot more than I was expecting...

-That's not justifiable, to me, at all.

-No.

It was within budget, but James and Lisa were clearly hoping for

much more for their money.

Would property number two fit the bill?

It was situated in Tarneit,

just 15 miles from Melbourne's central business district.

Offering parks, schools,

shopping centres and the modern style of housing Lisa was after,

it could have been a perfect match.

That's way bigger!

-This looks nice and big.

-It looks lovely.

Straight away, the property looked more promising.

-Oh, gosh, James, it goes back quite a way as well.

-Wow.

After living over a pub, all that room was definitely a bonus...

It's got three living rooms.

..and there was one space James was more than happy with.

Oh, wow! This is my room!

Yeah, so I can see, sort of, like, a little bar area in the corner.

But the garden wasn't ideal for everyone.

Yeah, there's loads of space - it's just not two-year-old friendly.

The house inside, though, is fantastic.

I'm a little bit disappointed with the outside.

Downstairs had provoked mixed reactions, but, upstairs,

the master bedroom with a balcony appealed to both Lisa and James.

It's not like it's got an amazing view or anything like that,

but it's green and it's pleasant.

This is a lovely en-suite.

His and hers sinks.

His and hers sinks...

This house would also give Lauryn her own bedroom,

and that could seal the deal when it came to persuading her to visit,

but, with a budget of between £250,000 and £300,000,

was it affordable?

OK, so what do you think it's worth, then?

I'd say probably about £270,000.

I was going to say a little bit more than that.

I think round about £290,000, £300,000.

-Shall we have a look?

-Yeah.

Let's have a look.

Wow!

-Spot-on.

-295.

-You get a lot for your money.

I think if we had the dream,

it would be a new build with this space and a bigger garden.

Next up, the dream property, a house that, if money was no object,

could offer everything the Cornishes wanted.

The four-bedroom bungalow was in Sanctuary Lakes,

one of 20 modern estates making up the semirural but family-friendly

suburb of Point Cook.

And first impressions were good.

Every single house in this street I'd quite happily live in, I think.

Lisa was sold already.

Oh, wow.

That is just stunning.

Oh, James!

-Oh, my God.

-Crikey.

-And this is just the en-suite.

-Yeah.

Further down the hallway, something everyone could enjoy.

Oh, wow.

Oh, it's a proper cinema room.

Just imagine when that's got projected.

-I'd definitely come out and visit!

-With everyone impressed,

James was already wondering how he could afford it.

I think I'd get two jobs to get this house.

-It is a dream house.

-It's perfect.

And outside, a chance for the boys to dip their toes into what life in

Australia could be like.

-Tickles!

-How would you like to live here and have this in your garden?

-Yeah!

The house offered everything James and Lisa wanted,

but would Lauryn be happy with it as a second home?

It'd be worth not living with you!

Well, it wouldn't, but

it would at the same time,

knowing that I'd get to come out to this for two or three months, yeah,

-maybe more.

-With everyone won over,

they were keen to find out if their £250,000 to £300,000 budget would

be enough to buy a house like this.

-It's going to be a lot.

-I think it's going to be nearer £550,000.

-£550,000?

-Yeah.

Time to see who was right.

-£404,000.

-Oh, that's unbelievable!

It was £100,000 over-budget.

But... Oh, we could still have that.

That almost makes me cry!

I'm completely and utterly speechless that we could get

this house in this location for that amount of money.

It had been a day of real ups and downs for the Cornishes.

Property one was bang on budget, but short on space.

Property two had plenty of room,

but it just wasn't the house James and Lisa had based their dreams on.

But property three had everything the family wanted,

and with the right salaries could still be affordable.

So, based on the houses that we've seen in Australia, we're voting for...

-Australia!

-Undecided.

No surprise that we voted for the same thing,

given how pleased we were with the last house.

We could never afford that at home.

Lauryn would take a bit more work,

but seeing the dream house had got Lisa and James excited about a

potential future in Australia.

Still, the couple knew that to afford the property,

they'd need to be pulling in a good income.

In the UK, Lisa had spent 11 years as an accountant before becoming an

accountancy lecturer.

It was a job she loved and hoped to continue Down Under.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to teach them all levels through their

accountancy qualification,

and eventually see them leaving as a fully qualified accountant.

James planned to call time on being a landlord and return to accounting.

And research had given him confidence work would be available.

Mainly we've looked at sort of the central government roles,

which is what we're used to here in the UK.

Melbourne's a leading financial centre in Australia,

which was good news for the couple.

But Lisa knew just how much was at stake.

Unless we can find a job at the right salary level, there's no way

on Earth we're going to be able to financially make the move.

We had arranged for visa applicant Lisa to visit Box Hill Institute,

a college east of Melbourne, where she met Colin Hardie,

Head of the Business Studies Department.

To get a teaching job here,

the minimum qualification is a certificate in training and assessment.

That will take you about a month.

You have certainly more than the minimum to get employed as a teacher.

However, in the current environment,

we would highly recommend more qualifications,

higher level qualifications, breadth and depth,

and that will maximise your chances of employment,

and also maximise your salary.

It sounded like Lisa might be back at school herself if she was to

stand out from candidates chasing lecturing roles.

Which meant more pressure for James to find the perfect job.

To get to the bottom of accounting opportunities,

he met Susan Drews from one of the city's prominent recruitment companies.

So, really, looking at your experience,

your skills in government, I believe could be very transferable into

the state government here or a public sector environment.

James could be in demand.

Back at Box Hill, Lisa was keen to hear her potential salary

if she found a job.

Some of the jobs that I'd been looking at were in the region of £80,000 to £100,000.

I estimate at least that you would come in at about the middle of the

lecturer range, which would be a salary of about 60,000 to 70,000 per year.

It was a massive £50,000 less than Lisa had hoped for,

which could signal the end of her and James's dream.

We would want the standard of living that would offer the boys and

ourselves a much better lifestyle.

If James's potential earnings weren't high enough,

it looked like leaving Lauryn might not be an issue after all.

So, what sort of salary do you think I'd be able to command in Australia?

Look, I think realistically you'd be looking at anything at about that

sort of 80,000 mark.

Which, to be honest with you, is more than what I was on in the UK.

Lisa and James had had completely different experiences.

So, how did it affect their vote?

Did they choose work in Australia or the UK?

BOTH: Australia!

Although the salary expectations in lecturing are immediately a lot

less, it just means that we'll have to have a rethink and maybe look at

some different opportunities for me in the short term.

In terms of what it'll give us as a family, moving away from the pub,

and everything that goes with that,

I still think we'll be better off out here.

With Lisa prepared to consider different options,

the couple's dream was still intact.

But James needed to establish if the benefits Australia offered his

family would outweigh the time he'd be spending apart from daughter Lauryn.

A day sampling Australia's lifestyle could make all the difference.

The Cornishes spent the day at Latrobe Golf Park in Bundoora.

Before becoming consumed with running the pub, James was a keen golfer.

And he hoped that if he and Lisa got more time with Sammy and Louis,

they could all practice the sport together.

Yay!

It was a reminder of what the move was all about.

We don't spend a huge amount of time together as a family

and moving to Australia would offer us the opportunity to have that time

back, and for us to feel like a family again.

This is fun!

It was a real taste of what life could be like.

And James was delighted to get quality time with his boys.

I can honestly say I've never really seen them that happy,

as they have been this week.

They can go and play together,

and even myself and Lisa are getting involved in that,

and it's not something we can do at home.

The family rounded their day off at the driving range.

And James and Lauryn enjoyed some father-daughter time,

and the chance to discuss what moving would mean for their relationship.

So, how would you feel if we came out here?

Well, I'd be upset, but...

I'd be happy for you as well.

You'd be happy to see us for two or three months per year

rather than every week?

Oh... I'd get used to it.

Just like I got used to not seeing you and Mum together.

And you're not abandoning me.

-Really? Are you sure?

-I'm saying that because that's how I feel.

OK.

It had been a fun and thought-provoking day.

So when it came to choosing between lifestyle in Australia and the UK,

what did they opt for?

ALL: Australia!

It's just nice to be able to spend time together as a family.

A unanimous vote for Australia was all well and good,

but with Lisa's projected salary much lower than expected,

the family needed to find out whether they could afford to make the move.

We had provided a breakdown of their living expenses,

starting with their fortnightly grocery shop.

Quite a lot of the vegetables and things doubled.

Beef's a lot cheaper, chicken's a lot cheaper.

Most things are more expensive, though, aren't they, let's face it,

as we go down the list. 73% more expensive.

£135 per month more on food wasn't a deal-breaker,

but how did the bigger figures stack up?

James and Lisa based calculations on the second property they viewed.

Gas is half the price.

The childcare would be more expensive because we wouldn't have

grandparents looking after the kids.

Overall, Lisa and James would spend £600 more per month in Australia.

The dream would live or die on their potential salaries.

My salary would be £543 more.

Yours would be £2 less.

We would be £70.85 better off per month in Australia.

If Lisa lectured Down Under,

the family would be around £70 better off each month.

Not bad, but not enough to pay for regular flights for Lauryn.

If I went back into accounting,

we'd be £10,606.20 per year better off.

Even if we had the dream house,

if I was in accounting, and you were too,

then we'd still be £5,326 better off per year.

It's a huge difference.

-I can't believe that.

-It's a huge difference.

Lisa and James could afford the life they were desperate for,

and flights for Lauryn.

So how did they vote?

Australia!

-Are you happy?

-Yeah, I'm happy again!

Financially, Lisa and James's dream seemed achievable.

But what about the emotional cost?

While Sammy and Louis were looked after by a childminder,

the rest of the family were keen to watch messages from loved ones in the UK.

Hope you're having a fantastic time.

We don't want you to come back with a tan because we don't want to look

pasty next to you!

As a family, Lisa and James are really, you know, hard-working,

dedicated to their family, to the kids.

James is a top bloke, and, yeah, if you were to go,

I'd miss him very much.

Lisa doesn't just do something, she overdoes it,

if you know what I mean. She really looks into things.

She's very sort of like, confident in herself, and the things she does.

Because I lack in that area, it's nice, because that bit

rubs off and then I feel confident enough to go and do things.

So it's nice. I don't think she realises that she does that.

Lauryn's a lovely young girl.

She has sprung from being a little girl at the beginning of last summer

to being quite a young lady, really, hasn't she?

And she's, yeah, she's a really good big sister to the boys, isn't she?

Our Sammy, you know what, like, I've said to James and Lisa, you lot go,

but leave Sammy here with me because I don't want him to go,

I really don't!

Louis is lovely. Louis is coming on smashing.

I can honestly say that

since I knew...

..I've been the saddest that I've ever been in my life.

I'd miss the physical contact,

and although we'll be able to see them on Skype and talk to her

and everything like that...

..I would look forward to the cuddles when I do see them,

so they'd have to save them all up.

I know it's going to be hard when they go, if they do go.

It's a fantastic opportunity, and if you think you can make it work,

-then do it, because it might be one of the best decisions you've ever made.

-Yeah, definitely.

We know we've told you we'll miss you,

but we've also said that we wouldn't stand in your way if you went,

if you made the decision to go.

I will really, really miss you.

Obviously I know it's going to be hard. Especially with Lauryn.

But I want you to do what's best for you and be happy.

Just make sure, James and Lisa, that you look at everything...

..before you make any decisions whatsoever.

And come back safe.

I can see now how much it is going to affect

me and everyone else, but I could see that before.

It's just... How I will cope with it.

Lauryn had given her blessing for the family's move to Australia,

but James still needed to decide if the lifestyle he and Lisa yearned

for with their sons was worth the time he'd lose with his daughter.

Had Australia lived up to the dream?

It's been fascinating to see the Australian culture and look round

some fantastic houses.

Experience what Australia has got to offer for us.

There's parts of the week that have been really good,

parts of the week that have put my mind into doubt as to whether a move

to Australia is right for us.

James was still wrestling with the positive and negative implications

-of a move, too.

-This thing for me with the decision is Lauryn.

She's my daughter, she's my first-born,

and she means everything to me.

Obviously I'd be sad if they did choose Australia,

but I'd much rather them be happy than to have to

stop and...

crush their dreams.

It was time for the whole family to decide where their future lay.

ALL: Australia!

-Has everyone put Australia?

-Yeah!

-Cool.

-Wow!

The writing's on the wall for us to come out here.

I voted Australia for you and for coming out here twice a year,

maybe when I turn 18 I could come out and have a year out.

-Did you vote UK or did you vote Australia?

-Australia.

-Australia! Shout it out.

-Australia!

With Lauryn happy to spend months at a time in Australia,

James had decided a move Down Under could give the rest of his family

the time together they were missing in the UK.

So, two years on,

it's time to find out where the Cornishes are now calling home.

It's April 2016, and the family are living in Point Cook, Australia.

James, Lisa and the boys moved into their modern four-bedroom house in

this western suburb 60 miles from Melbourne days after arriving back

in the country a year ago.

We landed on the Wednesday evening.

We went viewing rental properties on the Saturday,

which is the kind of common day for open houses in Australia,

and we got a phone call first thing on the Monday morning to say that

we'd been accepted for a rental property,

and we could come and collect the keys that afternoon.

So it was less than a week between landing and moving into our house

that we're in now.

The area's where the family viewed their dream home during the trial

week, and they couldn't be happier in their new surroundings.

And this is our kitchen area.

James does most of the cooking.

I can bake, but he does most of the evening meals for the family here,

and the cooker's great, because we can fit two lots of

Yorkshire puddings in there, if we want to.

The house that we've got now, you know,

we couldn't really ask for much more. It's huge.

All the kids have got their own bedrooms,

Lauryn's got her own room when she comes and visits,

and we've got a huge master bedroom with ensuite.

So one of the really great things about this space is something that

we never ever heard in the UK, and that's our walk-in wardrobe.

And James gets 50% of this, which I think's really unfair.

I think we take for granted a lot of the time what we've got now,

but looking back to what we had in the UK,

and particularly what we had when we were living over the pub,

it's a million miles away from what we were used to back them.

This is my bedroom, and it's got lots of toys in it.

We love the lifestyle here.

It's just set up for living.

We've got a golf course on the doorstep, tennis courts,

golf driving range. We've got a swimming pool, we've got a gym,

all within two minutes' drive of the house or ten minutes' walk.

We are right next to the coast, so if we want to go to the beach,

we've got that on the doorstep, as well.

The lifestyle they had glimpsed during the trial week has become

their reality, and, looking back,

James and Lisa were never in any doubt that it would.

We'd fallen in love with Melbourne, we'd fallen in love with Australia,

and if someone had told me at that point in time, you stay here,

we'll pack up your bags in England, I'd have done it in a heartbeat.

We both actually said to each other that it felt like we were leaving

home when we got on the plane to go back to the UK.

We started the visa application process pretty much as soon as we

got off the plane back in the UK.

There was a lot of work to be done,

in terms of wrapping up the business and applying for jobs,

and planning the move out here.

They also had to tell loved ones they were going.

They knew deep down this was going to happen.

It wasn't an easy task to break the news to family and friends,

by any means,

but most of them understood the reasons why.

Their visa was through just six months later.

And before leaving the UK,

Lisa had been fortunate enough to secure an accountancy job at Melbourne University.

And I did all of my interviews over video, over the internet, for that.

It was a very strange process for me,

sitting in the kitchen at 9.30pm at night with my tablet stacked up on

cookery books so that it was at the right height.

But I was fortunate enough to eventually get the job.

The family left the UK in April 2015,

after a bit of a do to mark their departure.

We had in Australia themed party.

One of our closest friends made a huge Australia flag cake.

We had shapes from Arnott's,

and all sorts of Tim Tams and things like that.

It was great fun.

But not everything was as enjoyable.

James still had to face the reality of putting 10,000 miles between him

and his daughter, Lauryn.

The last goodbye to Lauryn on the morning that we came away was really

difficult. We were both in tears, you know,

it was up until half an hour before we were laughing and joking,

and then it all of a sudden became real.

You know, when we said goodbye, and sort of waved her off,

as we drove off down the road. It was really, really difficult,

and probably the first couple of days after that, it was really raw.

Good boy, well done.

It was a difficult time for everyone.

However, once back in Australia,

the family threw themselves into setting up their new life.

Our first week here was really fast-paced.

Obviously, I started work really quickly,

and during that time period we also needed to get the boys registered

into childcare, and into school, get Medicare cards,

get driving licences sorted.

It felt like we were doing something, if not 20 things, every single day.

It was a real whirlwind.

Well done. He's doing well, isn't he?

We literally had nothing when we came here.

We had 24 boxes on a ship somewhere,

with kids toys and clothes and things,

but that was everything that we'd brought.

So we had to set up a new house, and a new home and a new life.

Fortunately, it didn't take Lisa long to settle into her new job as a

business intelligence manager.

I love my work. I really enjoy working for the university.

Work was a concern to me during the trial week,

because I loved the job that I did in the UK.

In retrospect, I could never have imagined how brilliant

the job that I've got here would be.

James spent the first few months getting Sammy and Louis settled

Down Under, and now they're delighted with their new homeland.

Perfect. Go on, knock daddy's out the way, Louis.

I like Australia because it's got nice, hot places and kangaroos are really funny.

The boys are really well settled. Sammy's in school.

He's doing great in school,

and Louis goes to kinder, and also day-care.

He's in a fantastic place as well, he absolutely loves it,

and they're both learning languages, so Sammy's learning Japanese,

and Louis is learning a little bit of Chinese at the moment.

And Sammy's learning guitar at school, as well,

and we're getting them more and more involved in sports.

The whole family have made lots of new friends.

Early on when we first got here,

there were a lot of informal arranged meet ups at parks,

where families were openly invited to turn up with the sole purpose of

meeting new people.

And we got a lot of friends out of that initially.

And some of who we are really, really close with now, and who we'd

state are our closest friends.

Two months after they'd arrived,

Lauryn made her first trip out to visit them.

I was really excited to see her.

She walked through the doors, and obviously we ran up and gave each

other a big hug, and she was here for around seven weeks,

and in that time I wasn't working.

It was fantastic to be able to spend quality time with her.

Sammy was delighted to have his sister back, too.

I miss Lauryn because she's really nice and helpful.

James and Lisa made sure Lauryn's first visit was as memorable as possible.

We were conscious that she was leaving the UK summer behind and

coming out to the Australian winter, so we decided to take a drive,

and jumped in the car and drove up to the Gold Coast,

which was a long trek.

We had a week up there in the sunshine.

-Hello!

-Thanks to technology,

the family regularly stay in touch with loved ones back home, too.

Oh, we saw that on the forecast this morning. It was going to snow.

It said eight degrees...

Lisa's mum and dad have already been out to visit, and plan to return for Christmas.

We've got a lot of visitors this year.

Lauryn will be out here three times this year, in total,

so we're going to see a lot of her, as well, which is great.

So it's going to be a busy house. So I'm grateful for the extra space.

My dad and stepmum have been out already, and they had a great time.

My mum and stepdad are planning to come out in June this year.

We've always got somebody coming through the door and visiting us

so it's good fun.

Meanwhile, James has just started his first permanent job in Australia,

working as a finance manager, also at Melbourne University.

-PHONE RINGS

-Hello, James speaking.

It's the perfect job for me. It's exactly what I was used to in the UK,

in terms of business partnering and budget management,

and I think there's a lot of scope to build the role.

So, yeah, I can see myself being here for a long time.

It has another added bonus in the fact that I actually work with Lisa

in the same office. Our roles are interconnected,

so we work very closely together.

Mixing business with pleasure doesn't seem to be a problem for the Cornishes.

It's something we've done before,

but we're still kind of learning what it means for us here.

But the best bit is they've finally

managed to address their work/life balance.

My boss gives me an amount of flexibility with my start times and

finish times, which allows me to manage the childcare,

and for James and I to alternate drop-offs and pick-ups,

so that we both get to spend time with the kids on a morning and an

afternoon, and it's a far better lifestyle than we had in the UK.

The couple have also recently celebrated another milestone Down Under.

When James and I first got married,

we made a commitment to renew our wedding vows every five years.

We spoke with one of the local pubs,

and arranged to have our vows renewed by one of our friends unofficially,

and had a Neighbours-themed wedding,

where Lisa and I got dressed up as Scott and Charlene,

and we had all the guests came as various characters from Neighbours.

It was a lot of fun, and it

allowed James and I to renew our wedding vows,

and also mark the fact that this was our first year here in Australia.

-On your marks...

-Set... Go!

It's been a hectic 12 months,

but all in all it sounds like moving Down Under has been everything Lisa

and James hoped it would be.

The best thing about life in Australia for us is the family time that we

get together, and the weather, and what that enables us to do.

It's quite a nice night tonight.

It's lovely. We wouldn't be doing this back in the UK.

-No.

-There's no chance of that.

Weekends now are spent going out to zoos and to beaches and parks,

and to people's houses for barbecues and things like that.

It might sound stereotypical, but this is genuinely what we do.

And having recently purchased some land,

they already have plans to build their own home.

The house that we're building will be our dream house,

so we've built it with a cinema room in there, we've got

a huge master bedroom for us, we've got...

All the kids have got their own rooms with walk-in wardrobes,

huge play area for the kids.

And we've also

made provisions for building a swimming pool in the back garden,

so the kids can enjoy that, as and when they want to.

Having come 10,000 miles for the life they wanted,

it looks like the Cornishes will be staying put.

I would definitely say that our family's future lies in Australia.

It just feels like home, and it has since we first got here.

THEY LAUGH AND SHOUT

The only thing that could make it better now would be if Lauryn was

here on a permanent basis,

but we both appreciate that that's not a possibility at the moment.

But, yeah, I think all in all everything on balance,

we're pretty much living the dream.

How about a seagull?

It's been an eventful few years for the Cornishes,

and while leaving Lauryn in the UK hasn't been easy for anyone,

it seems the move really has given Lisa and James more quality time

with Sammy and Louis.

We wish the whole family a very happy future together in the country

they have so quickly made themselves home in.