Sanders Wanted Down Under Revisited

Most single parents rely on the support of close friends and family,

so to move just about as far away as possible from that support

is a huge decision.

This is exactly the dilemma faced by Becci Sanders back in 2008.

We gave her and her 11-year-old son Keelan the chance to test-drive life in Australia.

Today we're meeting up with the Sanders to find out if Becci was

brave enough to turn her and Keelan's world quite literally upside down.

Single mum Becci Sanders and her 11-year-old son Keelan

wanted to swap the daily grind in England for a new life in Australia.

Keelan hoped that a move would mean more quality time with his mum.

We'll be doing a lot more, I reckon, in Australia which we wouldn't do here.

But the realities of moving so far from friends and family hit them hard.

It's going to be really hard here without you.

Do you want a hug?

So did they have the courage to make the move? Where are they now?

In 2008, Becci Sanders, from Northampton,

was facing a life-changing decision,

whether to stay in the UK or to uproot and move with her son Keelan

thousands of miles away from her friends and family to Australia?

We gave them a week to experience every aspect of life down under, but what happened next?

Becci and Keelan lived with their dog Munchie in Northampton.

Becci trained as an occupational therapist

but was working as a mental health advocate.

She'd hoped finding the right job in Australia would be their ticket out of the UK.

I want to make a difference to people's lives and I would think

that everyone who does nursing and OT and social work

would probably say the same thing.

I don't feel as if I'm able to

put that into practice here because of the restraints with

funding and budgets and stuff and I just feel that there'll be more opportunities and I'll be able to

really make a difference to people's lives somewhere else.

Aside from work, Becci had her own personal reasons for wanting a new life in Australia.

For four or five months of the year, I suffer quite badly from depression.

My life is pretty much governed by seasonal affective disorder.

It means that during the winter months I do very little.

I get up in the morning and sort Keelan out for school, and I go to work and I come home and sleep.

It obviously has an effect on Keelan as well.

Well, it affects me because even the slightest thing could make her really angry at me...

..which I don't like.

He has to do a lot more during the winter

to help me out around the house. A lot more housework,

so yeah, I do feel very, very guilty that I need to rely on him sometimes.

I've got a very, very strong relationship with my mum.

I look after her when she's ill and she looks after me when I'm ill.

Becci and Keelan have a strong support network

and moving so far away would plunge them into a life without friends or family to fall back on.

'Is this what they really wanted?'

'My mum will miss her best friend Heather a lot

'because if one of them's had a bad day they'll go and see the other and cheer them up.'

So that's what my mum will miss most. She'll miss her friends.

There isn't a day that goes by that we don't talk to each other.

That is going to be the weirdest thing.

I don't think you realise how much you rely on someone until they're not around.

I don't even want to think about it cos I'll get all upset.

Becci had a huge decision ahead

so to make the process a little easier,

we arranged for her and son Keelan to try out life for one week

in the capital of the northern territory, Darwin.

Becci and Keelan travelled 9,000 miles to Australia, giving them plenty of time

to consider what lay ahead and how they would cope on their own.

They landed at Darwin Airport after a 22-hour journey.

Slightly apprehensive cos we don't really know what will happen,

-but we're very much looking forward to it, and prepared to throw ourselves in completely.

-Yeah.

-Yep.

Their base for the week was a flat in the heart of Darwin.

Wow.

The size of the kitchen, I'll get lost.

-It's a huge room.

-It is, actually.

-It's really big.

-Wow.

Oh, wow. Balcony's big.

It was a positive start to a soul-searching week that potentially was to change their lives for ever.

In 2008, Becci and Keelan were living in a rented two-bedroom house in Northampton.

As a single mum, Becci's finances were limited

so she wasn't looking to buy a house in Australia straightaway.

She had a budget of up to £750 a month to spend on rent.

Would the three properties we showed her in Darwin convince her she would get more for her money in Australia?

The first was a two-bedroom flat in Coconut Grove

and would cost Becci around £750 a month,

the same as she was paying in the UK.

Would this property meet her expectations?

Yeah. More brick walls.

It's too built up. There's no garden.

It could be a property absolutely anywhere in the world and I want to feel as if I'm in Australia.

It doesn't feel good.

It just feels like it's anywhere.

No, not us, is it?

No.

There is a garden area, look.

-Yeah.

-But obviously you'd have to share that with everybody else.

They don't feel like it's somewhere that you could live.

And I'm sure people do live in them and quite happily, but it's not what we're looking for.

One of the reasons we want to get out of the UK is because everybody is living on top of everybody else

and it feels quite claustrophobic and this has exactly the same feeling,

although the weather's nice and the apartments are lovely,

it still feels as though you're all scrunched into a very small space.

-That's not really what we're looking for, is it?

-No.

Affordable property in the centre of Darwin certainly failed to hit the right buttons.

The second property was in the suburb of Nightcliff.

This two-bedroom house was £50 under their monthly budget.

But would they get more for their money living in the outskirts?

Oh, wow.

It is gorgeous.

That's really nice.

Oh, wow. It's beautiful.

Yeah, that'll do!

So this would be your room.

-It's nice.

-Without the extra bed there'd be a lot more room.

-There would, yeah.

-I like that.

-It is nice.

This is my ideal garden with all the tropical plants.

-It's already got the plants there. It's got all this space.

-Yeah.

Patio area.

It's beautiful.

The inside is possibly slightly smaller than I thought it would be

but then the outside space is just so fantastic.

We wouldn't spend that much time inside anyway.

This house seemed to be more what they expected from an Australian home

but what would they make of property three?

This flat at Myilly Point had two bedrooms, two bathrooms and was a stone's throw from the sea.

At just over £840 per month, it was more than Becci was hoping to spend.

But if Becci's dreams were going to be fulfilled she needed to explore all the options.

-Lovely.

-Yeah. So much room.

This is quite a big room. Completely different style of apartment, isn't it?

-It's 100% different, yeah.

-Really, really nice.

That's stunning.

-I can see the sea.

-Oh, wow.

-How close is that?!

-That's very close.

-The sand's just there.

I might have to cut a hole in the trees, just so you can see right through.

-We should have brought our swimming costumes, shouldn't we?

-Yeah.

It's lovely.

Although over budget, this flat changed their minds about apartment living.

But was it good enough to make them decide to move halfway across the world?

Would the Sanders vote for rental property at home in the UK or in Australia?

So on the basis of the three properties we've seen today

and compared to the property we've got at home, our vote has to be...

BOTH: Australia!

It was a thumbs up for property, but it was not the most important thing on Becci's list.

Right at the top was the weather and the huge improvement she hoped this would make to her health.

The SAD has a huge effect in the UK.

There's only sort of three or four months of the year where we actually go out and do outside activities,

and the rest of the time we're cocooned in the house and it has an effect on Keelan as well

because we do things together.

If I don't feel like going out, then he doesn't get to go out either.

I can't see it being a problem out here at all.

It's pretty much always sunny.

I feel like a different person.

I've only been here a few days and I feel completely different already.

It was becoming clear how much they needed to make this move.

Everything hinged on Becci's work prospects in Australia.

In the UK, Becci was a mental health advocate and hoped to develop her career in Australia.

I want to make a difference to people's lives.

I don't feel as if I'm able to put that into practice here because of the restraints with

funding and budgets and stuff and I just feel that there'll be more opportunities and I'll be able to

really make a different to people's lives somewhere else.

It was her qualifications in occupational therapy which would get her a visa to live in Australia.

But would spending a day at Darwin private hospital

persuade her that working down under was right for her?

So, I gather you're out here to find out a little bit about the occupational therapy opportunities?

Yeah, definitely.

It's amazing the sorts of things that people will do to their hands,

unfortunately, sometimes in the line of work,

and sometimes sporting accidents, motor vehicle accidents.

We've even had injuries from crocodile bites, which aren't

very nice injuries because of the risk of infection. Things like dingo bites as well.

-Not something we get in the UK.

-Yeah. Yeah!

The chances for Becci for finding employment are pretty good,

though I would say she would have to be prepared to probably go to more remote areas of Australia,

certainly in the Northern Territory,

Alice Springs and Katherine are always looking for OTs.

So I'm sure Becci would find work if she chose to come out here, yeah.

The only work opportunities might be in the more remote parts of Australia

so would Becci still think the move was worthwhile?

Having spent some time with Katrina today and getting a better idea of what OTs do in Australia,

and although I'm aware there isn't a specific job available at the moment,

I am prepared to walk the streets and find something,

and compared to the type of OT work in the UK,

I think my vote would have to be...

..Australia.

Becci seems sure about her decision,

but if she couldn't find a job, the move to Australia would be impossible.

In the UK, Becci and Keelan didn't spend enough quality together,

but they hoped Australia would change this.

We'd do a lot more in Australia, which we wouldn't do here.

My mum will take me swimming far more

and probably cinema less because it's hot outside!

They took the opportunity to do just that and spent the day

at a crocodile park and wildlife centre to meet some of the locals.

-There's one, there's one, look.

-Look, there, there.

I like crocodiles.

I like pretty much anything that's got big sharp teeth, that's my sort of animal interest, really.

On the surface, they were having a good time,

but Becci wrestled with

the life-changing decision she would have to make at the end of the week.

The drive out here this morning was actually quite emotional.

Every day I'm seeing things that make me want to go home less and less

and the realisation that we are actually going to have to go home has really hit me and I don't want to.

For Becci, the trip was all about trying new things and this was

definitely something she wouldn't get a chance to do at home.

Yeah, go on, Mum!

Hold it steady. Hold it up. They're really fast.

You ready? Hold it up...

Well done. He didn't bite!

Well done. Well done!

'I wouldn't have believed in a million years that I would ever have fed a humungous crocodile.

'It was just incredible.'

-Thank you. That was great.

-Cheers, mate.

It has also made me realise that we both need to learn about the dangers,

and not just the crocodiles but other wildlife as well.

A new life in Australia would have been so different to their life in the UK so Becci was determined that

Keelan should get the most out of their week to help him decide.

Park curator Dyon was keen to introduce Keelan to one of his friends.

I hear you want to meet some locals.

-Oh, yeah, that'd be great.

-All right. I hope you're not scared of snakes.

This is a local carpet python. It's an albino.

Cute, or what?

She's a lovely snake.

They're very muscular and he's very quiet

and if you sort of put your hands round like this

and just support her a little bit, and she'll tend to climb and become comfortable.

Not venomous at all. They kill their prey by constricting.

It's definitely wrapping you up there!

It really pays not to pick snakes up unless you know what you're looking at.

-Yeah.

-Any snake could be a venomous snake so it's best to leave it.

So if you've got some Brits over here that knew nothing whatsoever about poisonous snakes,

we could come here and you could teach us what to look out for and what to do if we did get bitten.

-Yeah.

-And there's people you can call to come and get rid of them.

-Snake busters.

-Yeah!

Becci and Keelan had a great day together but would their vote for lifestyle reflect

the positive effect Australia could have on their relationship?

It's been very educational.

I've learnt that we need to do more research.

If we were to move out here I would definitely want to know

what type of snake I've got in my garage or my laundry.

I was looking forward to seeing crocodiles and other sort of wildlife. I enjoyed it.

It's one of the best things that I've ever done and I definitely

prefer the animals here to England and of course, you get a lot more.

I think our vote would have to be...

Australia!

Keelan was enjoying Australia, but Becci worried about him fitting in at a new school and making friends.

She hoped a day with children his own age would focus his mind.

'I think Keelan was a bit worried about going to school and spending time there.'

I've been surprised at how much he's thrown himself into it.

I am a little bit worried about taking him away from his friends and stuff in the UK,

but he can fit in pretty much anywhere and make new friends.

Becci wanted to make sure Keelan really thought hard about the move and its implications.

If he couldn't see himself becoming a young Aussie, then her dream would be over.

Whoa!

Careful of his leg.

All right, by now,

you should have your first ten words down and you should now be handling the animal.

Put words down that relate to what you feel, what you see when you're up close to him, OK?

-Spiky? Scaly?

-Scaly, I'd say.

He's the longest living dinosaur.

'Everyone seems really friendly,

'whereas in England, if you met someone they might'

seem a little bit hostile at first

and it would take a while for them to start being friendly to you.

Keelan loved the science lesson, but deep down how did he feel about starting at a new school

thousands of miles away from his friends at home?

I had a good day at school.

I made a lot of friends and work is a lot easier than it is in England. Australia.

THEY CHEER

Well, he loved school here, but helping his mum out at home during her winter depression

meant Keelan didn't always have this much time to be a child.

Keelan's happiness was always at the forefront of Becci's thoughts.

If we don't manage to come out here,

I guess we'll just go back to the routine that we were in before

where he has to be more helpful to me during the winter months

and we go back to sort of just the usual routine back in the UK,

me being on medication, him doing the things that he has to do.

Becci realised if they were to stay in the UK, their future would be tough.

She had a massive decision to make if she was to turn her and Keelan's lives around.

However positive they both felt about Australia, a new life would have a massive emotional cost.

In 2008, before making their difficult decision, we showed Becci and Keelan

some heartfelt messages from their nearest and dearest back home.

Hey, Becci, hey, Kee, how are you?

Hope everything's going really well out there.

I'd just like to say that I'm going to miss you very much,

especially when you used to come round for your dinners on Sundays.

Generally, she's usually thinking about other people and obviously,

Keelan and her really get on really well and they've got quite a good relationship.

and it spills over onto other people, really.

You can't imagine one without the other, if you know what I mean.

It's just a nice relationship.

It's nice to see them together.

It's, like, funny, I'm sure it will all be fine,

but at the moment it's like,

feeling quite sad, sort of thing.

For a lad of his age he's, you know, he's really clever

and I think he's got the maturity and the responsibility

to really make something out of this experience.

I know that Becci and Keelan are together

and they'll always have each other but you can still be lonely for

your sister who's just around the corner and the rest of the family who aren't too far away,

and I know that from my point of view I would

probably feel a bit lonely from time to time, and that's a scary thought.

I'm almost angry at her for leaving

but at the same time you can't be

because it's achieving the main thing she's ever wanted.

She deserves a better life and I won't hold her back although I will be sad and I shall miss her.

I can't wait to see you when you come back from the trip

and I'll have some chicken tatoes waiting for you when you come round.

I'm going to miss you guys so much.

You have been absolutely fabulous to me since the day I met you.

Kee, I'm so proud of everything you've done.

You've worked so hard to help your mum and support her and make her proud every single day.

And just cos you're going to Australia, don't think that has to stop.

And Becci,

it's going to be really hard here without you

but I know that every time I come to see you

you're going to be happier every time.

And you deserve it.

Look after each other and we will see you real soon.

-That was hard, watching that, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

Yeah, that was really hard.

Um...I knew that I'd get emotional with Heather's bit.

-Yeah. It was almost as if she was in the room with us.

-Yeah.

It doesn't change our potential plans, no.

Erm, I think what it does do is makes me realise that we need to be

-somewhere that friends and family can come out and visit us and stay.

-Yeah.

And that we need to keep lines of communication open, definitely,

whether that be phone or internet or whatever.

OK?

It had been a challenging week for the Sanders, with a lot to consider and a heart-wrenching choice ahead.

'I didn't think it'd be that bad, I didn't think I'd get emotional or anything,'

I thought I'd just...keep cool, but...

mm...I struggled a little bit.

If I thought that he was going to be horribly miserable out here

then I would have to think again about what we were doing and why.

'Seeing Heather, it was very emotional.'

It's almost going to be like losing a limb and probably we'll never have a friendship like that again.

So it was crunch time. Becci and Keelan had to make their final vote.

Would they choose a life in Australia with potentially better health for Becci

but without their friends and family for support, or would they decide to stay in the UK?

After what seems like a very long week here, erm...

I've decided that I really like it here.

I've enjoyed everything that I've done so far

and, even though the friends and family bit was sad, they still want to be happy for us.

Having spent the week here, I think it's made me realise

that there's more to moving to Australia than I originally thought.

Darwin has really got under my skin

and I think we've both fallen in love with Darwin completely.

If we had to choose between the UK and Australia, it would have to be...

-BOTH:

-Australia.

In 2008, the Sanders voted to move to Australia,

but, when we met them again two years on,

had they been brave to make the biggest decision of their lives?

It would be a huge emotional wrench and leaving behind loved ones

that single mum Becci relied on so much would take a lot of courage.

So, where are they now?

The Sanders are in Australia.

Becci and son Keelan made the move and are living

in rented accommodation in Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast.

They loved their trial week in Darwin but it was Becci's job that led them here.

So has Australia lived up to their dream?

Hi. Come on in. Let me show you the house.

This is the living room, and, as you can see, it's a work in progress.

We haven't got much furniture yet, but it's only been a couple of months

and we're waiting for our boxes to come over from the UK,

so when they get here we'll have a lot more junk to spread around.

This is Stevie. He is three. We got him from the pound.

That's Ozzy. He's five months old.

We got the cat the day before we actually moved into the house and he's settled in very well.

So this is the kitchen. It's bigger than the kitchen in the UK.

Still not huge but it's big enough.

We've got the dining room over there.

Still waiting for some furniture for that.

So this is my room. It's a bit smaller than the one in the UK

but I'm still adding some furniture.

Got a nice TV, games consoles

and other things to make up for it not being as big.

It's definitely starting to feel like my room.

This is a spare room.

As you can see, there's nothing in here at the moment, no furniture,

but we are expecting our first guests in a couple of months and there will be at least a bed in here by then.

This room is slightly smaller than my room in the UK.

However, I've got a huge built-in wardrobe and I've got

a lovely little en-suite bathroom

with a shower and a sink and a toilet.

Never thought I'd have an en-suite in my life, so that's fantastic,

and not having to fight for the bathroom with Keelan in the mornings is brilliant. It's great.

Having only been in Australia for a few months, it already looks

as though they have started to make a home for themselves.

But what prompted them to finally take the plunge?

The move over here happened very, very quickly.

I was offered a job and within a couple of months we were here.

It was fairly straightforward for us because we were renting in the UK

so it was just a case of giving four weeks' notice, packing the boxes up and jumping on a plane.

The move happened very quickly but was it straightforward?

It's quite expensive to do.

Whatever you think you're going to need, triple it.

'We came out here just before Christmas, didn't bring any Christmas presents so had to buy them here.

'We were staying in a resort for the first four weeks and that was very expensive,

'buying Keelan's school uniform, his books and his stationery for school,

'which is a cost that I wasn't expecting to incur.

'Also Scouts, I've had to pay for him to join Scouts and a new uniform for that as well.

'So, yeah, the costs are mounting up.

'But, settling in, we were so ready to come that it's been quite easy.'

'There's no one best thing about Australia.

'There's a lot of things. The weather's obviously always great,'

the people are nice and friendly and...I don't know, there's no one thing that you can choose.

I think the only downside really is not having my old friends and family here.

I think the hardest things have been obviously missing friends and family,

the desire to share this experience with someone who's close to you is quite strong,

so, yeah, that has been difficult,

and coming home in the evenings and wanting to chat with Heather, for example, or Mum,

just say, "This is what we've done today and this is what we've seen and it's all fantastic and exciting."

So, yeah, that's been quite tough.

Becci and Keelan are clearly missing the closeness of friends and family

but are forging a new life for themselves.

There is no room for second thoughts.

I'm not planning on moving back to the UK.

Keelan seems sure they have made the right decision.

In the UK, Becci was working as a mental-health advocate

but wanted her job to be more fulfilling.

I want to make a difference to people's lives

and I would think everyone that does nursing and OT and social work would probably say the same thing.

I don't feel as if I'm able to put that into practice here

because of the restraints with funding and budgets and stuff.

And I just feel that there'll be more opportunities and I'll be able to

really make a difference to people's lives somewhere else.

In Queensland, she's gone back to her original training

and has a position as an occupational therapist.

I've got my own caseload so I case-manage the client group.

The team try to give me clients who would benefit from OT input.

I also work with some of my colleagues' clients as well, providing specific OT assessments.

It's quite different to the job I was doing in the UK but there is an overlap as well.

I interviewed for this job in January 2009 and somebody else actually got the job

and then towards the end of 2009 I actually got an e-mail saying that that person had left

and was I still interested?

To which I said yes, very much so, and it all sort of went from there really.

All that hard work that I put in in the UK has come to fruition and we're here.

Changing jobs is hard enough but moving to a new job

in a new country with no friends is a massive undertaking.

'The team are just fantastic. They've been so welcoming and friendly and helpful.

'We've been going out for meals, meeting up after work as well, so, yeah, the team are just brilliant.'

I'm still settling in. I mean, I've been in this job for a couple of months now

and I think it will probably take me a good year to settle in properly.

There are a lot of things that I still don't know and, speaking to colleagues who have come from

various parts of the world, there are still things they don't know as well.

'So I think that's an ongoing process and it's something that just comes with time.'

My future, I intend to stay within the team for quite some time

and learn as much as I possibly can,

and then, I don't know, maybe four or five years' time, move on somewhere else and learn some more stuff.

When Keelan visited an Aussie school during his trial week, he found it easy to make friends.

Everyone seems really friendly, whereas in England, if you met someone, they might

seem a little bit hostile at first and it would take a while for them to start being friendly to you.

Visiting a school for a day is entirely different to a permanent move.

For a positive future in Australia, it's vital Keelan fits in.

Keelan seems to be settling in brilliantly. I couldn't have asked for a better reaction.

He's made loads of friends at school.

He's making friends through Scouts as well. And, yeah, he's doing absolutely fantastic.

I get on with Keelan really well. We're really good friends.

The best thing about Keelan is probably his character.

He's just really funny.

It's been really easy to make friends here.

Everyone's helpful.

I don't know if it's because of my strange accent to them

or something like that but at school, mostly, I've made a lot of new friends.

Everyone wants to become friends with him. He's got so many at school.

Keelan will settle really well into Australian life

and he's just going to make friends so fast and I can already tell that he likes it here.

I'm really happy that we moved over here.

The only thing I miss from England is my friends and family.

For Becci, leaving her best friend Heather behind

was one of the hardest decisions she ever had to make.

There certainly isn't a day that goes by when we don't talk to each other in some way.

That is going to be the weirdest thing.

I don't think you realise how much you rely on someone until they're not around

so, yeah, I don't even want to think about it cos I'll get all upset.

It's early days, but already Becci is forming some close friendships.

People here are so friendly. They'll do anything to help you.

I met Becci through work.

We both work for Queensland Health and our supervisor introduced us to one another cos she thought

it might be nice that we both know each other, both coming from England

and both having to do the same registration process to get our OT registration in Australia.

'She's very friendly and she'll do anything for you,

'if you need, you know...even just an ear to have a bit of a whinge to, which we all do sometimes!

'I think Becci loves it here. I can't see her going back to the UK. She's settled in really well.'

She's making some friends and, yeah, she just loves the whole way of life here so I can't see her going home.

It's the people, the weather, the lifestyle.

I can't say one thing that's the best.

It's just the best decision I've ever made.

Back in the UK, Becci suffered from seasonal affective disorder.

During the winter months, I do very little.

I get up in the morning and sort Keelan out for school and I go to work and I come home and sleep.

Obviously has an effect on Keelan as well.

It affects me because even the slightest thing could make her really angry at me...

..which I don't like.

This was the main reason Becci wanted to emigrate, hoping that sunnier climes

would mean a radical improvement in her health and more opportunities to spend quality time with Keelan.

We are spending more time together, definitely, although I'm working more hours here than I was in the UK.

The weekends, you go out and do things, you don't just sit in the house because of the bad weather.

There's just a lot more things to do, out and about, and we're going off and doing them together.

We've been able to go out a lot more, go to the Currumbin rock pools

or to the beach, and do a lot more family activities.

Spending more time with her, it's great. You know, I feel,

I don't know...I can't explain it.

Keelan's doing fantastically. He seems really happy and relaxed. We're working as a team.

We've always worked as a team anyway but we're still very much

working as a team and I think it's strengthened our relationship.

So they're definitely spending more time together.

Does this mean the move to Australia has had the life-changing impact

Becci hoped for and that she's at last getting better?

The seasonal affective disorder, it was quite disabling actually in the UK and was getting worse each year,

was having a huge effect on Keelan, to the point where

he was having to care for me, almost, during the winter months.

Here it just doesn't seem to be an issue at all.

My mum's done really well.

She hasn't got stressed and she's found a job which is even better than the one in England.

She's found a house, which is great.

I really think that she's settling in well to this new life.

I feel that I've wasted some time, spending time in the UK when I could have been here.

I've had a couple of wobbly days here but I think that's to be expected.

When you move halfway round the world and leave friends and family behind

you're bound to have a couple of days like that.

She's definitely happy with the decision to move over here.

I think I'm like a different person.

I think I've got more life, more spirit,

more energy.

I think I'm easier to get along with for Keelan.

He doesn't have to do so much looking after me.

Erm...yeah.

The move to Australia has turned Becci's life around

and has had a massive positive effect on both her and Keelan

but how will they react seeing poignant messages from home?

Hi, Becci, Keelan.

Hi, Becci. Hi, Keelan.

Hey, Becs. Hey, Kee.

When I first met Becci at university, it was when I was having a really hard time when I was there

and the first thing she did was run up to me and gave me a big hug when I was having just the most awful day.

Whenever I needed a hug, whenever I needed somebody to be there,

she's always the one that comes round and always has been.

I miss Keelan a lot,

cos he used to tease me about being small, cos he's quite tall,

and cos I've got little feet he used to call me Little Feet.

When we spent time together, what we'd normally do is...

..we'd normally just sit and drink tea and put the world to rights, and...

Keelan would normally take the mickey out of me.

Everybody's picking on me now!

We knew for a long time that Becci's always wanted to go abroad to the sun because of her SAD,

because she really did get depressed in the winter and it was quite bad,

it was quite upsetting for her and for Kee,

and for us really, but we always knew that she wanted to go to the sun so it wasn't a shock really.

She's proved that with a... so much effort you can get there and be so happy.

I was really happy for her to go because I knew that's what she wanted to do

but, for me, I knew that I would be sort of missing her,

and that was quite hard,

and...but I just sort of thought to myself, "Well, it's what she wants,

"and I can't stand in the way for my feelings," so I just supported her as much as I possibly could.

I think going out there's definitely everything that she dreamed of.

I really don't think there's a single thing that she'd change,

apart from to attach a lead to us all and bring us all over there with her.

I think that's the only thing that would complete the picture for her.

She doesn't come for dinner any more. I find that quite hard

and I'm sort of looking round and thinking, "She'll be here..."

When I forget, I think, "She'll be here soon, I'll put the dinner on and they'll be arriving,"

but obviously she doesn't.

But I think that's the hard bit, because it was always a regular thing.

Most days when I'm at work I'll check to see what the local time is

and see if I can phone them or think about what they might be up to at that particular time of day.

Yeah, it's definitely hit home that they've gone.

Just want to let you know that I'm still thinking about you every day

and I'm so proud of you for making the move, and I know that you're really enjoying yourselves out there

and obviously we miss you and we love you, so big hug.

I've missed you both so much.

It's so hard when I want to be able to see you and you're not there.

Please, you two, just keep looking after each other.

Keep loving each other.

I'm so happy for you and I love you both very much.

I really, really miss you but I'm really glad everything's going really well for you.

I miss you really, really loads and loads and loads

and when I get out to you we're going to have a really big hug,

so have a lovely life and goodbye.

That last little bit, where Nana just like...

It's easier than the first one.

-Yeah, possibly.

-I don't get why.

-No.

Thought it would be harder because...

last time we knew we were going to see them again.

I think I maybe found it harder this time,

watching that.

Although Keelan took that well, for Becci, seeing her loved ones was very difficult.

Now they're in Australia, have they definitely made the right decision?

It's time for one last vote.

So this has been the best thing we've ever done, it's a huge adventure,

so based on that our vote is going to be...

-BOTH:

-Australia.

Although it's clearly been a heart-wrenching decision for Becci and Keelan

to pack up their lives and move halfway around the world, it looks as though it was the right choice

and the sun is now definitely shining for both of them.

Join us again, when we catch up with another family on Wanted Down Under Revisited.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd