Horn Wanted Down Under Revisited

Persuading your teenage children to leave their lives behind them

for a new start abroad is no easy matter.

In 2010, that was the challenge faced by Andy and Lynn Horn

when they sampled life in Australia.

Today, we're going to find out

how they coped with that potentially heart-breaking choice.

For 30 years, Lynn Horn believed in the idea of a better life down under,

but her children didn't share that dream.

I'm not only losing a boyfriend, I'm losing a friend.

And if the numbers wouldn't add up,

could the Horns really afford the life Lynn hoped for?

I'm just realising it might not ever, ever happen.

Especially if it came at the cost of splitting the family in two.

I couldn't stay in England and have these three in Australia. Couldn't do it.

One year on, we're catching up with the Horns

to find out how and where they are now.

In 2010, the Horn family faced a life-changing decision -

whether to stay in the UK or to move to Australia.

We gave them one week to experience life down under

but what's happened since we last met them?

Self-employed glazer Andy and pre-school teacher Lynn Horn

lived in Herne Bay in Kent.

Their son Chris was aged 18, and daughter Kirsty, 17.

They loved the life they'd built for themselves here,

but it was not enough for Lynn and she was desperate for a change.

I've wanted to go since I was about nine.

My mum went to Australia on a cricket tour with my dad

and ever since they came back, raving about the place, I've wanted to go.

I told Andy that when I met him

and we've tried a couple of times, we've looked into it,

but we've always thought something wasn't right, timings weren't right.

She talked Andy into giving Australia a try, but he was not convinced she was really certain.

It's been a long time since she's first dreamed about going.

I'm still not sure she's 100% she wants to go.

I'm not sure whether she's really committed

to leaving everything she's got, to make that big move.

There were two other potential problems.

Chris and Kirsty were old enough to stay at home on their own,

but Lynn wouldn't contemplate splitting the family up.

We want more from life and want more for the children, for their futures,

which we don't think they'll get over here.

Chris was about to leave school, and the timing couldn't be worse.

He needed some serious convincing.

For me, I feel a bit confused about where I am

and what could happen within the next couple of years.

The trial we're going on is going to have a massive impact on all of us.

For Kirsty, leaving her big group of friends and boyfriend behind was unthinkable.

Despite everything her parents had told her, she couldn't imagine a future in Australia.

If we made the move, we'd leave so much behind.

I love life as it is now. I'm not sure it's worth giving up.

But Andy could see the possibilities down under

and had grand plans.

If I do get any time off work then I'm out on the golf course

playing somewhere.

I must admit, the golf course is where all my friends are.

I've always wanted to build myself a small crazy golf centre.

That would be my ultimate dream.

Even so, Andy was heading out to Australia with some doubts.

There's still a lot of convincing for me to go as well, I think.

If things don't work out this side,

for us to make that initial move,

then, you know, we don't go, basically.

But Lynn was still convinced the move was right.

For her, there was only one barrier.

Finances are the only thing that could actually stop it from occurring, I think.

Selling Andy's business, selling the house, getting the money we need for the house,

to then make the move over is purely financial.

The Horns spent the week in Adelaide to help them decide.

After a 23-hour journey across three continents,

they were tired and emotional.

We've had tears on the way.

Don't, cos I'll start again.

No, you won't.

However, Lynn was remaining positive.

-Really looking forward to it.

-Here we come, Adelaide!

She had to persuade the whole family that life down under was for them,

so she could realise her dream.

Their home for the week was in Henley Beach

and was the perfect base to explore the area.

After the draining flight, they were all feeling the effects.

Being on the flight for 23 hours overall

definitely made me realise how far Australia is away from home.

Kirsty had a lot to leave behind,

so Andy and Lynn had a huge challenge ahead to persuade her to move.

I'm going to try really hard throughout this week

to try and make a point that this is going to be a really good idea

and there will be everything for her that she wants here.

Which is why the week is so important for us.

Not just for us, but for Kirsty as well.

They really had their work cut out.

Kirsty's mind was still on everything she'd be leaving in the UK.

I don't think it's hit me yet that we could actually move out here.

We don't have any family out here, or friends.

I mean, we would make friends, but I'd still miss my old ones.

With so much on their minds, the week ahead was going to be full of difficult decisions.

So, would life in Australia be for them?

Back in the UK, the Horn family lived in a three-bed, end-of-terrace property in Herne Bay.

They loved their home and although they wanted to get something bigger,

they weren't expecting a mansion.

If they got the £175,000 they hoped it was worth,

they'd have a total budget of £230,000 to spend on a home in Oz.

We showed them three properties,

to give them an idea of what they could afford.

Property one was in Seaton, a busy suburb 25 minutes from the city centre

and only ten minutes from the beach.

This Tudor-style three-bedroomed property was under budget at:

It needed some updating, but could the Horns see any potential?

-It's the same size as ours.

-I like the flooring.

Yeah.

I've always wanted the kitchen and diner combined.

-Yeah, the open plan.

-Yeah.

-Nice size.

-Yeah. Not bad, is it?

-Happy with the view, as well.

-I like this room. Nice size.

-KIRSTY:

-This will be my room!

-A bit of redecoration. A bit of painting.

-Yeah.

Outside, there was an al-fresco dining area

typical of Aussie homes.

You probably get about three days a year in the UK with barbecues.

Here, it's three days a week.

-It's really nice.

-I really like the house. It's a good size.

Driveway space is a bit limited.

You'd be vying for a parking spot each night.

The parking space had ruled out property one.

Could property two win them over?

In the up-and-coming suburb of Queenstown,

property prices were generally lower than the city average.

This huge house offered three or four good-sized bedrooms

and a massive living space, all for:

Estate agent Sean O'Hara

was waiting to show them around.

It definitely had the space they wanted, but could it impress the Horn family?

Wow! Kirst, I would be in my element!

-I want this room.

-Do you? You can't have it!

Dad, you can be in the other room.

-Go into the kitchen.

-Cool. Cup of coffee.

Bit of updating, doesn't it?

Wow!

You could fit our house in this space, and I'm not joking! Seriously.

It's big enough for you, then?

-Just a little bit, yes!

-It's unreal, isn't it?

This property seemed to be going down well, but Andy spotted a potential problem.

It hasn't got any air-con, has it?

No. There is an air conditioner in the lounge, but it needs upgrading as it's old.

You'd need a split system and put it in a couple of rooms.

So, did they really like it or were they just being polite?

I don't think it was the kind of house we'd live in.

I'm not sure whether I could live here.

-It's too big for me. I like to be cosy.

-Hmm.

So, it was up to property three to win them over.

On the market for £255,000,

this four-bedroom, two-bathroom house

was £25,000 over budget.

But with a room each, a large garden and spectacular views,

could they be persuaded to stretch their finances?

-This is nice.

-It's huge.

-You can see the sea from here.

-Beautiful, isn't it?

Lovely.

So far, they were all impressed by this house.

-This is nice.

-Wow.

-This is a lovely kitchen. I can see myself in here.

-I can imagine sitting here for breakfast.

-You wouldn't need a dining room.

-There's one there. Can't believe how big the rooms are.

-You wouldn't have to do anything here.

-No, you could just move in.

And the garden really hit the spot.

-It's stunning. There's not much maintenance.

-Not at all.

-Cutting the grass and watering the plants.

But upstairs, Andy found something he was not happy about.

For the size of the house, I think it's quite a small bathroom.

-This is similar to what we've got at home.

-Hmm.

There was just the master bedroom to seal the deal.

Oh, my lord!

-Look at this!

-Wow!

-Now, this...

-Is the bee's knees.

Oh, wow! Look at those views!

Views all the way round, by the looks of it.

Who wouldn't want to live in this house?

-This is just mad.

-Amazing, isn't it?

-This...this is the dream, really, isn't it?

-Yeah.

This house is over budget by about 50,000, I think.

But if there's a way we can find to get that other 50,000,

-really try hard to find jobs to get that budget.

-Yeah.

I would do anything to have this house. It's amazing.

Andy had fallen in love with the place.

But if they couldn't find the right jobs, they'd never be able to afford it.

The Horn family liked property one, but the parking space was a problem.

Property two had the floor space,

but they couldn't see themselves living there.

And property three, let's say it fulfilled the term "dream home", for Andy at least.

But giving up their home in Herne Bay wouldn't be easy.

Had they seen enough in Australia to make it worthwhile?

It was time to vote on property.

Based on the houses we've seen today, our vote is going to be...

ALL: Australia.

-You can't compare, really, can you?

-No.

We're at that vital stage now.

We really need to know our budget, what we can afford.

The dream is to sell the house and the business,

make a bit of profit on both of them,

and have that as a set-up for coming out here and starting a new life.

Back in the UK, Lynn worked as a pre-school supervisor.

I love my job. I don't get up and think, "I don't want to go to work."

I just like it.

She'd been working with young children for 24 years.

Her skills were very transferable.

She would have to work more hours in Australia,

but hoped to earn more than the 14,000 she was currently earning.

Lynn visited a pre-school in the heart of Adelaide

to find out if she'd like working there.

I'm a bit nervous at the minute, and a bit excited about it.

I want to get an overall view of how the systems work,

an idea of wages and hours would be good,

just to have a rough guideline on what I could expect to earn if we came over here.

She met with pre-school director Melissa Ray for a rapid introduction to teaching in Australia.

-Come through and I'll show you a classroom.

-OK.

It was straight in at the deep end for Lynn, but there was a great reception waiting for her!

-ALL:

-Hi, Lynn!

-Hello!

With creative learning a key philosophy at this school,

Lynn seemed to be fitting in perfectly.

Are they all gone? You did good pinning.

As she settled in to a day at work,

Andy was determined to find out if his dream to own a mini golf course

really could be viable in Australia.

It was something he'd wanted for years

and making the move could provide him with a chance to fulfil his dream.

He met with mini golf course owner Brian

to discuss the real pros and cons of the business

over a quick game.

In you go! Look at that!

For Andy to afford to start a business like this, he'd be relying on what he'd get

by selling his glazing business back in the UK.

But there were significant costs Andy hadn't even have thought of.

The maintenance involved in mini golf is keeping the greens nice and clean.

To carpet something like this is going to cost 30 or 40,000. It's not cheap.

But before he even considered finding the money for the carpet,

Andy would need a plot of land to buy or rent to put his mini golf course on.

If you're starting from scratch, you have to buy land.

It's got to be in the right place too.

You probably make 85% of your income during school holidays.

The only day we close here is Christmas Day.

So, this really was a full-time job and the more Andy found out,

the more he realised his ambition was out of reach.

Well, my dream for this golf, mini golf,

um, I think is going to stay a dream, to be honest with you.

It looked like he'd have to find an alternative income,

so it was even more important that Lynn was happy teaching in Australia.

Back at the school, Lynn found out how classes were run

from teacher Shi Li.

There are three main teachers who plan for the students in class.

So, on average, there's about 17 per teacher.

That includes children with special needs.

Is that high, in general? Is that a high number to have each?

-Or is it about right?

-That's about right.

It was more children per teacher than she had to deal with in the UK.

Lynn needed to find out if she could earn enough money to stretch their property budget.

If she couldn't, the whole move could be off.

What would be the sort of start pay?

At our centre, it's about 880 a week.

So, that's about 46,000 a year to work here as a team leader.

That was about £27,000, almost double what Lynn was earning back in the UK.

-Excellent. It's been lovely to meet you.

-Thank you.

The wages might be better, but she'd be working longer hours,

with less responsibilities.

Had it been enough to convince her to leave behind the school she loved in the UK?

Based on what I've experienced today at the pre-school,

my vote for jobs would be...

..Australia.

I could really work in a place like that. The setting was lovely, the people were nice.

That's the sort of setting that I would really fit into.

Lynn had been impressed with work,

but if Andy was unable to subsidise the income,

it would impact on their finances.

For the Horn family to achieve their dream home in Australia,

they needed to secure not only good jobs, but also a good price for their home in the UK.

We sent two estate agents to their house to give them their opinion.

-All that snow on the ground!

-It's our house!

Not a large kitchen, but adequate.

Hob, oven. Do with a bit of a clean.

Quite a good size.

Ah. Conservatory.

The only problem being maybe it's not double-glazed.

It is double-glazed!

An interesting start. Was the second opinion any better?

A very useable space for a modern family.

Nice useable conservatory. Nice to see timber construction, for a change.

Not a large bathroom. And master bedroom. Nice room.

The Horns hoped it was worth £175,000.

Ideal little family house. Modern end-terrace, recently built.

If I was to put this on the market,

I would value it at around about 160,000.

If they were looking for a quick sale,

I'd recommend putting it on at 154,950.

In the current market, I would value this house at £169,000.

If we wanted to get a queue at the door,

if it went on the market between 160 and £165,000

then I feel it would go very quickly.

I've adjusted to the fact that we'll only get X amount now.

We were hoping to come to Australia with a budget

and we've just watched that crumble, basically.

But the house was only part of the package.

They had to make the comparison between their UK finances

and what they could afford in Australia.

If they were going to struggle to afford the life they wanted,

Lynn's dream could be over.

-Shall we start with salary, then?

-Yeah.

-That's your wage before tax.

-Before tax.

So, we bring home 42.4.

If I worked 40 hours, I'd be bringing home 26, nearly 26.5.

And you'd be bringing home 27.

-A 4,000 drop.

-Yes. But they clobber you for tax.

-So, it's 6,000 a year.

-We'd be £500 a month worse off.

Mortgage. We pay 450.

-Repayments would be 969.

-So, we're doing it on property three, then.

Groceries. It's a bit smaller.

-Bit smaller.

-There we go.

-That's perfect.

Chicken's expensive. 5.72 to 6.79.

-That's quite a jump.

-About a pound.

Let's add up the monthly figures.

UK is 1,855.

And Australia is 2,605.

That's 750 higher in Australia.

-It almost looks like we've got to work...

-Harder to get...

-To pay for that.

-It will be tight, though.

-Very tight.

It was a big disappointment.

They'd be £750 a month worse off in Australia.

The finances have got to start going the correct way now

to keep our dream alive.

If they keep dipping and dipping then our dream's fading with it.

I'm just realising that it might never, ever happen.

It'll happen.

We've just got to be patient.

Lynn's worst nightmare had been realised.

How would this affect their vote? Was Australia an affordable option?

That was a really hard exercise, going through the figures.

But our decision on cost of living is going to be...

-..UK.

-Australia.

I thought you'd go the other way!

You can think what you want to do.

The cost of living is definitely better in the UK.

The cost of living IS better in the UK,

but we looked at the dearest house of the three.

-I think definitely the dream is still on.

-Yeah.

-We'll have to delve a bit deeper to find that dream.

-Mm.

I'm not backing down.

The dream is still on for me.

And me, even though I went that way.

Far from the snowy driving range in Herne Bay,

Andy and Chris went to try out the exclusive Glenelg Golf Club.

Paul and Henry Durgeon

were getting warmed up for a friendly father-son game.

-Chris, Paul.

-Henry.

But it wasn't long until the competitive spirit comes out.

-Let's show these whippersnappers what it's all about!

-Yep!

Sharp! Perfect!

It was Andy's passion, but Chris was certainly holding his own.

-Great putt.

-There you go. Lovely.

Sharp! That'll show the boys!

Time to get out of the blazing sun

and the clubhouse was the perfect place for a well-earned drink.

With so much to leave behind, the Horn family would need to convince themselves

that Australia could fill the emotional gaps.

Socialising and making new friends quickly were essential.

And Paul was keen for them to meet his family.

After a quick introduction to Paul's wife, Lisa, and daughter, Britney,

it didn't take long for them all to get chatting.

A little bit hot, is it?

Whilst the parents got to know each other,

the youngsters headed off to explore the park.

Chris and Kirsty were both worried

they wouldn't cope without their friends in the UK.

So, it was crucial they found out if they could fit in here.

They used a leisurely paddle

as a chance to get some answers from their new friends.

-I think we need to go that way.

-Let's do a loop.

Kirsty had some serious issues to discuss with Britney.

-Have you got a boyfriend?

-No. I hear you do, though.

-Yeah. Back in England.

-What's his name?

-Calum.

-Calum. That's a nice name.

-Bless him.

-Yeah. Tears at the airport.

-Oh, really?

But the boys had other priorities.

Most people play footie for school and club footie.

-Some other people play for league sides.

-Right.

So, a lot of people play three lots of footie in one week.

They're having a great time.

Lynn wanted to make sure there would be enough for Kirsty and Chris to do in Adelaide.

It wasn't actually that bad.

After all that exercise, it was time to see if the local tucker would go down a treat.

-We have goat's cheese, sheep's cheese...

-Kangaroo cheese?

If you can work out a way to milk a kangaroo,

you're doing better than us!

The Horn family had a fantastic time.

But thoughts of leaving their old friends behind were just below the surface.

It was time to decide

if the lifestyle in Australia would make the pain of leaving home bearable.

Our vote is going to be...

-Halfway.

-Halfway.

Australia.

Australia.

They were a great family today. They're really sociable out here.

They made us feel like part of a group already. In one day.

Really looking forward to meeting lots more people like that if we get to move here.

Lynn and Kirsty remained undecided.

Even though Chris and Andy had enjoyed the day out,

the family were still no closer to agreement.

Hearing messages from back home

would make things even harder for the Horns.

Hi, Lynn, Andy, Chris and Kirsty.

Hello, Chris and Kirsty and Lynn and Andy.

Lynn's a very responsible person.

As far as the family are concerned,

I couldn't fault her way of bringing up the children.

Been very close to her all my life.

When she met Andy, I felt I was losing the closest thing I'd got.

But realised, in fact, I'd actually gained a brother, not lost a sister.

He's good company, a good friend. Good fun to be with.

-You just enjoy his company.

-No-one's got a bad word for him.

He's one of the legends, one of the kingpins of the club. Ex-captain.

Chris is my closest and best friend because he's always there

and he's kind and he goes out of his way

more than my other friends will for me.

-Kirsty's really easy to like. A really likeable person.

-Funny.

Loves to shop!

She's constantly happy, talking to her friends.

Bubbly person. Always knows when to have a laugh.

She cheers me up whenever I'm a bit unhappy.

I want her to enjoy herself, but I don't want her to love it that much she stays over there.

We don't want her to leave.

Kirsty belongs here with us.

-LYNN'S MUM:

-Naturally, I'd like to hope that they didn't make that decision to go permanently.

I'd like to think that they would stay here.

I'm going to really miss you if you go to Aussie.

Even though I'm going to miss you,

I think it's a brave decision and I'm going to really miss you.

Seeing the messages made the pain of leaving even more real.

It does make it hard to think about actually leaving Mum and Sue.

If we miss our friends after a week, imagine after, like, a month!

It's going to be so hard.

Hits you in the heart. Shows you how close they really are.

It would be the hardest decision, to leave behind.

But splitting up the family just wasn't an option.

I couldn't stay in Australia... stay in England

and have these three out in Australia.

-And vice versa.

-Couldn't do it.

The week had been emotionally draining for the whole family,

but for Chris, it was the extreme heat that worried him the most.

I've had really bad headaches, stomach pains.

It will affect my decision

because I'd have to deal with it all the time.

Obviously because it's so hot.

For Kirsty, the emotional pain was just as strong.

I think I'm the one that would stop this move from happening.

The thing is, with Calum, I'm not only losing a boyfriend, I'm losing a friend.

Would the children stop Lynn fulfilling her dream?

Potentially, either of them could say no, to be fair.

To lose one of them, one of them to say, "I want to stay in the UK",

would break my heart, I think.

We may have to face up to that.

It might be a reality that could happen.

Yeah. Just have to take it a step at a time.

When it came to the final decision, which way did they vote?

This has been my dream, but now it's time for the family to vote.

Based on what we've experienced in Australia this week,

our vote is going to be...

..Australia.

-Australia.

-Australia.

Whether or not the family had the same vision for the future

was on the turn of the last card.

Halfway.

-I'm shocked at you, Christopher.

-Yeah.

-I thought it'd be a half or...

-You've been ill since you've been here, but you looked over that.

-Hats off to you. That's a bit better than I expected. I thought...

-You'd go UK.

Thank you. That's peace of mind for us.

Thumbs up to Australia, and we'll work on that one.

Yeah.

-You can try.

-OK.

Lynn Horn had dreamt of living in Australia since she was a child...

..but their week in Adelaide raised big worries

about whether they could afford to go.

Just realising that it might not ever happen.

Once year on, could Lynn decide between splitting up her family

and giving up on her dream?

At the end of their week down under,

the Horns were within touching distance of a move to Australia,

but with Kirsty still worried about leaving home,

a huge question mark hung over their future.

So, one year on, we caught up with them

to find out if anything's changed.

It's autumn 2011, and after their experiences down under,

the family are still living in Herne Bay in Kent.

So, what's happened since we last saw them?

And do they still feel the same way about life in Australia?

The trip to Australia was amazing.

It opened our eyes and it just showed us the life that we could have.

-Just the lifestyle, in general, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

Just convinced us that that's definitely what we want to do.

Unfortunately, you know, we applied when the recession kicked in

in the UK, and we just watched our finances crumble.

So, the budget we wanted to go with...

we've just seen disappear.

Ideally, we would've loved to

have come back, sorted everything and gone.

But in reality, you can't always do that,

and it was a bit of an anticlimax, cos you had to come back

and then sip back into your old jobs and your old way of life.

Kirsty's now left school.

She then went and got a job,

Christopher's still working down at the golf club,

but he's now doing an NVQ.

So, I think life has just gone on.

We've sort of been on hold for a few months,

purely because of the financial situation.

And just out of the blue, someone's offered to buy my business,

or has made me an offer for the business,

which really has given us the golden ticket to go to Australia.

But once the guy did make the offer for the business,

we then approached Christopher and Kirsty, and that's when...

Yeah, that's when it all kicked off with the emotions with them,

finding out their true decisions of whether they wanted to go or not.

Selling Andy's business has opened the door

to emigrating down under all over again.

And there have been more big changes at home for Kirsty,

after the break-up of her relationship with Calum.

I voted undecided because of the boyfriend I was with.

But as soon as I split up with my boyfriend,

I was ready to go to Australia, straight away.

Since then, it's changed and it was...

well, it was my brother that was undecisive,

because he got a girlfriend.

Yeah, and it's just flipped.

We started seeing each other just before we went to Adelaide,

18 months ago now.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Bit more than that. I was a bit worried about...

Mum and Dad giving up their lives here,

cos my mum's got her perfect job and Dad's got his own business

and they've got a house and, I mean, they're sorted, really.

Um...

But they'd be giving up all of that...

just to move somewhere else

and I thought that was a bit too much at the time, but...

And then...leaving Olivia, I didn't want to do that.

As one relationship ended, another seemed to leave the Horns

in exactly the same situation they faced in Australia.

We all had a long chat, just talked about everything, really,

to do with the whole move. Just...

Yeah, it was a long discussion.

Um... Very long discussion.

Well, Mum and Dad just wanted us to say yes, basically.

Erm...

I wanted... I was undecisive at the meeting...

erm, because I wanted to go,

but I didn't believe it would actually happen.

Purely because the trip out to Australia was like a dream.

And Chris just said he didn't want to go,

and that was hard for all of us,

because it's either all of us going out there or none of us.

Chris was adamant he wanted to stay in the UK...

..because of the girlfriend issue.

There probably were a couple of other issues as well, but...

we threw the wild card at him, like a blackmail card, at the very end,

and said, "Look, you do know if you stay here,

"you are destroying Lynn's dreams."

And, er...

Well, it made him realise that if he didn't want to come with us,

that we just basically wouldn't go.

It's quite upsetting for all of us, really, but...

I think it's done some good for us all,

cos we told each other how we felt about the move, and...

kind of cleared the air a bit.

It looked as if a move down under was back at square one

but, as it turned out,

facing their true feelings may have been exactly what the Horns needed.

There were lots of tears, and then he...

We came up with the solution of possibly asking Olivia

and seeing if she wanted to come out with us.

And that seemed to sort of sway him the other way, so...

And then he made the decision that he wanted to come.

I'm more than happy that Olivia's coming with us -

it's like an extra bonus for us.

You know, not only is our dream back on, but...

you know, with Christopher taking out his girlfriend as well,

it's going to be great, I think.

I feel excited about it.

At the same time, I feel very nervous leaving my mum

and everything that I've known behind.

But at the same time, it's a good quality of life out there -

it's something that you can only experience once

and I'd like to give it a go.

After a big turnaround, the whole Horn family

are now well and truly on board with the move.

All that's holding them back is the small matter of affording it.

It is still about the finance.

Obviously if the business sells and then the house sells, we can go.

That's simple as. Um...

But we've come up with compromises that if the house doesn't sell,

we can rent the house out and we can still go.

Um, the crux of the matter was, obviously, Andy selling his business.

So, as long as that one goes OK then we can still go.

18 months ago, the work was very slack

and the price of the business was dipping and dipping.

But now it's picking up again, I've got this potential buyer, so if all goes well...

We're obviously not going to get the money we want for the business,

but...it is still an offer

and it's money that could get us to Australia.

As soon as we got the buyer for the business on board,

that sort of seemed to sort of spark everything going again.

And now it's sort of getting a bit exciting,

cos the house is going to go on the market and, you know,

everybody's all positive about it, so that's really good.

I can't get excited yet.

You've got to be reserved with your emotions, I think.

Until you've actually seen the signatures,

you've got the finances there and you've got the flights all booked,

THEN I'll start getting excited.

Selling his glazing business is key to the family's hopes,

but Andy still has concerns about starting all over again.

In the back of my mind,

I've always had a little doubt about going to Australia,

how it's going to affect me once I'm there.

Am I going to miss this side of the business? I mean, I'm self-employed.

I can do what I want. If I want to sneak off for a game of golf, I can.

But if you're working for someone, you can't really do that.

So, I think I will miss that side.

Despite the worries, moving plans are now well under way,

and the Horns CAN see a future in Australia.

You know, the dreams have sort of...

..come true a bit.

But it's still six months till we could be going, and possibly more.

It has been frustrating, because I've left school.

I can't go to uni, because I'll be leaving halfway through the year.

But you can't speed up,

like, the selling of a house or the selling of a business.

It just goes as it goes.

It's very frustrating sometimes.

We keep thinking about Australia and Adelaide. I can't wait to get out there,

so I hope everything goes well this end, so we can get out there.

The sale of the business is a big step towards the dream,

but there's still another financial obstacle

barring the road to Australia - selling the family home.

And with a local estate agent due to value the property,

today could be make or break.

-Right, this is the main bedroom.

-Right, fantastic.

This room's great. OK.

-Onwards we go.

-We've got the bathroom.

-Bathroom next?

-Yeah.

It's still the original suite, there, isn't it?

But you can't go wrong with white.

Bedroom three.

Still a decent single size.

Onwards we go. Number two.

-That's all three.

-OK.

-Right. Downstairs cloakroom?

-Yeah.

And that's obviously got all the fuses and...

-Right, kitchen. Gas hob here.

-Yes. Electric.

-Electric oven and extractor hood.

-Yes, all clean!

-Clean oven!

Marvellous. Right, back to the main room?

Then the conservatory after that.

Now, you did this conservatory, didn't you, Andy?

Yes, I did. With a little bit of help.

And into the conservatory.

The Horns believe their home is worth £175,000.

But with their future plans depending on the outcome,

will the estate agent agree?

Great house. I want you to feel confident about this property

coming on to the market, and valuation-wise...

the value for this property will be 170 to 175.

-OK.

-And should you require,

or want to go down plan B, which is the rental option,

you should be able to realise,

in this current climate, £800 per calendar month.

-There you go.

-That's really good.

-That is good news.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, that's good news on plan A AND plan B.

-I think so.

-Yeah, thank you very much.

-You're welcome.

-I'll speak to you soon. Thanks again.

-Thank you.

That's exactly what Lynn and Andy were hoping to hear.

-That was very good news.

-It was, wasn't it?

Yeah, that price range - 170, 175, that's...

That's what we wanted, wasn't it?

-So, we're happy with that, aren't we?

-A confidence booster.

-Yeah.

-More than happy with that.

-Yeah.

With the final piece of the puzzle falling into place,

Lynn's dream of moving to Australia seems to be finally within reach.

We've been waiting for it for about two or three years now.

It's very exciting.

It is. Very, very exciting.

But scary at the same time. People think it is really easy.

Especially once you've experienced the life, there's no comparison.

But there are still a lot of ties that are pulling us this way,

even though we've made the decision that we want to go.

Leaving family and friends, I think, is definitely the hardest part.

Especially for Olivia, cos she's going to be joining my family,

-and leaving her whole family, really, aren't you?

-Yeah.

It is a huge step, just leaving everything I've known behind.

But you have to take risks

and it's a risk that I'm willing to take, really.

Australia can provide a great place for my kids to grow up,

and their kids to grow up, whereas here, it's...

There's nothing here for us.

Even though we've got a lot to leave behind this side...

we know we've got a lot more to get the other side of the world.

In life, you've got to grab what you can.

And if that dream's there for us then go for it.

A move to Australia seems closer than ever for the Horn family.

There's still a little work to do before they can fire up the barbie,

but the future they dreamt of looks to be in sight.

We wish them the very best of luck.

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