Rutland Wanted Down Under

Travelling in your teens often leaves you

with a sense of wanderlust, longing for a life in the sun.

But is it really possible to make the dream your reality years later,

when you've three children in tow

and a husband who's far from convinced?

That was the question Julie Rutland needed answered in 2015.

One year on, we'll find out where the family are now.

In 2015, Julie Rutland longed to move her family to Australia.

I just want to try. I want to follow my dream.

With a visa already in place,

she had just one obstacle to clear.

The only thing that is stopping us is me.

A trial week opened Dan's eyes to the possibilities...

If we could afford this house...you've got me in Australia.

So, one year on, have the family made it

to the other side of the world?

Making plans and then sticking to them religiously is, I think,

heading for disaster because life isn't like that.

Covering a landmass of almost three million square miles,

Australia's been hailed a land of opportunity

ever since the first European settlers arrived back in the 1700s.

Promising sunshine, beaches and a strong economy,

the attraction shows little sign of easing up, with latest figures

showing over 28% of the country's population is born overseas.

Julie Rutland was on a mission to convince husband Dan

Australia was where their family belonged.

However, never having set foot in the country,

he worried his wife's vision of life down under

was based entirely on rose-tinted memories.

Julie had just one week to persuade him,

once and for all, her dream was one worth chasing.

The week begins with over 17 hours in the sky,

flying from London to Australia via Dubai.

And when they finally land in Perth,

Julie admits she's thrilled to be back down under.

I thought I was going to go pop.

I just can't wait to show them all the beach, the weather,

the lifestyle and the houses,

and I think they're all really excited to see it.

We want to see the new house!

But after the epic journey,

there's only one word to sum up how Dan's feeling.

Tired. I'm feeling very, very tired. It was a long journey.

Willow agrees.

I'm tired because I didn't get any sleep.

But nothing's going to dent Julie's enthusiasm.

It wasn't that bad!

I had all three children and you were happily sat there.

-How many films did you get to watch?

-SHE LAUGHS

Now she's finally got them here, Julie will need to try harder

if she's to convince Dan to start a new life

on the other side of the world.

Meet the Rutlands, from Bicester in Oxfordshire.

They're dad Dan,

mum Julie, nine-year-old Zack,

six-year-old Willow and five-year-old Faye.

On the whole, life's good,

but Julie's still reminiscing about time spent in Australia 15 years ago.

It's got so many wonderful memories.

I was travelling with two of my best friends.

We were young, we bought a camper van in Darwin

and we travelled all round Australia,

and then we settled in Bondi,

and, you know, we lived a few roads back from Bondi Beach,

which was just beautiful.

Julie reluctantly returned to the UK to go to university,

and met Dan soon after.

I suaved into a nightclub, swooped Julie off of her feet

and that was the end of the story.

Julie's version of it is probably a little bit different.

Dan's charm soon bowled Julie over

and when she secured a job in Formula One,

the couple moved to Bicester.

Since becoming parents, Julie's parked her career

and Dan works as a carpenter.

But with her previous experience down under,

Julie dreams of a better life in Australia.

It's just about the lifestyle, really.

Go, go. Oh, be careful there, Willow!

I would just love to live by a beach, a beautiful, sandy beach.

I just want the children to be able to go for walks,

and I love the sporty lifestyle.

We're such an outdoors family.

Moving to the other side of the world

wasn't something Dan had ever considered.

I think the way you brought it up was,

-"Why don't we move to Australia?"

-LAUGHING:

-Probably.

Danny got home from work, and I said to him, "I've had a great idea",

and he looks at me and rolls his eyes and says,

"Oh, no, not another one."

But Julie's determined to make her husband take her seriously,

and has even secured a visa for the family to emigrate.

The children are on board.

All she needs to do now is convince Dan it's the right move.

The only thing that is stopping us is me.

Erm, I am the brick wall.

Desperate to demolish Dan's doubts,

Julie's applied for jobs for him online,

and knowing how much he loves fishing,

she's even tried to reel him in with the promise of a boat.

JULIE LAUGHS

Just a little bit, mate. It was just a splash.

Yeah, I might have hinted that he could have a little boat,

just a little boat, if he moved near the sea.

But Dan's not rising to the bait.

I just wonder whether she's looking through rose-tinted glasses.

Can we afford to move to Australia? Jobs?

Obviously with the heat, can you work in the heat?

Will I be able to earn the same money?

There's a lot of questions that need answering.

Dan's also worried about the emotional cost of moving.

Extremely close to his dad, he's torn at the thought

of leaving him on his own.

My dad has always been there for me, without fail, and I think now,

maybe, at the age Dad is, it's my turn to be there for him.

If something happened to my dad while I was the other side, I...

I'd never forgive myself.

Yeah.

Julie does understand Dan's emotional ties

and worries about the impact leaving her own family will have, too.

I know it will break my mum's heart. I know it will.

SHE SNIFFS

And I know it'll break both my sisters' hearts as well.

SHE SOBS QUIETLY

SHE SNIFFS

It makes me feel really selfish.

Driven by her desire to show Dan and the children the lifestyle

she truly believes will benefit them,

and having invested so much time and money into getting a visa,

Julie's desperate for the chance to make her dream their reality,

and the next seven days will be her best chance to do it.

This week in Australia is really finding out about whether the dream

that Jule has got is achievable for us, whether it's worth moving

to the other side of the world for and leaving what we've got here.

I can almost feel it and I really want it for the children

and I really want it for us and I just want to try.

I just want to try. I want to follow my dream.

To find out if Australia's where their future lies,

the family are visiting Western Australia's capital city, Perth.

Their base for the week is in Halls Head,

a costal suburb just over an hour's drive from the city.

But will Australian living be as good as Julie remembers?

-Wow, look at that.

-That looks very grand, doesn't it?

Look at the sea!

Wow!

That's a proper sea view.

Despite the dull day,

Julie is delighted with the beachfront location.

Wow.

Now, this is the type of place I would love to live.

-You should've married a millionaire.

-DAN AND JULIE LAUGH

Back inside, Dan admits he's impressed, too.

Very, very nice. Very, very nice.

Yeah.

Julie casts her mind back to when she last lived in Australia.

I think there was three of us in a bedroom with bunk beds

and one bathroom for eight people,

so, yeah, this is a whole, whole other world.

It's amazing.

Fuelled by excitement, the family wastes no time hitting the beach.

That looks all right, doesn't it? Think they like it?

I think they love it, don't they? Look at them.

They've not been here long, but the children are already sold.

Australia's epic!

I think Australia's good.

Finally settled in, Julie's encouraged by everything so far.

It's just been amazing

and I think the kids have taken it really well.

But Dan's keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

This house is fantastic,

but it's whether we can afford something like this.

There's just lots of things to find out.

Having flown over 10,000 miles,

he's already worried about the practicalities

of being so far from the people he loves back home.

I found it quite difficult travelling here

so, obviously, my dad, I don't know if he'd actually be able to do it

so, yeah,

it's sort of bittersweet at the moment.

The week ahead will determine whether or not Dan can buy into Julie's dream,

but, for now at least, she is confident things will go her way.

This is us finding out if this is what we actually want to do

for the rest of our lives

so it's got to be amazing

and I think it will be.

Back in the UK, the Rutlands live in a three-bedroom semidetached house

in Bicester in Oxfordshire

and they've worked hard to make it a home.

I would quite like to transport our house

-and Danny's worked really hard.

-Yeah.

I tell him what we're going to do and he works really hard to do it.

Knowing she can't take it with her,

Julie has a clear idea of what she'd like from a home in Australia.

My dream house would have four bedrooms,

plus a granny annexe so people could come and stay

and an open-plan kitchen-dining area

plus a swimming pool and literally practically on the beach.

Dan has slightly different ideas.

I'd like it maybe not so much on the beach.

For me, it'd be more a harbour

so that I could have somewhere to put my boat,

but, there again, you know, I could have a boat here,

but I can't afford that, either.

Julie and Dan have around £250,000 to spend on a home in Australia.

To find out what their money could buy,

we'll show them three properties,

two based on budget and the third which could be their dream home.

Only after they've seen each property will they find out its value.

It is a very nice area.

It is, it is. It is a nice area.

The search begins in Secret Harbour,

just 45 minutes drive from central Perth.

This well-established suburb

offers a choice of schools and recreation areas.

Its stunning beach location should be a further draw for Julie,

but will this four-bedroom house be what she's looking for?

Yeah.

-What do you think?

-Yeah, this is all right.

Isn't it nice?

Hopefully, she won't be disappointed.

Come on in, kids.

SHE GASPS

-Oh, wow.

-Yeah, I like it.

It is a bit dark, isn't it?

Yeah, a little bit, but I think maybe it is just quite a dark room.

The grey day outside probably doesn't help,

but will the open kitchen and living area Julie desires

be enough to brighten her outlook?

I don't know if it's kind of what I had in mind.

It is open-plan living,

but perhaps not as open-plan as I was hoping.

She might be the one pushing for the move,

but this house isn't quite what Julie's been dreaming of.

-A main bedroom off of a lounge area.

-It's en suite.

Oh, it is a nice en suite, isn't it? It's a really big one.

Julie soon spots potential in the other bedrooms, too.

I love the windows at the front.

-You do like a bay window, don't you?

-I do.

But is the room as pleasing?

-It's a good double bedroom for one of the kids.

-Yeah, it is good.

-It's a good size.

-It's actually growing on me, this house.

The inside may be winning Julie over,

but will the outside space be what they're after?

It is nice. I do like the outdoor area. I do like it.

It's very nice.

Dan, on the other hand, is unhappy with the fake grass.

It sounds like there's plastic bags underneath it, doesn't it?

But Julie's not concerned.

I can definitely see myself in a garden like this.

See! You've changed your mind.

Now the sun's come out, "Yeah, this is brilliant, yeah."

Julie's enthusiasm has lifted with the clouds

and she doesn't even mind the lack of swimming pool.

As long as we're near to the sea, that would be more important

than having a pool, but it would still have been nice.

The house has had mixed reactions, but the big question is

how much does it cost

and would Julie and Dan's £250,000 budget be enough to buy it?

Just over 200,000 or just under 200,000.

That's what I'd be prepared to pay for it.

I think it's going to be over budget.

I think maybe about 275.

If this is over budget,

I mean, I'm going to feel, I think, quite disappointed by it.

Time to turn the card and find out.

See what it is.

£254,600.

That is pretty much bang on our budget.

-That's OK.

-Yeah, yeah.

Are you a bit disappointed?

Yeah, yeah, I was hoping it was going to be less than that.

The first taste of Perth's property prices has been bittersweet for Dan.

If Julie's to convince him to make the move,

the next house needs to be more on the money.

To find out, the family head to Baldivis,

a rapidly expanding suburb just under 30 miles south of the city.

Further inland, it's a 15-minute drive from the beach,

but that could mean the family get better value for their money.

Will the house be up to spec for the Rutlands?

This all looks very nice.

I like the look of this house.

They're off to a good start.

-Straight into a bedroom.

-See, I just like this more.

This furnishing is a lot more

-like we would have in the house, isn't it?

-Yeah.

And a walk-in wardrobe puts an even bigger smile on Julie's face.

Oh, look, you can put shoes in drawers. That's me sold!

HE LAUGHS

The en suite's more pleasing than the last one.

-Oh, this is much nicer. Look.

-Oh, yeah, this is nice.

-It's much more to our taste.

-Yeah.

It's all good so far.

Will the open-plan kitchen/living area

be in line with Julie's expectations?

-Oh, I love it!

-So do I.

-Yeah, it's much nicer.

-Yeah.

The kids could sit in the morning

and I could be making their packed lunch and they could all be

sitting there having breakfast and we're all talking at the same time.

That could get noisy, Julie! But Dan's got an even bigger concern.

This house makes me smile, but that means, to me,

it's going to cost even more and be out of our price range.

No, you don't know. It's further away from the sea.

The house also has a separate playroom for the children.

JULIE GASPS

Wow, this is amazing!

With four bedrooms, the children won't have to share.

And when they spot a pool in the garden, Julie can't believe her luck.

This house just got even better!

Yeah, this house just got more expensive.

JULIE LAUGHS

Oh, my God, I love it!

Despite his concerns about cost, Dan has to admit he's bowled over.

If we could afford this house...

you've got me in Australia.

SHE CHUCKLES

But before Julie gets too carried away,

the family need to see how much this house costs

and whether, with £250,000 to spend, they can afford it.

I think it's going to be around...

-about 270. 270, 280?

-Do you?

-Yeah.

I think it's going to be about 315.

Let's see who's right.

-Let's have a look.

-JULIE GASPS

-Oh! See, I was right.

-£262,800?

That's amazing! That's doable.

-Yeah, it is doable.

-That's just made my day.

-Yeah.

Yeah, it certainly hasn't ruined mine.

What do you think, kids? Cos we could afford that.

-THEY CHANT:

-Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Is that a yes, then?

£12,000 over budget hasn't dented Julie's enthusiasm,

and even Dan seems content with the cost.

And the day's not over yet,

as the Rutlands head for the coastal suburb of Waikiki.

With shops, schools and adventure parks,

it's a popular area with families.

Based on their ideal wish list, we found what could be their dream home.

But will Dan and Julie agree?

-Well, it looks very nice, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

Just think how close we were to the beach! It was amazing, wasn't it?

Just one street back from the sea, it's a thumbs up for location.

Whoa! Let's have a look.

-Wow, it looks huge.

-Oh, it's massive!

-Wow!

It's not short on space, but is the style to Dan and Julie's taste?

This seems a bit more...

..a bit more homely. Maybe it's cos of the carpet.

Not sure if that's an advantage.

But moving on, the main living area isn't quite what they were expecting.

Oh, this is a bit different.

Yeah...

Julie doesn't sound sure.

I don't like the kitchen.

-It's not really a really big area and I don't like all the bricks.

-No.

With four bedrooms, on paper,

the house meets many of Julie's requirements,

but the reality isn't matching up.

And the master bedroom wouldn't entice Dan to make the move.

Soory if it's disappointing again, if this is supposed to be your main bedroom.

On the other ones, from the outside you think, "Oh, they're tiny."

-This one, you think, "It's going to be massive," and it's not.

-No...

Julie looks crestfallen,

and the dated en suite does little to lift her spirits.

There's so much work that you'd need to do, that I would WANT to do...

It'd be quicker, honestly, to knock it down.

The interiors of this house have failed to wow Julie and Dan,

but the spacious outdoor living area might just score a few points.

-I do really like this.

-Yeah?

SHE GASPS

-Jacuzzi?

-Oh, I'm liking it a little bit more.

Julie's back on form!

You could imagine sitting out here with a group of friends,

can't you, in the evening with a bottle of wine?

And even though it's close to the beach, it's got the pool Julie wants.

Well, that's a big swimming pool.

That's a really lovely-size swimming pool.

Despite earlier reservations, could this be the dream house after all?

-This outside bit, this bit...

-Is beautiful.

You know, this pool is fantastic.

But I still don't know whether I'd want to spend thousands doing it up.

I guess it depends how much it costs.

The jury's still out as Julie and Dan prepare to find out how much

they'd be paying for a house like this.

I think you're probably going to be looking at about 350,

given that you've still got four bedrooms.

No. No, for this...

-A really big pool..

-You've got four bedrooms, a big pool.

-Really near to the sea...

-Yeah, I think you might be right, 350.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

I don't think you're going to be far off with that.

The family's budget is £250,000.

-Turn it over.

-Turn it over.

-Whoa!

-£318,900.

-Wow!

-625.

-So that's less than what I thought it would be, actually.

-Yeah.

It's less than I thought it would be, quite a bit less, to be fair,

but this house, for me, it just doesn't flow.

At almost £70,000 over budget, this house is out of reach

unless Julie and Dan's earnings increase substantially down under.

Overall, it's been an eye-opening property search for the Rutlands.

Property one failed to deliver the large and bright living space

Julie dreams of, and almost £5,000 over budget left Dan disappointed.

With the open-plan living Julie loves and a pool in the garden,

property two was a real hit with the whole family.

But even close to the beach and with a pool,

the final property of the day didn't meet Julie's expectations

and, at nearly £70,000 over budget, proved unaffordable.

So, how will the day influence their decision

when it comes to picking between property in the UK and Australia?

Based on the houses that we've seen today, we're now going to vote.

-ALL:

-Australia!

Yay! We all voted Australia! You voted for Australia!

-I'm really pleased.

-Yeah, yeah, I like some of the houses we saw.

The weather's not brilliant, but I can see what it offers out here.

It's on par with what I've got at home.

Oh, I'm so excited, this is a really good start to the week.

-It's a good start for me, as well.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Five votes for Australia has got the week off to a good start.

But falling for Aussie property is the easy part.

Julie knows if Dan can't be convinced he can find a job to pay

for the house he wants, he won't be moving anywhere.

Back in the UK, Dan's been a carpenter for 16 years.

Happy in his work and with the lifestyle it affords,

he has huge reservations about packing it in.

Everything I've heard over there is saying things are more expensive,

so it is whether the salary is achievable

with a job that I want, as well.

As a former Formula One engineer,

Julie plans to retrain as a teacher in Australia, but knows

it's Dan's work prospects that could make or break her dream to emigrate.

It's really important that Dan gets the right job

and salary in Australia, because I think that will be absolutely

key to him making a decision.

As Dan and Julie prepare to explore work options in Perth,

Dan's realistic about what the day really means.

Yesterday was an important day, obviously, to see

what houses we could get, but today is probably even more important,

because we've got to make sure that we can actually afford it.

We've arranged for him to meet Robert Shaw,

a director at one of Perth's well-established building companies.

After a quick look around the site,

Dan gets down to the nitty-gritty of finding work.

I've had a look at your resume. You've been in the industry a while,

so, yes, I would say all your skills are definitely transferable.

If you've got the skill set that you've got, which is

an ideal base for a supervisor, you'd certainly get a crack here.

The bad news is Robert suggests Dan might need to learn about

the Aussie way of working before becoming a supervisor.

Meanwhile, Julie's gone to the Edith Cowan University to meet

student recruitment co-ordinator Sarah Bally to find out

about becoming a maths or science teacher.

We offer a graduate diploma of education,

which is a one-year conversion course,

pretty much, for people that have a completed bachelor degree already.

If, for example, you're going to become

a maths teacher and a science teacher,

we need to see that you've specialised that

in your bachelor degree.

With an engineering degree under her belt,

that shouldn't be a problem for Julie.

But she still needs to find out how much the course would cost.

Approximately Aus 6,200 for the full year, for the full course.

Around £3,000 is comparable with what she'd pay back home.

-That's really great. Thank you very much.

-No worries!

Back at the building firm,

Dan's keen to find out about potential earnings in the short term.

I understand that I would have to start off on the bottom.

Would that mean less money?

You'd be around roughly £30,000.

That's not as much as I earn at home.

It's not the answer Dan wants, but Robert assures him

he could soon be earning a lot more.

As a supervisor, you might look at somewhere around

Aus 70,000 to 80,000,

up to 125,000.

Between £39,000 and £60,000 is much more promising,

and Dan's taken aback when Robert makes him an offer.

If you were lucky enough to come over here

and we had a position available

and we wanted to train you off as a supervisor straight off the bat,

would you be prepared to look at something like that?

Erm, yeah, obviously, coming over here with the proposition

of getting a job would obviously make it, yeah, even easier.

It's great news for Dan.

Meanwhile, Julie's gone to meet Alison Ramm,

director of school staffing services

at Western Australia's Department of Education.

-Hello!

-Hi.

Alison's already read Julie's CV

and the meeting gets off to a good start.

You'd be a perfect candidate to move into maths or science teaching,

because not only would you have that qualification,

you'd also have that great industry experience.

That's very encouraging, and there's more good news to come.

We actually currently have a shortage of secondary teachers,

so jobs are advertised on our government's job board.

In fact, I looked this morning,

and there's two science and two maths jobs currently advertised.

With jobs looking plentiful, all Julie needs to find out now

is whether the salary would justify her retraining.

What sort of wages could I expect once I qualified?

You'd start at the moment

-on about £35,000 a year.

-Wow!

If you worked here for three years, you would progress to about £42,000,

and then, after seven years, you'd be on about £49,000.

That sort of salary's amazing.

It's been a great day for Julie at work,

and when she reunites with Dan,

she's over the moon to hear about his job offer.

He sort of said, if we come over, to give him a call

and he'd be able to, if he's got jobs going and looking for people,

he'd take me on and give me a go.

So you could give him a ring when we move.

When we move, yeah. If we move.

THEY LAUGH

Dan's not jumping into anything, but now it's time to discover

whether today has done enough to make the couple both choose work

in Australia over the UK.

After a great day looking at job prospects, it's time to vote.

-BOTH:

-Australia!

SHE SHRIEKS

Oh, I'm so pleased!

It looked like Julie was on a winning streak.

So, did a day sampling Australia's lifestyle

see her vision for a new life down under brought one step closer?

Making the most of the time together,

the family set out to explore

the historic city of Fremantle, just 30 minutes from central Perth.

First stop's the famous markets, where Dan wastes no time

getting to grips with traditional Australian culture.

HE BLOWS A DEEP NOTE

-You're practically a native!

-No, I don't think so!

Nice try, Julie!

After a leisurely stroll round the market,

the family refuel with some authentic Aussie food.

There's over 200 million kangaroos in Australia,

-so we use a lot of kangaroo.

-It's really nice, isn't it?

Zack's definitely enjoying his first proper taste of Australian living.

Coming to the market here every day would be fantastic.

And Dan looks impressed, too.

-Is all this convincing you?

-It's working.

-Oh! I'm so excited!

-It's working.

It's a great start to the day, but when the family venture out

for a walk through the harbour, Dan's thoughts return to home.

The family side of things, I think, is what's still playing on me,

and that's leaving my dad.

If I do move over here, even though

Dad's said that he would come over and see me, it is a long way.

I'm just not sure if

that's something that he would actually be able to achieve.

Julie could still have a battle on her hands

convincing Dan to make the move.

But, meanwhile, the family end their day

with a fishing trip on the Swan River.

Well, this is the boat, guys. Come on board.

-Whoohoo!

-DAN LAUGHS

-Could we get something like that, Dad?

-Probably not,

mate, unless I nick it.

ZACK LAUGHS

He might not be able to afford the biggest boat on the river,

but is this lifestyle one he could imagine living?

Yeah, I could definitely see myself taking one of these out.

I'd probably have, like, a doughnut on the back towing along Zack.

For now, Julie's concentrating on

selling days like this to Willow and Faye.

-Could you see us coming over and spending days on the river?

-Yeah!

Catching a fish gets Zack on board, too.

Oh, I caught a fish!

The day's panned out well for everyone.

The sun's come out for us.

Yeah, it's just brilliant. I'm loving seeing them all really happy.

It might be a bit too small for your head!

But as it draws to a close, Dan's still mulling over the reality.

Days like this would mean sacrificing relationships

with everyone they love back home.

Yeah, it's all good, it's just that one thing about family.

-I know. I'll really miss them.

-SHE SOBS

And it is such a long way.

The family face a tough decision come the end of the week,

but now it's time to see if the day's done enough to make them

all put Australia's lifestyle ahead of the UK's.

Well, it's time to vote.

-ALL:

-Australia!

Yay!

Yay, we've all voted the same!

-Dan?

-Yeah, no, it was really good. It's been a really good day.

I mean, the sun's out. Brilliant.

-And you've said I can have a boat.

-JULIE LAUGHS

It's our third vote, and the whole family

so far has voted for Australia, which is just amazing!

With another clean sweep of votes for Australia,

Julie's dream is gathering pace.

But she knows Dan has to be convinced the move won't risk

their financial stability, otherwise they won't be going anywhere.

To fund the move, the couple would need to sell their house in the UK.

They believe it's worth around £300,000. To see if they're right,

we sent round two estate agents for current valuations.

So, we're going to find out how much our house is worth.

Go on, then, mate, you going to press play?

Ooh, look, there's our house!

That's funny, seeing your house on TV, isn't it?

Yes, I like this room. Double-glazed windows, plenty of space.

It's a good family size.

And these units, well, they're well built.

Great, spacious, very good use.

I know, I built them.

Yeah, good-size room. You've got space for a range cooker,

and the dual-aspect windows make it, again, a light, bright and airy room.

Yeah, so, this is the main bedroom. We've got built-in wardrobes.

A bit of work necessary here.

-SHE TRIES TO SUPPRESS A CHUCKLE

-Oh, no, I forgot about that!

OK, I'm really loving the size of the green area there.

Definitely good for entertaining, for the kids etc.

Looks like the lawn could have been mowed.

In the current market, I would set the price

at £260,000 and for early sale £250,000.

No!

In the current market, I would value this property

at 315,000. For quick sale, 300,000.

-Better!

-See? See? Proves I'm right.

-I definitely think 260 is too low.

And if it was to sell for that, we would really struggle.

Yeah, we would, yeah.

It's a disappointing start.

And as they sit down to work out finances in Australia,

Julie knows Dan could be a tough audience.

It's been really good, but if the figures aren't there

and we can't afford to do it, we can't afford to do it.

We've provided some cost-of-living comparison documents,

starting with the weekly grocery shop.

-Bananas.

-Yeah?

£1.20 in the UK for ten bananas.

£4.49 in Australia?!

-Yeah.

-Biscuits. For three packs, it's £1.20 in the UK.

The equivalent is nearly £4 in Australia!

Julie tots up the figures to work out the overall damage.

Our weekly shopping would be £149.

Although more expensive than the UK, the figures aren't too bad.

-£11.60 is neither her nor there.

-That's a really positive start.

Yes, that's OK.

The couple move on to look at the bigger monthly outgoings,

basing their figures on the second property they viewed.

So, in Australia, the cost of the mortgage would be £840.

-In Australia, yeah.

-And the UK cost is £570.

-Yeah.

A quick check at the figures reveals the couple would also spend

more on gas, electricity and water but, fortunately,

fuel costs are a bit more palatable.

We pay £400 in the UK.

-And 238.

-That's just amazing, isn't it?

-That's massive.

Overall, the couple's monthly bills would rise to £2,677.

-Every month, we would be £241...

-Worse off. Yeah?

-Yeah.

-OK.

It's a lot of money.

We'll just have to hope that our salaries can compensate.

This could be where Julie's plans begin to unravel.

In the UK, Dan earns almost £2,400 every month,

but that figure's likely to decrease down under.

-..and the Australian equivalent is £2,080.

-Yeah.

Obviously, I'm not feeling particularly happy about that.

That's £300 a month less, virtually.

Hopefully, the potential for Julie to earn more once she's qualified

will help balance the books.

So, in the UK my salary is about £700 a month,

and in Australia, that's got the potential to be 1,330.

The couple's potential joint income would be just over £3,400.

When they subtract the higher bills, the result's not too bad.

-So we're left with £733 every month.

-So we'd be £94 better off.

-Yeah.

It's not a fortune, but Julie's relieved they're still in the black.

-I'm just... I'm just delighted.

-I'm slowly losing this battle.

That's brilliant. It's made my day.

The figures have shown the move to be affordable, but are they good enough

to keep Dan and Julie on the same page when it comes

to choosing between finances in Australia and the UK?

It's time to vote.

-BOTH:

-Australia!

-Yay!

-DAN LAUGHS

-Well done!

-So four out of four, yeah?

-That was a bit of a no-brainer, really, wasn't it?

-Yeah, yeah.

We're better off in this country, so...

-Yeah.

-Yeah. Yeah?

-Which is amazing.

Yeah. I think I'm surprising meself!

Realising the move's financially feasible has put Dan even further

on Julie's side, but the greatest hurdle of all is on the horizon.

Dan's always been concerned about leaving loved ones in the UK.

While the children play outside,

the couple sit down to watch heartfelt messages from home.

I'm ready for watching the videos of friends and family.

Hello, Danny, Julie. I love you all.

I hope you're having a good time.

Hello from Blighty!

-ALL:

-Hi, guys!

Really hope you're having a terrible time in Australia.

-Hope the weather's awful.

-Yeah, and those spiders...

-Julie and Dan are very well suited, aren't they?

-Oh, very well.

They make a good pair and a very good family for the children.

She's very domineering. I feel sorry for him at times.

He's like a little dog, isn't he? He pants.

I thought she was really brave when she left her job that she loved

because she knew that staying at home and looking after the children

was really important to her, and I really admired her decision.

Well, Harry would be definitely gutted that's Zack left,

and I'd be pretty gutted that Dan's gone, to be fair.

Yeah, I just think there'll be a hole in family get-togethers.

There'll be people missing.

I do wonder what will happen if and when something goes wrong

and she has nobody there to support her.

And, yeah, she is my best friend,

and I shall miss her terribly when she's gone.

I'm dreading it!

But it's best for them.

Yeah...

We're just...

We're a really close family, and...

..I didn't think she'd...

want to move away from us.

I'm still really gutted that...

they're really serious about it.

I love him dearly.

If they do...

decide to go to Australia...

erm...

..I'll be a bit upset.

If you really think Australia will give you a better

quality of life, then you need to do it.

But I don't want you to go, and I'd be really gutted if you did.

That was just as hard...

as I thought it was going to be.

It's, like, I don't want to leave them.

If I could bring them all with me, I would.

Yeah, that was really tough.

It was always going to be.

With not a dry eye between them,

the couple were left contemplating the enormity

of putting thousands of miles between them and their loved ones.

After such a positive week for the family,

will the emotional pull back to the UK prove too strong to overcome?

When the family touched down in Australia a week ago,

Julie was desperate to convince Dan the country she fell in love with

15 years previously was where their future lay.

This week has been trying to find out

whether Australia has the lifestyle that Jules thought it did,

really, whether it was worth moving the other side of the world.

Now a wife and mum, Julie's circumstances have changed

since she was last here.

But the country's more than lived up to her memories.

In a way, I feel it's even better,

because when you become a mum you get

so much enjoyment from watching your children and seeing them

in an environment where you know that they're going to thrive.

Willow and Faye can see the advantages of Aussie living.

We can go on the beach more in Australia

and we can go outside more.

We're not near the beach in England.

Zack's enjoyed himself, too,

but he's still not decided on where he wants to call home.

I think the last vote with my family,

it's going to be pretty hard to choose.

And messages from loved ones in the UK

have reminded Julie and Dan of how much they'd be giving up.

Watching the family video was really hard, and it has put

a dampener on everything throughout the week, in a way.

It has made it really difficult.

It was really hard on Jules.

It was hard on me, as well, but, yeah, it was really hard on Jules.

And it upset me watching her cry.

With emotions running high, the family prepare to decide

once and for all where they want to call home.

Now it's time to make our final vote on where we would like to live.

-ZACK: England! OTHERS:

-Australia!

That's the wrong way!

You choose England.

-Yeah.

-Did you choose England?

-Yeah.

-Why would you prefer to live in England?

-Because I miss my friends.

Do you? That's OK. It's OK to miss your friends.

That's OK.

And, girls, why did you choose to live in Australia?

Because it's nice and sunny!

-And you can come in the water with us.

-Dan? Australia?

It's been a brilliant week.

Everything I had doubts about has been allayed. Yeah, it's...

I think it could work. I think it's worth giving it a go.

-The Rutland family down under, eh?

-Yeah. Yeah, I think so.

Zack still needed some gentle persuasion,

but with a majority vote for Australia,

Julie's hard work and determination had finally paid off.

So, 12 months later, it's time to find out

if the family are now living at home...or away.

It's April 2016 and the Rutlands are living in...

..Perth, Australia.

When the trial week won Dan round,

Julie couldn't believe the dream she'd had for so long

was on the verge of coming true.

The fact that he said yes

and he wanted to move out here was obviously amazing.

It answered all the questions that I had, all the fears that I had.

The Rutlands flew home on a high, but then came the difficult bit.

I think literally as the wheels touched down back in England,

her sisters were on the phone to her, "How did it go? How did it go?

"How did it go? Are you still going?"

Especially my sister Kirsten out of everybody

had probably hoped the most that we would change our minds.

Even though my dad had given the blessing

and my sisters and stuff like that,

it all then became a lot realer that we really were going to do it.

Decision made,

they then began the process of packing up their lives in the UK.

It just felt huge.

I was just really scared, actually, and very daunted cos as much

as I really love Dan, you can tell by talking to him, he doesn't...

He's not "sorta" so I knew that I'd got a really big task ahead of me.

Julie found the experience particularly difficult.

-Sorry...

-It's all right. It was, it was hard. It was really hard on you.

Selling their house in Oxfordshire was the first step.

That was the big thing.

Up until that point, none of it's real, but actually putting

your house on the market and that "for sale" sign made it real.

It made it a lot realer for the people back home, didn't it?

-They realised that we were actually going.

-Yeah.

Less than six months after their trial week down under,

the Rutlands prepared to say farewell to family and friends.

You're just dreading the final goodbye and that just seemed

to come round so quickly.

We had a fantastic goodbye party.

It was one of the best parties I've ever had. All our friends came.

It was a memory to take with us to Australia of happy times,

not of tears and sadness that we were leaving -

of happiness that we were going.

The family touched down in Perth in September 2015,

but starting again on the other side of the world

wasn't without its challenges.

We were very tired. It was dark, it was really cold.

Their first home was a short-term rental property.

It wasn't the nicest of houses. It wasn't very well equipped.

Yeah, everything was a little bit of a letdown.

Their first few weeks down under fell short of the dream lifestyle

they'd moved half a world for.

You come here, you have nothing - simple things like bank accounts.

You haven't got a doctor's,

you don't know where you're going to live.

Car shopping, house shopping, buying insurances - everything.

It was manic, wasn't it?

Yeah, when you're tired, everything is so much harder.

When you've got three tired children, that's even harder.

And, you know, every time we got into the car

to look at another house or go to another bank,

they were, "Mummy, Daddy, no, not again!"

You feel bad for them and it's literally the easiest way,

I think, to describe it is what takes you most of your adult life

to accumulate, you have to fit into three weeks.

Desperate to establish some kind of normality,

having a place to call their own was high on the list of priorities.

My criteria was a house with a pool right next to the beach

that allowed a dog.

It soon became plain that that was not available

so we knew we were going to have to compromise on something

and our compromise was a pool.

The Rutlands are currently renting in Mullaloo,

35 minutes' drive north of Perth centre.

One evening, Jules was looking through the internet

and found this place and rung them

and they said, "Yeah, come and have a look."

Before we'd walked in through the door, we were like,

"Yeah, we're going to try and get this one," and we did.

So, this is our kitchen,

which is one of the reasons why we fell in love with this house.

It's just beautiful.

It was light and airy and one of the things I said I wanted

from a house was a great big open-plan living area

and this just fits the bill perfectly.

This is our outside space. This is one of the things we wanted.

We come and do homework here if we're not in the kitchen,

don't we, and the weather's nice.

There's the barbecue, which gets used every day.

We hardly turn the oven on at all.

-Yeah, it's great, isn't it?

-Yeah, it is, yeah.

It's lovely and we just, especially in the evenings,

we just tend to sit out here with our books

once the kids have gone to bed and just relax.

Indoors, the children have their own special space.

I've always wanted a playroom so, basically,

this is where the kids can just come and it's a little bit of a mess.

Mum and Dad are very happy with their room, too.

It has the most amazing wardrobe.

It is definitely another one of your favourite bits of the house.

Let me just demonstrate just my side,

just a quick little peek - look at all that storage!

Amazing! And then we've got a really gorgeous en suite.

I've never had an en-suite in my life before so that's a real bonus.

To be fair, I don't think I could go back to not having an en-suite.

There's plenty of space for the whole family

to spread themselves out.

Really, the kids, in this part of the house,

they've almost got their own wing, haven't they?

It makes life a lot easier

with the space that you get with Australian houses.

Since we moved in, these doors have been open every single day

from morning till light and I love it.

If a house had a soul, this one's got a good one.

So, how have the children adapted to their new life down under?

Zack's been the hardest to settle.

Being the oldest,

he's definitely been more aware of what we were doing, of the distance.

He understands about making friends and there's an awkwardness to it.

To start a new school, it was really tough. The work's a lot harder.

It was tough making friends, but, in the end, I made a lot of friends.

Joining the local surf club's been a real lifeline for Zack.

I have watched him in six months come a long way.

I like Australia because it's fun,

it's not chucking it down with rain and there's lots of things to do.

Seriously, you take him to the beach,

you can't get him out the sea. The rougher, the better.

He's confident, he's happy.

Yeah, he'll still tell you he prefers England,

but I don't believe it.

And Willow and Faye?

The girls have been so unfazed by the whole process. Faye...

Faye hated school in England, she hates school in Australia.

She's just Faye. She's going to be my little surfer dude.

She absolutely is going to be an Aussie.

I like living in Australia because it has sometimes

a cool breeze cos it's hot and flowers grow.

And then Willow, I'm so proud of Willow.

After I cried just a little bit, then I stopped,

then I made some friends with Billie.

Willow found a friend straightaway and they're still friends now

so, yeah, Willow settled in really well.

She's not like the others, she's not sporty.

She's not a big fan of the beach,

but she does swimming lessons like the others, she's confident,

she's got some amazing friends and she's doing great.

Julie and Dan are convinced they made the right move

for their young family.

As they all get older, yeah, they will see why we moved.

Every heartache and every tear and every bit I miss someone

is absolutely worth it because the children are so happy

and the lifestyle they've got is amazing.

And it's not just the children

who've taken to life down under like ducks to water.

Yeah, she forced me into it to start off with

and now I've completely, yeah, sunk my teeth into it.

I love barbecuing,

I go out as many times a week as I can on my paddleboard.

He's absolutely an Aussie.

In fact, he talks like an Aussie.

The other day, he said to me

something about throwing a snag on the barbie, was it?

This lifestyle suits him down to the ground.

Yeah, I love it.

The Aussie lifestyle has meant more quality time together.

Perth is a really family orientated place to be,

like free events in the park that we take them to.

Yeah, there's just so much on offer for families. It's a great place.

Being in Australia has definitely enhanced our family life.

The couple have developed a solid social circle in Perth, too.

Someone that we met who is literally a one-person welcome to Perth.

She literally sets up barbecues and you get to meet

all these other people and we're still friends with them now.

Dan's meeting people through work

and I've met some people through the school

so, yeah, certainly meeting friends has just been wonderful.

Unfortunately, the job Dan was offered

during his trial week didn't pan out.

When I got here, I made the phone calls, e-mails

and just got absolutely no response to that,

which did annoy me a little bit.

There were some choice words said, but, at the end of the day,

I just had to get on and find another job, which I did.

Getting used to the local way of working hasn't been plain sailing.

Carpenters here have a different sort of role.

They're very much used to do sort of like all sorts of different things.

Yeah, for the last week,

I've been digging holes and doing shuttering, which isn't something

I've done before, but it turns out I can dig quite a good hole.

Working on a self-employed basis,

Dan currently earns around £225 a day.

It is really good, but it is for a ten-hour day.

I could earn the same money back home

in a shorter period of time just because of the way things are done,

but it does leave my weekends free, which was the point of coming here.

Julie's started her training to become a teacher down under,

but with just one wage coming in,

the couple have had to dip into their savings to survive.

The money that we had in our bank was everything that we had

and to start off with, we just saw it...

It was like someone had drilled a hole in our bank account

and it was just leaking out -

to see thousands and thousands of dollars

just going out of your account just to feed, just to pay your bills.

We've just had to accept it

and think, "OK, we're going to have to do that,

"but we're just going to do it as a short term."

Originally signed up for a two-year course,

Julie's now pushing to qualify in just a year.

Now, doing a degree full-time with three children

in a new place is quite tough.

She's also worried about the extra pressure it's putting on Dan.

He works long hours and in the heat,

that takes it out of him and it does put a strain on us

and I feel guilty because of that, but, you know, you just have to keep

thinking it is a short-term goal, it is only a year.

There is going to be an outcome at the end of it

so while it's tough, it's not going to be forever.

But financial worries haven't been the only negative.

Things that I didn't expect to miss so much, I miss a lot.

Some days, like, although it's beautiful, some days,

you think all the sunshine in the world doesn't make up for a hug...

But I wouldn't want to go back to England.

I just wish they were all here with me.

I miss my dad, I miss my family.

Apart from that, I don't actually miss anything.

Julie's mum and stepdad have already been out to visit.

Picking them up from the airport was a reminder

of how far from home they are.

I think there must have been so many people that came through the airport

that hadn't seen their children for so long

that by the time my mum came through the airport,

I'd already gone through a box of tissues.

Some poor woman fell to her knees at the sight of her son.

Oh, my God, I was clinging hold of the railings, like, sobbing

and I'd never met the woman before.

Granny's visit was a complete surprise for the children.

They were playing at the park when my mum arrived

and it was just lovely.

My mum came over the hill

and I was saying to the kids like, "Who's that? Who's that?"

And they were all looking and then all of a sudden,

it clicked with Zack and he was like, "It's Granny Annie!"

It was really great to see them again

cos I'd missed them, I missed them a lot.

It's lovely to have them here and also it is that bit

that now they can see why we've done it.

The lifestyle is incredible. It's brilliant, brilliant for kids.

I envy them. I really do envy them, you know.

And there's plenty of other visits in the pipeline.

Good friends coming out at Christmas.

My dad, at the moment,

depending on how his operation goes on his knee,

he intends on coming out in March.

They're just a year into their new life down under,

but Dan and Julie are convinced the move's a permanent one.

There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that we did the right thing.

No, neither in mine, either.

Money's tough, it is definitely tough, but it's a short-term tough.

There is light going to be at the end of the tunnel.

We're really happy, the kids are really happy and I think the longer

we are here, the more ingrained our lives become in Australia.

Just looking forward to the future in general.

And then, obviously, the main aim

is to work towards that boat that you promised me.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Oh, yeah, the boat!

-I want to ride one.

-I know. Daddy wants to own one.

Except you both might want to ride it.

I can't believe I did it.

I can't believe I was that brave enough because, actually,

it's a really long road.

It was a very stressful road, but it was very worth it.

It will be, I think, the hardest thing that you've ever done,

but as long as you give it everything you can,

it will be worthwhile.

I think everything I'd wanted a year ago when I planned this move

is actually here and sometimes I have to pinch myself

to think that we're actually living our dream.

The past year has brought big changes

for Dan, Julie, Zack, Willow and Faye.

We wish them all the very best.