'I wish I'd moved to teach in Australia sooner'

Teacher Clarette Goodhead started a new life in Australia after deciding England was not for her

A woman who moved to Australia after deciding England was not for her, partly due to the rain, said her only regret was not doing it sooner.

Clarette Goodhead, 36, a teacher from Staffordshire who studied at the University of Birmingham, booked a one-way ticket to Sydney in 2019 after quitting her job and, six years later, said it was the best decision she ever made.

"I found I was just living to work [in England]," adding that her teaching wage Down Under had pretty much doubled.

Ms Goodhead, who is backing the Move to South Australia skilled worker recruitment event being held in Birmingham on Tuesday, also recently found love with a local farmer after appearing on a reality TV show.

Clarette Goodhead wanted to move somewhere similar to the UK with a great lifestyle

Having first tried teaching for a year in Dubai, which she described as an amazing experience, she returned home.

"I got a job back at my high school, saw some teachers there that had taught me, but I just felt like I'd regressed in life. I was back home with my mum, she was cooking me food, I was walking to school, and I just felt there was more," she said.

"I started looking for somewhere with a similar culture to the UK and a great lifestyle, and it was ding, ding, ding Australia in my head.

"I have a better balance in my life, it's less performance driven and I have more time for myself and a life outside of school," she said.

However, life took a bit of an "unpredictable turn" as she was planning to move from Sydney to teach regionally in 2024, when she decided to "take a chance on love," appearing on reality TV show The Farmer Wants a Wife.

"I met a farmer, fell in love, packed my bags and moved to South Australia...the farmer still has a wife," she joked.

The English teacher is now encouraging other people to consider moving to the country, saying she should not have waited until she was 30 to do it.

"There's a reason why so many British people come over to Australia and never leave because they see what an incredible life they can have here, and it really is the best decision."

The event will showcase what South Australia has to offer as a relocation destination, and help attendees meet with both employers and fellow UK migrants.