Since they moved here in November 2006, the couple - James is from London and Evelyn from Wales - and their three children have 'lived the Australian dream' in their Sunbury home.

On Australia Day today - also James's birthday - the family was welcomed as Australian citizens.

Mr Nutkins is an aircraft engineer while Mrs Nutkins a home-maker. Their daughter Nicola, 18, has just finished high school while the two younger children - Jac, 9, and Alex, 8 - study at Kismet Park Primary School.

"We have all adjusted well and the kids have adjusted extremely well," Mr Nutkins said.

"We love it here [Australia], its warm weather, it's a nicer country...we really like living in Sunbury.

"It's like a country town with a lot more space and the people are very friendly."

Mr Nutkins is most impressed with Victorian schools.

"We had them [children] enrolled in school within three days of landing in the country and within a week of joining school they had made friends," Mr Nutkins said.

"The schools are far better than they were in the UK...like my younger children who were five and six years old when we moved here...they were allowed to be children. The UK schools are more focused towards homework; here the kids are allowed to play and enjoy what they are learning.

"All our kids' teachers... every single one has been fantastic."

Is there anything they miss about the UK?

"A good Indian curry! The British-Indian curry is individual and you just cannot get it here," Mr Nutkins said.

"We've even tried cooking Indian at home but failed miserably, so now we've kind of adapted to Thai."

Is there anything they don't like about Australia? "Spiders and mosquitoes! While we' haven't had any nasty incidents, we have some nasty spiders," Mr Nutkins said.

The family has adopted a rescued greyhound that was a former racing dog.

Mrs Nutkins has also joined local quilting club, the Sunbury Quilters. When asked about her Australian experience so far, Mrs Nutkins said, "It feels like home."