Black Country twin brothers meet again Down Under

Big smiles greeted Brendan Oakley as he stepped off the plane in Australia to be reunited with his twin brother Richard.

The pair, who hailed from Dudley and Tividale, had only seen each once since 2006 ahead of the emotional meeting.

Brendan was one of the winners of The Big Aussie Reunion competition by Tourism and Events Queensland and Flight Centre UK.

After sifting through thousands of entries the team decided on a final 40 of which Brendan was one of those lucky enough to get to jet across the world.

He said his twin brother's move to Australia was 'a big kick in the koalas' and life has never been the same since.

In all 80 friends and family were flown into Queensland's Gold Coast so that they could enjoy a week long holiday with their loved ones - including celebrating Australia Day in style.

The brothers, who are both aged 48, had been apart since Richard moved to Australia in October 2006.

He moved aboard with his family just after their 40th Birthday party at the Queen Mary Ballroom, at Dudley Zoo and Castle.

After only briefly being able top catch up at Christmas 2012 the pair had not seen each other until this month's reunion.

"As good as telecommunications are nowadays there is simply nothing like being able to sit down and talk with my best buddy and soul mate," Richard said.

Richard lived with his wife Nicola and daughters Jenny, now 18, and Sarah, 16, in Tividale with the girls attending Tividale Hall Primary School, before the move down under.

They moved after travelling out to Australia on his honeymoon to visit their older sister Kerry and really enjoyed it.

After going back for a couple of more visits over the years and the family decided to give it a go and take the plunge.

He said they really like the lifestyle and the 'clear opportunities available' and now lives west of Brisbane, in Queensland.

Richard works for Logan City Council, based between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, as waste operations programme leader.

Back in the Black Country, Brendan works for Wolverhampton Construction Company AM Griffiths & Son Ltd as a project manager in their special projects division

He is married to Jayne and has two children, Elizabeth, 17, and 15-year-old Christopher, and they live in Sledmore Road, Dudley.

Brendan added: "It was so nice to see each other and family in the flesh, catch up over a few beers and put the worlds to rights with some banter about the Wolves and Baggies."

But Richard said what he really missed, apart from family and friends, of course was "faggots and paes, orange battered chips from Marks chippy, in Tipton, and going down the Baggies and believe it or not the odd bit of snow."

Jane Nicholson from Tourism and Events Queensland added: "Our overall aim was to enable the winners to create lifelong memories together, and the happy tears and smiling faces all around me this afternoon are a good sign this has been achieved."