Gags, I dont know if you are still checking into this site or not but I just wanted to say a few things. You say that "Some of the people on this website (and in general) strike me as incredibly naive with regards to Australia, making comments about the place either without ever being there or having just arrived and blinded by sunshine." You are obviously talking from experience (a bad one at that I guess?) but in what circumstances did you go to Australia in? I mean had you visited before or did you just go out with your girlfriend? Everyone has to start somewhere and I personally have found this website to be helpful, people tell the truth, both good and bad but your post seems to be totally one sided and the only real post of its kind, all I can assume is that you had a very bad experience, did you split with your girlfriend while you were over there?
Another point I have is about children, I take it you don't have children as there was no mention of them? One of the main reasons that we are moving out to Melbourne is because we want more for our kids, I accept that being in a large city crime is more of an issue but the fact that children have things to do after school and more places to see/visit is reassuring compared to the afterschool activities in this country, I am in the same position as you having been raised in a rural location, I live on the Isle of Wight and its stunningly beautiful but there is a whole world out there to see, people can only try and see if its for them, if you have kids like I do then Im sure you will know the fear you have when you think about their prospects here, hanging around the local offy hoping to get someone to buy then some cider, I believe that if kids have other things to do then they are less likely to cause trouble on the streets. Our daughter is a real outdoor person and sadly we can only afford a house with a very small garden and its not always practical to go to a local park so for us a large garden is a very big plus.
You made a point about drugs, well I dont know if you have noticed but the UK has the exact same problem. You also said that gambling is socially acceptable, same in this country my friend. It seems that you are using mutual facts to try to paint a bad pic of Australia.
I am very happy that you come from a middle class family who could afford for you to holiday at least once a year, in fact I am jelous, I forst travelled abroad in 2000 at the age of 19 after my wife and I saved our wages. I am a skilled worker, I am a panel beater and I work hard for my money which in this country is poor for the work I do, its stressful in the fact that if I don't repair a car correctly and its involved in another accident the conquences could be horrific, and the latest legislation puts this straight onto the panel beater, no one else would be to blame. I travel 3 hours a day to and from work, my journey includes a 1hour boat trip and this costs me £180 a month. The job I have been offered in Australia pays a lot more than in this country, in line with what we should be paid.
In our view, and plenty of others will agree and others will not, Australia has a lot to offer, and for your information I like yourself am young, ambitious and cultured!
People can only try, don't try to scare people off, tell them the balanced truth, you spent three years out there, if it was that bad why didnt you just come back to the country that you love so much?
All I can say to people reading this thread is this, don't be put off by this one thread, read around and make your choice, life is very short, I know from experience, my friend died at 23 and he planned to move to NZ it never happened for him. Weigh up all the pro's and con's make your choice and do what you want, I wish you all the best of luck in what you do with your lives and no one should put you down if things dont work out, put it all down to that great thing life is...experience!
All I can say to Gag and JRAJ is that you obviously have no kids are are under the age of 30 so you don't remember when times were good in the UK and we never wanted to leave, before Tony Blair started to let anyone in and engllish is now not the first language spoken in many schools! Before you started to give a load of wages back to government for everything, before goups of kids hung out on street corners in packs of 15+ and scared the life out of you cos they have nothing to do, before houses and cars got constantly broken into.
Don't knock things you don't know about, let people experience for themselves what Oz is like, if it's not for them, they can decide what to do themselves. You are looking from a difference perspective than a lot of people who post on this site so as my mum used to say if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!
It would have been nice to know how Gags got on back in the UK - but he only ever posted 3 times.
Ali
Hello Ali
New people are starting the process every day they don't know what you know. they need to ask qeustions and maybe have not time to read 192 past posts on this thread. does it really mater?
like you say it's all worked very well for you. I bet that's not just luck but with lots of research as well.
Location: From Bury,Manchester To Jimboomba, Brisbane
Posts: 6,304
Essex ,,Ali isnt disputing people dragging up posts to find out infomation,thats why they are there and not deleted after a few weeks.Anyone moving over here does stacks of research they would be stupid not too,
Cal x
I really would have liked to have known how he got on being so disillusioned with Aus - I wonder if UK lived up to his expectations on his return. Yes It has worked out well for me ... I'm sorry that it didn't for you
Ali
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"POZZIE" - HAPPY AND LOVIN IT!
I'm sick of following my dreams, I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later
[quote=ali;215392]I really would have liked to have known how he got on being so disillusioned with Aus - I wonder if UK lived up to his expectations on his return. Yes It has worked out well for me ... I'm sorry that it didn't for you
Thanks Ali
I'm happy to be going home I hope all this experiance if anything makes me a better person. I often think how he got on as I know this will be a issue with us.
Sorry to have a Dig but I like this site it gives people the chance to talk about things even if it rears off the subject or drags on again. The fact that a thread keeps going is because it interests someone. It might be old news to some but not old news to others.
I agree that some of the old posts are worth a read - sometimes it's better to start a new thread as people think they're commenting on something recent - initially this post got quite inflamatory and I did wonder if it had resurfaced in order to 'stir the pot' rather than to be constructive.. I think it's very important for people not to have an idealised view of Australia, people do need to consider 'if this happened to me/us what would we do". If we went back tomorrow we will have had a wonderful experience and a taste of a different way of live.
Good luck with the move
Ali x
__________________
"POZZIE" - HAPPY AND LOVIN IT!
I'm sick of following my dreams, I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later
