Do you love Tasmania ???

[Colin R]

Best you stay in sunny old Blackburn then! As far as I was aware Poms in Oz is a forum for help ,advice and general chat. If I wanted a joke site I would have found one much better. Maybe you should stick to chatting on one of those. Seems most of your comments on threads are all the same .Grow up. If you want a verbal tennis match then do me a favour and PM me and leave other people to enjoy what this site really is for. Personally I couldnt give a s..t what you think of Tasmanians and of course they are your fellow countrymen like it or not.
Sally

[tracy123]

Originally Posted by Colin R

Best you stay in sunny old Blackburn then! As far as I was aware Poms in Oz is a forum for help ,advice and general chat. If I wanted a joke site I would have found one much better. Maybe you should stick to chatting on one of those. Seems most of your comments on threads are all the same .Grow up. If you want a verbal tennis match then do me a favour and PM me and leave other people to enjoy what this site really is for. Personally I couldnt give a s..t what you think of Tasmanians and of course they are your fellow countrymen like it or not.
Sally

Hope this is informative enough for you sally!

The Legend of the Two Headed Tasmanians

Early Tasmanian folklore has it that in 1842, Tasmania's then King, King Wilbert the (1st) from Burnie, and his wife Isabella, gave birth to a baby. Sadly this child was born with two heads, hence he was named Prince William-Herbert- one name for each head.
Of all the tragedies, poor Isabella survived the birth, but died months afterwards from the shock and complications.
In 1864 Prince William-Herbert was crowned as the 3rd King of Tasmania with the royal title King Wilbert II.
King Wilbert II lived until his late 30's and in that time married and fathered 5 children, all of whom were born with two heads. With two heads came two brains, which meant Tasmanians doubled their I.Q. and became "Twice as Smart" as other races. A super race of people had emerged.
Through the years it became less and less socially acceptable to sport two heads and a decision was made to start removing one. This is the reason many Tasmanians sport a scar on their shoulder.
As Tasmanians travel the fair land of Australia and even the world, many people stop them and say, "show me your scar", and many are happy to oblige, being very proud of their heritage.
There has been a significant advantage to having one head removed in that we Tasmanians have had a choice as to which one would be removed and the result is a State of Australia with significantly more attractive and well presented personages of the majority of our residents. Many of our neighboring State's residents are not so fortunate and regrettably have to sport such an array of nature's disappointments.
The legacy of the two brains still lives on and the people of Tasmania are acknowledged almost world wide as being the superior race of the world, hence the slogan:

"Two Headed Tasmanians - Twice as Smart"
or the more familiar phrase in other lands
"Two Heads Are Better Than One"

[tasormelb]

Hi, Have just read posts about what to bring etc and wish to say great posts Sally and Herbster. Congrats Herbster on arriving in Tasmania, I am very, very, very, envious. We hope to join you by February next year.
I am now going to start my shopping list for items to bring including bedding, pots crockery etc. I have just informed OH and he has rolled his eyes, asking me ' why have I just done thirty trips to tip with bedding, towels and such because you gleefully told me that we did not need to take these things as it would be cheaper to replace than pay shipping costs!!!????'
Whoops! lol, its a womens divine right to change her mind! Onwards with shopping!
Keep e-mails coming as its fab to hear about life in Tasmania and what to expect when we arrive. Hope you are settling into your new home and life Herbster.
Vanessa

[Herbster]

Hi Sally:

Don't forget Tassie is one of Oz's BEST kept SECRETS...

All the time the uninitiated think it's full of two-headed natives and untracked wilderness with just a convict heritage, which they come to visit out of curiosity and a lust for Adventure, leaving us afterward in PEACE, as they return to their civilized version of Life in suburbia, the Big City or even Outback... We are left & blest to discover the true secrets of this island, which mercifully are not so easily discovered! Nor necessarily, to everyone's taste... Eg.: no indoor ice rinks nearby, massive shopping malls nearby, swimming pools in every yard, barbies every night, a beach at the end of every road...

We're glad we're here, (& that you helped us find a place for us) but to be honest I don't want this island overrun with Mainlanders, etc., who only want a second home here because they can, to then complain that we are parochial, need streets lamps & 24hr/7 Access... I've already lived in enough places that have become victims of their own success, & been driven out because of that... Lord forbid (& I'm not religious either!) that should happen here... Where would a Rare Bear go from here?
Sometimes some secrets are best kept SECRET!!!!!
Keep Smiling Sal, as you're the Lucky One...

Love to All (conditionally, of course for some...)

[Colin R]

Thanks Herbster. We both know that its great here. Shh Mums the word!
Sally
xx

[Elizabeth Lilly]

Hi everyone, just want to say that Yes, Tas is a lovely place - scenic, friendly, great food.... The downside is the facilities. I dont care that there isn't a big shopping centre near our place, but I would love to be able to get into the dentist wihtout waiting for 2 months! We also have to travel well over 100 kms to get there... Things like that can be annoying after a time. Theres good and bad, like everything. Cheers, Liz

[Herbster]

You're right of course, Liz - I think decision's to move anywhere, over such long distances (from Europe, UK, etc.) clearly have to be very considered...Once you've spent the fortune moving out here, uprooting yourself & family, is not so easy, nor always possible, to up sticks & relocate out of state should you find the first location doesn't suit.
It might be a good idea to all sit round & make lists of all the things you'd love to have access to in your new location, giving every amenity a score... And equally assign demerits to your most hated situations, that list with it's + & -'s should be helpful when matching up possible locations. But no doubt there'll have to be compromises - do you live with the ocean view, but commute an hour each way to work? Is the dentist (that you hopefully only see twice a year) within a 15-min car ride, but school (which the kids have to attend 250?? days a year) a 40-minute bus ride each way, is the movie theater a walk away, but your house has no central heating or air conditioning, have you the most wonderful garden but no city water & have to depend on rain & having water tanked in?? I think it's so much easier if you can identify what you want/don't want first, it's then a case of trying to get the answers from one source or another!

The Guide books & websites available offer lots of information, pretty photos, too, but not necessarily the same info & pictures that you want to see when considering a location to set-up home... If you are concerned about population densities, you could compare new areas to your current demographics; comprehensive weather sites offer detailed daily stats, which again you can compare to what you currently have, there are pragmatic city/regional websites to check out the shopping, schools, theater & other civic amenities... but none of these really give you the insights or answers that you'll gain from sites like PIO, where there are actually people living with the consequences of their migration decisions.

I could cite my English dentist situation, where it usually was at least 1-2months for an appointment, with a 1,900 Kilometer round trip for treatment! I choose this crazy option, as it was so difficult to find a decent new dentist, & even though he cost me an arm & a leg, (+ airfare!) I knew his work was excellent... Obviously I hope to be able to find one closer to home now, but I'd suspect that to find a decent one I might have to travel to Hobart... (I await to be corrected!!) Our temporary home, is in a fab location, which can only be very temporary, also 40 minutes + from Hobart, has no mains water, with only 1 power outlet in the main rooms, with wallabies & possums roaming the grounds looking for tasty morsels! This wouldn't suit many, but for us it's a compromise we've weighed up and are looking forward to accepting!

[Elizabeth Lilly]

Wow, Herbster, I cant get my head around 1900 kms to go to the dentist! Incredible!! You make good sense about listing the pros and cons of whats available and what we want. My gut says youll be very happy and settled in Tas. I really hope so. When you get organised, go and see Boat Harbour on the North Coast, and Stanley is well worth a visit too. Beautiful scenery - totally pristine and unspoiled. All the best, Liz

[em&paul]

Once we decided on moving to Australia we looked at every state and did the pros and cons. We think we've made the right decision and have decided that Tasmania is the best place for our family and we are all going to give it a go. Having never been to Australia before we are going blind but this just makes it more exciting, scary, fun.......!!

We can't wait to get there.

Emma

[Herbster]

Originally Posted by Elizabeth Lilly

Wow, Herbster, I cant get my head around 1900 kms to go to the dentist! Incredible!! You make good sense about listing the pros and cons of whats available and what we want. My gut says youll be very happy and settled in Tas. I really hope so. When you get organised, go and see Boat Harbour on the North Coast, and Stanley is well worth a visit too. Beautiful scenery - totally pristine and unspoiled. All the best, Liz

Hi Liz: Been to Stanley, seen the cows there with docked tails... Why? I ponder, as I've never seen cows with docked tails & can only ruminate as to what on earth could be the justifications! And Boat Harbour is delightful, we were just a bit tired when visiting. However, one of my favorite beaches is Bridport, which I wish I could export down here!

Been up the east coast, too, for folks that love quiet, uncommercialized, white sandy beaches, what more could one want?? (Nightclubs, f & c shops, ice cream parlors, beach shops, board shops, surfing schools, restaurants, cafes, retail, pubs, bars...??? wall to wall peeps?!) Beaumaris is amazing, & there's parking just off the highway, behind the dunes - just be careful when the wind's blowing hard, for it covers your tracks, making it very challenging to find your way back...! If folks are expecting larger versions of Clacton, Skegness, Torquay, Newquay or even Padstow you're not really going to find that here... Such places had their charms in the Past, (& maybe once in a while now), before they became victims of their own popularity, but now are so commercialized & so very over-crowded, but if you like that..?? I love Newquay & Padstow, but not the crowds, particularly on a Friday night when the hens & stags are in town (TQ1 is a nightmare then too, although the dancing was ace!) & even the beaches of Northumberland & Scotland have a remote rugged beauty that's hard to deny, but it's nippy & prone to fog, so not always the place for a tan... So again, I'd say you need to weigh up what's important to you & your family; ask yourself what kind of lifestyle do you want now, and where in the world can you find that?!

I think it can be a bit too easy to just HATE England/UK & think somewhere like Oz/Tas will be the solution - it could be - but without really knowing what YOU want from such a huge move, you could find the same annoyances/problems/hates here that you are running away from at home...
Thanks for your kind words, Liz & Sally... Getting Excited now as we can pick up our car on Monday... Now we will be able to really explore...
Cheers,