MARYROSE02

Thanks Paul. Following Marisa's advice I have commenced an application for a HBC today. My income stream is similar to yours - UK state pension, Royal Mail pension. Com Super pension (from job at Garden Island for Dept of Defence), rent on my home in England, a few dividends. I have not started to draw on my Aussie super yet though. It's not a huge amount but I was thinking of keeping it as a buffer for emergencies.

I started my application off this arvo after I read your message. For some reason I could not access the right page via the desktop site but no problem using my Centrelink app on my phone. Naturally, there is information I lack but some of my details were still current from my aborted pension appllication. Thanks again.

Thanks Marissa. I did not know about the HBC based upon income. I thought it was tied to applying for the Centrelink pension: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/commonwealth-seniors-health-card/who-can-get-it Let's see if I still have access to My Gov Centrelink. I am pretty sure that I do. The ATO keeps blocking my access but that is a separate issue.

I didn't know what pinging meant. I saw blokes from Royal Mail talking about it on Face Book so I asked them. Wasn't that supposed to be one of the functions of the Aussie government Covid app? I dutifully downloaded it back in March or April last year but it seems to fulfil no useful function?

If you don't mind me asking, Paul, as I know you are the same age as me? I have a Seniors card of course - $2.50 maximum on public transport which is my main benefit. I have rarely asked for a Seniors' discount on services though. Have you applied for a Centrelink pension and/or got a, whatever they call it, Health Benefits Card? I did put in an application for a Centrelink Pension after a mate told me even a dollar a week would see me get a HBC. But then they came back with irritating supplementary questions and I let things slide. I should reapply though just to be certain. I realize that there are people out there making fraudulent claims for pensions but I have been honest about all my assets in both UK and OZ and declare my UK income to ATO. But that is not enough. They want to know what the dimensions of my house and garden are and what are my rates.

I believe nothing where the CCP are concerned. They could have stopped all this right at the start if they had been more open and they are still ing investigations. From what I am reading about the UK, total lock downs will be next with nobody allowed out to exercise. That was shocking about the old man having to wait and wait for an ambo which never came. I wonder if there was a breakdown in communication between the people ringing 999 and the operator not knowing how serious the situation was? A couple of years ago in Leichhardt (Sydney) I was driving down a road and I heard a shout from a house. I stopped, went over to talk to an agitated old Italian bloke and inside the house I could hear his wife screaming. I assumed the worst, could not understand them, and rang 000. The operator would not send an ambo out. Luckily another bloke arrived who could speak Italian and it turned out that the woman was having some kind of anxiety attack. Just the other week down at the pool here a bloke slipped into the pool. I didn't see it happen. There was a group of people supporting him in the water. A paramedic arrived about half an hour later. I heard that it was actually over two hours before he arrived. I do not know the full circumstances of course. I don't know what to make of Covid-19. In the UK it SEEMS from what I have read that it is like The Black Death or The Plague? Guys i worked with at Royal Mail were talking on FB about being "pinged" which I did not understand of course. They were being contacted via the NHS app to go into IMMEDIATE isolation?

Perhaps that line that someone else quoted was taken out of context? "......for me, before I even set foot in Australia, I knew......" sounds like someone who has made their mind up they will dislike something before they have tried it. Sorry, if it was taken out of context. This is probably a single person's question but why did you agree to do something which you so patently disliked doing right from the start?

"Beyond fatigued by it all?" That is what I read in the paper the other day, or something like it, along the lines that "this is the worst its been in the UK since the dark days of WW2." I don't feel guilty for being in Australia. Guilt is the wrong word, but then relief that I'm not there is also the wrong word. Somewhere in between, perhaps, as I said once before, the feeling that I am "trapped" in Portugal during WW2, where there are no shortages, rationing, bombing, but the feeling that maybe I should try to get back there? The lesser of two evils is how the Government would justify the lock downs? But, as I read somewhere recently, the lesser of the two evils is still evil, and the mental and physical strain of being "imprisoned" in your own homes, plus the prevention and treatment of all other illnesses being put on hold are also "evils". If we don't beat Covid we are all completely @@@@ed but we are only partly @@@@ed if we forget about the other problems?

It is isolated in the sense that we cannot travel to the rest of the world, and that is a trial for people like my brother who live to travel overseas. He would probably be somewhere in China right now if not for the international lock down, but my international travelling is limited largely to cruising and although that is also "verboten" I can live without it. Whether I'm in OZ or in England I live my life mostly within walking or cycling distance of my home. The beach is about 300 metres or so from where I live. I can look up from my keyboard and see the waves crashing onto the sand. All the places I need to go are nearby, and a short tram ride if I cannot walk it. It was the same when I lived in The New Forest, where most weekends I was out walking or cycling and my car stayed in the driveway. I was just thinking of the last Foot and Mouth outbreak - twenty years ago? I could still go out walking and cycling but the cattle grids into the forest all had cleansing "mats" and you were not allowed off the roads, over stiles, onto footpaths and bridleways. Where I feel the pain of lock downs is when we are required to stay in our homes and all the cafes/bars/restaurants, basically anywhere I used to socialise, is shut down. We came out of lock down in Sydney at the end of May last year, then the gates into QLD were opened in July, and I drove up to Surfers Paradise. Since I arrived here, other than having to sign into pubs/bars/cafes/restaurants we have 100 per cent freedom. Even over the weekend, with Brisbane an hour or so away and in three day lock down, here in Surfers Paradise the only sign of any change was a handful of people wearing masks. On Saturday night, outside the night clubs below my apartment block, it was the same melee that you used to see outside football grounds before or after a game. I might post a photo if I switch to my phone and log in to PIO. Of course, many people have experienced much harsher conditions - in Melbourne for three months last year, in parts of Sydney on the Northern Beaches over Xmas, and some people were forced to cut short holidays in QLD or NSW to rush back to Victoria to avoid border closures. I am not complacent mind; the dark cloud of Covid is always there up in the sky threatening to block out the sun, but for the last six months, the sun still shines, in Queensland at least.

I am thinking, aka diithering about those things. Talked to young English girl whose family is doing ti tough at home whilst you would not know there is a problem going by the crowds in SP tonight. It is like being in a neutral country during WW2 like say Switzerland or Portugal where life goes on as normal. I read in the paper here that life in the UK is close to the way it was during the darkest days of WW2. I don't know if that is true but it sounds grim.

I have only experienced living in Sydney and I sometimes wished that I had moved to London for a year or two to experience life in Gotham before I came to OZ. To be fair, I was not intending to come to Sydney, Perth being my preferred destination. I imagine that people in "international" occupations - banking, broking, finance - would move fairly seamlessly between London, Sydney, HK, New York? Perhaps? Perhaps not? It might be nice to live in London, get a season ticket to Spurs (if possible), travel down to the New Forest at weekends. Probably left it too late.

I thought that 10 am was a pretty universal time to check out, OZ, UK, Spain, wherever I've been.

Yes, that is unusual. Hating a place from the moment you set foot is one thing. I've checked straight out of hotels because I had a "sixth" sense I did not like it, but knowing you will hate a place BEFORE you get there, that is odd. I've looked at reviews of places, ships, cruises, hotels, suburbs, whatever and wondered if it is as bad as some say. My own suburb in Sydney, Surry Hills has had some horrid reviews! Made me want to move. All three ships I went on cruises had some bad reviews - peeling paint on the walls, dirty carpets, rude staff - then I get on the ship and conclude that they are just "professional" whingers. I was scared of coming to OZ too, put off by horror stories of Pommie hating Aussies. Probably the only place which has come close to "living the dream" is Surfers Paradise, and I bet that is a nightmare to some?!

Covid-19, or more specifically experiencing the lock down on my own. My brother had already moved up to Surfers Paradise in February, and I was thinking of following up but I had to get some vaccinations - flu, pneumonia and shingles, spaced out over a few weeks, and the border was closed. Then it opened in July and, after dithering, for a few days, hiring a car for a one way rental, but not leaving, packing the car, but not getting it out of the garage. I bit the bullet and crossed the Rubicon (mixing my cliches up there). I'm used to living on my own, preferring it in many ways, but during the lock down, everything was closed, other for takeaway, no cafe, no pub, no restaurant, no beach except for a swim and go, if it wasn't closed. Walk in the park permitted but no just sitting down. You were there for exercise and nothing else. I had another option too - going to Perth to stay with a friend there but the border was closed all year. It is closed again to Queenslanders I believe since the Brisbane lock down. To be fair, in the six months I've been here, life has been almost normal, bar having to sign into places. My brothers were trying to get me to sell my flat in Sydney and I was half tempted, but dithering is my modus operandi. Life is better up here to be honest. I can see the sea from where I'm sitting now. I think maybe I need to get a more permanent home even though it is pleasant enough living with my brother. But, Covid is the dark cloud hanging over everything, every plan.

I have probably already contributed to this thread when I was living in Sydney and could not imagine living anywhere else. I may have talked about moving to Perth though? I've now been in Surfers Paradise almost six months after driving up from Sydney in July when the border was briefly opened. The six months have been largely free of the shadow of Covid-19, with zero lock downs but now Brisbane is in a three day lock down, and I'm wondering if "IT" will reach Surfers Paradise. There is still plenty of toilet paper in the supermarkets but I saw a few people wearing masks today, including one guy wearing a curious plastic visor but he wore it at an angle. I get people wearing masks but I don't get them taking them off to eat and drink or talk. The shadow of Covid-19 probably contributes to a slight sense of uneasiness. What if my brother suddenly moves? It's only Covid that is preventing him from shooting off to China. If that happens would I still want to stay here or would I feel the need to return to Sydney? I don''t miss Sydney but I left my flat there, albeit with a mate house-sitting and feeding my cat. Perhaps this is all part of the migration trajectory, although in this case it is moving from Sydney not Southampton. I can't see myself going back to Soton but I still have a house there - another "loose end". These loose ends need tieing up or whatever it is you do with lose ends? !

I've had a good run in Surfers, since July, no hint of a problem. Now it may have come to an end. Surfers is practically a suburb of Brisbane and many people here commute to work there or have just gone up there since Jan 2nd. I went into a place tonight, signing in as I usually do. On the way out a woman was coming in and the security guy said, "Have you been in Brisbane this week?"

I heard on 2GB this morning (also broadcast into QLD) that the sheeple were already besieging the supermarkets. I was worried during the lockdown last year, especially when I was worried I did have the virus (more likely an allergy and not even a cold). I quarantined for two weeks in my flat but I had already stocked up from the corner shop each time I went in there with a couple of cans. Towards the end of the two weeks I ordered on line from Woolworths and that was fine too, with a minimum wait. I understand that it is much more difficult in some parts of the UK, with long queues and / or long waits? (And over-zealous coppers demanding to know what you are up to being outside the open prisons?) I had a six pack of toilet roll and I did give in to panic and bought an eight pack or even a sixteen pack and I remember that the six pack more or less lasted me anyway.

More importantly, have you rushed to the supermarkets to buy enough bog roll to last till 2022?

I had half an hour after I finished work before the train came which gave me time to walk around and explore. If I had been at the beginning of my career I think I might have moved there. They were redeveloping the area to the north of the station and I thought that would be a nice area to live, walking distance to station, Westfield, the High Street. I think it took 48 minutes from Penrith to Central, stopping at Blacktown, maybe Westfiield (for the hospitals), Parramatta and Strathfield. And I suppose about the same to Katoomba.

I can remember leaving home in Surry Hills thinking how hellishly hot it was, then boarding an air conditioned train, and getting out at Penrith and feeling like I was being assaulted with a hair dryer on maximum heat. Then in reverse, going back to Central, getting out and thinking, "It's cold here!" But I liked Penrith for all that. It was a proper town, complete with English style "High Street" and a river and close to the Blue Mts.

I have a mate whom I always envied because he moved to London, whilst he envied me because I moved to Sydney!

What is this "Sydney thing?" My brother has lived here for over 40 years and rarely been any closer to the city than 25 kilometres and more than that to the beach.

As I write, I'm sitting in the cafe with my brother. No, he has gone to the beach 400 metres from our apartment. The cafe is packed with people enjoying lunch *NO MASKS. Outside the wide open doors to the cafe a palm tree's fronds are "waving" in the slight breeze, the sun is shining, the temperature is about 28 degrees C. Horrible is all I can say.

Well, "blue sky and sunshine every single day. The leaves are always green and on the trees?" And, so far, 6 months on, no lock down. I can imagine not a few people in the UK, especially in the midst of a Covid-19 100 per cent lock down winter thinking, "I'll have some of that. It sounds just like Spain."

I should have thought of that. I did meet a couple from Portsmouth area on the promenade at Surfers the other day. I saw the bloke taking a photo of his wife and daughter and I asked if they wanted a group photo. He said "Pompey" and I said I'm from "Soton." Anyway, he had got a transfer from I think the RN to the Aussie Army in Toowoomba. They had to do two week's in quarantine. They said they were very happy to be here too!!