MARYROSE02

On 12/02/2022 at 18:30, Blue Flu said:

I think many would agree on your perspective on Aussie pubs. It was a shame that both English pubs here in the inner city of Perth closed their doors. At least a resemblance of Englishness (even if a little faux) What remains barely pasts muster . Not a big fan of the so termed small bar Perth explosion. Perhaps I haven't given them a fair go but it doesn't do it for me so why bother? 

We have a couple of pubs in Leederville (Perth Surry Hills) where I think you did visit. An Irish one is pick of the bunch but all are expensive to my reckoning to make it a regular , at least along the lines of London. 

We still talk about the great night we had last time in England, in Portsmouth at The Bridge pub. Never struck anything close here in Australia especially the people we related with. Similar up in Yorks in Whitby and further opp in Newcastle . At a pub in London close to Marble Arch, they play traditional 'knees up. singalongs on the piano and attracts a regular crowd. We they learnt we lived in Australia The Wild Colonial Boy and Waltzing Matilda were added and most everybody seemed to know the words. 

I can see you settling in Surfers. As for myself, I'd prefer somewhere like Bournemouth , but of late am not seeing any houses in the affordable range apart from in less desirable locations. Don't really want a flat so don't know. But changes are coming in the housing market with rising interest rates which might change the market in ways few are willing  to accept at the moment. 

I was being, or trying to be  sarcastic about SOME Pommies's reactions to Aussie pubs!

I may have gone to one bar on Leederville. Back in 1978 I remember a guy at the hostel saying,  "Come on Dave, put 2 bucks in.  I'm going to the bottlo at the pub in Leederville for some p$%&." Maybe it was Subi I was talking about. I did go to a couple there,  one of them where the Perth Ozspurs met. I liked the Windsor when I was there. 

 Bournemouth is nice though I come from near Southampton 30 miles or so to the east. Which has the best hospitals?!

I'm in an Irish bar in Surfers, nobody here.  I just fancied a last beer.  I had a meal earlier then drinks in the Surf Club. 

I suppose when you go to a pub for the first time you are attracted to the ambiance,  atmosphere, the way it looks from the outside and then inside,  but I just like a place where I know a few people. 

After I left the Surf Club I crossed the road and walked along the seafront which is one of the things I like about it here.  There are not many places that I can do that whether in England or Oz.

On 10/02/2022 at 08:33, Blue Flu said:

I suspect it may well be partly a case of not the place so much but the contact in the place. Which is fine and simplifies likes and dislikes. 

Yes, you are right. If you mean by 'contact' - 'people' whom I know and family, yes. I have done it tough in earlier times. Not quite as 'adaptable' as I could have been. Back in the 80s and 90s I was barely coping with work and on weekends  I was lonely and isolated. I used to see my brother and his family every Sunday. Looking back I wish I'd just quit the job  and gone back to England to live with my parents. When I lost that job I did go back to England and live with my  parents. But they have both passed away now and I came back to Australia where I still have family.

My local pub in Sydney used to be not too bad. It's a typical inner city Sydney 19th century building with the ironwork balconies but inside it's absolutely horrible. They moved the pokies from the back bar to the front bar and that mean the windows are all blacked out so the pokies are invisible from the street. The 'drinking bar' is now at the back in a dark, dank, windowlesss room with astroturf for carpet but I know all the staff and most of the people who drink there. There are any number of 'nicer' bars within easy walking distance but why would i want to sit on my own in them when I have friends in the other pub?

Actually, I'm in Surfers Paradise now, into my third week here and I've got  new local - the Surf Life Savers' Club. I already knew some of the staff from when I was here before. The view over to the promenade is much nicer than the one from the pub in Sydney but I don't go there for the view; I go for the people.

If I can be a bit sarcastic. 'Ugh! I don't like Aussie pubs. No atmosphere, no history, no thatched roof, no Tudor beams and the beer! That's not beer.' But my two locals in Marchwood - the snooker club and the Roebuck - were both built in 1986 when the village was being redevloped. They don't sell real ale either but who cares? I was a local and I knew people in both of them. After my Dad died we had the reception in the snooker club.

On 10/02/2022 at 08:23, Marisawright said:

Having read your posts over the years, I can pretty much guarantee it.  

i've seen you say you enjoyed living in Perth, in Surry Hills (Sydney), in Surfers, in the New Forest, and even in Penrith (Sydney).  Plus other places I've no doubt forgotten.

Looking at those places, they're all very different in character, culture, amenities, lifestyle.  You're lucky that you're so flexible.   Most people have much more definite opinions about where they enjoy living - maybe they love living in a metropolis so they'd hate being in a suburb or a tiny village, for instance.  I get the feeling that you're so adaptable, you have difficulty understanding why other people can't be the same. 

I've been concentrating on my Open Uni the last few days as it's a "workshopping week" where we post our own assignments - short stories - and comment on each other's work. But I was thinking about what you said all the time, or part of the time anyway!

Many of those places that you mention I moved for specific reasons. I moved to Surry Hills because I couldn't cope with the bus from Narrabeen and I wanted to be able to walk to work at Garden Island. Actually, Surry Hills was a little too far to walk comfortably - 40 minutes and then if the caissons were out in the dry dock that meant another ten minutes to walk round the far end of the dry dock. So I moved to a trendy, inner city suburb but not because I wanted to be trendy!

I got a job in Penrith otherwise I'd never have gone there. Since I finished working there in 2014 I've been back once. It's 55 kilometres from Central but whilst I was working there I had 40 minutes to wait for the train after work and I started to explore Penrith. I also drove out there sometimes and drove around after work. I began to appreciate it. It's a "proper" town rather than a suburb. It's got a High Street just like in England. It's got a big shopping mall, performing arts centre and the station is half way between Katoomba and Sydney so there's a good train service.

But it's also a long, long way from the beach. Did we talk about "living the dream" once? I hate the phrase but for me it means "living on or near a beach." Why move to Australia if you can't live close to the beach?! But unless you owned a house in London, if you move to Sydney you might have to buy a house in Penrith? And they're not cheap now. I suppose you adapt. Build a pool in your back yard, use a public pool and make use of the Nepean river and the Blue Mountains.

Then I got a job in Parramatta and I went through the same process. I still hated commuting but Parra is 30-40 minutes instead of 50 to 70 minutes. I had time to kill after work and I explored Parramatta and began to appreciate it as I did Penrith. In both cases, had I been at the start of my career I might have moved there. That's I what I did when I got my first job in Sydney - in Neutral Bay in 1979, moving from Kingsford. Come to think of it, I got to know Kingsford/Randwick because I stayed in residential colleges at the UNSW in Dec/Jan 78/79.

Even in the New Forest I was brought up in one village - Blackfield - but after I came to Oz, my parents moved 7 miles north to Marchwood and it took me a while to adjust to Marchwood when I lived there. My memories were almost all of Blackfield where I grew up and went to school. Marchwood is actually a better location because it's seven miles to Soton rather than fourteen.

Perhaps it's not so much that I'm adaptable as that I've had to adapt to my situation. I hate commuting especially in the peak hour (which lasts all dau every day in Sydney). So move closer to my workplace or in the case of Penrith, try to get the Blue Mountains train which only stops four times and has a toilet on board! 

I suppose with regard to other people I guess it's more not being able to understand how someone would prefer the place to the people? I couldn't imagine moving to Marchwood now to live on my own ten thousand miles away from my brothers and nieces and nephews. A pub is a pub. A supermarket is a supermarket. An Indian restaurant is an Indian restaurant, whether they are in Southampton, Sydney or Surfers Paradise. But for others, it's got to be a pub with a thatched roof and Camra approved real ale, ASDA or Tesco, and a 'real' Indian restaurant in England not India!

6 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

Ideal thing about travelling alone is you are open to all experiences. Worst is probably in a couple. If open,  it is super easy to cross paths with others and travel A to B at least. Especially when younger. Lots of fun. 

England and Australia are a cinch to travel alone in . By phobia, I don't necessarily mean a dislike of foreigners, but a fear of coping out of comfort with things like language, food, customs, and so on and so forth. 

I've no desire to travel to the Third World but I invariably get on well with other races and peoples. I'm presently learning Japanese though I have no great desire to go to Japan. 

7 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

Had your brother chosen Useless Loop over here in The West, or Manangatang in Vic or for that matter Muff in Ireland or Titty Hill in England you would most likely be enthusing about one of those places. 

You could always hire your own scooter and out hoon the hoons, taking a few out in the process. 

I didn't want to face another lockdown on my own.  That's why I headed north to Surfers in July, 2020. My brother would not have gone anywhere cold. 

I would like to see the hoons banned from the promenade. 

18 minutes ago, Ken said:

How on earth did you get to Australia with a fear of flying? Before direct flights you risked flying half way and then being unable to board the flight for the next leg! 

I was OK in my younger years.

17 minutes ago, Blue Flu said:

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but England is on an island. One does not need to fly to enter another world. Ferries abound. Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, France and Ireland. Unless one is inflicted by a 'foreign/er phobia'  fear of flying is hardly relevant living in UK. 

But yes plenty of very pleasant English seaside resorts. I expect Wales is as well. For surfing beaches and culture hard to beat Biarritz in France or Nazaire in Portugal.  

Yes, you are right. I could have taken a ferry to the Continent, as I used to do with my parents in the 1960s. I suppose  I was a bit nervous of travelling abroad by car on my own, trying to speak French. Perhaps a lack of confidence in myself combined with a desire not to be too far away from "Home." Fear of flying was/is another facet of it and included flying within the UK. I wasn't afflicted with a phobia about "foreigners" or travelling to foreign lands. I happily travelled on my own in England and Australia (also an island!) Travelling on my own is my default position.

4 hours ago, ramot said:

This ‘bogan’  had a great trip there recently. I prefer the Sunshine Coast obviously, but certainly will never be critical of people’s choice of where to live or holiday.

Had my brother chosen The Sunshine Coast I would probably have been enthusing about Noosa. Similarly, he might have gone to Main Beach, Broadbeach, Burleigh, or Coolangatta but he chose Surfers. I ended up in Sydney 43 years ago and both my brothers followed me there.

I lived in the Hilton in Surfers for eight months in 20/21 and now I'm back there, presently in a hotel room but they have two bedroom apartments which you can rent for $750 a week if you commit to at least 28 nights and that is very reasonable for Surfers. I've looked on Booking.com.

As I've said before, the thing i like about Surfers is the sheer convenience with everything I need within about a 5 minute walk. I went to the supermarket today - 200 metres from the Hilton, no need to do a big shop with a trolley, no need to drive for however it takes.  The tram service is excellent, outside my door and stops at the two major shopping centres - Australia Fair at Southport and Pacific Fair at Broadbeach, and also stops by the casino, the specialist doctors in Southport and Gold Coast hospital/Griffith uni.

I like seeing all the tourists around but I also like that I can become a "local" eg by joining the Surf Club, or rather rejoining it. Some of the staff know me and I know a young couple who go there. It's the same with two or three restaurants, bars and cafes. so far, more acquaintances than friends but they may develop down the track, as it did in Sydney when I returned there after 12 years in England.

The one thing I dislike is the hoons who hire scooters and mopeds and race along the shared path on the Esplanade.  As I said to one of the staff in the surf club last night, "I feel safer crossing the road than I do the footpath."

27 minutes ago, Toots said:

The seaside towns of the UK were lovely places for a holiday until the cheap package holidays to Spain/Greece came about way back in the 60s.  As a child and young teen I enjoyed great holidays with cousins and their parents at Blackpool, Yarmouth, Scarborough and a few other places but a lot of them have gone downhill since then.  

I did a lot of English seaside resorts in the late 90s and early 2000s. I was frightened of flying so I drove down to the West Country. Name a seaside town, and some inland towns and I stayed there - Lyme Regis, Sydmouth, Dartmouth, Falmouth, St Ives, Newquay,, Bude, Port Issac (Doc Martin?"), Ilfracombe, South Moulton. There were some others but I can't think of the names. I liked Newquay because it reminded of me of Australia with its surf beaches, lifeguards, some of them Aussies too. I stayed in Bournemouth one week and in Sandown on the Isle of Wight the next.

Some of the hotels did half board which I liked. I went East into Kent once and also to South Wales. I liked to do a bit of walking then and the coastal paths are excellent in most of those places. I'm still trying to think of an inland town down towards St Ives. I stayed in a pub in the main street, one with a well inside the bar (covered by a glass top). There was a brewery in the town - Blue something.

Plenty of people don't like to travel abroad. One of my aunties went to Poole every year. I met a bloke in a B and B in Bude who told me he'd been going there every year since 1972 - had been through five different hotel owners.

5 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

I guess I'm not surprised you not witnessing crime. I've lived what I would call totally 'clueless'  to the large amount of criminal activity around me for yonks. The trouble is once aware one can become hyper vigilant  to goings on not on the radar previously. 

I know Surfers has a lot of drugs , hardly alone in that, but still a stand out issue from my research. (as well as people with on ground experience) My impressions of Surfers outside of that is 'schoolies ' and an over representation of bogans , but imagine it attracts a cross section of 'fun seekers' looking for a good time in what must be a somewhat hedonistic type of place by its nature. 

But if that's the place you find exciting and to your liking it may be the place for you.  

"Schoolies" is a couple of weeks after the HSC and weekends are big for the clubbers but they "co-exist" with everybody else. It's probably like living in any seaside resort - Bournemouth,  Benidorm, Blackpool, Miami, locals, retires, holidaymakers, "snowbirds ",(Escaping the winter). I spoke to a  elderly lady from Yorks this morning pushing her stroller to the shops. Later,  I went to Woolies myself  ie "normality." I've seen more syringes in Surry Hills than in Surfers. 

9 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

But loads of crime from my understanding. May well be a case of jumping into the fire. I did consider Surfers for awhile. Surely the pubs cater for a younger demographic ? 

I'm sitting in the Surf Club as I write this. I'm not aware of a high crime rate here.  It's 2230 and people are strolling on the promenade.  There's always a lot of people about.  It's true that in Fri and Sat nights there are huge crowds of young people queuing for the clubs but that's mostly in a little strip of two streets part of Cavill Ave and part of Orchid Ave but it does not mean mass brawls.  I find it quite exciting. 

There are lots of families here and lots of older retired people (me!) I like Surfers because everything I want is within 500 metres with the excellent tram service if I need to go further. 

3 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

Far cheaper to drink at home in Australia as well. Besides pubs being expensive I'd only go to ones with a degree of atmosphere. 

"Atmos" for me means being a "local" - a known "face." My local pub in Sydney is entirely devoid of atmosphere since they turned the front bar into the pokies' room but i know most of the people who go there. 

Here in Surfers I go to the Surf Club where i can sit on the verandah looking out to the Esplanade and the ocean beyond. But again, I go there because I know a few people and the staff know me.

3 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

Van life is people living in vans out of both necessity and desire I guess. Increasingly the case in Australia as well. 

I learnt Australian history at school along with European/British  and American, but only touched on Asian in those days. Being of short duration you can read it up yourself if having the desire. But history is a very interesting subject. 

I know there are "Grey Nomads" who spend their retirement driving round Australia in motor homes. Maybe there are "ungrey nomads" too? I don't know if increasing numbers of people are being forced into caravan parks? There are a couple of caravan parks in my village in England.  They've always been there. 

3 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

But at least the seriously weird afternoon closing has been scrapped. That was the situation when first went to UK to live. 

When I first started going to the pubs in the 70s they opened and closed fourteen times a week at various times according to the day. Australia had its own restrictions according to which state you lived in.  Open all day Monday to Saturday in Sydney but mostly closed on Sundays. The shops closed at 1230 on Saturday too. Sundays were dull. The cinemas and Macca were open though.

On 24/01/2022 at 14:39, Bulya said:

Every little corner shop and supermarket sells alcohol here.  They treat us like adults.  

Except when they close the pubs or don't they do the "last orders" "time gentlemen please" BS any more at 1050pm, 11pm or 1020pm, 1030pm on Sundays? If they treated you like adults you would be able to buy booze whenever you want and pub and restaurant operators would be able to sell it whenever THEY want.

On 04/02/2022 at 17:13, Blue Flu said:

Van life is a growing trend in UK. Around half a million already partaking. 

I listen to Radio Solent on occasions. Daily Mail , Sky News, Fox News I'm a bit concerned at times subvert your world view if taken seriously. I suppose in all fairness I should add Spurs to that list. 

I agree . Just back from South Coast WA and know a couple of great Indian restaurants , while hardly cheap turn out as good as most anywhere. Sadly never found a favourite in Perth though. I've only ever crossed a Bangla run Indian restaurant twice in Australia, one of those was in Sydney. The owner a Brick Lane boy. (Bangla Town East London)  Other here close to me in Leederville was called Brick Lane but didn't last. There attempt to bring British Indian food to the masses ended in failure.

Far easier to recall Australian history than British or European being of such short duration. While history is history some have a deep intricate story behind where they stand now.

Cycling even better in countries like Denmark and Germany. 

I had the chance to do Aussie history when I started at UNSW in 1982 but I did European History from, I think 16th to 18th centuries.  I regret that looking back. Some units cover hundreds of years, others shorter periods, eg Austria and Germany 1919 to 1939 and Germany since 1945 (in 1990). I can't be bothered with it now.  I am doing Open University but I do creative writing units so I don't have to bother with writing essays and footnoting. But I might push myself to do an Australian history unit. 

Van Life?

3 hours ago, Toots said:

Hart's pub was a 10 minute walk away from my workplace.  Used to go there for lunch sometimes with a crowd from work.

Have you read Ruth Park's Harp In The South about a poor family living in Surry Hills which was at that time in inner city slum?  Great story!

I'm sure I did read it, or perhaps the other one - Poor Man's Orange? I'll download them to my Kindle.

When I had my graduation ceremony at UNSW in 1994 I think Ruth Park was granted an honorary degree. I'm sure there are two "celebrities" there. 

There's still a Hart's pub in The Rocks and, annoyingly, I don't recall having been in there.  I used to go The Rocks every weekend in 1979/80 with my brothers to meet mostly Pommie friends. 

There's the Strawberry Hills pub in Surry Hills (which I have been to many times) and that preserves the name, along with the Post Office on the corner of Pitt and Cleveland Streets.

My original post was eleven years ago I see, not long after I moved back into Surry Hills after twelve years back in England. I first moved to Surry Hills in 1987 (from Narrabeen) wanting to be closer to my workplace at Garden Island Dockyard.

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

I haven't heard any such quotes.

Of course he hasn't quoted "The Walking Dead" but he regards the rest of Australia as being like the zombies in The Walking Dead judging by the barriers he has put up to keep the rest of us out of WA.

32 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Still confused.

How has Mark McGowan portrayed the people in the rest of Australia?

17 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

?

Isn't that how McGowan regards us!?

I have a friend from Sydney who has moved there - moved BACK there I think because she lived there before. I'll ask her about the pros and cons. It's got a Bunnings I know! I don't know if you have to go to Rockhampton for specialised services.

9 hours ago, Parley said:

Australians don't move to Perth in their droves like Poms do, so I don't think that is it.

Is there "correlation" there? Maybe Aussies from the "Land of the Walking Dead" ie "The Eastern States" think "We are not going to Perth. It's the most isolated city on Earth." Whilst "New Chums" are thinking,  "If we are going to the ends of the Earth we'd rather be 17 hours' flight from "Home" than 24 hours?!"

My original intention was to go to Queensland,  to Townsville of all places, and I've still not been there.  Then a good deal came up involving a flight from Gatwick to Singapore followed by a week's cruise to Freemantle for 320 quid instead of 370 to fly to Queensland. 

I liked Perth but I couldn't get a job and I decided to travel east, first to Adelaide and then to Sydney where I finally got a job nearly 3 months after I arrived in Oz.

Looking back,  I could have just stayed in Perth. A job would have come up eventually  but that's with hindsight. Now I'm back in Surfers Paradise wondering if this is where I'll settle.  I like it here. I liked Perth. I liked Sydney (though sometimes I think I "endured" it, never having experienced living in a big city before.)

14 hours ago, Parley said:

It is weird how so many poms moved to Perth. I had no idea until I joined this forum. I still have no idea why it is other than people acting like lemmings and doing it because everyone else does.

Bit late now buy you may have enjoyed other cities like Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane much more.

Maybe Perth is "better" than Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane?! I loved Perth from the moment I arrived but I couldn't get a job so I moved east, and ended up in Sydney. I fancy people who are homesick will feel that way regardless of where they live in Australia. 

6 hours ago, SRP026 said:

Been here nearly 12 years now and never regretted coming here,   I got my citizenship 2 years ago.   Always lived in various parts of QLD but now thinking of moving south to NSW.  My only regret is that I was unable to return to the UK for my sons wedding last year and I have never met my grandchildren.  I find Australia easy to live in and have no regrets about moving here. Like anywhere it is not one size fits all and people don't have to feel they have failed or guilty if they don't like it here, just decide what you want and go for it. If that means going back to your home country then just look at your time in Australia as an experience.  I have not been on this site for a few years but its good to see it is still running and people are still helping each other.  

I'm thinking of moving north from NSW to QLD. Actually, I'm already in QLD - the heart of Surfers Paradise but I'm not sure if it's a holiday or more permanent,  or an extended holiday. 

I like Surfers Paradise though I know some people hate it. I like the convenience of having everything I want within a five minute walk,  and if it's more than five minutes,  there's the excellent tram service. I don't like driving here - like Sydney - all day peak hour. Some of the towns I went through on the way up were like that too - Coffs Harbour,  Grafton, Lismore.

One of my brothers lives here and a friend from Sydney plus I know a few people from the previous time I was here in 20/21 so I can begin the process of transforming from "tourist" to "local."

I wonder if it's the inability to make friends here that makes some people want to go "home?" Surfers could be described as "boring" - no history, nothing over 60 years old,  a sea of tower blocks, but whether it's 60 years old or 600, it's the people that make the place home, whether in Surfers, Sydney or Southampton. 

13 minutes ago, calNgary said:

If you liked Surfers i do think the Sunny Coast areas would be too quiet. Noosa is pretty much one small street, Mooloolaba not much bigger. Stunning places but worlds apart from Surfers Paradise.

Cal x

I thought Noosa would be busy? I looked on Booking.com for accommodation and there seemed to be plenty, no skyscrapers I guess.  I love looking at the towers but I'm scared of heights or rather scared of the balconies so I'll request a low level room if I don't stay in a 3 level place.

If my brother had chosen Noosa, or somewhere else I'd have gone there.  I don't think he likes Surfers despite going back. He stayed in Redcliffe for a few days and he liked it there. 

I don't crave crowds and noise but do like having all the services within walking distance of where I live.

There's a surf club at Noosa isn't there.  Guy I know in Surfers told me it's good.  Add in a few restaurants  bars, shops, doctors and dentist and I'm set.

I don't like having to get into a car to drive to a shopping mall.  I use my corner shop here below my unit.