friedparsley

A question for Blue Flu. Were you once an employee of Alfred Holt & Company aka Blue Funnel Line, commonly referred to as Blue Flu. ? Also known as the China Boats.

Hi BF, Are you still asked that? So many UK accents here, I'd have thought it would be close to a norm. But I know people who deliberately 'keep' their accent but prefer to live here. I have a Scottish accent. Maybe harder to lose than some English accents. But: We learn to talk, and the way we talk on our Mothers knee. I don't see any reason to change that to suit some Australians who believe that to be one of them you have to adopt everything Australian. Even then you will never be completely accepted. I found West Australians to be more insular even xenophobic than those in the Eastern states. We also spend time in at home in Buxton, Derbyshire. My grandparents lived there, and i remember many happy school holidays spent there. No one there ever comments on my Scottish accent...ever. But then I am friendly with everyone I meet.

After 37 years in Australia and going back home UK, since retiring for 3 months every year, I'd rather live in the UK. However since Covid we have not been able to for 2 years now. I always feel more at home in the UK. Here in Perth people are always sayign to me "how long have you been in Australia? " When I say ** years, the reply is always "you haven't lost your accent" . I have developed a variety of replies, you can imagine some of them. However I dread the UK winter. The summers can be good or bad, it can rain nearly every day. I remember long ago waiting for the summers that never came, before the Autumn monsoons arrived.

British Paints is owned by Dulux, but nowhere as good. For the best finish you need 2 coats, but 3 is better. Matt gives the best streak free finish, but low sheen looks better if you can avoid light shining across it.

I dislike Dubai airport, so the shorter the connection time the better. As you are highly likely using Emirates for both legs to the UK, the airline would not book your connecting flight if it was not possible to make it. And as they will have done so, you are their responsibility to get you on the next flight. If not, Emirates have a hotel they use, close to the airport, so you can rest there and get meals etc. I think all the Australia/UK flights use the same terminal now, but check anyway. You don't want to be caught short and find you need to take the train between terminals. So do your shopping/looking at shops at your departure terminal. If you decide to take a Dubai stopover for a few days on the way back be aware that all the flights seem to arrive at the same time of midnight or 1am. The ques to get through immigration are long and take time. Then you get out to the taxi area and find more long ques, and the heat hits you. We are so over Dubai now. Wouldn't go back. Now we fly Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong. Much better, and HK very exciting for a stop over. C.P. fly to Manchester too !! win-win ! BUT last year when we came back, the security at Manchester was the worst (or best) we ever experienced. It was just after the Area Grande bombing, and the security was checking everyone very thoroughly. Everything had to go in the big box, your passport, wallet, money, belt, shoes. It was pandemonium !!vPeoples belongings were getting mixed up and lost. It was chaos. It could still be the same. So glad to get through into the departure lounge.

Yes you are right. I was thinking even as I was typing, that I had not seen the posters the banks used to have in their windows, for some time.

The RBS is giving us hassle about our account that we have had with them for over 40 years and 30 of them in Australia. They want our Australian tax file numbers and certified copies of our passports. So far I haven't got round to it, but they are sending an endless stream of ratty letters. I have declared this bank account on my Australian tax return some time ago, and they don't even want to know now as my balance in the RBS is beneath their reporting limit. I am disinclined to go to the trouble the RBS want us to go to, as several years ago they lost a large sum I was transferring to Aus. Just dissapeared into thin air and they washed their hands of it. After a lot of detective work I discovered that their foreign dept had not filled the transfer form properly. I still have a copy. They just stopped in the middle of the transfer. Even when I got the money about 7 months later they did not even give an apology. After that I used a forex company to make transfers without trouble. So I am inclined to tell the RBS to go and get ##**# with their request. It all originates in the USA, they are paranoid. Apart from that there is no trouble about keeping your UK bank account open. Many Australians open a UK bank account from here, if they are going for an extended holiday in the UK.

Don't you have all your statements online? Then you can call them up to view, show or print anytime.

Hey Freckleface, if you are, as you say an Australian, what are you doing blogging on Poms in Oz?This part is entirely about moving back to the UK, yet here you are giving out your opinions, which by the way count for nothing as you are not a POM.

We brought our car out with us when we came to Australia, and there was no end of hassle. Bottom line was that they just didnt want us to do it. However I think in uk they would not be as vindictive, but still...DONT DO It. We were on holiday this "summer" again like each year and I can tell you that the cars we hire quickly become "öurs", and I could just keep them on without thinking back to the one in Australia.

I was thinking however that it cost us more to park the car than to drive it. Ha-ha, maybe not, but in England we couldn't park for free anywhere. They had it all tied up in the Lake District. We went to Lyme Park House near Stockport, and on the long drive in through the grounds there was a hut with a guy taking money. 5 Pounds per car he said. Car and 2 adults said I. OK he says still 5 Pounds. We drove on a bit further and got to the house where we discovered that the 5 Pounds was only for parking on the grass. It cost 12 Pounds each to get into the house. 24 + 5 = 29 Pounds entrance to Lyme Park House !! Whhew! Just as well I save up all year!

I'm retired now and dont have to work here or in the UK. We spent all our holidays either in Oz or S.E. Asia, but now have been returning to the land I said we would never return to when we first emigrated. How we change. Never say never again! I find everything so interesting back home. Nobody can tell we lived in Australia for 29 years, and nobody comments on our accents.(.Scottish), not even in England, but then I like English people as much as Scottish. Its easy to get into conversation with folk. I always come back to Aus with more contacts in my mobile address book than I have from Australia. Its not about the sun or lack of it, but I must admit that good British weather would make visits there more enjoyable. I could go on and on, but readers would get bored.....

Petals:- "Give it thirty years and you will get the Aussie humour. He is having a laugh." Öh good, I've only got 1 more year to go and I'll be OK then!

tink:- A self catering flat or house gives you the feel of what its like to be actually living there. Its better than B&B as you get a whole house to live in rather than 1 bedroom. Its actually cheaper than B&B, but you have to add on groceries. However that gives a better feel as you go to the supermarket and shops and get 1st hand experience on what things cost. You dont have to cook every meal at "home", you can go out to eat. Self catering places vary in sze and cost. A cottage or house for 6 will cost more than a flat for 2. Just google "self catering UK" etc, for listings. Our time in the self catering made it easier to tolerate the rain outside, as we could sit in the lounger room and read etc, without having to leave as in the B&B, so they could make up the room. We lived in B&Bs at Buxton and Lake Windermere. Those B&Bs are getting expensive now, but even they are still cheaper than hotels. The only advantage to B&B is you can come and go any day and stay any time. Self catering usualy are for 1 week minimum and change over day Saturday, and you need to book in advance.

ALEX Bowen says he's the "odd man out". An Australian in his own country, he shouldn't feel he's part of a minority. But he does. Petals you wrote:- "I read this article and the aussie barman was not complaining at all" After reading what Alex Bowen said, quoted above, I still think he is complaining "We have lived here over thirty years and my oh gets asked to repeat at times, does it upset him, no, not at all. Same with anyone who has a different accent" Whats that got to do with it? Its the barman who is complaining. Not the customers. .