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. .

Yes, sell the car and buy again in UK. Before you can drive it there you'll need to wait to get it out the container and register and insure it etc. Probably you will need to borrow or hire a car right away anyway. Something thats just occured to me, dont UK cars get treated underneath with a sealant to keep the rust away from the salt on the roads in winter? Dont think they do that in Aus. Australian cars have only kilometres per hour on the speedo. although UK cars have both MPH & KPH. You need to get it changed to MPH, and then there is the MOT...

"You did not quote about Polish people being hostile towards locals. They seem to form gangs were I live and intimidate anyone who will put up with it. This is what happens were I live. I would prefer if it were not like that. If I behaved like that in Oz, I could only blame any resentment on myself." So what has the Aussie barman at Mindarie got to complain about? The Brits are not forming gangs or living in ghettos. Just because he claims not to understand what they are saying tells me he has got a low IQ. The British inhabitants of Mindarie are the most similar people to Australians in the country. Australia is heading down the same road that the UK went with the assylum seekers and immigrants who wont integrate. There are ghettos in Sydney and Melbourne and the call for sharia law has started. They only drag up the old chestnut about the "Poms" because its all they can do.

Dont worry, the removalists will do everything. Thats their job, and they have seen it all. You can do as much or as little as you like. Being ruthless ..well thats both good and bad. Sure you can start all over again, but there will be lots you wished you had kept when you have to go and buy it again. When you get to the other end it will probably take ages to get all the boxes unpacked. You start by getting out the essentials first. The packers give you a list of the boxes and a brief description of the contents. Finding something that you were used to back home can be quite good. Some of the things you will keep for years, and I should know!

We dont have any firm plans to go back. I like the best of both worlds, but its a long way to commute. Our main stop is in Scotland at Largs Ayrshire where we rent the same self catering flat each year. Its great going round to Morrisons for some shopping. There is a pub just along the road about 3 mins walk where they do meals, have quiz nights, live music and karaoke. I walk round to the paper shop each morning and get some papers. I can spend the whole morning reading. Our trip took us to Buxton Derbyshire and the Lake District. Buxton was cold and wet and the Lake district wet and wetter. Re neighbours here. Started off a long time back when we moved here and they didnt like our accents. Had some cheaps shots by pretending not to understand what we were saying. They gossop about us too because we're not like them. Other Australians are OK though. I will never be an Australian for as long as my bum points down. By the way we have never tried to modify our accents to suit the locals! 29 years in Australia, and my policy is we live here because the climate suits us, but it will never be HOME.

I just did this but the other way round. Brought a TV from UK and it wouldn't work even though used the regional menu settings. Works OK with a set top box. The TV just becomes a monitor screen. Imagine it would be same in your case, but consider costs of shipping it, damage etc. Far easier to sell it here as its new, and buy again in UK. Avoids lots of wires, cables and 2 remotes.

Try the "Ämazing Chem Dry" or "Electro Dry" franchises. They are uniformly good everywhere. Avoid steam or wet cleaning, as the dye from the sackcloth backing of the carpet can come through to the front.

It also depends on how much you paid for the ticket. Full fare and flexi allow for changes with no or minimum cost with the cheapest costing the most to change, and it can be substantial.

We have just returned from another holiday in the UK, and we like it there more and more each time. The weather was dreadful, it rained most of the time, but that did not matter, we were just so happy to be HOME. There is a sense of being alive there, and all the people we meet are friendly, but thats possibly because we were happy and smiling. A miserable face begets misery in return. Back here to the same old sh*t and the paranoid miserable AUSTRALIAN neighbours. !!

What speed were you doing to get a $249 fine?

When we first got our Webber we cooked on it non stop. Now we use it only now and again. A bit like going to the beach really. What a "pleugh" picture in the ad. Lovely couple, shaggy dog, bottle of wine, green grass, eating fried meat......