Conniebygaslight

WE found that Aussies stay in far more than Brits do....there was never anyone out and about really strange.

Was still ok though, we sat out for quite a bit

Lovely picture that Stacey....(shame I've just got a leg of lamb out of the freezer for lunch tomorrow)

It's been a beautiful day today hasn't it..? I agree with Stacey, blue skies are fabulous and really lift the mood. Clocks go forward in a few weeks too, It's amazing that we have long days every year but we always seem amazed at how light it is for how long lol

I'm as full as an egg x

What a lovely little girl and how lucky she is to be born into such a lovely family who obviously cherish each other. Many congratulations x

Bet you're having agreat time, the weather where we are (c20 miles fom York) is beautiful today, we've just had our first bbq of the year.

We were there last Easter...loved it. Have a great time

It was an old thread that was closed, I'm a complete technophobe so don't know how to post the link...sorry lol x

Not my post but wow...how many of us feel or have felt like this.? In May 2006 I moved back to the UK after 3 years living and working in Melbourne. The main reason for the move was career-motivated but I also wanted to move back because, contrary to popular opinion, I actually prefer life in the UK. Let me start by saying I am in no way anti-Australia or anti-Australian. My girlfriend is Australian, some of my best friends are Australian, I had some very good times when I was in Australia. Having said that, every day I am grateful for my move home and am 100% happy with my decision. It really annoys me that every time someone speaks to me about Oz they say ‘Don’t you miss it?’ ‘Why’d you come back?’ ‘You’re mad for moving back to rainy old England’ The truth is that most people base their opinion of Australia on one of the following – a) the stunning views of Sydney harbour and the Opera House; b) pleasant memories of watching Crocodile Dundee and/or Neighbours on the telly whilst growing up or c) if they’re lucky, a year-out bumming around on Bondi or the beaches of Queensland. People are really comparing their life in the UK to a surfy, bush-tucker stereotype rather than reality – so its, say, Manchester versus the Gold Coast, Liverpool versus the Whitsundays. People equate sunshine to happiness and therefore the grass appears much greener on the other side (of the world). Suburbia Sure, some people go to Australia and live the stereotype for real but the reality for the majority is vastly different from the beachy ideal. Over 90% of the Australian population don’t live on the beaches of Queensland but in one of 5 cities (despite preconceptions, their population is actually far more urbanised than ours). Due to virtually everyone living in bungalows and the Aussie dream of owning a quarter acre plot, the housing is extremely low density. This means that the suburbs stretch and stretch. In Melbourne’s case, suburbia stretches 40 or 50 miles from the CBD in literally every direction. Even when there isn’t any traffic on the roads, the outer suburbs are often over an hour’s drive from the city. You might claim to live in Melbourne but very rarely venture into the city. Most of these suburbs have nothing. Literally nothing. For entertainment there may be a pub in the suburb - But not the charming local that most Brits are accustomed to. Because there aren’t many – often one pub per suburb – they are huge. They often aren’t just a pub like we know, but a tacky pub / casino / betting shop monstrosity featuring row upon row of fruit machines, locally known as ‘Pokies’. The only other ‘entertainment’ is often a nearby mall. These are usually generic enclosed shopping centres with foodcourts, situated just off the freeway and surrounded by massive tin-shed developments. Just like in the States, these places tend to become the focus for teenagers hanging out and skipping school. Because of their locations, they also help to fuel the car culture. People drive everywhere. Trapped People often say that Oz has the kind if laid back lifestyle they are after. The reason the lifestyle is ‘laidback’ is because very little actually happens in Australia. Perhaps compare life in Australia to being in a coma – sure enough its quite comfortable, but feck all happens. The local music scene is ordinary at best (even requiring a local content quota on Australian radio). International acts often tag on gigs in Australia to the end of their world tours and bands only ever do proper world tours after they have really hit the big time. Really good up-and-coming acts rarely hit Aussie shores. Big Day Out, the biggest music festival in Australia and New Zealand, is the antipathy of the what a proper festival is all about – free spirit, rebellion and having a kick ass time. The event is a one-day event finishing at the rather conservative time of midnight. Alcohol can only be consumed in specially designated areas. The event does draw some big names but typical of Australia it is safe, bland, boring. When the bands do come, they come for a couple of weeks in January to play the Big Day Out franchise and a gig in each of the state capitals and then head home. In any other month of the year it is extremely difficult to see world class musicians down under. The same goes for standup comedy. Granted, Melbourne has a comedy festival every April but outside of this, you will never get to see world class comics in Australia. Between April and October the cultural calendar in Melbourne is empty apart from the AFL season. Winter in Melbourne is nowhere near as harsh as a UK winter but it does get cold, and wet, and windy. Because the seasons are back-to-front, there is no Halloween, Bonfire night, Christmas or New Year to brighten up the darker months. Beyond the almost endless suburban sprawl, there is often nothing (bare the odd redneck town) for many, many hours drive. Melbourne and Sydney may look like next-door-neighbours on an atlas but they are roughly a 9-hour drive apart. It is a strange thing that in this sparsely populated country which should feel more open, this geographic isolation actually makes you feel slightly trapped. If you get bored of Melbourne, its not that easy to just pop over to Sydney. On a bigger scale, if you get bored of Australia or just want a holiday abroad even New Zealand is a four-hour flight away. Melbourne and all the other Australian cities are nice enough in their own right. But you have to view them in context: both in terms of their location within Australia and Australia’s position in relation to the rest of the world. Utopia? Far from the utopian image that is often portrayed, Australia is not free from social ills – there is widespread gambling addiction (including a quarter of the world’s ‘Pokies’), a high crime rate (violent crime is more prevalent than in any other OECD nation) and rampant drug abuse (including a much higher use of heroin than any European nation). The casino is seen as the evening of choice for many. Almost every night on the shock-docs or evening news, stories are run on gangland or outback murders. The only time I have ever seen someone injecting heroin into their arm was not in a parked car by the side of a city park in Glasgow, but in Australia. Despite our moaning, Australia have poorer healthcare and education systems than we do – most middle class Australians have gone private. Medicare, to be frank, is a bureaucratic mess. Student debt and university funding is also in poorer shape with fewer Australians being able to afford higher education. Excluding the outback (where you can literally get away with murder), Nannystateism is taken to a higher level in Oz than Mr Blair could ever imagine. The Alternative Whilst not perfect, I believe the UK is a better home for me at this particular point in my life. There is so much I want to achieve in my career, things I want to experience and interesting places I want to go that Australia just can’t offer. It might be a great place for retirees wanting the quiet life, but it wasn't for me. Simple things that I completely took for granted when I grew up in England I really began to miss on the other side of world – Sunday dinners, rolling green countryside, long summer evenings, trips to Europe whenever I wanted, cider, the buzz of discovering a cool new band, decent, thought-provoking TV that wasn’t peppered with adverts, driving through cute little villages, exploring historic towns, watching snow fall, conkers. Most of all, I missed those days in January when its freezing cold but there’s pure blue sky and everything is crisp and it tingles slightly when you breath. The best thing about England is that it isn’t bland. It isn’t beige. It isn’t flat and suburban and dull. There may be things that I hate, but there are far more things that I love. Sometimes it is miserable but more often than not it is glorious. It is the highs and the lows. The past and the future. Love it, hate it. It is life at 100 miles per hour…. And for now, it is my home.

I would guess that it's financially easier now for unhappy expats to leave.

Thank goodness for that...!!

I cannot understand anyone cutting off their children or grandchildren to be honest. My own mother hardly kept in touch when she lived overseas for 9 years (Europe) but would visit if I paid. She refused to come to meet her first grandson because she was busy (she met him at 2.5 years old- again I paid) She returned to UK when she could claim her OAP and the benefits that would bring by which time we had decided to go to Australia ( I paid a bond on a house and furnished it for her, she also lived with us for 2 months)-she wasn't happy about being left to fend. We moved back within a year and we live about 20 mins away from her (although I only know the town she has moved to not her address) I did try to contact her when in Oz and back here but she has said she has her life and we are not part of it... If I have left a hurt in her life I would like to know when and how.

What a wonderful thing for you to say Jessie, I thank you for such kind words- It's hard to believe that anyone would follow my story to be honest and to think I have helped someone else in someway is wonderful. I always maintain that to emigrate is a huge thing in life and even though a lot of us may share different opinions we do all share the fact that we took the plunge and changed our lives. We returned to the UK and are happier than ever but our lives have been changed beyond all recognition. Good luck to you Jessie and thank you again xxx

My own mother cried her eyes out when we left for Oz (she had previously lived overseas for 9 years and only returned to UK 6 months before we left for Oz)...she never contacted us when we were in Oz and moved house while we were over there, she blocked us from FB, we returned to the UK but I have heard nothing from her (or my sister-only sibling) for over 3 years- despite our 3 young children being her only grandchildren......my punishment for leaving I guess

Just seeing another post on here today has reminded me of Jasepom and his situation of returning to Oz without his family-has anyone heard anything of how things are....?

Barbies....., :SLEEP:

Cannot beat that feeling of belonging.....really pleased for you.

I agree don't burn your bridges....can I ask why you don't see each other in the winter months? does your hubby work away?

I actually miss the Hoff (Jim), a couple of years ago I managed to get him so exasperated....mmm I might start a thread.

I don't hate it....It just gets on my nerves.

Because of the beach I would guess.....even watching WDU revistited when they talk about lifestyle they get the BBQ out and go to the beach, surely people understandit gets boring. (or they go see some roos at the zoo- which would cost a fortune)

3 families have returned to our village in the past 2 years (including us) from Melb, Qld, and Sydney. All went for different reasons (job offerslfamilit etc) and away for varying lengths of time (under a year/2 years/6 years).

Best attitude to go with IMO

But what about the villages in the UK with much lower crime (and easy access to great motorway links), surely these are what you would compare to what you talk about not - surely you have to compare a city for a city..?