7 hours ago, Bulya said:

Been isn’t the same as living.  By the way, I spent two days in Mackay, I guess I’m qualified to comment on Queensland as a place to live…

Absolutely comment away if it helps you get through the day

2 hours ago, Bulya said:

You’ve only lived in Perth.  I lived in a number of places in Blighty and Scotland.   You don’t have a valid comparison no matter how much you believe it.

Sorry how long ago did you live in blighty?

I have actually been to Melbourne, Sydney, far north west Australia and lived and worked on an island off the far north of Australia, as well as Perth so I have  seen enough to make a valid up-to-date comparison between Australia and UK

5 hours ago, Bulya said:

Bloody grateful it wasn’t wasted in Blighty…

I am taking it that you are not keen on Old Blighty then Bulya .........How do you know though Bulya?.....if you left the UK some time ago to come to Australia then your comparison of which country you prefer will be skewed will it not?

for example, I have lived in Australia for the past ten years and the UK most of my life prior to that, I can make a reasonable comparison between the two based on what I have experienced in both countries and for me I prefer the UK hands down, but that is just my own opinion.

I was chatting to a colleague at work recently, and they told me how they had a British passport and could move there if they wanted, when I mentioned that I am intending to move back they where shocked, "really!" was the reply,  they could not believe that I would leave Australia, specifically Western Australia for the 'dump of the UK'.....when I then asked them how long they had lived there, I got the reply "oh, i have never been just heard about it being a bit rough' ,.......they have never been so how can they have an accurate opinion on what it is really like.....

1 hour ago, Parley said:

And I heard a rumour there are pubs and parties and cinemas in Australia too

yes.....but you have to look a lot harder and travel a lot further to find them

1 hour ago, scousers said:

How do you leave your only daughter behind? 

I know what you mean and really feel for you, personally, I am hoping that me leaving will only be for a temporary time in my children's  lives, they are still relatively young so as to get used to a new normal which is that of their dad living thousands of miles away, but seeing him every year to spend some good times together and maybe who knows living back in the UK when ever they please when they are slightly older, at least they will have the option...... your daughter would I am sure also adjust in time and possibly see you moving back home as another outlook and an adventure to be had....another option in life

8 hours ago, s713 said:

where life takes you is so personal, there's no text book.

Absolutely agree you write your own book in life, and for me Australia is definitely not the last chapter in my book

4 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

Wouldn't have mattered where they went, would never have been right for them.

I am possibly a third option Paul, in that I did want to come on this adventure...but, Its came with an expiry date, which I set before I had left, I was always going to give it a go just as much as i was always going to return back home...

4 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

So, as well as not liking Aus you have a shit job that makes you more depressed.

no sorry Paul you are miles away on that one, I absolutely love my job  yes there are some sad days and some difficult days, but the good days make up for it, I consider myself lucky as I get to meet people of all ages, genders, cultures from all walks of life and get the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life...no matter how small that difference may be.....as for being depressed I do not consider myself to be a person who suffers from depression, I am quite lucky like that I suppose, i am however homesick which in a way leads to a form of exogenous depression but this can be remedied by returning home....I hope

6 hours ago, beketamun said:

Thats not a problem, you went with an honest plan.

I know some who went in on sponsored PR with full intention of staying and barely lasted a month.  Some who got sponsored PR with the intention of taking the money, bumming around  as a tourist, using all their holiday and then disappearing back to Ireland...but have now been here 10 years and will never move back to their origins. 

Everybody is different, plans can change.

Hi Beketamun welcome to the wonderful site of 'Pomsinoz'.....a warning it does get addictive lol

I knew in the beginning that I would have to 'hang on in there' and found it hard going even after the first few weeks, but there is this expectation that you will give it a good go and people used to band around this figure of at least two years being the benchmark for if you are going to like it and stay or not.

However  I always knew, i have always been 'one of them people' that loves to go on holiday or new adventures....but I always hit a point where I have had enough and want to go home, that feeling has never gone away and here I am 10 years later!! about to go home soon hopefully 

On 16/11/2021 at 16:18, proud preston said:

It also reminded me of @bug family - and I wonder if he’s gone back to the UK?

Not yet ...still stuck in this dusty baron land......but I am working on it, trust me 

leaving here will be both the hardest and the easiest thing I have ever done, literally.........leaving my children takes my breath away

But missing home and being able to go back and start another new adventure pulls me in the opposite direction

I have mentioned before that I am returning but with a totally new career and new work area, (an ambulance trust in England somewhere, think big city), but even though I plan to work somewhere new, I also plan to save up and get a house (deposit and mortgage as I am broke:) in or around my home town in North Wales, so that I am not living and working in the same area on my days off (for mental health reasons due to the nature of the job), .......my point is I feel that I have a better chance of making this work as I am not 'going back' to try and fit into my old life, this is a new life .......and my children, after a period of time (which I have accepted will be very hard)  will also have the chance of a new life and new adventures...I am not walking away, I am simply opening up new doors for them

My job here in Australia really does put life into perspective, when you are around real sickness and death on a regular basis it makes you focus on TIME and how you spend it and more importantly how much you may have left.....

The welsh have a saying

On 19/11/2021 at 15:19, 22B said:

Well a mixture of circumstances for us. My wife had previously been a travel booker specialising in the Oceania market and loved the place. Then, her brothers developed their own UK business into Australia and moved with their families. We were also sold on the idea of a fresh start after my own miserable professional life forced the need to change too. My birth family had become distant and of no real reelevance in my life anymore (long story), and my own little unit was everything. Giving the children the best start we could became another driving force. I had never been to Australia but believed, after long discussions, that it would prove the right choice. At the time, it was. Having been here for 11 years, it isn't.... for me. My mother died suddenly in 2014, then my grandmother 3 months later. They raised me in quite difficult circumstances and so I'm fully aware of what I have and the gratefulness I live with. But I miss my country and all it stands for... and I can't hide the fact that I hate Perth and the Australian lifestyle now. I won't be respondng to any more of the forum's posts here, but thank everyone for their kind responses.

I hope in time that you find happiness 22B, where ever that maybe.....also you should know that you are part of POMSINOZ and your opinion and input is both valued and helps, so stick around and have a chat from time to time ...there is no judgment on here, we all have a different view on life as we are all indeed different...take care

On 14/10/2021 at 15:35, 22B said:

I have to say I'm not that brave

I think that you will find that you are 22B, staying despite knowing that your heart and soul belongs somewhere else takes courage in my book

1 hour ago, Quoll said:

At the end of the day you have to make up your mind if this is the woman and family you want to grow old beside and within

For me I absolutely love my children and always will, I have said to them numerous times that no matter where I am in the world, there will always be a front door for them to walk through when ever they want, and even though they are relatively still young (13 & 8 ) they understand that I am trying to go home and that I miss home, I have sold (i think) them on the Idea that instead of just having one country to live in, they will have the choice of two and two hemispheres as well, I have to to admit the hardest part will be walking away from them, but it wont be forever of that I am sure, just need to get re-established back in the U.K..

I still love my wife in a caring way, but not in a loving husband and wife way,  I have accepted that the marriage has been too broken by the whole emigration and homesickness (on my part) and we want different things, however we are lucky in the fact that we both are still really close and I have told her that she is welcome to come over to stay with me anytime once I am back home....when ever that may be,  2022 is looking good for a move I reckon Quoll

Hi Unsurebutalwaysdiscussing,

I sit in the opposite camp to most on this one, so for balance I thought I would write, I visited home (the U.K.) back in 2019 at Christmas time just before Covid hit,

At that point I had been here in Perth for 8 years or so (came with my wife and little boy, and had a daughter out here..... long story played out on here in part, but we are now splitting up and I am trying to go home) anyhow I  had never been back, one of the reasons for me going back (apart from missing home everyday for 8 years ) was to see if I still wanted to go home for good or if I could 'get it out of my system' as I have been told many times.

For me the trip back cemented where I wanted to be, just going from town to town and seeing the differences in each one, and the food, historic buildings, countryside, culture etc, etc you get the idea...for me rather than 'get it out my system' I knew that I don't belong here, for me (personal opinion) Perth is soul destroying and living in a suburb as I do drains the life out of you and picturing spending the rest of my days here are not an option, so I will be leaving at some stage on my own to try and start all over again, you are possibly in a more favourable position to me in that financially I will leave with very little as I am signing the house over to my wife to ensure my children have a stable future (the house is near the school etc). 

I have sold the idea to my children that I will be going back to setup again, and that it may take a couple of years to get straight and get a mortgage , house etc, but that it is in their interests as they will have the choice of two countries that they can live in and access to Europe, holidays in the Med, cold Christmases, food, history and culture galore.

I think what maybe hits the message home for me more than most on here and indeed generally is the people that I meet in work on a daily basis (a hospital that shall remain nameless), I regularly meet and chat to elderly ex pats from the UK as part of my job, most (not all) but most talk fondly of their country of birth and how they wished to have gone back when they where younger or regret leaving it to long to go back, you can see the sadness in there eyes and hear it in their voice....I do not want to be one of those that regrets not leaving when I am old and grey

Anyhow good luck to you there is no easy or straight forward answer, we are all different and have different lives and place value in different things...for me I will be financially poorer in the UK but in life immeasurably richer ....some things cannot have a price put on them I suppose....... good luck

1 hour ago, tea4too said:

...... still wondering what your news might be BF, and watching this space while keeping everything crossed for you. Tx

Thanks tea4too I am nearly there just a bit longer x

3 hours ago, steveshe said:

Absolutely love it here . Been here 21 years and never ever regretted it for one moment . I have no intentions of going back to UK . Here is home not the UK . The only thing i find tiresome is all the Poms moaning about being here in Australia due to covid . But they are quite happy to get petitions up to start letting everyone in putting a lot of stress on our health system . I agree 100% with all whats happening here . Im in Perth and its the best place in the world , where i am happiest . 

I am glad you are happy here but not everyone feels that way, I miss home always have and always will, we are all different steveshe I respect that, as for a petition I have no idea on this not heard about it, oh and as for moaning poms ....everyone moans about something or other including you moaning about moaning poms Australia is at a crossroads at the moment, it has done well to keep covid at bay up till now but on the other hand has a very low vaccination rate, meaning if and when covid does make a significant impact which is starting to look likely over east it could be a very different story here....time will tell ..anyhow I hopefully will be going home in the not to distant future

1 minute ago, Rallyman said:

I have mixed feelings, we went back 3 years ago and was shocked at the state of the town just charity shops and hairdressers. 
Not being able to travel when we want is having an effect on us as if we ever wanted to catch up we could book a flight and go. 

yes its very hard especially at the moment, I personally think it is wrong that as a British citizen I have to apply for exemption to LEAVE the country, even if I plan to not come back!

Its a shame your town was not what you expected when you went back, some places have done well others not so much, Prestatyn town was booming when I was there a couple of years ago, in fact North Wales as been voted one of the best regions to holiday in the UK

18 hours ago, Rallyman said:

Yes I know that area , I lived in Buckley 

Yes i know Buckley to, not far from Wrexham and Mold, its funny really because it is so true when people say that you have to live somewhere else to appreciate where you live and now I have done that I can truly say that I prefer back home in the UK

5 hours ago, Rallyman said:

Which area of N wales Bug F ? 

Hi rallyman.... prestatyn do you know this area ? Beautiful little town, has a charming Victorian high street with a hillside at the top with views down the coast and numerous pubs and restaurants and the beach at the other end, having lived and visited many places around the world this little town had topped them all

4 hours ago, scousers said:

Agree, i am from Liverpool but live in Melbourne, its the people that make the difference , its Liverpool for me

Yep totally agree scousers, I work with a couple of Liverpool girls and they brighten my day every time, I have a real laugh and a good chat as there has always been a strong connection between North Wales (where I am from) and Liverpool

10 minutes ago, Peety said:

Thanks x we’ve got super tied up in property. Nothing too exciting just a two bedroom flat in Melbourne. I’ve got maybe $50k of super in the UK other than that nothing so financially I’m stuffed. My ex told me not to get lawyers involved in our divorce but I’ve definitely been disadvantaged. I’m so ashamed and embarrassed tbh to be in this situation. I’m 50 with maybe $200k that I could get if I sold my crappy house. I’ve worked full time for the last 30 years as a nurse it all seems for nothing. Definitely not enough to buy a think in the uk. 

I guess I just need to look forward to the next chapter in my whatever the hell that would be.
 

 

 

Peety ...200,000$!! From your house sale ....I am late forties and have less than ten thousand to my name think yourself lucky with that much you can easily start again think positively 

On 19/05/2021 at 17:58, Dusty Plains said:

Crime Comparison Between Perth and Manchester 

Index	Perth	Manchester
Crime Index:	41.88	56.34
Safety Scale:	58.12	43.66

	Perth		Manchester
	Improve Data		Improve Data
Level of crime		Moderate 44.67		High 64.53
Crime increasing in the past 3 years		High 63.97		High 71.98
Worries home broken and things stolen		Moderate 42.86		Moderate 54.98
Worries being mugged or robbed		Low 33.85		Moderate 55.64
Worries car stolen		Low 30.28		Moderate 46.71
Worries things from car stolen		Moderate 42.41		Moderate 54.70
Worries attacked		Moderate 40.23		Moderate 56.32
Worries being insulted		Moderate 41.99		Moderate 57.86
Worries being subject to a physical attack because of your skin color, ethnic origin, gender or religion		Low 24.77		Low 38.08
Problem people using or dealing drugs		Moderate 54.77		High 71.57
Problem property crimes such as vandalism and theft		Moderate 52.25		High 64.56
Problem violent crimes such as assault and armed robbery		Low 39.18		Moderate 54.95
Problem corruption and bribery		Low 30.34

 vs Manchester

On 19/05/2021 at 18:45, calNgary said:

Just a reminder what this thread is about and that it isnt in CTF as this last few pages seem to be going off on a comparison tangent.. Please leave the Perth Vs Manchester posts for another thread,( if you wish to discuss that of course.)

 Cal x

I may have some exciting yet sad news (lol my life is definitely sweet & sour) to post on here very soon, don't want to jinx myself but watch this space..........

1 hour ago, Peety said:

I feel just like this now. Moved from Bath to melbourne. I’ve been here 14 years now, kids grown up, divorced after 20 years living on my own in Gippsland. 10 years from retirement. I’m yearning to go back to Wells, Bath or anywhere in that location. I’ve never felt so alone. Biggest mistake ever coming to Australia. 

Sorry to hear this Peety, please know that you are not alone, 

you should not regret your choice to come to Australia, as at the time it was exactly what you wanted and you cannot predict the future, don't be to hard on yourself

Marisawright (above) is right (as usual ) in that you need to start making your move now and start working through each stage bit by bit (if you look at the whole picture it seems to daunting) but just like you made the move all them years ago, you can also make the move back, look at it as another adventure in life and new beginings

6 hours ago, SWMOY04 said:

I definately agree with you that life is not "one size fits all"

and yes, that is my opinion (that its not contest between Manchester and Melbourne)... 

but c'mon.... be serious now... out of a hundred people, you reckon its anywhere near a 50/50 split between the two??  

But it is not a competition SWMOYO4, I could not care less if 99 out of 100 people preferred Melbourne over Manchester, good for them its their choice.....I will represent the 1 percent that happen to prefer Manchester or some other city for that matter, its just my opinion it does not need to be graded or given a score.......

16 hours ago, Bulya said:

Exactly.  Most here have very low standards

exactly ....that is  why I moved to Australia like yourself Bulya