bug family

Because , i don't know, maybe it has changed possibly? if the poster has not visited in 10,20,30 years it will have changed ....will it not A different poster confirms what a lovely place it is and how investment has made it so

sorry Bulya remind me when you where back in the UK last ?.....

mmmmm....its all about perspective though Jimmy what you find attractive or not is different to what I may find......having been to both Melbourne and Manchester, its Manchester for me hands down, as for Scotland its a stunning place which I would be happy to call home, but then its not about the money for me, i get paid far more here than I ever did back home, yet I would swap for a lower income and happiness back home in a heart beat......over mind numbing boredom and homesickness here in Aus

Thanks cal x

A bit ridiculous to be honest, trying to compare a major city to a small insignificant suburb area on the coast of western Australia ....ironically I have been to Manchester many, many times and had nothing but a great time and always felt safe, yet on the one odd occasion I have been to Hillary's (a few years back now) I got abused by some young-ish Australian lad who took offence to me wearing boots (soft hike boots, I find them comfy lol) with shorts?? and i thought they looked fine together (must be a British thing)....anyhow he was a proper hard man with his mates, especially seem as I was with my two young children at the time, not been back since and not in any rush to return. just for you Dusty seem as you like statistics Australia Murders with firearms 59 Ranked 25th globally. 4 times more than United Kingdom Murders with firearms 14 Ranked 39th globally.

ahhhh my 'neck of the woods'

Sounds like you have swapped countries but kept the same life, to be honest Well you did ask why go to Chester or Liverpool...anyhow moving on In my book looking at 'stuff' IS ''doing stuff'

Hello Tony, Just a bit of moral support to say good for you, it is never to late, you are meant to be where your heart is, I wish you good luck and keep us all informed of how you are going, this site is a great place for information, viewpoints, or just for a virtual shoulder to cry on sometimes, Good luck

I don't like doing the comparison thing Paul because as I have said everyone is different, but your comparing a small beachy, marina area with a handle of restaurant and cafes and a few overpriced shops, a dot on the western coast of Australia to entire cities....Hillary's is miniscule in comparison. why would I go to Chester or Liverpool ? what apart from the history, castle and Roman walls, river dee, bridges, canals, centuries old 'rows', cinemas, library, cathedral, uncountable pubs, restaurants, street bands and entertainment, night life and clubs, shops, parks, football grounds, business parks, out of town shopping centres, bowling, arcade and entertainment venues, university, top schools, industry such as Airbus UK, the list goes on and on and don't get me started on Liverpool or Manchester who apart from being home to world famous musicians and football clubs have an even vaster array of choice....hillary's really? are you having a laugh

Have you seen Manchester lately? There is absolutely no comparison, way more choice in Manchester, Hillary's is a bit naff in my opinion, it has tried and failed, as for within driving distance of Manchester, errrmmm Chester, Liverpool, lake district northwales haw far do you want to travel ....

Hi happy Heart, yes i live 'down south', can I go home...difficult one my heart is in two places, my children are here (Daniel 13 & Emily 8 ) and leaving them would be very hard if not impossible both for me and them (my daughter has begged me not to leave), but my heart is also back home which i miss regularly, my wife has said I am free to leave and get a job back home with the NHS but i do not know if it is that easy, i would be starting virtually all over again with little funds and the clothes on my back so to speak, we are not like a married couple any more and are 'just good friends' which is a shame as when we came here 10 years ago we where very close and still in love, don't get me wrong I still love my wife and care for her .....just not in love any more if that makes sense, long story which relates to having to live with the in laws here for two years it destroyed our marriage and possibly me being homesick and going on about it cannot have helped if i am honest . will I go home, i am certain of it at some stage, at least that's what I tell myself everyday lol keeps me sane, just do not want to leave it to long i am late 40's and time is ticking...I have likened it to a virtual / mental bridge that I have to cross one day, I know its there and I have to cross it ........

That is what makes us all different Happy heart, as has been previously pointed out, an individuals view is by nature subjective, I accept that someone else may not see or feel the same as me and at the same time I can understand and accept their own point of view, however that does not make my own view and thoughts any less valid, we all see through different eyes and experience different things

Thank you and I am glad you have found your happy place Cleowag

Not really Happy Heart as you point out in one of your earlier posts, different people like different things Manchester has always been one of my favourite cities along with Liverpool and of course London, in terms of entertainment and size you really cannot compare the two, Manchester dwarfs Mandurah, it is about the size of one of Manchester's housing estates in area, had some brilliant times in Manchester although as I have said before it does have its problem areas, I worked in the middle of moss side for a while and was warned not to stay after dark , as cleowag points out they feel safer in Mandurah and having policed Manchester I am sure they have a really good knowledge of what went on, ....however for me I simply prefer back home warts and all

I do not actually live in Mandurah (although I am down this way) , I do know Mandurah though, its around 70 klms from Perth and has the unfortunate nick name of 'methandurah', some nice parts but like every town (both here and back home in the UK) it has its drug problems, the difference here in Aus is the drug of choice tends to be methamphetamine which makes the user very unstable and unpredictable especially those that go on binges where they may not sleep for days, I / we end up seeing the results whilst trying not to get punched / abused or spat on . Mandurah (like a lot of towns here) is like a ghost town after a certain time of night, in the 9 years since coming here to Australia I have only been out round Mandurah in the evening a handle full of times as nowhere is open, I believe there are a couple of pubs in the centre which open till late evening and one night club where you risk loosing your teeth if you look at someone the wrong way, not really my cup of tea. There is a large shopping centre, some nice shore line and beaches and the odd park dotted around, but other than that not a lot else that I can see, it all seems to be a bit bland and indistinguishable from the next town. Ironically I came from a seaside town back in north Wales, which has also got a reputation as being very deprived and run down*, however I have to say apart from possibly the weather I personally preferred it hands down way more choice.....and i don't mean the drugs . *(A massive regeneration program has led to some fantastic improvements of the area over the last few years and the place is looking great, with a number of new projects, hotels, shops, pubs also currently being built)

Exactly bulya....I would have way more choice for something to do in blighty, some of it available 24 hrs a day, even in the smaller towns the place does not shut down at 6 pm......anyhow as I am here in Aus I suppose I had better get some more batteries for the TV remote................

You must be very lucky as there are so many to choose from here .....if soulless is your cup of tea then you can have the whole teapot here

Yes i understand how that reads Marisa, but in my experience along with my own suburb and having visited a number of suburbs of Perth, they do seem to be carbon copies of each other with very little to do in the evening and even the day time apart from a few shops not a lot else, even Paul mentions such suburbs exist. I vaguely know the area where Paul lives and agree that there is more available around his area, however this is over a 100 km away from where I am which is a bit to far to just nip out to (not saying that is anyone else's fault though). I mentioned the 24hr availability of shopping back home and pubs and restaurants (and lots more besides) as a comparison to one small part of the difference between what is available here in Australia and back home. I am afraid the point is slightly misunderstood by maryrose02......I am not interested in a random 24 hr IGA shop some 100 k's away, I was trying to get across that something as mediocre as shopping counts as the only source of socialising / entertainment in some suburbs, but even this closes down early in the evenings leaving nothing for entertainment other than television and scratching your mosquito bites

Maryrose sorry but read my original post again especially this line " Yes i agree its like a zombie apocalypse after 9pm here in the suburbs of Perth, nothing open and nowhere to go " ......as in I said suburbs and I stand by what I said it's as boring as dry toast

Not that i am suggesting you should base your social life or entertainment solely on pubs and alcohol, but it would be nice to have more than a coles or a woolworths or an IGA to socialise in, it gets embarrassing trying to make small talk on isle 5 amongst the cans of processed peas and baked beans and an actual pub or two would be nice "And I can't believe you are seriously telling us that pubs, restaurants and cinemas are all closed by 9pm in Perth" your correct...... I am not telling you that the Pubs and restaurants and cinemas are all closed by 9pm .....because there aren't any pubs or restaurants or cinemas in my SUBURB of Perth

Hi JJ Not, Your in the right place for different viewpoints and advice on this, there are those that love their life here in Australia and those that really don't (I am the latter ) this forum is a great place to gain some insight into those differing views, no matter which side of the fence you sit on. In answer to your question, yes I have been in Australia for 9 years and have unfortunately pretty much missed home (UK) for the whole time, I actually voiced before leaving Britain that I would be going back home one day, I knew after the first few weeks that it was not for me my own fault I suppose, I should have been stronger in the beginning and voiced my concerns and made more of an effort to convince my wife that it was not for me / us, unfortunately I am trapped here, as my children (Daniel 13 & Emily have grown up here and my wife has most of her immediate family here and she and they would not consider going back home to live. I would like to tell you that it gets easier with time but if anything the pull back home gets stronger (at least for me) as you start to realise that time is short (9 years has gone by so quickly) and you have missed so much. I would say that you are in an enviable place for a number of reasons, firstly although you have invested money into your move here you have only invested a relatively short period of time, and therefore home will not have moved on that much and your children are young enough still to settle back home, in my experience the longer you leave it the more difficult it becomes and you risk being 'shipwrecked' here (my boat currently has a lot of holes and is stuck on a big sandbank lol ) secondly you are in the unique position to be able to make the comparison between the two countries (Australia and U.K.) and having lived in both can decide which you prefer and where you would rather live, remember the majority of people you meet do not get the opportunity to live in another country and therefore may have a slightly golden view of what life may be like here in Australia, you have tried both and can compare. I was lucky enough to visit home for the first time since coming here in December 2019, I went on holiday with my son and we did a road trip all round the UK, and loved every minute of it, for me it cemented where I belong and wanted to be, however sometimes in life in order to gain what we want we have to give up what we cannot, I would have to leave my children and I could not imagine doing that. I think you need to get a plan together, set goals and tick them off (either mentally or physically), I have accepted that I won't be going home yet, however mentally I have accepted that I will one day, but in the mean time I have set myself the goal of saving up and obtaining a small holiday apartment back home (this is going to take a few years at the rate i am going ) mentally it will help me to know i have a base back home still that I and the children can go on holiday to (once COVID is under control) and at the same time know that I am not giving up on the place i want to be, but also that i am not just leaving my children here. (if that makes sense) Good luck JJ, I hope you can get some reassurance and lower your anxiety, there are some great members on here with very sound advice, hopefully it helps to know that you are not alone

Yes i agree its like a zombie apocalypse after 9pm here in the suburbs of Perth, nothing open and nowhere to go, its funny how you take for granted certain things back home when your there and do not even think about them at the time, for instance the availability of 24 hr shopping like Tesco's or restaurants open till gone 11pm, or pubs open till whenever they feel like...here the evenings entertainment choice is coles or woolworths

Thanks mum of two, feel free to drop me a line anytime, even just to vent it helps to get it out of your system Take care and good luck

Not really i am afraid, my wife is happy here with her main family also living here, she has said she would never go back to live but would go on holiday, as for the children emily has never visited and is all for Australia, which i understand as she has never known any different, however Daniel loved his trip back in 2019 and would move home tomorrow (I think ) For my sanity i have been concentrating on my degree and trying to get a place back home by getting this holiday home idea of and running, it would help psychologically for me to know that I have a foothold back home, a place that I can call home. We are south of the river what about yourselves? and from North Wales (lovely part of the world). I may see your partner in our emergency department depending on where he is stationed, I have also applied to the graduate entry route and am waiting to hear back they are changing the entry route to make it more like the UK system so i am told. Do you think you will ever go back to live? I can say from experience that the longer you leave it and the older and more settled your children become the harder it is, i feel well and truly marooned here sometimes

Hi Mum of two, sorry for the delay in responding...I am on the home straight so to speak, of my paramedic degree just two more units to complete and then I qualify (this year), I still work in an emergency dept. and it is still just as hectic some days ...I did managed to go home (uk) in 2019 just before covid struck the world, and went on a road tip round the country with my son Daniel (11 years old at the time) we both loved every minute (i posted on here somewhere) it cemented my resolve to return one day, for now i have a plan to try and purchase a small holiday property back home (currently trying to find ways of getting the funds together...legally of course ) along with extra shifts at work i have also started collecting and recycling old drinks containers for the 10 c refund.....i have turned into what the Americans term a 'dumpster diver' lol. I have noticed more recently that there are more of us that are missing home and are also not enjoying their life here in Australia, I think that this terrible Virus has had a part in concentrating what people find important in life, it is good to know we are not alone, do you and your partner plan to go home? how far along is he / she with their para-medicine ? how long have you been over here? where do you originate from? .......sorry for the questions i am being nosey it comes with the job