bug family

Long story, because we initially came out on holiday to look around, and as we all know by now holidaying is not the same as living in a country, then we got taken by a migration agent (after spending money with them) so we had to start all over again and this time I did all the paperwork and lodgements, I had to fly out to be assessed for my then trade, then fly back and wait and wait, looking back we just got carried along by the adventure of it all and our lives just hung on getting through every stage (my wife and her family had been to Perth a number of times and liked it)I was happy to give it a go but always with an eye on returning, I mentioned previously that before i stepped foot in Australia I had voiced that we would return home one day, which with hindsight should have told me something, i also admit to naivety in that like lots of others I am sure, I was sold on the better place, better life, better weather, etc that was and still is sold in the media ....and then finally the old chestnut you never know really how much you miss something until its gone i suppose

well Dusty......last time I checked, I am one of them foreigners and I am BRITISH and hold a British passport (along with a hundreds of thousands of other Brits) therefore i am most definitely a British subject

yep spot on Bulya took me four years in total, all my life's savings, a number of flights to and from Australia to get assessed for my visa at the time, but no research done on my part just did it on a whim, ........you need to look into getting a job as a meet and great at the Airport, you would be great at meeting all the 'pom's' who arrive here looking for sunshine, you could advise them on their lack of research

I think at the last census there where over 1 million British residents of Australia, it may be a 'foreign land' but a percentage of that land is populated by the British, and last time i looked there was a union flag on the top left section of the Australian flag so definitely British subjects

Yep not quite the same there maryrose, Iam afraid ...... Efes is a Turkish beer made in Turkey, with Turkish Hops which is exported around the world, the bottle you buy in Side which is part of the Antalya province in turkey for example, is the same as the one you get in a Sydney bar here in Australia.......the Kebabs however are not, there does seem to be a whiff of looking for some form of discrimination in your post, when there really is none, nothing to see here I am afraid, because as a human I am aloud to discern between different food products and say which i prefer, this has nothing to do with discrimination of a culture or the nationality of the person cooking it, I know this having spent time exploring various regions of turkey, with my wife who lived there for a while and who speaks Turkish (I speak a little) and in general I still prefer the kebabs back in the UK lol ....by the way it has been lost along the way the reason I said I prefer British Kebabs initially was due to the location of the kebab shops being in Britain it was meant as tongue in cheek ...glad we cleared that up

oooo.....greggs cheese and onion pastie with a dollop of tomato sauce

tongue in cheek Paul ...the Kebabs here taste fine (not had that many)............ I am hinting at the fact that I prefer my Kebabs Back home

so very true Pendragon

Yes I totally agree Marisawright, for example I like to watch programs about home (uk) as I have mentioned before, and sometimes Vanessa (my wife-ish) will sit down and watch a program with me, every now and then I will catch her off guard as she admits to loving a particular place that is on whatever TV program we are watching, she almost has a look of feeling guilty for doing so and I have on a number of occasions reminded her that she is British and should feel love for her home country and that there is no shame in saying so.......I also find that when people are extolling the benefits of living in Australia to me, they tend to all be the same reasons given, weather, beach etc and it throws them when I say that actually I prefer it back home and find living here, for me at least, a bit boring, it is almost like they are scared to admit that actually Britain also has some nice places to live, saying so does not take away from their life in Australia at all or put them at risk of being deported

yes....but they just don't taste the same

I have also found a lot of what you have said to be the case, I have work colleagues who are all lovely (well nearly all, i work with some angry nurses maybe it is me ) anyhow but none who I could call a close friend, the community aspect is also just not as strong here i have always felt that, maybe it is because i came from a small town to a sprawling suburb of Perth, I will return home also one day, when are you planning on moving back and will you return to Cornwall? I was lucky enough to have returned home for a trip during December 2019 just prior to the Covid pandemic, i went home for the first time since coming to Australia, we (my son & I ) did a road trip all around Britain and loved every minute of it we visited Cornwall and went to lands end (Penzance) staying in a YHA in town, there was a big storm and a power cut in the hostel, it was a bit scary.... I loved every minute of it, it also reinforced for me that i belonged back home and not here, I got the feeling like I had never left within 5 minutes of leaving Manchester airport,.....the hardest part for me as I am sure will be for you is leaving your family behind, .........we get to choose the path we walk, but do not get to choose the outcome

Ahh loved Rhodes went on my own and hired a car and went to Falaraki for the day ..... it was nuts, loved the island, would love to go back one day I also accidentally went on a 18-30's when i was 32 ish, i booked what I thought was going to be a romantic week in Gran canaria (canary isles) as I was going to propose to my wife as a surprise, the holiday firm said it was allocation on arrival so I did not get to pick the hotel anyhow they put us in this dump ++, i am talking no sleep as there was parties all night,, no air conditioning and we picked this time of year when the sahara winds come from the desert (did not realise when I booked) it got to 45c, the icing on the cake was having to roll up towels and put them against the gap at the bottom of the apartment door, as our room was ground floor and near the pool when you turned the lights out at night you got literally hundreds of cockroaches trying to spend the night with you so we had to block up the gap to stop them coming in, however the reps where really nice and explained that the island was full up so no alternative accommodation was available but that we could come out on all their 18 -30 events for free, so we thought why not....and loved every minute of it, its not often you get to go on a pub crawl with 200 other complete strangers

at the moment......yes

There you go, £20 would get me four pints (4x£3.50), a kebab (£5 ish ) and change back home ......................I am such a cheap night out

Yep i agree, fremantle has some nice pubs and is the closest thing that I have seen to a 'pub crawlable town' <---not sure that is a real word here in Australia

Maryrose02,...3 pubs in my home town in North Wales (Prestatyn) there are 12 pubs that is not including restaurants and cafes, Prestatyn town is a small town, less than half the size of Mandurah...... I could walk to all of them pubs and have a few pints in whichever took my fancy, dinner and change from a 20 pound note, as opposed to here i would have to get a taxi to the pubs and back (i am not lazy but they are a few klms away), then chuck in that the price of a single pint is over 10$ and food even more and it becomes virtually unaffordable to go to them 3 pubs or at least something that can only be done on special occasions

That would be interesting , I am welsh myself (North Wales not the valleys where snoozy is from), we the welsh can sometimes be viewed as being a bit insular and unwelcoming on one end of the scale but on the other end we are some of the most welcoming friendly people you will meet, and I am happy and proud to say that I am one of those, I love all parts of the UK England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales and am equally comfortable breaking bread with a Londoner (or Aussie ) as I am with a fellow Taffy

You have just described my suburb to a tea

Not being picky Paul, but between Mandurah (where I am ) and Fremantle I can only picture maybe a handful of cafes and pubs along the coast, not sure about the 100's

Me neither, i feel that the door is slowly closing and if I do not make the move soon then I never will

The thing is I was married previously and have children and grandchildren in the UK. None wish to move to Australia and I wouldn't want them to make same mistake as myself. In 13 years I have taken annual return flights back home, so get to see them. Australia is somewhere one can easily live, but is not for everyone. The same language maybe spoken but it's a different country. My wife of 20+ years is supportive of me going back to the UK and thinks I need to do what I feel is right for me. If I stay here in retirement I fear I not last long. Pendragon, if you return to the UK whereabouts would you move to and when would you go? you have not wasted the past 13 years don't be so hard on yourself you have given your family an opportunity to live a different life from what they would have experienced "Australia is somewhere one can easily live, but is not for everyone. The same language maybe spoken but it's a different country"....<-----------------totally agree with this

Can I just say snoozy I feel for you and understand exactly what you mean, I hope it helps somewhat to know that you are not alone in how you feel, that can be seen in what has been written on here time and time again by many posters, anyhow thank you for your honest words, I hope someday that you find some happiness here take care

absolutely spot on, you are amazing that's exactly what I did....I gathered my wife and son together some 9 years ago on a random rainy day and placed a pin in the map of the world...and would you know it i landed on Australia and Perth and said right lets go ...are you some sort of migration guru? ...just asking please enlighten us who is they're?

possibly because they did not realise until they had tried living here....just like i did not realise i suppose

really?.....