pob

Better health service in South American countries? Get away with you. Could someone in a South American country, go to a doctor right now, this minute, and see a doctor for free? Could you go and see your GP in the UK, right this minute, without having to ring for an appointment? I doubt it. If you had a serious accident, or perhaps a heart attack, would you be taken by ambulance to a hospital and treated for free? (Might have to pay for the ambo?) Do you think you get the same medical service in Brazil if you lived in a slum in Rio, as if you were rich?

 

I sat in a hospital in Sydney with a 6cm cut down to the bone in places for 4.5hrs, still not seen my a doctor I went home and sorted myself out. Got some antibiotics the next day $24 The scar is really quite pretty.

I walked into a hospital in Chile with a wound half as big and they took me to a doctor straight away and then they changed doctors after two minutes apologising profusely as they wanted a doctor to treat me who was fluent in English... Cost $12 including medical care, antibiotics and a few oxycodone.

 

The infrastructure is dated here in Australia. They are happy with it though. They don't know any different.' Talk about making a patronising statement, and if that comes out in you social interactions with 'Aussies', then no wonder they shun you.

Shunned?

Look out the window, see those funny wires hanging in the streets? Those are the power and phone lines. I had forgotten about those, I hadn't seen those in such a long time.

Satisfied with your internet speeds? I find it terribly slow, they are rolling out super fast broadband across all of Australia at considerable expense to the tax payers. This is outdated before they even try and put it in.

 

 

If you live in Sydney and you are lacking in stimulation, blame yourself, not Sydney. There is a theatre right next to my appartment - Belvoir - one of many in Sydney. 100 yards down the road, is the HQ for Opera Australia, and I could go down there and book to see a performance by world class performers. Have you ever wondered why it's called 'The Sydney OPERA House?' And if you want classical music, orchestras, musicals, plays, live music, art galleries, museums, restaurants serving food from all over the world, or immerse yourself in the culture of a hundred different nationalities, it's all here, but you say 'it's beige!?'

 

There isn't a theatre next to my house. And nothing grabs me with what is available in Sydney.

Opera isn't my thing, but I have been to the opera house, The acoustics work fine if you sit in the middle, but if you are on the sides the acoustics are definitely lacking.

I was told that the original Danish architect was so unhappy with the changes made to his original design that he resigned from the project and wanted nothing to do with the Opera House.

Yes we have eaten in many restaurants in Sydney, only one was ok.

The rest have failed to impress, most haven't even brought smiles to our faces. The service mostly has been awful and arrogant.

So from humble eateries to high class restaurants it has been a disappointment.

In London we enjoyed to treat ourselves and loved dining out.

 

Join a Sydney bike club if that is your thing. Join any club in any activity. I was in the Ramblers in the UK, bushwalking clubs in Sydney, exactly the same format, weekly walks to various part of the countryside with like-minded people.

There are no clubs that do what I want to do in Sydney. What I used to do legally in Europe is so illegal here I just get laughed at when I ask questions. So I don't bother.

 

Sure, you can't go to Europe at the weekend. We are in the Southern Hemisphere. But you could fly to New Caledonia if you love France, and there are plenty of other destinations in the same area as New Caledonia. I know, I went to five of them on a cruse last month. And Asia is on your doorstep, not Europe. Is Asia beige?

 

Asia is a long way away, it is many hours flight. It is not a short destination away.

Flying time from Heathrow to Amsterdam, Copengangen, Brussels is about an hour for each country, I can get to Melbourne in that time.

Infact I can fly from Heathrow to Russia in less time than what it takes to get to Asia.

Also I tire from bartering for everything in Asia, it is unbecoming for me to haggle for everything.

I would rather be in Copenhagen than Kathmandu, Brussels than Bangkok.

 

Google 'Sydney Meet Ups' and find yourself a social activity. I started a degree last week with Open University Australia. I am studying philosophy at Macquarie Uni with the lectures taught by an English academic who emigrated to Sydney seven years ago. Is he 'beige? is philosophy 'beige?'

Well done on taking up the open university course, I really hope you enjoy it.

Is philosophy beige? Why don't you bring that question up in class and see what kind of a debate it brings up?

 

Camden market is great, but there are markets all over Sydney, but bottom line, if all you do is compare every possible event unfavourably to England, then Australia is always going to fail you.

Many markets, non as eclectic.

 

 

 

Relax. you seem a little defensive.

Moved here to Sydney from sunny UK (I'm not British, was living in the UK for a while) and I must admit I'm not enjoying it at all. I hate the houses available on rent here. The old constructions, the ransoms for rent, the insane traffic, the distance to everything, I'm hating it...

 

I've lived and worked in 4 countries apart from Oz and of them all I'm just not liking it here. I hate to feel this way. I don't see what the point of moving here was...bah...

 

edit: The traffic here has caught me by surprise. It clear the infrastructure was not built for the population this city has at the moment. I've looked at over 10 houses to rent and each and every one of them is either too old or just in a very noisy location.

 

I urge anyone looking to move here to come and take a look see before making the move. Come here and apart from the touristy stuff, look at rentals, drive around and get a feel of what your life will be like. Had I done this, I doubt I'd have come over...

The infrastructure is dated here in Australia, they are happy with it though. They don't know any different.

The driving is very aggressive and selfish here, I miss driving around Central London, it was more safe for me to ride there.

The rental situation is horrible, terrible quality of houses and terrible landlords.

Buying a house in Sydney is VERY expensive, other parts of the country are definitely cheaper.

Just wait till you have to use the healthcare business here in Australia, you will really worry then. I've had a better service in South American countries.

We find ourselves lacking for stimulation, we are not a conventional couple and liked the diversity that we have found in other places that we have lived.

We wish we were living back in the Chalfonts (Just outside of London) Easy access to London, restaurants and theatres and music.

A few times a year we would go to Camden market, just enjoy a bohemian day.

Easy access to the Ace café for meets and music.

I miss hanging around with the local bike club, helping the guys making their choppers. Painting their bikes.

Going to Europe for weekends...

There is nothing like this here in Australia, it all feels a little beige.

I wonder if HULU will be coming as well?

But for those of you going to be getting Netflix, you might want to watch Lillyhammer. I think it is one of the best things on there and it is a Netflix series so you can only see it there.

Hi Everyone,

What products/things do you miss from the UK and find it difficult to get them here in Australia? Bacon.

What things are you finding expensive here in AUstralia compared to the UK? Eveything , but petrol is cheap

What things do you refrain from buying here in Australia because they are too expensive? If I want it I buy it

If you could have one product here which would make your life easier, what would it be? Bacon, did I mention Bacon. I could say Bacon. I could kill for some bacon.

Many Thanks Everyone :-)

 

Natalie

With saying that I used to but 20lb of bacon at a time at the meat market in London.

God I do love bacon!

Mmmmm Bacon....

I saw a snake in the garden the other day,i t was about three feet away from me and slithered away under the house.

It was kinda black and really fast, I let it be as it must be eating things that I like less than black snakes, that and the fact I was a little freaked out!

Must have been 4cm wide.

If I knew that a particular snake would be good eating and it was in my garden it wouldn't be there very long.

But the black snake that is under my house can stay there, there is not much meat there, not only that I gather it was kinda mean and it let me off the day I saw it.

When I first heard about Anonymous it was when they shut down Lolita city.

They managed to hack Lolita city and then get the IP addresses of the people there, from there they managed to get a lot of peoples names and addresses.

They then published them on the net and sent the details to police forces around the world.

People did go to jail.

This I found to be a fantastic thing, the anarchist hackers doing good for the world.

May they and their ethos continue.

My computer skills are not up to theirs but I do join in the million mask march every November.

I think it depends on the part od society that you are living in.

My job is working class and I work with the biggest group of xenophobic dumb idiots that I have ever seen. They dislike anyone who isn't like them selves, if there is an obvious difference e.g skin colour/clothing/accent. It only made me sad.

Most of their hate comes from fear, fear of the unknown.

My wife works a middle class job, she isn't white, but you would say she looks Spanish. She gets told a lot that she speaks very good English, She is American and English is her first language.

She also gets asked a lot "What are you?" what kind of a question is that to ask someone?

Not "hey you have an exotic look about you, where are you from?"

I got told at work by one of my work mates that my wife is a bit brown, I then proceeded to ask if that was a problem? Because if it was the person would have been picking their teeth up from the floor. This was said with an iron bar in my hand.

Funnily enough not another word has been said about my wife.

But as a society it is a more racist and xenophobic society than a European country.

Not sure where you mean Melza?

As for where are we are going in England, we are not sure yet.

Just happy to be leaving Sydney.

We are going back to England, we are both looking forward to it.

But can anyone recommend a moving company to go back to England with?

Damn I miss oatcakes, I miss the bacon that goes in them more!

Stokie? I'm from Clayton, oohh la de dah. ha ha ha

You will be surprised at the amount of people who recognise a pvfc shirt if you walk around wearing it.

Oatcake eater in Sydney here.

There any bikers in Sydney?

Do any of you go for a ride out?

I'm after a non-political group for a friendly ride out, not a race.

I ride a Triumph Bonneville, I used to be a Triumph mechanic so I know my bikes.

I'm in the Northwest of Sydney.

If you like the idea of having to pay health insurance then the Australian/American is the best for you. You can afford the best treatment, you will get it.

Now the idea of someone being too sick to work and not having the funds to pay for this, leaves them in a very poor situation.

I was shocked at hearing how people have to pay for ambulances here in Australia.

Shocked at how you have to pay to see a doctor.

In my opinion healthcare should be free for all.

It should be a service provided by the government, not a business!

Try getting cover for a pre-existing condition and have all the expenses paid for that.

John Mason, seemed really nice and professional, I really wish we had used them instead of those dick heads who destroyed our stuff.

I think jailing them is harsh at that age.But....

If it was their first offence let them go to a scared straight kinda thing for a few weeks.

If they have any kind of record then a bit of jail time wouldn't hurt them. BUT they should be helped and encouraged to be educated, they should be steered away from a life of crime and not pushed towards one by the system.

I have experience with PSS.

I'll send you a PM

It's the rain that I hate in any country. It prevents me from going outside.

The heat of summer in Australia also prevents me from going outside, I mainly go outside to walk the dog and he gets hot quickly.

Summer and winter in England were ok, spring and autumn were too wet for me. I used to love those winter days when the ground froze over and we could escape the sludge that the fields would turn into.

Cold I don't mind but any kind of water falling from the sky is bad news for me.

 

I don't get most of these fancy x breeds tbh. For example, as has been pointed out, if a dog is 7/8ths poodle why not just get a poodle? They are (the standard) the most intelligent breed and great dogs. I think they are stunning and we've had one ourselves many years ago.

 

 

.

Because I am a man and I don't want to walk around with a poodle, as they are girls dogs aren't they! Well that was my theory when we brought our little fella. If we got another dog I would probably just buy a standard poodle, he would look basically the same as my best friend and be a great dog.

Guess that your attitudes can change over time, eh

Cross bred dogs are healthier because the gene pool is greater.

There are lots of problems with pure bred dogs, hip dysplasia, and other genetic defects that could be bred out of the lineage if people were not so adamant as to how a dog should look and not perform.

Puppy farms can have a very shallow gene pool (much the same as Liverpool in England) and often the genetics available cause problems with the dogs.

I have a Aussie Doodle, Australian Shepard crossed with a poodle. He is fit and healthy, he had a cough once that's it. So his health record is better than mine to be honest and we are about the same age if you count "dog years".

And no he is not hypoallergenic, we were told he would be. But we find that he hardly sheds, never has that "doggy" smell!

I am badly allergic to dogs though! If a pit bull licks my hand I get a weird kind of rash that makes my skin look like ET's when he got sick that only antibiotics can get rid of. Most dogs give me sneezes and a rash, my eyes water blah blah blah.

My little fella is just great, none of these symptoms, I would get the snuffles after a week in England if it rained all week and we didn't go for a walk, but that is it. He gets a walk every day and we are fine.

I wonder sometimes who gets the most benefit from the walk, me or him? Still it keeps us both fit and healthy eh.

Oh what a dilemma!!

 

 

It is so difficult, my dogs mean so much to me, but living in Australia means more. Oh what to do??!!

 

 

Chris

My dog means more to me than Australia, If he was told to leave I would go with him.

So what's the problem with a little dirt?

Seriously I used to eat mud pies when I was a kid.

So I can catch things from dirt now? Really? I have potting mix in the garage I'm going to use it in a month or two, can it harm me? I have never read the labels on such things you just put it into the pots and away you go. How can it be dangerous?

Then my next question is ....

The bike I am looking at is from Victoria, can I ride it around on Victorian rego or do I have to buy NSW rego for it to be valid here in Sydney?

Green slip is rego?

Can you fill in rego onine if you have been issued a blue safety slip earlier that day?

What's a blue slip?

I'm thinking of buying a bike and places mention a blue slip, what is it?

Is it a safety certificate like an MOT?

Or is it rego? Rego is road tax right?

Do I need separate insurance as well or will my rego give me basic minimal insurance to ride on the road?

Get your mum to fill out change of address form for your driving license and send it off for you.

Don't forget to send her a box of chocolates.