HappyHeart

I've never seen them here. Maybe in the specialty British bakery? I was a bit obsessed with them in the uk and those little mini ones with chopped up egg mayo inside. Yes- the variety of ready and convenience food/meals and snack foods is far superior in the UK...

Sounds like they had already decided what they wanted to do. You can talk yourself in or out of anything if the will is there.

Is it very different in Melbourne? We found the opposite to be true when we moved.

Listened to (EX) local UK Radio all afternoon..Fantastic. No bullshit chat just back to back music and a few free ads. Great times. Thanks for reminding me we can stream. Only had to turn down once when Cliff Richards came on.

I honestly don't think I could.cope with the cold in the UK again..It's another level. I certainly don't miss it and the last trip back at Christmas 2014 put pay to any nostalgic yearnings for the chill and snow. It was nice as a novelty. We're extremely cold here at 13d and that's a decent Spring day there. Ive developed Reynauds in Winter over the last few years so heaven knows how bad it'd be over there.

The average size British home is much smaller than Australian. Makes sense to put washer in kitchen. Tumble drier often goes in garage. Never bothered me. It's just what you get used to.

only talking about my old car last night. A P reg Ford Fiesta that cost me £800. Sounds like such a small amount of money. It was an awesome car! I was so sad to sell it!

In WA there’s no booze in the supermarket. It’s a separate bottle shop. British chocolate tastes better. Lower melting point. My personal preference. No hundreds of years old pubs in my neck of the woods. PS: it’s not a competition.

The build is due to start end of next month and haven’t heard of any delay but expect there to be some.

You're in the right place then!! Are you happy in Aus?

Oooh good one, Australian radio is complete trash. I relate fully to your description..I often scroll through all available stations in vain hope of something, anything. Often I resort to classic fm. We stream local UK stations sometimes. Very refreshing. The Australian SOH is not very 'evolved' as a rule...

Yeah mine was mostly food oriented when I started thinking but I wanted to make it balanced lol. We get nice Irish black pudding here and several great British style bakeries in Perth for pork pies, pasties etc....I’d forgotten about fish and chips...there’s British chippies here too but not quite as good. Fish, chips and mushy peas or pudding, chips and gravy. Yum.

After 12 plus years I still miss: My old friends (so much) British style curry (and the curry meal deals in Asda and Morrisons) Massive superstore supermarkets with everything including alcohol on the shelves. A decent selection of crisps Old fashioned pubs and real ale Sunday lunch at the in laws or my Dad's. Carvery at the Toby Proper chocolate Coastal towns and villages in Wales Historic Catherdrals Villages in the countryside.

My husband is obsessed with 7-11 coffee. It doesn't quite hit the spot for me. Just getting my morning take away from a small local drive through. The small independent usually do the best coffee. Dome isn't bad though.

That's a shame....I know what you mean though. Strong yet smooth. I've had some amazing coffee in Perth and the South West but also some absolute rubbish. Long mac topped up with almond milk is my go to. Apparently LMTU is a WA 'thing' and gets laughed at in Melb. It's the bomb. Served in a small glass and packs a fabulously caffeinated punch.

Isn't there a few coffee chains in UK now? Are they any good? Love my coffee.

Kind of different for our situation. We bought a piece of land 2 years ago at a very good price which has increased in value quite significantly. Now building a small.modest home on that land to be our eventual permanent abode. Meantime we keep our first property for next few years till we are ready to move. At that point hoping to have significant equity enabling large chunk of 'new' mortgage to be paid off. Thus resulting in much smaller mortgage and ability to go part time/kick back a little in our 50s. That's the plan anyway! Will see what happens.

I think it did. We lost 100k in projected valuatuon in 5 years.

For us and our future plans, it is very relevant.

Ours dipped to purchase price last year (bought 11 yrs ago) Recent valuation is 10% up. Bank manger says 20% likely in 2 years. Good news for us. Back to values seen 5 or 6 years ago

It's all relative I suppose. Don't forget they're in lockdown still..after many months. You'd expect numbers to be very low. Fingers crossed. They've certainly done well with the vaccine rollout. Not much choice, a bigger incentive to do it quickly than here.

I know and that's what they're banking on. I guess time will tell. They're deploying the army to give more shots and reducing the dose interval. I hope it works. Can you imagine a scenario in Australia where restrictions were being lifted at the same point?

That's a bit Trump-esque.....we've only got high cases because we do more testing.....No, you've got high cases because you've got high cases. Duh. If I was in the UK is be continuing to be very cautious. Seems to make no sense to lift restrictions when it's still around. Not much choice though due to the monumental f up that was made of managing the pandemic. Another wave on the way......fear for the UK.

What are the daily cases right now?

Thanks Marisa, I'll wait to see if I get a reply to my email then follow up with a letter as needed. Time to start thinking about the 'future' I guess. Not my thing but must be sensible and prepared....