HappyHeart

12 hours ago, Toots said:

I prefer to do most of my hiking trips in the winter.  No snakes, no bluddy flies.  The wet and colder weather doesn't bother me at all.  Mind you, I am a wuss when it comes to hotter weather for most outdooor pursuits.  It was 22C here today and I find anything over that unpleasant.    

You'd need to invest in a good wind/waterproof jacket and weather proof boots.

Any recommended brands? My husbands ancient fleece bought in the UK is obscenely warm but not rainproof. I have a light rain jacket which is great for better days with light rain and wind but soaks through in real rain. The trouble is you often get too warm in a rain jacket (in Perth at least)

1 hour ago, Blue Flu said:

It's usually not the rain so much as the wind .

I can deal with wind. Hat, scarf, gloves and a warm rain jacket. 

35 minutes ago, Toots said:

I prefer to do most of my hiking trips in the winter.  No snakes, no bluddy flies.  The wet and colder weather doesn't bother me at all.  Mind you, I am a wuss when it comes to hotter weather for most outdooor pursuits.  It was 22C here today and I find anything over that unpleasant.    

You'd need to invest in a good wind/waterproof jacket and weather proof boots.

Exactly, it's not the cold that deters me, especially if we have a cozy, warm place to return to at the end of the day but the wet upset a me a bit. Wuss I know. Drizzle is fine but full on driving rain is a no go. 

We do all our big walks in Winter. The best part of winter here in Perth, excellent walking  weather. Was only discussing where we couldn't wait to return to with OH earlier. 

Wanting to do some of the Stirling Ranges in the Great Southern. Is it a bad idea to go in July? Too cold and wet?

9 hours ago, Parley said:

Doesn't everyone just go to the closest supermarket to their home?

My closest is Woolworths so I go there 99.9% of the time.

I do usually. Purely for convenience. We use the Indian grocer and the fruit and veg shop for other things. Sometimes I go to IGA for meat (better than Coles) as our local butcher closed down. Farmers markets are good too. 

I don’t think try hards do too well in a different country. Just be yourself. If you want to pronounce words in different ways- do so. Don’t worry about being called out by either your British friends and family or your Australian counterparts. Do what comes naturally. Most immigrants end up with a hybrid accent and choice of phrases. You might avoid certain words or phrases when talking to people ‘back home’ purely because they won’t get it. You might find it happens organically and you’re unaware of what you’re doing, that’s what happens when you’ve integrated into your new society, be it Spain, Italy, USA, Australia or any other place. 
 

8 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

So are you advising @FairyBlue to just suck it up and resign herself to being stuck in Australia,  miserably homesick, until her daughter finishes university (she's 8 now)?  

Ummm...no? What gave you that idea? I haven't read their posts, I was simply responding to the one I read and quoted with my personal experience. My bad. Jeez.

At 8 I wouldnt hesitate. 

1 hour ago, Lavers said:

Can be tricky moving around schools for some kids, I attended the same amount as your daughter and was always good being the new boy in school

My son has been to 2 primaries and 2 high schools (all.in Australia) and is more settled than my daughter was at the same age so it's likely to be a combination of factors. Again though he says he wishes he went to his current school from the very beginning (its a K-yr12 school. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I just want to get him through the next 2 years then I can relax. 

35 minutes ago, ramot said:

I didn’t actually say anything about changing schools not affecting children negatively . My daughter age 13 was in boarding school in Uk and we were in Brunei, trust me it wasn’t easy for either of us, I just said they have all turned out alright, and the reality is if your work involves moving around the country or world, of course it’s not ideal, but children have to adapt. Hope your daughter is ok. 

She's absolutely fine but I was just relaying what she has told me. She wished for more stability in terms.of friendship.groups and feels her confidence suffered as a  consequence. That's said shes glad she's here in Australia. We did move when she was a pre teen and in hindsight it was a difficult age. 

6 hours ago, ramot said:

Just I hope a bit of reassurance that children adapt. I went to 5 different primary schools and in different countries before I was ten, and hope no one contradicts me , turned out alright? 

Married someone in the RAF and all 3 of our children coped with moving both Primary and in my daughter’s case senior schools. 

I agree with Marisa it is harder for teenagers, it’s not ideal, but if you have no option, then they have to cope, and their education can be sorted out. Our children and our expatriate friends children have all turned out alright.

My daughter says the amount of schools she attended did affect her negatively. She's 25 this year and attended 3 different primary schools and 2 high schools. Depends.on the child and external factors as to how they cope. I know I assumed.she was more resilient than she actually was. 

2 hours ago, DIG85 said:

I never heard addeeedas in the UK. Always heard addidas.

Always Addeeedas and Nike not Nike-E

6 minutes ago, Parley said:

Please tell me you don't say yoggurt

I say yoh gurt much to.my husband's confusion 

8 minutes ago, Parley said:

The Queen lives in Windsor Castle and I think she knows how to pronounce it.

I lived in Newcastle under Lyme and I know how we and everyone who lives there pronounces it. 

2 hours ago, Marisawright said:

No, no one does.  I think you're missing the point.  When a Scot or a Northerner sees "dar" they say "dar", but when someone like Stephen Fry sees it, he says, "D-a-a-a-a". The r isn't pronounced, it's just there to show it's a long a-a-a sound.

So what people are comparing is Londoners saying "P-a-a-a-s-t-a" and Scots saying "Pa-a-sta".  

It's not as big a contrast as Londoners saying "B-a-a-th" and Northerners saying "bath", but there's a definite difference.

Thank you. Well explained!

3 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

Agree.  I’ve never heard anyone in the UK say dar-ta or par-sta.  It’s never pronounced with a ‘r’ in it.  I’m southern and so is most of the people I know but I’ve never heard it on tv or anywhere said anything different.  

I say dar-ta and my kids say par-sta

8 hours ago, Toots said:

You could ask that question to people from every part of the UK.  It would be different.  I pronounce castle the same way HH does. 

The right way

12 minutes ago, Ken said:

Spotted you were a northerner when I saw how you pronounce bath and last. Pasta on the other hand is in my experience never pronounced Par-sta in any part of the UK.

It so is! How is it pronounced then? Not with a hard or short ‘a’ sound as I pronounce it?

I was in Lush once and the Southern sales assistant said the word bath at least 4 times before I realised what she was saying I literally could not understand her. 

6 minutes ago, Parley said:

Really?

How do you pronounce castle?

Cass- el

Not Car- sl

I'm a northerner

I just can't get my head around the long vowels thst my son, daughter and grandchildren use. Par-sta barth lar-st 

Me and hubby just look at each other with a 'what did they just say?' look on our face- and we get ripped by our British family for not talking 'properly!

Heaps of long term posters here who emigrated and never looked back. 2 of the mods at least. 

3 hours ago, ali said:

My daughter describes herself as a British born Australian 

My son and daughter also consider themselves that. Daughter 11 when we arrived and son 2. Now 24 and 15
 

31 minutes ago, Quoll said:

The wilds of East Gippsland have a lot of opportunity for that kind of  life if that is your bag! Meanwhile, have you got your gun licence so you can go out and pot a few roos?  It certainly is a completely different way of thinking and doing that's for sure

I don’t think I’ll be doing any shooting. I’ll pop to the local shop. Our block is not too isolated! Off grid for wimps. Your son is doing the real deal. 

5 hours ago, rammygirl said:

Our solar panels will have paid for themselves this year, after three years -so moving forward a good decision to reduce our bills. We don’t have gas and only get small bills in winter now.  Will consider a battery when it becomes economic to do so.

It does vary from state to state though.

Need to start planning our system. After a 6 month hiatus looks like our build is back on track! Heading down to check it out now. 

4 hours ago, Quoll said:

My odd DS has moved back to the bush to escape the Covid. He was fortunate enough to get an inheritance which enabled him to buy a place so now he has 16 acres, 100 year old house with wood stoves, big water tanks, Creek with solar pump, mains power (an inside flush loo!) and he's very happy. The kids are doing distance Ed and he has satellite broadband for that. He's already put in a quarter acre veg plot and bought a dozen hens so he's happy as Larry.

The grass was growing - a lot - so he got out the mower but it got filled  almost immediately so then he attacked it with a whipper snipper which didn't really cut it. He found a scythe blade in the barn and sharpened it up (he's good at that), designed his own ergonomic handle and can now cut an  acre with barely raising a sweat. I think he's bought a new up to date scythe blade now but he's really happy with it. And to think, generations of my ag lab ancestors would have given their eye teeth not to have to do such back breaking work and he, with all the advantages he had had, is enjoying it! He takes the dog out and when he's done a row she sleeps on it. Horses for courses! Personally I couldn't wait to leave. 

Should also say, he shoots his own meat and had a big freezer full, also had a generator for if the power goes out. He might think of solar if he ever has enough money.

I still think he’s a legend! Good for him. Sounds amazing to me

3 hours ago, Quoll said:

He’s not keen on livestock at the moment. His ex has goats and cows but he still likes his freedom to come and go and doesn’t want the tie if he doesn’t have to. I still think he’s daft but he’s happy and so is the dog! 

If he’s happy that’s all that matters