Toots

The weather was absolutely foul earlier today.  I was caught out in pounding rain and strong wind.  It was like being in a vortex.   Shut the horses in as they took one look at the weather and decided it wasn't a good day to be standing around in a field.  I think that's the end of the lovely weather we've had for the last few months.

35 minutes ago, calNgary said:

There definately isnt as much unspoilt country in Lancashire and Gtr Manchester anymore, as for Greenbelt land ,'' never to be built on''... Bull poo.. i was horrified when i went back a few years ago , so many fields and greenbelt land now built on.  It was sad to see.

                     Cal x

The west of Lancashire is still lovely.  The Ribble valley and the Forest of Bowland.  A friend and her family live on a farm near Ormskirk.  Very nice countryside.  Yes I agree that the areas around Manchester and Warrington are very built up.

9 hours ago, tea4too said:

It can sometimes feel that Britain and England in particular is over developed, however that's not borne out by official statistics. Unsurprisingly London had the highest proportion of developed land in 2022 but even then we're only talking 40%, although within that figure some local authority areas were clearly maxed out in terms of regeneration and development. The remaining English regions range between 7% and 10% developed, but again there will be pockets within those areas of intense development. Still, overall it seems that Britain is still pretty rural in land mass terms. T x

Cumbria, Northumberland, County Durham, a lot of Lancashire and Yorkshire, East Anglia and Herefordshire to name but a few of lovely unspoilt large areas of countryside.

1 hour ago, TheBs said:

Hi all, 

we are just starting the application process now, but my daughter is also just being fitted for braces which involves having two teeth out and surgery for two impacted teeth to come down, then a predicted three years of treatment  

so all being well we won’t be in the UK for the whole duration of the treatment, How easy is it to continue orthodontic care in Aus? I’m guessing pretty straight forward? 
Anyone experienced this? 
Thanks

Yes, you can continue the treatment here. However, some clinicians may treat your case differently so they will have to do new records and assessment.  You may not need to remove the existing braces, again it depends on the clinician.  As stated by Marisa orthodontal work is private.  You should also provide your records from your othodontist or dentist in the UK.

1 hour ago, kikice said:

They are on a bridging visa at the moment ( they came on a tourist visa and applied for a carer visa). They asked some public schools near them, and the fee is $300 per week. Just to mention, the parents have no right to work. They all four live from their relative/sponsor's disability pension.

If they are living on the relative/sponsor's disability pension surely it would be less expensive for the disabled person to get help from here in Australia.  I have very elderly neighbours who get help with house cleaning and a nurse coming to the house etc.  They don't rely on family or relatives for help.  I'm not sure how that all works though.

1 hour ago, ramot said:

I lived in East Sheen ,not far from Putney, in the 1950’s - 1960’s, there were  no garages in my street, but hardly anyone had a car in the 1950’s or 1960’s, we had a perfectly good bus service, to get us around. When I was on early shift for the airline I worked for in the early 1960’s, I would catch the first bus out of the depot at about 05.20. Sometimes the bus driver missed seeing me, or the others who worked with the same airline, at the temporary bus stop just outside the depot. Had to rush up to the main road, where we had to hope someone driving would give us a lift. Luckily there were some regulars passing to work at the markets, who used to look out for us. I’ve never forgotten slipping down an icy road in my airline high heels at the crack of dawn.

Yes, my sister had a bus stop round the corner or the choice of Putney Bridge tube station or East Putney station which is the one she used to get to work.  Why  bother with a car when there is such good public transport close by. 

1 hour ago, Bobj said:

In Yorhire, a few terraced houses, cars parked. the wrong way and not a arage in sight 

 

 

 

 

 

 cheers, Bobj.

My sister lived in Putney (London) for years and the houses in her street were built in the era before cars were used much so no garages.  It wasn't a wide street and cars were parked bumper to bumper on both sides of the street so it was pot luck if you managed to park your car next to your house.

1 hour ago, Jehwal said:

Just had a weekend in Hobart and could easily live there. Originally from Wirral but live in Melbourne and i have always felt overwhelmed in Melb just so big, its getting worse it was 3mil pop when we came now approaching 6 mil. 
Hobart reminded me of home, nothing was rushed , lots of lovely pubs, bars, restaurants etc. 
 

We've just had a few days in Hobart and enjoyed it.   Lovely atmosphere in the pubs.  

If you returned to the UK in 2015 after 11 whole years in Australia, you've had 9 years to sort it out.  You may have to contact a migration agent to help you.  Agree with can1983.  Immigration wouldn't have phoned you at the last minute just as you are leaving.

There are hundreds and hundreds of new and used caravans for sale in Tasmania alone.  Loads advertised on facebook and gumtree.  Why on earth would you want to import one to Australia?

Devonport has grown in the 10 years we have been here.  The population is now 27,000 and covers a land area of 111 square km.

16 hours ago, Lambert Akurugu said:

I need a job in Australia as a blast hole driller 

First of all you need the appropriate visa.

You can look here for blast hole driller jobs.  https://www.seek.com.au/blast-hole-driller-jobs

20 minutes ago, hop said:

Immediately. Australia is soulless and isolated. I miss good manners (no one says "please" in Australia), I dislike being called "mate" constantly. I miss the mountains, lakes, forests and all the amazing scenery in the UK. There's no scenery in Australia, just sand and bushes. I miss British accents, British TV (Australian TV is unwatchable), British supermarkets which are light years ahead in quality and choice. I miss the UK's temperate maritime climate. It's too hot to do anything outdoors in Australia.

I miss Christmas in the UK. Christmas has no atmosphere in Australia. Although I'm not terribly religious I miss churches and village greens and British pubs and houses with character. In Australia I've been harrassed by people in the streets, many of them I suspect were on drugs and I was attacked once. The police didn't care. They laughed when I reported an item was stolen from the rental. Never had a problem in the UK in over 50 years with regards to crime.

I miss how friendly and reliable people are in the UK. When selling items on Facebook everyone bar one person turned up on time. Wonderful experience. In Australia I had a terrible experience selling items. 

I miss etiquette. People walk around barefoot in shops which is incredibly rude. Do that in a supermarket in the UK and you would be asked to put on shoes and rightly so. I was horrified to find the bathroom had no ventilation, no extractor fan or even a window and to make matters worse there were sockets. So unless you have the door open (so no privacy) the room will fill with condensation so very dangerous.

I miss professionalism we have in the UK. Train drivers blasting out loud music from their cabs is something I never heard on UK trains. Estate agents showing me around a flat that was a complete mess. He blamed the tenant but it should be the responsibility of the estate agent to ensure rentals are tidy before allowing anyone to look around. 

You should seriously think of returning to your home country if possible.  There are loads of people who dislike Australia and Australians and try to stick it out for whatever reason but that is bad for your soul.

I lived in Sydney for years and toward the end got fed up of the rat race so escaped/retired to Tasmania and thoroughly enjoy life here,  There are mountains forests and lakes here and I spend a fair bit of time exploring those areas.  The people are friendly and all in all I haven't too many complaints.

Hope you also manage to escape soon.  

1 hour ago, jimmyay1 said:

Always seems to be people from suburban Perth who struggle or struggled the most before giving up on their migration.  

There are different lifestyles open to people in Australia than being stuck "bored sitting on a patio in endless suburbia night after night" 

I think it's that true Anglophiles will never be happy anywhere except the UK.

10 minutes ago, Blue Manna said:

The siblings never had a lot of money and don't really holiday anywhere. But I thought their kids would have taken the opportunity when they were younger. It's not uncommon for kids to do gap years in Australia, and my mum would have been a convenient base. But no. They didn't even tour Europe. Maybe they're just unadventurous people.

Some people are happy to live in the same town - the same street even, all their lives.  Good on them if they are happy.  Other folk love a bit of adventure - new places to see and new things to do.  I have a very good friend in Scotland whose sister lived in Hong Kong and New York.  She also had a holiday house in Portugal.  My friend could have visited those places but was never interested.  She was perfectly happy at home.

8 hours ago, Nemesis said:

All the family members that I know who flew over to see Expats actually contributed quite a lot. I personally only had one visit from family, due to the expense, but they insisted on contributing to food costs, hiring a car themselves (there was 5 of them, too many for ours) and when we went travelling they happily paid their share of hiring places to stay. Much the same as I used to when I came home to visit - I know I always ended up paying well over the odds for food, but it also went towards general living expenses. 

When my sister was here for a few months from Scotland we went to Sydney and Melbourne also to NZ to see our nephew so it was quite an expensive holiday for her  but she did have a good time.

I notice you said expats.  I've always called myself a migrant.  What  is the difference between expats and migrants?

1 hour ago, ramot said:

I’ve not lived in UK for 30 years, but did visit annually for about 3 months before COVID as our only grandchildren are there. We are made very welcome by our friends to visit them, but I think there is a different mindset in England. We usually rent somewhere big enough for people to stay with us, but most prefer to stay home, I think genuinely want us to visit, but perhaps don’t realise how much driving around we then to catching up with everyone? 
There is the long standing expat joke about visiting UK, when you try to arrange a visit, they are looking forward to seeing you,  
BUT! 
Mondays out because I do the washing , can’t make Tuesday because I get my hair done, Wednesday I’m at bingo, Friday I do the shopping, etc etc, and it’s true to a certain extent, as many are set in their ways, happy to see you, as long as it fits into their life.
Having written the above, we love catching up with everyone, we always stay with friends in our old village, we have a wonderful time there, a great pub lunch is always arranged so we can see lots of our old friends, and we accept that we do the  travelling, as rekindling old friendships is worth every mile travelled.

 

My rellies and friends are scattered all over the UK  -  from the north of Scotland right down to the south of England.  I used to try to travel to see many of them but later on it was easier if we met up half way.  One of my oldest friends who migrated to the US many years ago came over to the UK for a visit most times I was there which was lovely.

11 hours ago, Monica33 said:

Has anyone had family and friends essentially forget about you after you leave the UK. Most of my family and friends do not want to engage with me much anymore. There’s no excuse these days to not keep in touch. I’ve been in Australia 17 years and it’s exhausting trying to maintain contact with people who don’t want to keep in touch.  I have a trip back soon and trying to lock in a time with my childhood friends and even my sister is becoming impossible. They are all busy. My sister has even booked herself a 2 week Mediterranean holiday the same time I’m there. I’m only there for 4 weeks and her answer was I’ll see you at some point. We haven’t had a fall out or anything, I just think it’s maybe a case of out of sight out of mind. Anyone else with similar experiences. Or is it just me

I'm sure it happens to a lot of people but I've been here for over 40 years and I am in close contact with one friend from my schooldays and friends I lived with in my teen years after I left home when I was 16.  My sister and I are also very close even though we live so far apart and she comes here for a few months each year.  We are retired so that makes it easier for longer stay holidays.  One of my old friends from Lancashire visits Australia every 2nd year as she has a son in Sydney so we always have a very good get together when she is here.  The others have never been to Australia but I always saw them when I went back to Scotland/England.  I can't get up any enthusiasm to go back to the UK these days so I may not see them in person again which is kind of sad but I have very good friends here and am kept busy with one thing and another.

1 hour ago, Parley said:

A levels are being scrapped in the UK.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that A Levels and T Levels are being scrapped and will be integrated into a new baccalaureate style. 

The weather has been lovely all of this month but tonight we had to light the log burner.  It's decidedly nippy of an evening now.

7 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

A million dollars for a house is very cheap by Sydney standards.

I couldn't live in one of those houses even if they were half the price.

8 minutes ago, Peach said:

No, not social housing -- they sell around the $1.4m mark: https://www.domain.com.au/sale/the-ponds-nsw-2769/

There have been 1.4 million views.  Surely those dog boxes can't possibly be worth over a million each.

Just now, Peach said:

No, not social housing -- they sell around the $1.4m mark: https://www.domain.com.au/sale/the-ponds-nsw-2769/

You  must be joking!  

1 hour ago, can1983 said:

So I'm putting it out there. Saw the discussion around the Ponds in Western Sydney. If this was my only option in Sydney I'd leave Sydney. If this was my only option in Australia I'd leave Australia. Why would people saddle themselves with a 30 year mortgage to live here 45km from the beach? There's less space than what's afforded to livestock.

It makes me so sad

That looks very depressing.  Hopefully there is a large park nearby to make up for the lack of gardens.

Are they social housing?  If not I wonder how much each of those dwellings cost.