Toots

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.

2 hours ago, Skani said:

Genuine animal  lovers don't care how "cool" their choice is.  Choosing a dog because it's fashionable is for posers.

Nearly everyone I know adopted their dog from the local dog homes.  Most are mixed breeds of all shapes and sizes with rescue greyhounds also high on the list.  I feel sorry for the little pugs and French bulldogs on a warm day as you can hear them snorting and wheezing when they're out on their walks.  Yes the doodle types are popular.  They are generally lovely natured pooches. 

2 hours ago, Ben123688 said:

Australia is a great country if we dont have so many stupid uneducated politicians and fairly uneducated yet feeling so self important morons

I sort of agree with you about the politicians but who are you calling morons?  The politicians or the general public?

7 minutes ago, cheese n pickle said:

Thanks @Toots good to know

Just googled some more suburbs to avoid and also the better ones.

Lets start with the not so good.

Depending on your housing affordability, the areas best to avoid are: Ravenswood, Waverly, Rocherlea, Mayfield, some of Mowbray and partly Newnham.- these areas are more prone to bad behaviour, lower socio-economic housing.

Areas that are most preferable are Prospect, Newstead, Riverside- Trevallyn, West Launceston, Kings Meadows and Norwood.

30 minutes ago, cheese n pickle said:

Hi all

Considering a move to Tasmania, and have a job interview with Launceston council. Any thoughts/opinions on suburbs in Launceston? Ones to avoid? Don’t need schools  

The house prices in TAS really appeal and we could release a big amount of cash if we sold here in Melbourne and bought in Tasmania. 
TIA

First of all good luck with your interview.  Hope it is successful.  

There are certainly suburbs to avoid in Launceston.  Two that I can think of are Rocherlea and Ravenswood. They are both on the rough side.

I live in Devonport and go to Launceston for a bit of shopping now and again.  I like the place.  It has a bit of character.

This may give you an idea of employment available in the firefighting industry.  Of course you need a PR visas first of all and as the folk above have mentioned it's probably a good idea to contact a registered migration agent.

https://www.seek.com.au/firefighter-jobs

1 hour ago, Dravest said:

i think it is mate i'll try and make it easier to undertsand i'm a PR so i'm legally here but most PR get their visa renewed before 5 years i didn';t renew becausse my fatehr couldn't be bothered to as i was too young to understand any of it & is now causing issues in obatining legal documents mostly category a documents which are citizenship,birth certificate, passport, Drivers license, Immicard, i have every other document only 1 category A (leaners permit) but To apply for a TFN you do need one primary identity document, like a passport or a birth certificate. Without one of those the application won't be accepted so that's my main issue 

Permanent residency does not expire.  People with PR do not need to get their visa renewed. Surely you have documentation to prove you are a permanent resident.  How old are you?  Have you not got the passport from your own country to use as some sort of identification?

20 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Do op shops (charity shops) in Canberra do furniture?   Most of the ones in Sydney didn't when I lived there and there's only a couple in Melbourne that I know of.   They can't afford the rental so their shops are generally too small.  Second-hand furniture shops are unknown in both cities, unless they're high-priced retro.

There used to be a large op shop at Broadway (Sydney) which had furniture.  My two sons acquired quite a few good bits and pieces from there when they moved out of home.

11 hours ago, Nemesis said:

The last place I worked in Australia had a team of people highly skilled in their field, we were all well-respected for our roles in a niche area of public service, but over the years several people moved on and younger ones joined, with a very different work ethic - usually just "do the job and do home" with no intention of going the extra mile like those of us who'd been there upwards of 10 years. In 2020 one of my colleagues decided to retire for personal reasons. Whilst the bosses were interviewing for a replacement, this statement was overheard by a colleague in another area - "Make sure you employ someone young, we've only got 3 dinosaurs to get rid of now and that shouldn't be too hard."

Said "dinosaurs" were me and 2 Aussies guys, all aged in our late 50s. We all kept our ears to the ground after that, and it soon became clear that the department was doing its best to edge us out by any means, fair or foul. 

Nothing to do with a lack of skills, we were the ones teaching the skills to the newbies. All to do with poorly-disguised ageism.

When I retired, the much younger than me person who replaced me lasted 6 weeks.  The next one lasted a couple of months.  In the end two people were employed to do my job.  The job was very varied and required attention to detail and could be stressful at times as strict time deadlines had to be met which meant working longer hours if necessary.  I had a lovely assistant who worked with me for years but even she couldn't handle working with her new co-workers and found another job.  

I was glad to get out of it as a new CEO arrived not long before I retired and the company merged with another in NZ.  The atmosphere was never the same after.

3 hours ago, Quoll said:

Ah, but.... Tasmania!!!!!

It was 5 degrees earlier this morning but I was kept warm mucking out the horses.

47 minutes ago, Skani said:

Quoll, I can see the solution is for you to move to the arctic part of the country:  almost never too hot to walk, plenty of mizzling rain - not that stair rod tropical stuff - and barely see a fly (maybe on a sheep station?)  

I was out walking in the mizzle this afternoon.  No wind but the leaves were floating from trees.

18 hours ago, andrew26 said:

So I'm currently in the UK, have been my whole life. However I'm seriously considering moving to Australia and main reasons being weather/lifestyle which I know is better than UK. People keep saying its too expensive, holidays are less than what you get here. So I'd just like to hear what life is like for someone who actually lives there, if they enjoy it, the good and bad. 

You are going to get a lot of differing opinions.  Australia is huge with quite large variations weather wise.  I've been in Australia for over 4 decades and have found I prefer a cooler climate.  I'm in Tasamania now after living in Sydney for a long time and Perth for not such a long time.  No doubt about it, Australia is expensive especially housing.  The length of holidays never bothered me as when I left the UK we had 2 weeks annual leave back then.    

Where are you thinking of coming to in Australia?

4 minutes ago, Cheery Thistle said:

Hmm 5 degrees and actual sleet here, blues some gale force winds yesterday for good measure. Not sure if you class that as kind or not? I had my big winter jacket and woolly hat on to walk the dogs yesterday. 

I've just given my sister the good news!  

3 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Actually, my first winter in Australia, I kept wearing my shorts and t-shirts for quite a few weeks, because I hadn't acclimatised that much.  It was my second winter where I was wishing I'd brought more woollies with me, and had to go out and buy a heater for the cooler nights. 

That said, I never felt I needed really warm clothing when I lived in Sydney.  I found the winters absolutely glorious (the summers were always too hot for me).  It was only when I got to Melbourne that I had to go out and buy a decent coat, bobble hat and warm gloves.

Yes I had to get stocked up with cold weather gear for the winters here in Tassie.  My sister brought  over some lovely wool jumpers from Scotland.  She has one more week here.  Hope the Scottish weather is kind to her when she gets home.

2 hours ago, InnerVoice said:

I've often heard it said that the coldest winter you'll ever experience is your first winter in Australia, and I'd say that's true. Most people tend to migrate during the Aussie summer to miss the British winter, and ensure their kids start the new school year. You feel like summer is never going to end, but it does. I spent my first winter in Sydney, and I remember waking up one morning at the start of May and thinking "Hmmm, this really isn't shorts and T-shirt weather any more!" QLD winters are a lot shorter of course, but you only have to head 20-30km inland from the coast and you notice how cool it gets at night. Brisbane has never record a sub-zero temperature, but it regularly goes below freezing in Ipswich. I recall they recorded -5C there one year.

The winters in Sydney never bothered me at all.  Sure you got cold days but the whole time I lived there I never needed an overcoat.  I used to wait at the train station going to work and I'd be surrounded by other females dressed in thick winter coats, boots, scarves and gloves.  I honestly never felt it cold enough.  I used to look forward to staying with friends in Blackheath (Blue Montains) during winter for a dose of real wintery weather.  Loved it!  

It also helps if you ensure your house is well insulated.  Most of the houses are not built to a decent standard.  Never could understand why they aren't.

1 hour ago, Blue Manna said:

I've often thought I could get dressed in the dark and still be the best dressed person on the street in most Australian cities.

The only thing I would say is that if they wanted to hit you with a glass bottle they would have. Australians tend to be quiet sporty. Still, I would think this is unacceptable.

I thought Sydney and Melbourne people were very smartly and fashionably dressed going to work and on a night out.  

7 minutes ago, Cheery Thistle said:

The bottle incident was the worst thing that happened on the trip and I just don’t get the casual, shoulder shrugging attitude about the hooning. I know it’s something that I’ll just have to get used to/accept, but suppose I don’t need to ‘like’ it? It was a bit much to throw a glass bottle at an 11 year old and the end outcome could have been far far worse actually. We were lucky. 

We use factor 50, always do on any holiday. I have to say we did get a lot (and I mean a lot) of could and rain on the trip, interspersed with a bit of Sunshine. it is the least tanned I have been after a holiday!! 

I think Qld weather is at its best in the winter months.  Lovely sunny days not as much rain.  The summers are far too hot, wet and humid for me.

That's a fair review of what you have observed.    Hoons are noisy, and very annoying but bottle throwing is just plain dangerous.  I stopped noticing fashion years ago and I was never a great follower of fashion anyway.  Hope you remembered to apply plenty of 30+ sunscreen!