Toots

OH is FAR more social than me. Even he says I could live as a hermit and be happy. LOL I don't need lots of friends - just one or two - always been like that. I only have my sister in the UK now - never been close to any other relatives - apart from parents and my grandmother of course - all long gone now. I definitely don't have that pull to return to the UK or Europe either as so many expats have. Maybe I'm a bit of a freak.

Different here - we see all our neighbours outside "doing stuff" and end up nattering for a while then being invited in for tea/coffee/alcoholic beverage. Been to dinner at various houses too. I've become very good friends with two neighbours. One from Germany and the other from the Netherlands - both been here years. On Friday we are driving to Launceston on a 'girls' day out'. Do a bit of shopping, have lunch somewhere etc. My Tasmanian Aussie friends tend to live away from Devonnport. One in Sheffield and one in Ulverstone but we catch up regularly.

That paragraph could apply to me I think. I'm more than aware of the imperfections around me here just as I was in Sydney and a few other places I've lived in my lifetime. The thought of uprooting doesn't sit easy with me at all. I've discovered nowhere is perfect - that is impossible to find. The thing is I'm content where I am and so is OH. Surely in our later years that's all that matters. If we fancy a holiday somewhere more adventurous then we will do that but we're happy to call where we are 'home'.

That's got me reminiscing about the pubs we used to frequent. One of my favourites was the Greyhound in Fulham Palace Road - great live music venue in those days. I wonder if it's still up and running - I have a feeling it's not. Maybe @simmo knows. At that time my sister was in a flatshare in Hammersmith and we often went to really good concerts at the Hammersmith Apollo. I don't think we ever went to the Earls Court area but I do remember an Aussie pub in Shepherds Bush.

My (Australian) husband and I used to go for a beer at the Bull And Gate in Kentish Town when we were working in London. Lots of Aussies used to drink in there. At the time it was a regular local - just a largish one room pub. I went to it when I was in London a couple of years ago and it has changed so much. It now has a dining room and sells all sorts of craft beer. Quite posh now. PS I didn't intend for the attached quote to appear.

Mild sunny autumn day. No wind. Seems that over the past few weeks we have been getting 6 days of sun then one day of rain then 6 days of sun and so on. Keeping things nice and green. Day temps averaging 17C.

Styx River

Goof to hear you are enjoying your holiday so far Jamie.

Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok have earlier dark nights just the same as the further north you go in Australia. As everyone else has said that's because they are closer to the equator. The further south you go in Australia the longer the summer nights are. Same as the further north you go in the northern hemisphere, the longer the summer nights.

I often see huskies pulling their owners along on little buggy things. One young woman in Devonport has 4 of them and see them regularly. They seem to really enjoy themselves. Our hottest day in summer was 28C. Average summer temp in Devonport is normally about 23C. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-14/sled-dog-racing-in-tasmania-boot-camp/7325640

Breed such as St Bernard, Newfoundland, Bernese Mountain just shouldn't be in hot climates. They don't have a very long life span anyway but I would imagine the heat would shorten their life even further.

There will be more than a few forum members who will be able to give you advice. They have moved back successfully and are happy. Sorry to hear your life here has been a tough one.

After a stretch of sunny autumn weather - it's piddling down in Devonport today. Supposed to be nice again tomorrow though.

Where did Pom Queen say one was Asian?

OH and I spent most of March on the South Island. Bit of a working holiday. Did a lot of painting and DIY at nephew/niece's house in Queenstown - it had been rented out for a good while. Drove to see an old friend from schooldays who migrated to NZ 40 years ago. Now retired to a little farm outside Ross on the west coast of the South Island. Before the earthquake Christchurch was such a lovely town. For some reason I don't really like Dunedin. I painted this room and a couple of others. OH laid that wood floor and put in those double glazed French doors. What do you think of our handywork?

I was aware of marriages of convenience happening when I worked in London and the USA. Maybe far more common in years gone but still possible now I should think.

I went home every 2nd year and Mum came the year we didn't. Worked well. Yes it was expensive but we didn't flash money around on needless crap so were able to save for those holidays. I took our 2 boys in the Aussie school summer holidays. OH didn't go. Once the boys reached high school I went myself for a month in the UK summer. After Mum died I didn't go back nearly as often.

He's been in Scotland (Edinburgh) for the past 5 years so now used to a chillier climate.

Forget about the supermarket cheese. You can get a huge choice of decent cheeses at any good deli.

My nephew who was born and educated in Thailand will soon be graduating from Edinburgh University is thinking of migrating to New Zealand. My brother (who died 6 years ago) left his house in Queenstown to my nephew and his sister. OH and I spent a while in March doing the house up a bit in readiness for nephew arriving next month. He will get casual work there on a working holiday visa then see how he likes NZ. He's already done the European backpacking thing. It will be nice to have another family member not too far away.

That would piss a lot of people right off - the ones who hang around to get citizenship then scarper I mean.

The only place I've lived in which I found "dull" after a period of a few months was Switzerland. Beautiful scenery and close proximity to other countries but it was the people - very hard to get to know. Mind you many people on this forum say the same about Australians. I've never found that.

That is very true. My father wasn't even interested in venturing to England and we only lived 80 miles from the border! Many older folk were the same. Different generation though. My brother, sister and I and most of our cousins made up for our parents though. We lived in many different countries over the years. Dad wasn't interested in even visiting us. After he died Mum loved travelling all over the place to stay with us in various countries.

I did tell a friend who worked in the immigration office near Circular Quay (Sydney) and she more or less just shrugged. This was about 20 years ago. She said it was happening all the time. The saddest were the circumstances when men of Middle Eastern appearance and of middle age would front up at immigration with their pregnant teenage bride. They had gone back to Lebanon or the Yemen to find a young bride, made sure they were pregnant then wanted everything sorted out so the young bride could stay in Australia. I'm hoping things are far stricter nowadays.

My sister who has just returned to Edinburgh after 5 weeks here in Tasmania has just popped over to Copenhagen for a week - really, really cheap airfare. Are you talking about Perth or Australia as a whole? Been here nearly 36 years and never been bored. I don't think I've ever been bored in my life.