Toots

1 minute ago, Quoll said:

I hear you! The saving factor for Christmas for me is my youngest granddaughter. She loves Christmas and I have steadfastly clung to my British Christmas roots so that she knows (and tells me she loves) our family Christmases. With the maturity of becoming a teenager she has really thrown herself into this Christmas especially  - she's been really enthusiastic about finding just the right gift for her dad, sister and pup. Her mother doesn't celebrate Christmas at all because it's her birthday on NY Eve and in her mind that's more important than Christmas! I guess what I'm saying is that I'm leeching on her excitement and enthusiasm and feeling more Christmassy than I have in a long time. It'll also be good because this will be the first Christmas in 10 years that we can share it with my UK son who should be on his way in a few hours (bugger about all the pre Christmas visit housework that needs to get done now though!)

Awww, your granddaughter sounds like a lovely lass.

Enjoy Christmas with your family and especially good to have your UK son with you too.  

Lovely to hear from you @Tappers2oz 

I haven't really got any nuggets to offer but as long as I'm with my husband and family that's fine for me.  I'm definitely not one of those nostalgic at Christmas types.  My sister is here from Scotland and our two sons and their partners are here for New Year.  We are going away for a few days over Christmas.   It won't be steaming hot here thank goodness.  

Hope you manage to enjoy yourself in spite of homesickness.  Can't be easy at all.

17 minutes ago, Blue Manna said:

"Bagging"? Don't think I've heard that before. Is it a Tassie term?

It's an Australian slang word meaning to criticize, disparage, or dismiss a person or thing.  Surprised you haven't heard of it before.

45 minutes ago, can1983 said:

Can you please stop bagging out my home, if it doesn't suit you move 

Tassie is wonderful for so many things and I am proud to have my children grow up here.

Aurora home plug in kit - never heard of it

Next thing you know you'll tell me Tasmanians have two heads and IQ's below 50

Perhaps not a hillbilly could get together with the PIO member in Perth who is constantly seeking intellectual and sophisticated buddies to have meaningful conversations with? Said Perth member seems to have disappeared for the time being. 

1 hour ago, not a hillbilly said:

New to this site but not to Tassie.  Moved to Launceston from Brissy 15yrs ago to help sister with ailing mother & now stuck here.

Always got on better with Poms & Europeans rather than Aussies & have found too many hillbillies in this town.

Want to go back to UK for one last holiday before I die but can't travel alone any more & there doesn't seem to be any tours that go where I want to see.  Done the church & castle thing years ago.  Want to see my ancestor's farm (c. 1730) as well as what's new since 1980.  Love museums - railway, aircraft & general scenery.

Even tho I've been in Oz since 1966 I miss England, each time I go back for a holiday I know I'm "Home".

I'm along the road from you in Devonport.  Know what you mean about the hillbillies.  I just tend to steer clear.  We've been here almost 10 years but I feel quite at home.  We live in the quiet part of town where the hillbillies don't bother us.  

As Marisa has already said, there are many people like yourself who feel stuck and unhappy.  Are there any social clubs you could join?  You might find that there will be a fair percentage of people there from the UK and Europe.

1 hour ago, cg9456 said:

My partner isn’t Lithuanian - did I maybe make a typo somewhere? I can apply for international schools but the positions are extremely extremely competitive. 

I think Marisa has you muddled up with another poster who had a query very recently.

1 hour ago, Quoll said:

If you are unsure, dont do it.  

We may speak English but we are still a foreign country and you can basically kiss goodbye to family and friends.  As Marisa has said, the "its only 24 hours" thing is a furphy - it's 24 hours plus airport time and getting to the airport time, plus jet lagged time, plus many thousands of dollars for even a bog standard fare.  If you are OK with leaving family, missing births, deaths, marriages (unless you get to be very rich and can manage to put the pup into kennels) then go for it.  Be prepared to be flexible about where you might get a job - although teachers are leaving in their droves, it's still generally that the nicer the place the more teachers there are to fill the roles - you might not get Melbourne or if you do it could be in one of those schools that nobody else wants to teach in, you could find yourself offered something at Woop Woop hours away from Melbourne.  Come for a holiday and check out Victoria which has sponsored you.

Agree.  If you're not sure don't do it.  

22C here today.

Denison Beach, east coast of Tassie.

@Adam 005 I don't know your age but please be aware most Australian visas have an age limit of 44 meaning that those who have attained the age of 45 years are not eligible to apply for an Australian visa. 

12 hours ago, Adam 005 said:

I should have been clearer in my post.
It’s her sister who’s in Australia. 
I know we have a long journey ahead which given the difficulties of a visa may answer the question for me but I want to be fully on board. 

my wife has never been overly close to here parents but very close to her sister. 
Being a woman and a lovely forward thinking person she able to see the benefits and deal with the sacrifices and the emotions of the decision far better than me. 
I’m basically and emotional dinosaur . 

Honestly, I think you would find it too hard.  You could end up hating it here.  Read what Nemesis has posted above.  That has caused a lot of problems for many migrants who yearn to return to their home country.

You say you your wife has family in Australia.  Does family mean her parents?  If not, how do her parents feel about you all moving to Australia?

Most migrants will tell you that it not an easy thing to do.  In fact it is probably one of the hardest parts of migrating.   Have you mentioned that you are thinking of moving to Australia?  If so what was their reaction?  Do you have siblings in the UK?  It is an even harder decision for an only child.

Have to say, I can also understand why your wife wants to be closer to her own parents.  

Yes, a hard decision.

Good luck with it all.

30 minutes ago, paulhand said:

In this context:

Australian Permanent Resident = holder of a permanent visa

The OP's application for an RRV was refused.  With a bit of luck the son will be fine? 

1 hour ago, Parley said:

Can you even get a resident return visa when you were never a resident in the first place?

Sounds unlikely to me.

It does seem very unlikely but the whole immigration system works in very mysterious ways so who knows, he may by lucky.

15 minutes ago, pob said:

@Toots I'm in Sydney NSW.

From what I hear everything sounds quite nice in Tasmania. I should go out of my way to visit one day!

 

@Marisawright We used to live in America. The healthcare system is quite disgusting! Everything is clean and nice and the care is very good. But people die due to lack of healthcare.

Did you ever go into Wallmart? They usually have a greeter, a older person smiling and saying hello, lots of amusing badges on their waistcoat. I always wondered why you would have that job in your 80's? They have the job so they can get part of their healthcare/copay paid for.

Being a surly kind of person I usually nodded or grunted hello and went about my business in the store, but after finding out why they have that job, I always smile and greet them  nicely, pay them a compliment, try and make their day a little easier.

 

The best place I had healthcare was the Netherlands, I paid my ZAO fee every month and everything was free after that. Fantastic hospitals and doctors. I have nothing bad to say about their system. But I am sure it is better somewhere else, but that is the best I have seen and used.

I'm happy to say the years I worked in Europe and the USA I never had to see a doctor or go to a hospital.  I was hoping I would be like my Mum who never had to go to hospital in her life even to have her babies.  The only time she was in hospital was for the 5 days before the end of her life.  Unfortunately I didn't inherit her robust good health but even so I reckon I'm still pretty healthy for an old dame.  I'm glad I don't have to work in a Walmart type of place to pay for healthcare as you have described.

After living in Sydney for years and years, living in Tasmania is like going back in time which suits me just fine.  

34 minutes ago, Nemesis said:

I think the healthcare issue is the same in both countries - some places are better than others. 

I had some great GPs in the UK and a couple of waste-of-time ones. Good service in public hospitals both here and in Aus. My opinion of GPs in Aus is not very high though, as the one I had dealings with badly breached every rule in the book by freely discussing my medical history with my boss (who was looking for excuses to sack me) - without my permission, in fact without even asking me. Rather made me avoid GPs after that.

What did concern me in Brisbane was that I did know of families who would not go to a GP because they couldn't afford to, and because they knew they couldn't afford the cost of tests etc which would likely follow a visit. Not so much in the early years but certainly since about 2018, when bulk billing GPs became rarer than hens teeth.

Your GP sounds like a shocker and anyway isn't it against the hippocratic oath to divulge a patient's health care to anyone? 

15 minutes ago, pob said:

I would guess a lot of people compare Australia with where ever they come from.

Lots of people join poms in oz for information, even down to their favorite variety of potato chip. It's a comparison, what do you prefer Twisties or Wotsits? Twisties win it for me, but neither are good for you.

 

Ive lived in a few places and one of the things that really upsets me is the lack of or restrictive healthcare. I personally believe that healthcare should be free to all. I think it is a basic human right to free healthcare. After all, why pay your taxes if you don't get something back from it.

Charging people for an ambulance and then what ever they do in the ambulance is added onto the bill, is wrong in my opinion. But that is just my opinion.

 

 

I am clumsy though! Always breaking bones, getting cuts and what not.

 

 

In an ideal world healthcare would be free for everyone - I agree with you there.

I've never broken a bone (touch wood) but due to an inherited heart problem I do have to attend hospital now and again to keep an eye on things.  Can't fault the care I've been given and ambulances are free here in Tassie - not that I've ever needed one.

Hope you wife is back to good health now.

1 hour ago, Constance said:

I searched for expat guilt on here this morning and hope you don't mind me hopping on to here. 

I have been in Australia for 6m with my family - husband and two children aged 2 and 6. I'm your typical backpacker who spent 12 years talking about coming back and 2 years actually doing something about it as life gets in the way. 

We have our first family member visiting now and they're quite unwell. I can't imagine how we will send them home but we have to for a number of reasons (and they won't want to stay importantly), they have no other family and very few friends. Then in terms of my own parents, I feel that I am killing them by keeping their grandchildren away. 

My mum and dad are coming for 3 months at end of Feb and I already worry about them going home. I feel so completely torn down the middle where I am in a place that I have wanted to be for over 20 years and how much I have such a connection with Australia, then the other side of not being able to imagine a time that this will ever feel easier. 

I know I'm not ready to go back to Scotland and we have always said we would do 3 years and decide from there to keep our options open and take pressure off. My mind is a permanent battle. 

I do understand how you feel.  I NEVER got used to the goodbyes when my Mum returned to Scotland after a few months here every 2nd year.  It was very hard.  I have always been happy in Australia but when you migrate, leaving a close loving family is without doubt the hardest part   ..............  it was for me even though I had lived in other countries before migrating. 

I have been here over 40 years now.  Mum died a number of years ago but my sister comes for 3 months to visit.  Many migrants return to their country of origin as they find being apart from their families too difficult.  

Enjoy your parents visit in February.  See how you feel when they return - as I said, it isn't at all easy but life returns to normal and you just seem to get on with it.

3 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

We're fortunate in Melbourne that most GPs offer bulk billing or reduced rates for seniors

I think migrants from the UK have to remember this is not the UK with the NHS.  It's a different country and things are done differently here.  It's not much use comparing the two,  

2 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

We're fortunate in Melbourne that most GPs offer bulk billing or reduced rates for seniors

Same here.

1 hour ago, pob said:

Every time we see the doctor it costs us $100!

 

When my wife needed pain medication she was denied it and told that pain is only a state of mind by the doctors.

What she needed was a couple of days on morphine due to her injuries, what she got was a couple of paracetamol instead.

In the hospital there was over flowing bins of bandages with puss and blood on them.

I asked nursing staff if they would like me to remove the needles in my wife's arm because the way they were doing it was causing her pain and injury.

 

Yes the NHS is far from perfect. But you do not need to pay to see a doctor do you. You would be given pain medication if you had shattered your leg and were constantly crying and the only time you stopped crying was when you passed out due to pain levels, which is dangerous.

 

Your poor wife.  That must have been horrible for her.

Are you in Sydney?  I'm wondering which hospital she was in.  I didn't like Canterbury hospital at all but I had good (if you can call being in hospital good) care in Royal Prince Alfred and the North Shore.

I think most people in Australia are prepared to pay when they go to a doctor unless that surgery bulk bills.

2 hours ago, pob said:

I lived in Cornwall 20 years ago,  Newquay, St Austell.

Don't suppose you know a guy called Jason Lockett do you? Into his music.

Summer is horrible full of tourists, but as soon as the kids go back to school and it is great. I would even enjoy the bad weather, I used to head to a pub called the walkabout and watch the storms through their big glass windows. You would feel the whole building shake!!!

 

We lived in Australia ten years ago and returned a year ago.

It's changed so much over the past ten years. I also have changed so much over the past ten years.

It was always insular, now more so. There is a lack of foreign goods here. I'm not talking about mushy peas or prawn cocktail crisps, you can still get those if that's what floats your boat .

It's other stuff like Quality Italian olive oil, I went to grab a bottle of Evian from the supermarket and only then realized hat there was only Australian water, the list goes on. The quality of day to day food items seems to have dropped.

The Australians as a nation seem to be more nationalistic, there seems to be less foreign goods. We have been told that when covid hit this happened and it has stayed that way.

 

My wife got sick and I saw how the healthcare system worked. It was then we realised that Australia as a country would fail us if we ever got sick here.

 

When opportunity arises, we will leave. Would you like to swap places?

For some reason I thought you had already returned to the UK?  Must have muddled you up with someone else.

I think it depends where you live when it comes to the quality of healthcare.  God knows Tasmania has its problems with regard to healthcare but we've been very lucky so far.  Our GP is excellent and I'm always hoping she stays here as so many of them move to the mainland cities.  

Also to be aware of shortage of rentals.  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-26/how-the-rental-market-broke-can-it-be-fixed/102767494

Breezy, sunny day and only 19C but I forgot to put on a hat and my face is a bit pink.