Toots

Chilly again today but sunny. Stopped for a cuppa on my walk at the beach.

Sydney also receives twice as much rain as Melbourne.

Harry the dog has just shuffled back into the house panting. It's 22C in the back garden. Mind you when you turn the corner into the driveway it's 14C and windy. Nice time of year as the daffodils, magnolias and camellias are looking lovely.

At least you got out of Darwin @Huntersmummy. That was a big move to Perth so I'm sorry it hasn't been much better for you there. You know where we are if you feel like having a good old moan. Can't believe some folk PM'd you with a judgmental attitude.

I live in a largish town of 27 thousand people and even though the cost of living is hitting everyone, our town does have some really good facilities. There is a very good indoor and outdoor swimming center plus we are very close to beaches. There are 9 sporting fields which are used for a variety of sports throughout the year and all are well run by the council. I think we are very lucky in that way.

The Australian inflation rate is 6% or 7% depending on various info but I can tell you that stuff in the shops has risen a LOT more than that. Building a house and renovations also much more expensive than pre Covid.

Not so much of a hassle if you don't have children or pets and providing your other half is up for all the pinging and ponging. Personally I really couldn't be doing with the hassle but some people seem to thrive on it.

Crazy weather here today. It was lovely and sunny but cold this morning then by noon the sky turned very dark. A gale force wind started, the temperature dropped further and then heavy rain which swirled in all directions lasted for hours. It was horrible. This evening there is no wind at all and it's a lovely calm, clear moonlit night. Who knows what tomorrow will be like. The weather here is never boring.

My brother was one of the engineers when Skytrain was built. Skytrain andn MRT map. https://travelhappy.info/bangkok-bts-and-mrt-map/ Skytrain

Yes, the traffic is horrendous in Bangkok but the Skytrain and MRT are a great way to travel around the city. Easy to negotiate and cheap. We used to stay in the Sukhumvit area and the Skytrain stations there are numerous.

I'm a foot shorter than you and I would love to have extra legroom. Did manage to a couple of times ................ one of those seats near the exit door. Made such a difference on a 24 hour flight.

I suppose it depends who you fly with. A lot of people have a stopover in Dubai. Personally, I don't like the place but Kuala Lumpur, Singapore (my favourite) and Bangkok are interesting.

Mr anti Australia strikes again. Always here with your negativity. Dunedin is not like Hobart. In fact I didn't like Dunedin. Maybe it was the time of year we were there but it just seemed very damp and had no atmosphere about it. Queenstown is more my kind of place but VERY expensive. I have a nephew who lives there and he loves it. Sure there are a lot of drawbacks with any place. I'm waiting for you to find your Utopia.

We had lunch in the Shipwrights Arms in Battery Point. I could live in that area very easily ............. when I win the lottery. One of those little houses in Arthur Circus, Battery Point would do me very nicely.

I like it because of its small size. I really don't like cities at all. I like the old sandstone buildings in the older parts - a lot character. I also like the real pubs with a bit of atmosphere. We were there a couple of weeks ago (3 hour drive from Devonport) and met friends for a pub lunch and stayed overnight in Hadley's Hotel in the town centre. Had a lovely time.

Here is a bit of info on bridging visas. Go to the one titled bridging visas.

I forgot all about workers comp. One of my co-workers had a carpal tunnel op and workers comp looked after her treatment and time off work.

6 months seems a bit over the top. Does that encourage bludging? Maybe working for the health service here is more generous than for the rest of us though.

I also rarely needed to use a sick day. Never seemed to get sick BUT like you I had plenty of sick days banked which I used when I also needed an operation and had time off to recover and I even had some left over after that.

............ or selling indigenous paintings door to door? Plenty of backpackers were doing that in Sydney.

As long as those people planning to come here realise Australia isn't the land of milk and honey. The cost of living here is just as bad and maybe even higher for some things than the UK.

A couple who live nearby are from Norway. They say that every man and his dog has a wood heater there. Norway doesn't strike me as being polluted by all the smoke.

We get all of our wood from dead trees. The farmers spend a bit of time chopping them up and selling them. They also replant new trees. I had never seen standing dead trees before. They burn well. We don't notice smoke here as the wind takes it away but I know what you mean about Launceston. We drove there yesterday and the fog in all the low lying areas was really thick. No wind there either so you could smell the smoke from wood heaters. Not too bad though. You couldn't really call it pollution.

Tasmania's electricity is produced by hydro power and wind farms and solar on houses is becoming more popular BUT many of us heat our homes with log burners which isn't exactly environmentally friendly.

That's right. Does the couple want to move to Australia? They may have other children still in the UK. My Mum came to stay every 2nd year for 4 or5 months of the summer. She did not want to move permanently to Australia. She had a happy life in Scotland with all her friends and her sister nearby. At the time my brother and sister were both working overseas for a number of years so she spent many a lovely time also visiting them. It's a big decision and I wish the OP all the best.