Cheery Thistle

@Simontucks 7 years for a hip replacement! It’s got worse then. Although saying that, my husband was told they just wouldn’t give him one because he was only 48. Can’t get my head round the lack of logic, he has a physical job and couldn’t work so we’d have been claiming disability, PIP etc for 15 years, rather than just the NHS paying the £15k for the op and getting him back to work. In the end we paid for it privately and then took out Bupa. Luckily we can afford that. @InnerVoice I just don’t go to the doctor unless I’ve got a literal limb hanging off. I’m ‘lucky’ in that I can usually be seen on the same day at my surgery. However you usually go in with a minor symptom think that you’re generally well, but leave with a list of ailments and medications. No thank you!

Didn’t even know there is one! When someone says Union St I think Aberdeen. I’m not a Weegie but have worked on and off for organisations based there. Duke St, Dixons Blazes and now off Clyde St. My knowledge of certain areas is good, of others it’s patchy!

Really interesting thank you for doing it and taking the time. In order to work out what the ‘better deal’ is though, surely we need to factor in things like service levels, standards of care, waiting times etc? Waiting 12 hours plus on an ambulance for example, or hubby being told it was a 2 year wait to see an orthopaedic consultant when he could hardly walk? The basic inability to get a GP appointment and also the lack of availability of NHS dentists (many people just can’t get registered). Appreciate that is more or less impossible for us to do on a forum! Also, we actually pay higher tax in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK and many of the better off amongst us also have private health cover (out of necessity).

Aberdeen? Not been for years but it was a hell hole back then. They don’t call it the granite city for nowt.

I really don’t like the idea of state selective and have already heard not great things about the atmosphere in one of the Queensland Academies. We are not pushy parents, relaxed sounds quite good! However our daughter is quite arty, plays piano and is into swimming. I would like somewhere that approaches things holistically and where she’ll have a range of opportunities. Whether that’s state or private I don’t know. The private options don’t look horrendously expensive and it’s only for 6 years. It’s not something I would even consider here because the schools are too far away and it’s prohibitively expensive, plus most of the kids seem really annoying if I’m honest!!

I am asking as a parent rather than as a teacher. Unless I struggle to get a well-paid job in my current field I don’t think I’ll be teaching, it’s the back up plan only! Just the private school idea is more or less alien to us. The school our daughter would go to here is a top 50 Scottish state school and also the one I taught in for a long time. We are Catholic so that’s a consideration but not the main priority. Looking forward to visiting and getting the ‘vibe’ from the schools.

Moving to Brisbane and I’ve noticed there is quite an emphasis on private schools compared to where we are in the UK. There seems to be much greater choice of the type of school and also the costs involved. Catchment generally seems to be quite tightly adhered to (as it can be here too due to capacity issues usually). Does anyone have direct experience of the private vs state in the Brisbane area or on any benefits they have found to the Aus system over the UK? We will be over in March and plan to visit a few schools. Aware there are waiting lists etc for a lot of them.

Sometimes. But it’s naive to assume that that’s all that comes into play and also wildly inaccurate to assert that we’ve come so far that it’s no longer an issue.

I’m afraid you really are showing your ignorance with regards to maternity, childcare, parenthood and the impact they have on earnings and the pay gap. This article has some up to date information (if you are at all interested on being enlightened). If not, as you were, they do say ignorance is bliss after all!! https://ifs.org.uk/news/women-much-more-likely-men-give-paid-work-or-cut-hours-after-childbirth-even-when-they-earn#:~:text=Even where the mother was,hours after becoming a parent.&text=The different roles played by,development of gender pay gaps.

I think it’s a living vs visiting thing. It’s like going to London - can be fun but don’t want to live there. For me, conversely, the same could be said about the Isle of Skye or other places - too rural.

I know, we’re well aware. Hubby had a series of health crises aged 48 and we weren’t even sure he would pass the medical for Aus. Thankfully all was well and it was actually me who had an issue on the day (blood pressure, white coat syndrome!!). So he had reduced mobility for a while. It was all a bit of a shock since he’s the fit one (ex royal marine, champion navy boxer etc etc) and I’m the wee fat one! Laughing face!! He is back to fitness now and we want to make the most of things. Hence massive life change, emigration and squeezing every last drop of enjoyment we can out of life. When someone nearly takes it all away, you start to appreciate it more.

It does indeed. I’m not far away from full contributions….slave labour from age 14 had to have some benefit!!

What are you talking about now? State retirement age is 66 for men and women, for me (as it stands now) it will be 68. Average life expectancy in the UK is roughly 79. My mum worked full time to 65 and my Dad to 72. People who retire at 60 tend to have private pensions or investments, I know not one person who has retired at 60 on a state pension and is sitting fat and jolly on the profit. I have no idea how a question on Medicare landed here but some of the posts on this forum are just so pedantic and ridiculous.

And what is it that’s so wrong with that, are we expected to pay the tax and NI and not then have an NHS, pension and/or education system in return? Or is it the fact they are annoyed that the age keeps being moved out? Given that there’s a sizeable chunk of the population that pays no tax at all (as I have quoted in another recent post) yet still get the ‘free’ stuff, I can see why folk who pay in for 50 years get a bit peeved really.

Gah. They probably won’t know if he’s eligible for ‘free’ braces until after his consultation. I suspect my daughter’s would be just because of how severe the angle is on her front teeth but I’m no expert. My aforementioned friend has decided to go private for her son as he is now 14 and they are concerned about the wait.

It’s not free. That’s the whole point. It. Is. Not. Free!

Well we are splitting hairs really. Whichever way you look at it the NHS is paid for via NI contributions and income tax which are both paid by (most of) the working population. it’s not ‘free’ as everyone likes to think or make out. But really, thank you for the chart.

I have enquired with a few people living in Brisbane at the moment and getting conflicting reports. A couple of people have had their kids treatment started in the UK and managed to find Aussie orthodontists to take them on. Not sure it’s really worth the hassle for us. Also, not everyone gets them ‘free’ in the UK. You only get them free if it’s deemed to be a ‘medical’ case. I put ‘free’ in inverted commas, as those of us who work do pay for healthcare in the UK via fairly hefty NI payments. There is an underlying current in some forums that somehow the UK population are freeloaders who expect to get everything for nothing which is just a wee bit irritating. A friend of mine has 2 teen boys and one of them has been waiting over a year to be assessed by an orthodontist.

We will. After all, I don’t want to end up an old lady not able to do it and wish that I had when I could.

Thank you, will do! I am quite good at fun actually, it’s one of my strengths!

It’s not really the view, it’s the experience.

One of my pics from Tour Montparnasse April 2022.

It’s the same for Sydney and the harbour bridge and opera house - they are synonymous! I don’t think you can really compare the price for the bridge climb and going up the tower. They are totally different . I think we paid about €75 for the 3 of us to go up in April 2022. Waited in a queue for over an hour in interesting weather. Then the whole thing is over pretty quickly. I think it’s quite expensive for what it is, especially if you have a couple of kids. But I think it’s a must-do at least once. I’ve done it so many times because I used to lead annual senior school Paris trips. Have done the climb on foot a few times (to cut waiting times) but wouldn’t do it with the 10 year old. I prefer the Tour Montparnasse. Not as iconic but has better views - you get to actually see the Eiffel Tower lit up from there if you go at night. To be honest if I went back to Paris I wouldn’t do the Eiffel Tower again unless I was with someone who hadn’t done it. Re: Bridge climb - my $, my bucket list, I’m not asking you to pay!!

Thanks to everyone for your advice and opinions - never short of those on this forum lol. Thinking of maybe just ditching Newcastle altogether - I remember a while back looking at houses and seeing that a million basically buys a wooden shack and thinking ‘nah’. The daylight savings appeals though! So that gives us a few more days to play with. Happy to skip Taronga - it was more for the 10 year old than us and Australia Zoo was on the list anyway. But I’m afraid the bridge climb is staying - it’s bucket list lol. It’s a bit like the Eiffel Tower. Is it overrated? Yes. Overpriced? Yes. Have I still done it 8 times? Also yes!! Definitive decisions need to be made this weekend as I need to get things booked as I have other trips to focus on too.

I think it’s just a ‘life’ thing to be honest!!