not a hillbilly

As am I but Aussie employers are known for being age-ist. I was first told I was too old at 17 - they wanted 15 yo's without any experience. Had the same problem throughout my working life in Oz .... too old, too experienced / skilled, too educated

I’d look at NZ or Canada (if you like the cold). Many UK police, firies & ambos moved to NZ. Here in Oz I’ve found Kiwi managers are much more competent & professional. If its just you & daughter, then a modernish 2-bedroom unit should suit. They are rare & go for around $450,000 in regional areas & climbing. Depending on what work you want, TIG welders are in demand. The ship-submarine building industry in Adelaide SA would be a good choice. Incat in Hobart, Tasmania also uses several & is a good employer – worth an email enquiry. Tho I wouldn’t classify Tassie as anything other than a hillbilly state despite the nice southern-UK style weather. Australia will soon start building more armoured vehicles (for Germany) in Brisbane Qld. I’ll ask my workshop supervisor (engineer in the Mt.Isa mines for years) & a friend in the aircraft industry about their use of TIG these days – probably good. Wages in Oz are higher than UK & living expenses (while climbing) are also lower.

Agree that age discrimination in Australia is widespread. So is experience discrimination -- (we don't want clever people, just slaves that do as they're told). Couldn't get a decent job in the area of England that I tried (but that seems to have been just my usual bad luck). Did find that retired people worked as supermarket trolley-boys as the pension wasn't enough to live on.

bring all documentation.

not many decorations here this year but more than I've done before.

Check with your equine club's umbrella organisation or racing stable that regularly ships horses overseas. Definitely get your vet to write a letter or provide documentation for customs -- don't want them to assume you are ingesting it.

For some inexplicable reason I'm feeling just a bit Christmasy this year - usually don't feel anything. It may be that I'm achieving some house renovations this year & one of seven neighbours already has decorations out. Bought some multi-colour tinsel the other day - $3-oo, a great expense ! Will put it on my garden Aussie Christmas Trees (4½ft high Yucca plants) on Friday.

Children's social-workers are much needed here but as the Government doesn't allocate enough funding most burn out very quickly & leave the job. How easy to get to Australia ? ... turn south & keep going till it starts to get cold.

Even as an ex-electronics Tech I was gutted when I had to dump my perfectly working 30-yr old tv for a crappy digital when they switched the analog system off. It had a rotary channel selector & even my VCR couldn't receive set-top boxes. And now they've changed the channels around for "HD", still no better picture than my old analog tv & the sound quality is worse. It's harder to switch channel too, I had the 3 best channels (3,6 & 8 ) next to each other- used to be ch.6 now ch.61, used to be ch.39 now ch.306, so more buttons to push. Don't even mention the quality of programming

What's wrong with looking at cat videos and porn ?? Two days a week I ride a 93 year old tram - still works well but at max speed (23 mph) it rattles a bit now. Wish that someone other than me would wash it tho.

True, but don't expect it to happen. Paid cash for my last & current house, screw the banks ! Putting my money in house upgrades as rising prices are ensuring better returns. The trick is to live simply within your needs & income - something most people nowadays don't do. Far too many Techno-wankers wasting money on the latest gadget which is no better than the last one at doing things like making phone calls. My flip-phone is 25 yrs old & still does what I need.

Don't you just hate those mystery tours ? Just the other week there was that cruise from Sydney to NZ -- refused entry as the ship's hull wasn't cleaned -- redirected to Hobart !

Hotels ???? Back in the day, apart from YHA, I slept in railway culverts (Germany) & on park benches in the snow (nth Norway). I probably couldn't survive that nowadays Did get one room at a regional hotel as it was also a YHA - 1st class accommodation at YHA price ! Didn't use the sauna tho

I do like rail, traveled extensively on a Euro rail-pass back in '81. Would go to Norfolk as my mum's family came from there way back in time - have a famous relative's pottery-painting work in a museum there. Have traced father's family back to 1703 in Gloucestershire so want to visit his farm which still exists. Unfortunately no close relatives in UK now as they've moved to other countries like US, Cyprus & Czech Republic etc.

You should try to match your daughter's maturity & intelligence with the school grade. If she is brighter than the rest of pupils she may initially find the syllabus boring. It's known for immigrants to be in the top 3 of students for the first year due to better teaching overseas but then drop lower in the next etc. If in a higher grade she may become more shy due to the more mature students around her.

Yes, initially that's what I thought 15 years ago. It does look nice but things have gone downhill a lot in the last 7 years - housing prices up a lot, quite a few shops closed. After much searching, I've found a good plumber, car mechanic & a reasonable house painter but unable to find a competent handyman or electrician. Aurora (electricity provider) actually handed out plug-packs for you to test your own house for electrical safety as building codes before the 1990's were often ignored. Unless built in the last 10 years, all homes need bringing up to Australian mainland standards. Local council known for having more bureaucrats than any other & general sloppiness in government (you wouldn't believe the things I've found out in the past year !). This town is not at all progressive. I would recommend either Hobart (best selection of shops & activities) or north coast towns. If you're into booze & food Tassie is good.

Hi Marisa, Can never go home to live again, tried in 2000 - too expensive & difficult re-settling. Just getting a bank account was almost impossible, LLoyds TSB was the only one that helped me (probably by bending the rules a bit). thanks, did the Ffestiniog in 1977 & want to do the Isle of Man & Crich as I'm more a Trammie than a steam guy. Will avoid BR - last trip there we went down the wrong line, sat for 45 mins then backed up for 20 mins ! May have been works but ..... Found it faster to walk the 5 miles home in the rain from the station than wait for the next service which like the previous two might be cancelled I always seem to get rain when I use the train in UK. Have done the Don River & West Coast Wilderness railways here. In the words of W.C. Fields ... Hi ya Toots. There are one or two clubs that I found straight away but most members were quite unsophisticated compared to the UK so I usually use the internet for socializing. Keep myself as busy as I can & a new museum that's starting might keep me interested for a while as the other one I've been volunteering at for 3 yrs is dying. Have to work tomorrow, catch you guys up later.

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".