What do you miss about the UK?

[thinker78]

With the world cup recently, it made me remember the excitement over this, and you know when all the pubs are packed, and the streets are empty and a goal happens and then the whole street goes from silence to loud cheers....man, that's pretty good

(although not so good during this world cup haha)

[Jacaranda]

Currently nothing as everything is so new and interesting here, I'm sure there will be something at some point though.

 

I don't miss washed out summer camping trips though.

This is a thread about things you miss,so why did you bother posting?

[Guest]

Ha, aconcannon, I live on the Gold Coast, so no unfortunately none here, I would love to know if there are any in Australia.

 

I also miss French Cheese, as far as I'm aware you can't sell cheese with unpasteurised milk here and the Camembert and Brie just don't taste the same.

@Dawn2002 - you may find a Blue Cow cheese to satisfy your cravings

 

http://www.bluecow.com.au

 

Expensive but used to be my little treat

[Happy Lass]

The shopping - especially when it comes to furniture. And I do miss being able to shop in John Lewis.

There are some lovely British varieties of cheese that I miss but otherwise I've been able to find equivalents (or better) for most of my favourite foods over here.

[Dawn2002]

@Dawn2002 - you may find a Blue Cow cheese to satisfy your cravings

 

http://www.bluecow.com.au

 

Expensive but used to be my little treat

 

Looks lovely, I have a milestone birthday this year so I may start dropping a few hints !!

[Guest Guest 47403]

This is a thread about things you miss,so why did you bother posting?

 

Because the OP asked what we were missing and I'm not currently missing anything :wink: If you really want to start a *** for tat I could start listing the things I really don't miss.......................if you really want me too :daydreaming:

 

Now look what YOU have done to the thread........................sorry OP hopefully they'll be no more challenging people responses and the thread can get back on track :policeman:

[aconcannon]

It's great to here what everybody is missing - not becuase you all miss it but because it's helping me in making a decision on 'home comforts' that I might need to consider bringing out with me after xmas when we emigrate... thankfully there doesn't seem to be many!

 

I find it interesting how many of you say you miss the opportunity of experiencing new cultures on holiday - with New Zealand, the South Pacific Islands and Asia right on your door step I personally am excited by all the opportunities of different holidays without having to travel half way across the world to get there - or perhaps I have just been fortunate in already seeing most of Europe and therefore don't feel I will miss it & want to see more of Asia as a result???

[Jameister]

They are seriously lacking Marks & Specers stores in Australia aren't they 'Dawn2002! My friend from the UK emigrated out to Sydney a few years back and every time she comes home she pops to M&S for a prawn mayo sandwich :-) seen as they are in most other major cities of the world I'm surprised Australia don't have them yet - or do they?

 

M&S will be coming to Sydney soon, not sure if it's this year or next but remember reading about it in the paper about 6 months ago.

[NicF]

I miss working part time (and from home) and Virgin Media broadband and my TiVo box (don't have access to any wired broadband where we live in Australia and are currently managing with a 4G wireless router with a 12GB download limit a month).

 

We are in the UK on holiday at the moment and there is very little I miss that I'm trying to get in. Never really used to go to Europe so don't miss that. History does little for me so not too bothered that nothing not indigenous is that old in Oz. I'm more of a nature kind of girl and although the nature in Australia is different to the UK there is actually far more of it where I live now than where I lived in the UK. I thought I missed decent sausages but I've discovered that actually I'm just not that keen on sausages.

[Guest Bora]

I have very low battery on my phone right this very second, as I sit here with a Cobra in the waiting area of my favourite curry house wondering why I ever left this stunning place as I gaze into the distance and can see cows marouding through the Somerset countryside. More in depth analysis soon!

[bunbury61]

I have very low battery on my phone right this very second, as I sit here with a Cobra in the waiting area of my favourite curry house wondering why I ever left this stunning place as I gaze into the distance and can see cows marouding through the Somerset countryside. More in depth analysis soon!

 

aha Bora ....the eyes are now open and focussed ....sometimes you have to be away awhile to really appreciate it .....as you get older , the old shoe gets more and more comfortable ....the sunday papers ...the pint of milk at the door every morning ....the dog walk in the woods .....daffodils ....rolling hills ....striking up conversations everywhere, with anyone about anything in particular ...its completely random , but is just considered ...well normal .......I can drive miles and miles in the country sometimes, and the place is bloody stunning .....if its sunny its Sinatra ...if its coming up to Christmas its classical ...any time else its rock .....the names of the pubs ...the hundreds of years of history etched into these villages .....our golf courses ( beautiful ) ....iam a crap golfer , and I don't even deserve to walk on some of them courses , iam truly spoilt .......but most of all , its the people , I rarely meet a bad one ....this morning I met a bloke under stress with " small man " syndrome , he was a bit abrasive ....an hour later we were pals .....just had a couple of beers in the pub ...lifes not too bad ....just stepping off the hamster wheel

[bunbury61]

aha Bora ....the eyes are now open and focussed ....sometimes you have to be away awhile to really appreciate it .....as you get older , the old shoe gets more and more comfortable ....the sunday papers ...the pint of milk at the door every morning ....the dog walk in the woods .....daffodils ....rolling hills ....striking up conversations everywhere, with anyone about anything in particular ...its completely random , but is just considered ...well normal .......I can drive miles and miles in the country sometimes, and the place is bloody stunning .....if its sunny its Sinatra ...if its coming up to Christmas its classical ...any time else its rock .....the names of the pubs ...the hundreds of years of history etched into these villages .....our golf courses ( beautiful ) ....iam a crap golfer , and I don't even deserve to walk on some of them courses , iam truly spoilt .......but most of all , its the people , I rarely meet a bad one ....this morning I met a bloke under stress with " small man " syndrome , he was a bit abrasive ....an hour later we were pals .....just had a couple of beers in the pub ...lifes not too bad ....just stepping off the hamster wheel

 

The secret is knowing you have enough .....I could roll the dice again or ask for another card ...but I don't think I will ....

[Guest Bora]

No idea what's keeping my phone alive, must be the energy pulsating through my fingers....should have died ages ago...

 

Bunbury your opening line is like a penny dropping, a true moment of clarity. It allows the loop to fuse together when at times one end flaps around searching for a connecting spot. A culmination of a journey.

 

Stay with me on this one. Some days like today, I feel like although I've lived in England for all of my life barring my spell in AU its also like I've never experienced what it is like to BE HERE before, and that someone created it just for me while I was away and said we've made somewhere for you to enjoy for the rest of your life. I know this sounds absurd,,but this is how I FEEL as a result of coming home. I can't articulate in any other way.

 

And then I see this post and read things that made me dreadfully homesick and unhappy that I no longer had what I had when I was in OZ suddenly to be sitting in MY curry house stone cold sober giggling away at how happy I am.

 

My wife looked at me the other day (together for 18 years) I have no idea why she stuck around! with a look of utter love for me. She said nothing, but I knew what she was saying inside. My kids even love me again! It schanged me, I'm a better man, husband, and father to my 2 astounding little ones as a result of my torrid experience in OZ.

 

I never thought it possible to go to sleep at night smiling.

 

Something's gonna piss me off tomorrow I can tell !

[bunbury61]

No idea what's keeping my phone alive, must be the energy pulsating through my fingers....should have died ages ago...

 

Bunbury your opening line is like a penny dropping, a true moment of clarity. It allows the loop to fuse together when at times one end flaps around searching for a connecting spot. A culmination of a journey.

 

Stay with me on this one. Some days like today, I feel like although I've lived in England for all of my life barring my spell in AU its also like I've never experienced what it is like to BE HERE before, and that someone created it just for me while I was away and said we've made somewhere for you to enjoy for the rest of your life. I know this sounds absurd,,but this is how I FEEL as a result of coming home. I can't articulate in any other way.

 

And then I see this post and read things that made me dreadfully homesick and unhappy that I no longer had what I had when I was in OZ suddenly to be sitting in MY curry house stone cold sober giggling away at how happy I am.

 

My wife looked at me the other day (together for 18 years) I have no idea why she stuck around! with a look of utter love for me. She said nothing, but I knew what she was saying inside. My kids even love me again! It schanged me, I'm a better man, husband, and father to my 2 astounding little ones as a result of my torrid experience in OZ.

 

I never thought it possible to go to sleep at night smiling.

 

Something's gonna piss me off tomorrow I can tell !

 

 

for all its faults ...traffic ..litter.... and a host of other things that piss me off ...you are where you belong my friend , for better or worse , with your foot back in the old battered shoe ...the round peg in the round hole

[nikki244]

We are currently in NZ, but after almost 3 years, I think we are pretty much done here.

We went back to the UK for 6 weeks at the end of April, and I miss so much. I haven't lived in the UK for more than 18 months (in total - separate occasions) in the last eight years, and have never really missed it, or family. Now it's a different story.

 

I miss family, friends, the countryside, the houses, the accent, fitting in, the equestrian scene there, hubby misses his work opportunities. I miss having family who can babysit sometimes, so that we can go out. I miss the ease of everything, and I miss just being 'home'.

 

Now that we have kids, I want to show them the history of my/their country, and I've never seen much of Europe, and am really keen to do that too now.

 

I think what would be ideal would be to have a home in the UK and one in a Mediterranean country, so we can escape and get some sun, or even split our time between there and the UK whenever we want.

[MARYROSE02]

Homesickness can be a horrible experience, but is the 'cure' for it, simply to go 'home?' At times, I missed my parents, and made frequent trips back, culminating in a 'holiday' that lasted for twelve years. I had a mostly wonderful time, though it was a little like emigrating a second time, because going back to LIVE, is rarely the same as going back for a holiday, and most people go back for their holidays during the glorious springs and summers! Shivering outiside Terminal 4 at Heathrow, wearing what was perfectly adequate for a Sydney winter, was not a pleasant experience on a cold and dank November day.

 

After my parents died, I made the decision to emigrate for a third time, and return to Sydney. I had no close family left in England, and a brother living in Sydney. Many of the things that people wax nostalgic about - pubs, shops, history, castles, hedgerows, whatever, are just 'things.' Living in England, I also missed 'things' about Australia - gum trees, kookaburras, 'the bush.'

 

I guess that if the source of your unhappiness is having to live in in Australia, then returning to England is a wonderfully simple way of curing your 'sickness.' Of course, many people go back and find that it's not quite that simple after all.

[nikki244]

Well, we've changed our plans now...we are leaving here for the foreseeable future, but will keep our house here. We're off travelling! We are going to be perpetual tourists, and visit as many places as possible. We'll see family in England when we're in the locality, but we just have that itch for adventure, and moving back to England won't cure that, either. So that's the plan for the next few years at least. :cool:

[wattsy1982]

Seasons, UK Football, Match of the day, country pub, family, friends, christmas, bonfire night, wearing different clothes throughout the year, crisp frosty morning, english country side, the green grass/landscape you only get in england, long summer evenings, proper bacon, proper pork pies, decent full english breakfast, going out for a nice carvery, log fires in the pub, being able to travel short distances (even still with in the UK) and hear a different accent and experience a different lifestyle, europe on your doorstep, feeling part of the rest of the world, double glazed windows, insulated houses, central heating, well built houses, London and all it offers, the history of england, affordable GOOD cars, sensible childcare costs, supermarkets where you dont have to take out a mortgage for a weeks shop, broadband speeds and prices, sky sports, sense of humor, TV, Radio, Music, festivals, being able to get a job without having to have every ludicrous licence under the sun, going to watch a football match mid week under the floodlights in the cold, the ability to sit in the garden without getting eaten by mozzis, no bogans, not many ridiculous loud V8 cars, the drivers on the road, the NHS, going to the doctors for free....... I think that will do for now.

[Chortlepuss]

Seasons, UK Football, Match of the day, country pub, family, friends, christmas, bonfire night, wearing different clothes throughout the year, crisp frosty morning, english country side, the green grass/landscape you only get in england, long summer evenings, proper bacon, proper pork pies, decent full english breakfast, going out for a nice carvery, log fires in the pub, being able to travel short distances (even still with in the UK) and hear a different accent and experience a different lifestyle, europe on your doorstep, feeling part of the rest of the world, double glazed windows, insulated houses, central heating, well built houses, London and all it offers, the history of england, affordable GOOD cars, sensible childcare costs, supermarkets where you dont have to take out a mortgage for a weeks shop, broadband speeds and prices, sky sports, sense of humor, TV, Radio, Music, festivals, being able to get a job without having to have every ludicrous licence under the sun, going to watch a football match mid week under the floodlights in the cold, the ability to sit in the garden without getting eaten by mozzis, no bogans, not many ridiculous loud V8 cars, the drivers on the road, the NHS, going to the doctors for free....... I think that will do for now.

saves me having to type!! Just need to amend to say I can't be bothered with football or any sport bar Wimbledon to be honest, but I just love seeing the cricket whites appear on our local village green - a sign that summer is on its way. Smell of freshly cut grass, locally brewed bitter, the way people act like meercats when the sun comes out, conkers!

[Chortlepuss]

M&S will be coming to Sydney soon, not sure if it's this year or next but remember reading about it in the paper about 6 months ago.

I do hope they have food - they might have pork pies as well as prawn mayo sarnies.

[ramot]

Seasons, UK Football, Match of the day, country pub, family, friends, christmas, bonfire night, wearing different clothes throughout the year, crisp frosty morning, english country side, the green grass/landscape you only get in england, long summer evenings, proper bacon, proper pork pies, decent full english breakfast, going out for a nice carvery, log fires in the pub, being able to travel short distances (even still with in the UK) and hear a different accent and experience a different lifestyle, europe on your doorstep, feeling part of the rest of the world, double glazed windows, insulated houses, central heating, well built houses, London and all it offers, the history of england, affordable GOOD cars, sensible childcare costs, supermarkets where you dont have to take out a mortgage for a weeks shop, broadband speeds and prices, sky sports, sense of humor, TV, Radio, Music, festivals, being able to get a job without having to have every ludicrous licence under the sun, going to watch a football match mid week under the floodlights in the cold, the ability to sit in the garden without getting eaten by mozzis, no bogans, not many ridiculous loud V8 cars, the drivers on the road, the NHS, going to the doctors for free....... I think that will do for now.

 

Sorry but if you miss all the above you should pack up and go.

i have previously lived in Africa, and a Muslim country, the latter for 9 years before moving to Oz, so perhaps having experienced some far more difficult countries to live in than here. I don't know if this is your first experience of living away from UK, but from the tone of most of all your previous posts and the above it seems obvious that Australia isn't for you and you are seriously unhappy.

Perhaps you should move back sooner than later, as it sounds as though you might become seriously depressed if you hang on here.

I don't know if you are hanging on for citizenship? But if so perhaps it isn't the best thing in the circumstances.

[wattsy1982]

Sorry but if you miss all the above you should pack up and go.

i have previously lived in Africa, and a Muslim country, the latter for 9 years before moving to Oz, so perhaps having experienced some far more difficult countries to live in than here. I don't know if this is your first experience of living away from UK, but from the tone of most of all your previous posts and the above it seems obvious that Australia isn't for you and you are seriously unhappy.

Perhaps you should move back sooner than later, as it sounds as though you might become seriously depressed if you hang on here.

I don't know if you are hanging on for citizenship? But if so perhaps it isn't the best thing in the circumstances.

 

Who said I was unhappy here? The OP was "what do you miss about the UK"....I answered.....did I do something wrong?

 

I love/hate how people automatically think you dont like australia if you miss home or move back home. Theres a MASSIVE difference between disliking something/somewhere and preferring something else.

 

I could list things I like about Aus/would miss about Aus (not as many, far from it but I could list some)...and due to that fact we may well move home one day, but for now, whether its 6 months or 20 years Australia is ok.

 

We have 'made it work' here in terms of jobs, cars, lifestyle etc BUT there seems no soul/anchor point/totem here, NOTHING in life is forever, we said we will stay until we want to go home..and that has/never will change.

 

We havent/wont FAIL because we didnt set anything/a date to ACHIEVE.

[ramot]

Who said I was unhappy here? The OP was "what do you miss about the UK"....I answered.....did I do something wrong?

 

I love/hate how people automatically think you dont like australia if you miss home or move back home. Theres a MASSIVE difference between disliking something/somewhere and preferring something else.

 

I could list things I like about Aus/would miss about Aus (not as many, far from it but I could list some)...and due to that fact we may well move home one day, but for now, whether its 6 months or 20 years Australia is ok.

 

We have 'made it work' here in terms of jobs, cars, lifestyle etc BUT there seems no soul/anchor point/totem here, NOTHING in life is forever, we said we will stay until we want to go home..and that has/never will change.

 

We havent/wont FAIL because we didnt set anything/a date to ACHIEVE.

 

Sorry I wrote out of concern not critisism, only going by the gist of previous posts.

wish only the best for you

[Alaska]

 

I find it interesting how many of you say you miss the opportunity of experiencing new cultures on holiday - with New Zealand, the South Pacific Islands and Asia right on your door step I personally am excited by all the opportunities of different holidays without having to travel half way across the world to get there - or perhaps I have just been fortunate in already seeing most of Europe and therefore don't feel I will miss it & want to see more of Asia as a result???

 

Unfortunately the cost is prohibitive for a lot of us. I used to get cheap flights over to Italy and stay with family for example. The whole trip would cost a family of 4 around £300. Can't get an equivalent of that into Asia etc.

[conor222]

Not much really... Maybe the heritage but it doesn't make me want to head to uk anytime soon