I dislike living in Sydney...

[Paul1Perth]

So why did you come?

 

I've only ever visited Sydney on work trips when they've been paying. Stayed at the Holiday Inn at Potts Point usually but have also stayed in the posh hotel in Woolloomoolloo a few times and a couple of hotels in the City. I've always loved my visits to Sydney but have often thought how much money you would need there to have an equivalent lifestyle to the one we experience in Perth. You would need to be on 3 times as much salary and had a lot to pay for a huge mortgage to start with.

 

Having said that Sydney is a great place for a visit when you don't have to drive, work are paying for everything, you have weekends where you are based in the City and can walk around and explore. I've had several great weekends when I've walked over the Harbour Bridge, gone for a swim for a couple of hours in the pool at Luna Park, walked back and had a few pints and a great meal in the rocks. Caught a ferry over to Manly and had a day there. Just stayed in and around Sydney and had a day exploring the Botanic gardens, opera hous etc. I've only scratched the surface and never been bored or ran out of things to do. Doesn't even have to cost a lot.:cool:

[mehman]

Folks, I had not meant for this post to become adversarial. All I wanted to do was vent a bit.

 

This is not my first time at the rodeo and I have lived and worked in 5 different countries. I am well versed with the initial settling in blues and apprehensions. For me this move is missing that oomph. The sense of excitement and adventure that everywhere else has offered. It feels drab and boring.

 

The narrative of 'is there a deeper malaise' is one of the most used pieces of advise whether it comes to questions of job satisfaction or personal relationships. Thats just lazy in my opinion as the person giving that advice has not afforded the poster the benefit of the doubt of not being an idiot.

 

Well, I hope my post helps people weight their decision before they make the jump here. Circumstances are different for all of us, just let this serve as a cautionary tale that its better to come suss this place out before you make the plunge.

[Paul1Perth]

Folks, I had not meant for this post to become adversarial. All I wanted to do was vent a bit.

 

This is not my first time at the rodeo and I have lived and worked in 5 different countries. I am well versed with the initial settling in blues and apprehensions. For me this move is missing that oomph. The sense of excitement and adventure that everywhere else has offered. It feels drab and boring.

 

The narrative of 'is there a deeper malaise' is one of the most used pieces of advise whether it comes to questions of job satisfaction or personal relationships. Thats just lazy in my opinion as the person giving that advice has not afforded the poster the benefit of the doubt of not being an idiot.

 

Well, I hope my post helps people weight their decision before they make the jump here. Circumstances are different for all of us, just let this serve as a cautionary tale that its better to come suss this place out before you make the plunge.

 

So after all that where do you live? That might be the only reason you aren't enjoying it yet. There are some places in Perth that I wouldn't like to live, that wouldn't offer me the lifestyle I was looking for.

[pob]

Folks, I had not meant for this post to become adversarial. All I wanted to do was vent a bit.

 

This is not my first time at the rodeo and I have lived and worked in 5 different countries. I am well versed with the initial settling in blues and apprehensions. For me this move is missing that oomph. The sense of excitement and adventure that everywhere else has offered. It feels drab and boring.

 

The narrative of 'is there a deeper malaise' is one of the most used pieces of advise whether it comes to questions of job satisfaction or personal relationships. Thats just lazy in my opinion as the person giving that advice has not afforded the poster the benefit of the doubt of not being an idiot.

 

Well, I hope my post helps people weight their decision before they make the jump here. Circumstances are different for all of us, just let this serve as a cautionary tale that its better to come suss this place out before you make the plunge.

 

 

Just out of interest what were the other countries that you have lived in?

 

What were their good and bad points?

Everywhere has good and bad points, nowhere is all bad or all good either.

[Freckleface]

Folks, I had not meant for this post to become adversarial. All I wanted to do was vent a bit.

 

This is not my first time at the rodeo and I have lived and worked in 5 different countries. I am well versed with the initial settling in blues and apprehensions. For me this move is missing that oomph. The sense of excitement and adventure that everywhere else has offered. It feels drab and boring.

 

The narrative of 'is there a deeper malaise' is one of the most used pieces of advise whether it comes to questions of job satisfaction or personal relationships. Thats just lazy in my opinion as the person giving that advice has not afforded the poster the benefit of the doubt of not being an idiot.

 

Well, I hope my post helps people weight their decision before they make the jump here. Circumstances are different for all of us, just let this serve as a cautionary tale that its better to come suss this place out before you make the plunge.

 

 

From memory you have only been in Sydney since January (?) which IMO is nowhere near enough time to have written Sydney, or anywhere else, off.

 

I lived in Sydney for more than a decade and was still finding new pockets and interesting things I didn't know were there. However if you know it isn't for you after such a short time nobody is going to stop you leaving. In fact if you have closed your mind to discovering what a great city it can be it is probably better that you do cut your losses and move on.

 

Good luck with your future adventures.

[mehman]

US, UK, Singapore now Australia.

 

In the order of my preference: UK > Singapore > US > Australia. I've spent the past decade or so flitting about and having a whale of a time.

 

I liked the UK for the sheer diversity of it all. Easy access to the length and breadth of the country, easy to assimilate into the local culture. A great drinking culture. Pubs beats Bars any day :-). Craic. Accessibility to Europe which is great. Most importantly the weather. I love the cold and mist. Not kidding.

 

Singapore was amazing as it helped me springboard into the rest of Asia. Introduced to an amazingly different cuisine i.e. South East Asian, Chinese and Japanese. Though the weather is a bit extreme for my liking and one does get cage fever after a while, Its a fun place to live for atleast a few years.

 

The US was an experience in itself, however, I need to temper it by saying I only lived in NYC so I have no experience with the country as a whole. NYC was fast, furious, exciting!. Theres a buzz in that city which is hard to describe. I felt that I could achieve anything in that city, its like a drug.

 

If my decade of adventure has taught me anything, then it is that one cannot generalise a whole country and its people. Every place has its USPs.

 

So in terms of MY experiences, Sydney is not high up there. I know a lot of you don't agree and want to psycho analyze my inner demons (lol), but yeah, its average at best. For all the people who say...THE BEACH THE BEACH, well...unless you are very rich, you get cooped into small houses by the beach and that is not my scene.

 

Different strokes for different folks.

[MARYROSE02]

Keen member of Sussex ramblers when I lived there - very different to Oz walking clubs, not competitive - just out for the joy of the countryside - and the beer garden afterwards! A very sociable affair - I miss my weekly communal walks but too hot to walk far in Brissie and like you I've been put off by all the bloody KPI's - One group instructs 'we will walk the first half hour in silence; B@gger that!

 

I never encountered that kind of competitiveness on bush walks in Sydney, but then I mostly did 'easy' or 'medium' grade. Tackle a walk like the 29 km from Bundeena to Otford in a day, and I guess that would be rated 'hard' and you would have to 'put your boot down.' The sort of people I met on Ramblers walks in Hampshire, were the carbon copies of the ones I walked with in Sydney - middle aged, middle class, led by someone who was from exactly the same background, you all meet at a car park somewhere in The New Forest, stand around in a circle and introduce yourself, then file out and walk for 10 or 12 miles, with a stop for lunch. I noticed a Sydney group was doing a 'cross the Blue Mts in easy stages' walk, which reminded me of the New Forest Ramblers organising something similar along one of the coastal walks or a pilgrim way. If you are worried about the grade, or your fitness for it, you could always ring the leader beforehand. And of course, I have long since stopped distinguishing bewteen 'Pommies' and 'Aussies'. When I'm watching Spurs at the pub, it's usually a mixture of both. We all like Spurs. Who cares about anything else.

[starlight7]

I have never lived in Sydney but I don't think I could. It's the vibe. Not there as far as I'm concerned and for me, the same applies to Perth. Not so Adelaide, Melbourne , even Darwin. Very hard to explain, just a feeling of unconnectedness and emptiness.

[flag of convenience]

So why did you come?

 

I've only ever visited Sydney on work trips when they've been paying. Stayed at the Holiday Inn at Potts Point usually but have also stayed in the posh hotel in Woolloomoolloo a few times and a couple of hotels in the City. I've always loved my visits to Sydney but have often thought how much money you would need there to have an equivalent lifestyle to the one we experience in Perth. You would need to be on 3 times as much salary and had a lot to pay for a huge mortgage to start with.

 

Having said that Sydney is a great place for a visit when you don't have to drive, work are paying for everything, you have weekends where you are based in the City and can walk around and explore. I've had several great weekends when I've walked over the Harbour Bridge, gone for a swim for a couple of hours in the pool at Luna Park, walked back and had a few pints and a great meal in the rocks. Caught a ferry over to Manly and had a day there. Just stayed in and around Sydney and had a day exploring the Botanic gardens, opera hous etc. I've only scratched the surface and never been bored or ran out of things to do. Doesn't even have to cost a lot.:cool:

 

Are you suggesting Perth is three times cheaper than Sydney? Hardly. Perth is way over priced for what it is but will correct ahead of Sydney. I think Sydney is a real worry.

[MARYROSE02]

Willoughby at the moment, looking to move into one of the nearby suburbs in the same area.

 

US, UK, Singapore now Australia.

 

In the order of my preference: UK > Singapore > US > Australia. I've spent the past decade or so flitting about and having a whale of a time.

 

I liked the UK for the sheer diversity of it all. Easy access to the length and breadth of the country, easy to assimilate into the local culture. A great drinking culture. Pubs beats Bars any day :-). Craic. Accessibility to Europe which is great. Most importantly the weather. I love the cold and mist. Not kidding.

 

Singapore was amazing as it helped me springboard into the rest of Asia. Introduced to an amazingly different cuisine i.e. South East Asian, Chinese and Japanese. Though the weather is a bit extreme for my liking and one does get cage fever after a while, Its a fun place to live for atleast a few years.

 

The US was an experience in itself, however, I need to temper it by saying I only lived in NYC so I have no experience with the country as a whole. NYC was fast, furious, exciting!. Theres a buzz in that city which is hard to describe. I felt that I could achieve anything in that city, its like a drug.

 

If my decade of adventure has taught me anything, then it is that one cannot generalise a whole country and its people. Every place has its USPs.

 

So in terms of MY experiences, Sydney is not high up there. I know a lot of you don't agree and want to psycho analyze my inner demons (lol), but yeah, its average at best. For all the people who say...THE BEACH THE BEACH, well...unless you are very rich, you get cooped into small houses by the beach and that is not my scene.

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

The beach is an important part of my day, but not the 'be-all and end-all'. I like to go down about 6pm, swim, and stay for an hour or two, thinking, looking at the sea, reading, writing, exactly as I did at my two lovely beaches in Hampshire - Lepe and Calshot. Already today, I've had a coffee with my Serbian friend Alex from Belgrade. (That's another thing about Sydney - the diversity of people, many of the migrants, all going through the same experience of missing family. The lady who runs the cafe went back to Vietnam for a couple of weeks to see her family in January, and her husband went back to Adelaide.) People keep going on about Sydney as if there are only two social groups, both 'Anglo-Saxon', one from the UK and the other born in Australia, 'two peoples divided by a common language.

 

If the beach isn't your scene, and there are plenty of Aussies who hate it too, find other interests. I go to the beach almost every day, but few of my friends do. My brother loves boating, but I doubt if he has been to the beach for years.

 

Why not make one of those pubs in Willoughby, or Crows Nest, or Neutral Bay, your 'local?' I don't know what you want from a pub? People to talk to you? The bar staff to know you by name? Introduce yourself to the staff when you go to the pub. Ask their names. Try to strike up a conversation with other customers. Join a pub quiz team. And none of those are unique to Sydney. I had to do the same thing when I went back to England, and eventually, I got myself a 'local' and made some friends. It's the same here. The staff at one pub bought me a cake and a present for my 60th birthday last year. When I first started going to that pub, I knew nobody there.

 

If you think that it's easy to assimilate into the local culture, then why not frequent pubs popular with Irish and Pommies, and get all the 'craic' you crave. Cock and Bull at Bondi Jn, Durty Nellies in Paddo, Lord Dudley in Woolhara, Trinity Bar in Surry Hills - one of my favourites, and one of my locals. If you really want to just meet Poms and Paddies, it's easy enough.

 

Actually, I recommend you get out of Willoughby, and move to Surry Hills, Paddo, Balmain, Newtown (people have told me Newtown is like Camden?) All these suburbs have masses of pubs, restaurants, bars, cafes. I probably have more than 20 pubs and bars within a kilometre of my flat.

[JockinTas]

US, UK, Singapore now Australia.

 

In the order of my preference: UK > Singapore > US > Australia. I've spent the past decade or so flitting about and having a whale of a time.

 

I liked the UK for the sheer diversity of it all. Easy access to the length and breadth of the country, easy to assimilate into the local culture. A great drinking culture. Pubs beats Bars any day :-). Craic. Accessibility to Europe which is great. Most importantly the weather. I love the cold and mist. Not kidding.

 

Singapore was amazing as it helped me springboard into the rest of Asia. Introduced to an amazingly different cuisine i.e. South East Asian, Chinese and Japanese. Though the weather is a bit extreme for my liking and one does get cage fever after a while, Its a fun place to live for atleast a few years.

 

The US was an experience in itself, however, I need to temper it by saying I only lived in NYC so I have no experience with the country as a whole. NYC was fast, furious, exciting!. Theres a buzz in that city which is hard to describe. I felt that I could achieve anything in that city, its like a drug.

 

If my decade of adventure has taught me anything, then it is that one cannot generalise a whole country and its people. Every place has its USPs.

 

So in terms of MY experiences, Sydney is not high up there. I know a lot of you don't agree and want to psycho analyze my inner demons (lol), but yeah, its average at best. For all the people who say...THE BEACH THE BEACH, well...unless you are very rich, you get cooped into small houses by the beach and that is not my scene.

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

I've lived in Belgium, France, Switzerland and the US. Enjoyed living in all of them. I have lived in Australia now for 34 years so it's my home but if I was younger and my husband said "Let's try living in Canada for a while", I would have gone happily. Guess I'm a bit of a gypsy :wink:

[MARYROSE02]

Yes, but that's because you live in the Eastern Suburbs. You don't know where Pob is living - perhaps they've been forced to live far out in the outer suburbs, where it would take them 2 hours to get to the Belvoir and all the other theatres and art galleries. If they drive it will cost them a fortune to park, too - and if they take the train, they may not be able to get home, and if they do it will be 1 a.m.

 

You may say they should just put up with the travelling and the cost, but why should they? If they know there's another city where they can get the same thing on their doorstep, why shouldn't they be allowed to choose that city instead? And why shouldn't they be allowed to express their feelings about it?

 

I lived in the Eastern Suburbs and loved Sydney. I lived in Five Dock and loved Sydney. But I know that if I lived in Mount Druitt or Punchbowl or Penrith I'd hate Sydney, because I'd be too far from all the things that make the inner suburbs so enjoyable. They're too far from all the things you currently take for granted. I think you would get a shock if you actually tried to live in one of those outer west suburbs you recommend.

 

I'm hoping that Ramblers in the UK are not the same as bushwalking clubs in Sydney. I've tried some here and they are all bush-bashers: instead of rambling along admiring the views and taking photos, they are completely focussed on completing the walk as fast as possible and devil take the hindmost. And in 30 degree heat, that's not fun.

 

Well, he/she has told me where they are living! Willoughby, hardly far away in 'the sticks'. You can be in the city in 20 mins or so from there. And even in Penrith, they have their 'culture' - Dame Sutherland Centre? And Parramatta has the Riverside Theatre complex. I lived half an hour from Southampton, if I wanted local theatre - Mayflower, and a couple of others, but if you wanted the real 'West End' cultural hit, you had to go to London, two hours away, or spend a fortune staying overnight, but then again I had a wonderful week staying at the Strand Palace hotel, went to the theatre twice, once for a play, once for a musical. If I went for a night in London and came home afterwards - 1am, 2am.

 

As I said elseswhere, bushwalks are graded, in both UK and Australia, 'easy', 'medium', 'hard', 'exploratory' and descriptions are usually given in the newsletters along with contact details for the leader. A 'medium' grade walk in The Blue Mts, would involve a two hour journey to the start of the walk, to start around 8am and finish around 4pm, and you have to cover 12/14/16 kilometres, so a reasonable pace is required. It is the same with a Ramblers walk. I did easy grade Sat arvo walks with the Ramblers. The whole point of a bush walk is about 'walking'.

 

I don't mind criticism of Sydney, and the traffic jams and roads are legitimate subjects to go on about, but those factors alone should not make your life in Sydney unbearable. And now I know there are other complaints - lack of 'culture', lack of decent pubs, nothing to do, hate the beach lifestyle - well, all those hint at an underlying unhappiness with life here.

[Paul1Perth]

Are you suggesting Perth is three times cheaper than Sydney? Hardly. Perth is way over priced for what it is but will correct ahead of Sydney. I think Sydney is a real worry.

 

I've posted on another thread about housing. To have the same sort of lifestyle/house/suburb we have here we would have to be talking somewhere like Manly, 4 bedroom detached, on a fairly large block, in a quiet street, 5-10 mins walk to the beach. I had a look on realestate.com and the nearest one I could see, that wasn't for auction so had a price, was close to $3 mill. 3 beds one bath places going for nearly $2mill.

[Paul1Perth]

US, UK, Singapore now Australia.

 

In the order of my preference: UK > Singapore > US > Australia. I've spent the past decade or so flitting about and having a whale of a time.

 

I liked the UK for the sheer diversity of it all. Easy access to the length and breadth of the country, easy to assimilate into the local culture. A great drinking culture. Pubs beats Bars any day :-). Craic. Accessibility to Europe which is great. Most importantly the weather. I love the cold and mist. Not kidding.

 

Singapore was amazing as it helped me springboard into the rest of Asia. Introduced to an amazingly different cuisine i.e. South East Asian, Chinese and Japanese. Though the weather is a bit extreme for my liking and one does get cage fever after a while, Its a fun place to live for atleast a few years.

 

The US was an experience in itself, however, I need to temper it by saying I only lived in NYC so I have no experience with the country as a whole. NYC was fast, furious, exciting!. Theres a buzz in that city which is hard to describe. I felt that I could achieve anything in that city, its like a drug.

 

If my decade of adventure has taught me anything, then it is that one cannot generalise a whole country and its people. Every place has its USPs.

 

So in terms of MY experiences, Sydney is not high up there. I know a lot of you don't agree and want to psycho analyze my inner demons (lol), but yeah, its average at best. For all the people who say...THE BEACH THE BEACH, well...unless you are very rich, you get cooped into small houses by the beach and that is not my scene.

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

You definitely came to the wrong place mate. You would love Derbyshire and the peak district by the sound of it. Then again, if you like NYC, Derbyshire might not do it for you.

[JockinTas]

"I love the cold and mist. Not kidding" Scotland springs to mind :wink:

[MARYROSE02]

The poster is not referring to a slum in Brazil but own experiences. There are first class medical facilities in certain Central/South American countries, especially those popular with foreign retirees and tourists. You have American trained doctors that charge very reasonable rates. Hence a big part of the attraction of North Americans moving down to Ecuador (voted world's best retirement country a few years in a row) or Panama or Costa Rico (Central America)

 

How much out of pocket are people here having a procedure done? A lot don't know different. Certainly the shooting down of those that complain in some quarters with anything wrong about Australia is hardly going to rectify or even bring to the attention of others if negatives are so put down.

 

Sydney hardly compares to London although does have other advantages. Yes one can keep busy in both cities depending on interests but for diversity London cannot be touched.

 

Going to New Caledonia as a substitute for Europe would equate someone saying in Asia go to Darwin when they really want to see England. French see New Caledonians as quite removed from themselves but of course better than nothing and fine for a break just not quite the real thing.

 

That is true, but we live in the Southern Hemisphere. Is the Southern Hemisphere worse than the Northern Hemisphere? Someone living in Asia would surely have Darwin as just one of many places, almost as close to Europe, as it is living in the UK. What would you say to someone from the Southern Hemsiphere who emigrated to England and then complained about the distance to South East Asia, and the South Pacific?

 

New Caledonia is not a substitute for France, any more than Australia is a substitute for England. It's somewhere unique, somewhere new to explore, along with Fiji, Vanuautu, Cook Islands, Samoa, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, Tahiti, PNG. New Zealand, all different, all with their own unique cultures. I've just listed ten different countries/places you could spend the next ten years taking annual holidays to. Are they worse than going to ten different countries in Europe? Perhaps, subjectively, but it would be patronising to dismiss them as lacking in culture, history, interest, because of where they are.

 

Yes, there are first-class medical facilities in South America countries, but how many of them are welfare states like Australia? (They bloody well should be considering the wealth they all generate!) And they were comparing South American medical facilities to Australia.

 

I respect the right to criticise Australia, just as I would the UK. Imagine how you or I would feel if someone said 'I pity the poor old Pommies, living in their dirty, squalid little country, cold, wet, crowded, stuck in their memories of past glories, but then, they don't know any different.' I'd take umbrage to something like that!

[ramot]

I've lived in Belgium, France, Switzerland and the US. Enjoyed living in all of them. I have lived in Australia now for 34 years so it's my home but if I was younger and my husband said "Let's try living in Canada for a while", I would have gone happily. Guess I'm a bit of a gypsy :wink:

 

you me both, another nomad.

Germany as a child, UK, Zambia as a single female in the 1960's, back to UK, 9 years Brunei, now Oz.

never hated anywhere, and Zambia after swinging London in the 60's was a cultural shock, but after the initial adjustment, managed to appreciate the difference, make the most of the experiences that anywhere different offered and ended up the richer for the experiences, but I've never had a closed mind, have always been up for the next adventure.

 

Sad the original poster has dissed Sydney, I haven't lived there, but visit regularly as my daughter lives there, she is well travelled, lived on her own in London, Mexico and Kenya, knows Asisa well as moved around with us, but manages to have a great time there.

not sure how long the original poster has been in Sydney? perhaps there is more going on than initially realised? but best move on sooner than later if so disappointed.

 

ps. Mary R please don't tell any one about The Lord Dudley, don't want the secret to get out!!!

[MARYROSE02]

I've posted on another thread about housing. To have the same sort of lifestyle/house/suburb we have here we would have to be talking somewhere like Manly, 4 bedroom detached, on a fairly large block, in a quiet street, 5-10 mins walk to the beach. I had a look on realestate.com and the nearest one I could see, that wasn't for auction so had a price, was close to $3 mill. 3 beds one bath places going for nearly $2mill.

 

I never intended to settle in Sydney, not when I was planning my trip to Australia. It never crossed my mind. I was planning around Queensland, then when I changed my travel plans - fly to Singapore, ship to Freemantle, I decided I was going to stay in Perth. As I've said many times, I loved Perth from the moment I saw it, and if I'd got a job, I'd probably still be there now. I was scared of Sydney and thought it would be a horrible experience going there, but I thought I would be going 'home' and it would be be best to see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge and Bondi Beach before I left OZ.

 

I spent most of my first year, and subsequent years for that matter, struggling to cope. I lived in a boarding house - private hotel - for the first year, got a job after three months in OZ, stressed out about it, got ill, mentally and physically, missed my parents, missed my home, missed being part of a family. My mate Nick came out for a holiday from London, and he told my parents (and worried them like mad) that 'I was in a mess' or words to that effect.

 

Subjectively, and objectively, my experiences in Sydney may have been far worse than Mehman's, and others? Maybe I should have just gone home? Eventually, I did, for twelve years! I guess I've just 'gone native' now!? There's nowhere else for me to go anyway.

[pob]

It's good to experience different countries, you learn about life and people.

Sometimes it takes living in a place to really appreciate what it is like to be there.

 

Well if you love the cold and mist, you are in the wrong place.

I miss the pub too, the place not just the beer. I took my dog into the pub here, they nearly had a fit! Kicked me out!

I always used to take my dog into the pub in Blighty, for every pint I had he got some water and crisps. He is a quiet fella and would just sit next to me.

But if you like drinking, Try here Absinthe Salon 87 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010.

It's not a pub, but it will be an interesting experience if you have never done it before. Something to remember.

[Guest AltyMatt]

Well it least you tried have tried Sydney first hand rather than just talk the talk & perhaps wonder if you missed out later in life.

Out of interest what was the reason to move to Sydney? were you in a position to consider other cities in Aus or was location determined by a job?

[Bungo]

Moved here to Sydney from sunny UK (I'm not British, was living in the UK for a while) and I must admit I'm not enjoying it at all. I hate the houses available on rent here. The old constructions, the ransoms for rent, the insane traffic, the distance to everything, I'm hating it...

 

I've lived and worked in 4 countries apart from Oz and of them all I'm just not liking it here. I hate to feel this way. I don't see what the point of moving here was...bah...

 

edit: The traffic here has caught me by surprise. It clear the infrastructure was not built for the population this city has at the moment. I've looked at over 10 houses to rent and each and every one of them is either too old or just in a very noisy location.

 

I urge anyone looking to move here to come and take a look see before making the move. Come here and apart from the touristy stuff, look at rentals, drive around and get a feel of what your life will be like. Had I done this, I doubt I'd have come over...

 

The trouble with Sydney is the housing cost, you can get perfectly nice houses but it needs a big budget. We had a generous budget and lived in a gorgeous house (rented). But ultimately it was housing cost and poor job prospects that made us decide time to leaves.

 

Traffic was I expected for a major city, no better or worse than any other city I have encountered really.

 

Did you say something about produce? I thought I saw something's out it, definitely agree anyway, we always found the range very limited. It is like Christmas every day in the UK in comparison.

 

Still we always liked Sydney and didn't let something like that bother us, if you don't like it, then move on, it is not an endurance test.

[Marisawright]

So why did you come?

 

 

The OP explained that he "bought the hype" and admits that he didn't do his research before he arrived. If you read the whole post, he's saying it's a lesson learned and urging others not to make the same mistake.

[Guest]

Sydney is basically the perfect weekender for me. Living there doesn't really appeal unless I had a few more $ in the bank

[Marisawright]

For me this move is missing that oomph. The sense of excitement and adventure that everywhere else has offered. It feels drab and boring.

 

 

You said somewhere that you're in Willoughby. I doubt you could've picked a more beige suburb although moving to Artarmon might just top it (actually most of the North Shore, though very "nice", is beige - and I used to live in Naremburn, by the way). The CBD is also pretty beige, so if you're living on the North Shore and looking to the city for 'vibe', that's where you're going wrong. People who live in places like Summer Hill, Concord, Annandale, Balmain, Rozelle, Coogee, Clovelly, etc, go to the city to work, not for leisure - they are too busy enjoying the vibe of their own suburbs.

 

You might still find Sydney lacking, but if you have to stay in Sydney a bit longer for work reasons, why not be a bit more adventurous and move across the Harbour to a more lively area? You'll be surprised at how different the atmosphere can be just a few kilometres across the water.

[Marisawright]

I spent most of my first year, and subsequent years for that matter, struggling to cope. I lived in a boarding house - private hotel - for the first year, got a job after three months in OZ, stressed out about it, got ill, mentally and physically, missed my parents, missed my home, missed being part of a family. My mate Nick came out for a holiday from London, and he told my parents (and worried them like mad) that 'I was in a mess' or words to that effect.

 

Subjectively, and objectively, my experiences in Sydney may have been far worse than Mehman's, and others? Maybe I should have just gone home? Eventually, I did, for twelve years! I guess I've just 'gone native' now!? There's nowhere else for me to go anyway.

 

Sometimes when you post, I get the impression you think that because people have decided to emigrate, they must do everything they can to adapt to Australia, even if it means giving up activities and relationships that are important to them. I don't understand that attitude: if people get here and discover they miss their family or can't have the lifestyle they want - and they can afford to go home to where the lifestyle does suit them - why shouldn't they? Why should they go through suffering when they can go home and be happy? Why did you?