legoman Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Best time of the British season just around he corner, Spring!!!! lighter eves, crisp cold mornings warm middays chilly nights and plants coming to life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 I was on my phone when I read this initially but could only do a quick reply but on the matter of car insurance, there are British insurers that recognise Australian NCD - Aviva definitely do, as do Tesco (who are Aviva anyway but have slightly different terms so may be better defending on your circumstances and get a Clubcard first!) and I believe Direct Line. There may be others but they were the ones we found. Even though you have paid in full @Aunt Agatha it may be worth getting a quote and it could be worth cancelling and getting a new policy (there will be cancellation fees so be careful). You do need a certificate from your Australian insurer stating your NCD - that was something we knew from PIO to get before we left but if you didn't a quick call should get that sorted - I generally found Australia good for those kind of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 You can never see enough of Europe, you can never tire of history and culture. Speak for yourself. I've spent weeks when I was in my 20's touring all the art galleries, museums etc. These days I'd rather just watch a good documentary about them from the comfort of my armchair :wink: Travelling doesn't really interest me anymore neither do the crowds of tourists usually packing these places :dull: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrutineer Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Speak for yourself. I've spent weeks when I was in my 20's touring all the art galleries, museums etc. These days I'd rather just watch a good documentary about them from the comfort of my armchair :wink: Travelling doesn't really interest me anymore neither do the crowds of tourists usually packing these places :dull: A good point. I definitely miss weekend breaks in Europe, but having seen so much of it, and USA as well (nearly all the major cities except Chicago and Seattle) I can wait for more. The debate we have is that Australia obviously is a superior place to raise a family for so many reasons ranging from childcare support, education levels, access to services, lower stress with zero traffic & house prices (might be just an Adelaide thing), etc., but on the other hand the absence of family is a major thing for us, and nipping over to Paris or Rome is another. I have noticed though that the two things I miss about the UK aren't inherent to the place at all - family and Europe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 I must be a Philistine then because I am perfectly happy here :wink: I've also seen enough of Europe (lived there) to last me a lifetime. However, I'm visiting my sister in London soon so I'll get my fill of much needed culture then :cool: Well, you're lucky to have seen so much of Europe before you arrived - not everyone has. And you do give it away by saying you'll get your fill of "much needed" culture on your London visit, so obviously you do miss it a bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helz980 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Can't wait to meet up for a coffee when I get back seeing as you are in my area! Xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Well, you're lucky to have seen so much of Europe before you arrived - not everyone has. And you do give it away by saying you'll get your fill of "much needed" culture on your London visit, so obviously you do miss it a bit! I'll be going to the Natural History Museum again. I visit it every time I'm in London. I love the place. I was being a bit sarky with the much needed culture thing. Not interested anymore. I am looking forward to visiting my friends in Scotland though and I'll be staying with OH's rellies in Liverpool. OH isn't coming with me - he says his days for flying long distances are over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Speak for yourself. I've spent weeks when I was in my 20's touring all the art galleries, museums etc. These days I'd rather just watch a good documentary about them from the comfort of my armchair :wink: Travelling doesn't really interest me anymore neither do the crowds of tourists usually packing these places :dull: But that's the point, isn't he entitled to speak for himself? For some people, visiting art galleries and historic houses etc is something they do on holiday. For others, it's one of the main things they do for enjoyment. My original point was that people whose main interest is art and culture won't find enough to keep them interested in Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 I think you tend to enjoy that stuff more as a visitor YOU may enjoy that stuff more as a visitor. Everyone's different. For some people, "that stuff" - visiting historic houses, art galleries, museums - is something they do all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 But that's the point, isn't he entitled to speak for himself? For some people, visiting art galleries and historic houses etc is something they do on holiday. For others, it's one of the main things they do for enjoyment. My original point was that people whose main interest is art and culture won't find enough to keep them interested in Australia. Yes that's true :smile: Because Perthbum rants on about how wonderful England is and how awful Australia is (apparently he had a horrible experience whilst here) with all his silly little digs - he can't understand how some of us actually enjoy life here. I find myself sticking up for Australia whenever he makes his daft comments :tongue: Australia is a huge place and Perth is only a tiny, tiny part of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrutineer Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 There's no absence of culture in Australia at all, if we're talking about art, etc., and in fact it's much more accessible to me now than it was when I lived in the sticks in England. What there is an absence of in Australia is architectural stuff, for obvious reasons, and also homegrown culture, which is practically non-existent. That frustrates me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Yes that's true :smile: Because Perthbum rants on about how wonderful England is and how awful Australia is (apparently he had a horrible experience whilst here) with all his silly little digs I think that's how discussions get derailed so often here - people don't react to what's actually written on the page, they react to their history with that person. I know it's human nature but I don't think it's helpful to "defend" Australia instead of just sticking to the facts. I love many things about living in Sydney but there are many things I don't like, too - and I don't see any point in pretending otherwise one way or the other! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 I think that's how discussions get derailed so often here - people don't react to what's actually written on the page, they react to their history with that person. I know it's human nature but I don't think it's helpful to "defend" Australia instead of just sticking to the facts. I love many things about living in Sydney but there are many things I don't like, too - and I don't see any point in pretending otherwise one way or the other! I don't miss Sydney at all. I miss my friends but not Sydney. I'm definitely looking forward to going back to Scotland though - in an ideal life - I would spend 6 months here and 6 months in Scotland. Unfortunately OH wouldn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huggy75 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 A good point. I definitely miss weekend breaks in Europe, but having seen so much of it, and USA as well (nearly all the major cities except Chicago and Seattle) I can wait for more. The debate we have is that Australia obviously is a superior place to raise a family for so many reasons ranging from childcare support, education levels, access to services, lower stress with zero traffic & house prices (might be just an Adelaide thing), etc., but on the other hand the absence of family is a major thing for us, and nipping over to Paris or Rome is another. I have noticed though that the two things I miss about the UK aren't inherent to the place at all - family and Europe! Yes, must just be Adelaide, I haven't experienced any of that in Brisbane and is part of the reason why we are going home (unless I missed the sarcasm in that statement, haha)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 YOU may enjoy that stuff more as a visitor. Everyone's different. For some people, "that stuff" - visiting historic houses, art galleries, museums - is something they do all the time. Well from what I see most people enjoy visiting new places to explore. I can't say I knew of anyone who was a regular at the local Castle. They went to work, came home and sat in their house most the week. Brisbane looks interesting when you have been in a British town for a long time as it is big and modern. Now living in Brisbane I wouldn't mind a walk around a Warwickshire town or village as a bit of a change. Doesn't mean I need to live in Stratford - that would bore me to tears at my age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Well from what I see most people enjoy visiting new places to explore. I agree, and that's the trouble with Australia - because it's sparsely populated and places are very spread out, you soon run out of new things to explore within a day or weekend drive. Whereas in the UK, you could take years to visit every stately home and museum and art gallery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marenmatt1 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Hi Aunt Agatha. I was just wondering how you found shipping your cats to the UK, how they seemed to find it & how long it took in total from them leaving here to arriving there? Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlyM Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 We stayed in Hong Kong and Dubai on the way over and I highly recommend that to people travelling with young kids - it split the journey into three eight hour (ish) trips and was so much easier on all of us. Plus we got a little holiday en route. Hiya, That's really good advice for us parents. :-) Do you mind me asking which airline you flew with? Were the flights (minus hotels) more expensive with the stop-overs? Did you book through a travel agents or online? It was great to read your post. :-) Carly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 Looking forward to catching up @Helz980! Hi Aunt Agatha. I was just wondering how you found shipping your cats to the UK, how they seemed to find it & how long it took in total from them leaving here to arriving there? Thank you We were really happy with the transportation of our three cats - we used Animal Travel and the process was pretty straightforward. They were picked up a couple of days before they flew because we were stopping over and so didn't travel with them. But from leaving Sydney to arriving in Newcastle was only 24 hours. I'd say they were completely unaffected by their journey! Even our most timid cat was fine and they all settled in straight away. @CarlyM we flew with Emirates and Qantas. The flights were the same price as non-stopover flights. I booked through a travel agent but only after I had got their quote, found it cheaper online myself and got them to beat it! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkstone1975 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Been a while since I looked in here, to many things to do and not enough time to do it, Great to see your made it over and settled. Only 12 more days before I make it back to blighty myself, elder made it over before she turned 18, so far so good except its oh so cold she goes. Rest of the ramble in may, never seen youngsters so excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janlo Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Yes, must just be Adelaide, I haven't experienced any of that in Brisbane and is part of the reason why we are going home (unless I missed the sarcasm in that statement, haha)! Couldn't agree more, he definitely (surely?) was joking ! UK wins hands down in all those areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cilla Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Looking forward to catching up @Helz980! We were really happy with the transportation of our three cats - we used Animal Travel and the process was pretty straightforward. They were picked up a couple of days before they flew because we were stopping over and so didn't travel with them. But from leaving Sydney to arriving in Newcastle was only 24 hours. I'd say they were completely unaffected by their journey! Even our most timid cat was fine and they all settled in straight away. @CarlyM we flew with Emirates and Qantas. The flights were the same price as non-stopover flights. I booked through a travel agent but only after I had got their quote, found it cheaper online myself and got them to beat it! :-) Hey! Sorry to take over but I just started looking into transporting my pets over. Though I have a 50kg dog and two cats.. So a bit expensive. Can you tell me how much they charged you for three cats? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 How exciting @darkstone1975! How is all the packing going? @Cilla it cost us $4489 to ship the three cats, plus rabies vaccinations ($140 each!) plus delivery of £90 in the UK. We could have picked them up from Newcastle airport for free but opted for the lazy (and expensive) delivery option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkstone1975 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 oh yeah packing as speak, arghh otherwise just hectic, Finally might have some work fingers crossed, 2 interviews literally the day after I get off the plane. House proving a little more problematic, there pretty much asking full yr rent up front WTF. anyway hopefully might have it sorted soon their offering 6 month contract funds up front and reassess afterwards always something to make life more challenging Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avinalff Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I've been in the Ipswich area for nearly 10years now,but still am very homesick,my two grown up children, live in England, I am orginally from from Ayrshire. We are both retired,my wife loves it here,but I just look forward to my visits home every two years. I miss the countryside in general,and find myself at a loose end here,having to travel miles to see things, that I've seen before. We seemed at the time(2005) to have come for the right reasons. I have tried to sort out going back for a few months,but my wife won't hear of it,so in a bit of a cleft stick. The Australian way of life is not for me,and the weather does get me down especialy throught the summer. Its fine for everyone around me,and that's good,but I am at a loss,how to make the last remaining years,pleasant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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