Need advice, thinking of heading home

[simmo]

16 minutes ago, MTut said:

 

Yes, if you hurry you'll be just in time for the war with Spain.

 

Don't be stupid

[InkBlots]

I don't believe there will be any real problems with Spain over Gibraltar.  With Article 50 activated, a number of EU countries will try their luck. Since the Brexit referendum last year, the UK has daily been faced with threats, sour grapes comes to mind with the realisation that EU coffers will suffer a big hole that other members of the bloc will have to fill.  Unfortunately there is also a lot of angst by Brits who voted to remain in the EU, they refuse to accept that they lost.  Millions signed an online petition for the referendum to be run again, but would they have this attitude for a general election if they lost?

Despite its foibles, Australia is a much more peaceful place to live, there are many marvellous communities to enjoy.

[PatW]

Hello emj

Really sorry to read you're struggling. I know I cried a lot in the first few years (we came Nov 1981, pre-computer, Google Earth, Skype, etc).

If it's any help to know, just about everyone has struggled in this summer's heat and humidity (worse than last year, which was bad enough). And no wet season until autumn. Crazy. It must have been hard having a family Christmas and then coming back to this heat.

You mention you've got dogs; are they a specific breed? If so, there should be a breed-organised 'get-together' where you could meet other owners and have a natter, i.e. son has 2 Ridgebacks and I know there's a Ridgeback 'get-together' at the GC each month. There are dog-allowable beaches on the GC, where they can be off-lead (check on the local Council website). What about dog-allowable cafes in the area, 'cos as you know, dog owners will chat to one another at the drop of a hat? Check FB pages for breed-specific groups.

There are get-togethers (for the humans!) through this site, on both Brisbane northside (me) and Brisbane Bayside. Is there a GC one? Does anyone know, please?

You can be restricted in going places with the dogs, but find stuff away from the coast that is more dog-friendly than the GC. You can take the dogs (haven't forgotten that there's also the cat at home) into State Forests for day trips but not overnight, but domestic animals aren't allowed in to National Parks at all. There are Tourist Information centres on the GC, so go and talk to them and get ideas about day trips that will get you all out at the w/e.

I prefer the Sunshine Coast to the GC, but obviously it depends on where the work is for both of you. There are lovely areas (and lovely people) all around Australia and I do hope you find yours very soon.

[MTut]

Don't be stupid

Sarcasm's lost on you clearly.

[simmo]

17 minutes ago, MTut said:

 

Sarcasm's lost on you clearly.

 

hilarious  

[Guest The Pom Queen]

On 31/03/2017 at 1:22 AM, simmo said:

Ignore anyone telling you to try other areas. It's all more or less the same. I know helensvale well,had Aussie friends there, but it's no different to any other suburb. If you don't like helensvale then you pretty much won't like the rest.

Good news is England's out of the European union and thriving.. come home!!!

I'm sorry but I totally disagree with this. How many areas/states in Australia did you try @simmo ? Since arriving we have lived in 7 suburbs and 2 states. All of them completely different. The best 3 were Cairns, Lyndhurst (before the housing developments) and where we are now. I hated Townsville and if I had gone there first would probably have headed straight back to the UK. Melbourne was ok, but very much like the UK. 

When you say every other area is more or less the same as Helensvale it's a very wild statement to make. It's like saying all of the UK and Europe is like Bradford. 

 

To the OP if you like rural have you considered looking at the Lockyer Valley. It's lovely out this way and is still close to the city. 

[simmo]

2 hours ago, The Pom Queen said:

I'm sorry but I totally disagree with this. How many areas/states in Australia did you try @simmo ? Since arriving we have lived in 7 suburbs and 2 states. All of them completely different. The best 3 were Cairns, Lyndhurst (before the housing developments) and where we are now. I hated Townsville and if I had gone there first would probably have headed straight back to the UK. Melbourne was ok, but very much like the UK. 

When you say every other area is more or less the same as Helensvale it's a very wild statement to make. It's like saying all of the UK and Europe is like Bradford. 

 

To the OP if you like rural have you considered looking at the Lockyer Valley. It's lovely out this way and is still close to the city. 

It's OK to disagree, It's just my opinion.  I worked in most of QLD from the NSW border up to central QLD  and the town planning as far as suburbs is concerned is the same. Some of the older areas have some distinct characteristics but they come at a price. Rural may have different things to offer in Australia but rural living anywhere has about as much appeal (to me) than sticking pins in my eyes.

The OP echoed much of how I felt whilst living in Australia which is why I posted my opinions.  I think, when we reply to these kind of threads we need to try to make a call as to the kind of person is posting it.  I may have been wrong, it happened before in 1983 so not impossible but most likely I'm right.  

[ChrisH1]

May I suggest that your problems appear to be four fold:
Home sickness,
Loneliness, potentially bordering on clinical depression,
Dissatisfaction with your current location, and
A feeling of entrapment and powerlessness, with your partners keenness to pursue citizenship, and the implications of residing permanently in Australia

Having grown up in Gloucester from 2-11 years of age, and spent quite some time in the Cotswolds then and subsequently. And a year working on the GC in 2007, I feel that I can understand the dissonance that you are experiencing.
Personally I found the GC a souless artificial place. So much more so if your reference is the Cotswolds, The Slaughters and Chipping Camden!
In my opinion there are many better places than the GC, places with soul and community in Australia. But still they may not address what appears to be the key issue you portray, even in this very artificial environment of a forum, the air of being profoundly home sick.
I do not think that any location change will overcome that.
So I would suggest:
Very in depth conversations with your partner about each of your desires and goals,
Counselling with a psychologist regarding your current perceptions and whether clinical depression is present, and
Some detailed self reflection on whether what you are missing is an idealized version of what your life was, or in fact you have lost the key essential features of a good life.
I wish you the capacity to make a decision that offers you a peaceful, and enjoyable future.

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

[MARYROSE02]

On 04/04/2017 at 1:44 PM, The Pom Queen said:

I'm sorry but I totally disagree with this. How many areas/states in Australia did you try @simmo ? Since arriving we have lived in 7 suburbs and 2 states. All of them completely different. The best 3 were Cairns, Lyndhurst (before the housing developments) and where we are now. I hated Townsville and if I had gone there first would probably have headed straight back to the UK. Melbourne was ok, but very much like the UK. 

When you say every other area is more or less the same as Helensvale it's a very wild statement to make. It's like saying all of the UK and Europe is like Bradford. 

 

To the OP if you like rural have you considered looking at the Lockyer Valley. It's lovely out this way and is still close to the city. 

Way, way back when I was planning my trip to OZ I was going to Townsville. I can't remember why now but I changed my travel plans and flew to Singapore and got a ship to Freemantle (There's a Fremantle in Southampton and I can never remember which is which).I loved Perth from the moment I arrived but I couldnt' get a job so I went to Sydney where I've "gone native" / "become institutionalised".

I've lived in inner and outer suburbs and at the beach and they all have their advantages and disadvantages. I like being able to walk everywhere and have all my services within a few hundred metres which is what I have in Surry Hills. I could probably swap my unit for a decent home out in the 'burbs, but to me they are open prisons if you can't walk to the shops/station and there's no bus. But then again people in those 'burbs would think the same of Surry Hills, if for different reasons - no garden, no pool, no room for three or more cars? I l love going to the beach but living there brings the same hassles of getting to work unless you are lucky enough to work there.

There is a Lyndhurst in the New Forest and I think Captain Philip lived near there before he led the First Fleet here. I shall have to check that. I went to Lyndhurst in NSW once.

I've still not made it to Townsville.

[Toots]

On 04/04/2017 at 4:41 PM, simmo said:

It's OK to disagree, It's just my opinion.  I worked in most of QLD from the NSW border up to central QLD  and the town planning as far as suburbs is concerned is the same. Some of the older areas have some distinct characteristics but they come at a price. Rural may have different things to offer in Australia but rural living anywhere has about as much appeal (to me) than sticking pins in my eyes.

The OP echoed much of how I felt whilst living in Australia which is why I posted my opinions.  I think, when we reply to these kind of threads we need to try to make a call as to the kind of person is posting it.  I may have been wrong, it happened before in 1983 so not impossible but most likely I'm right.  

I wouldn't live in QLD for quids but that's just me.  Loads of people wouldn't live here in Tasmania where I am as happy as a pig in muck.  Different stroke for different folks.