Quality of life for kids

[Guest The Pom Queen]

On 22/02/2018 at 12:45, bristolman said:

No you don't get weather like that here anymore, winters are generally mild, don't start until December and are usually over by the start of March. Even the really short days just don't seem to last long, we commented just today driving home from Cheltenham how it was 6.45 and not totally dark. I suffer a little bit from SAD but nothing major. 

I don’t know, the MIL sent us photos of her being snowed in a couple of weeks back up North. Again I think it depends which part of the UK your from. 

Ps @Keith and Linda I also went ice skating on the Leeds/Liverpool canal.

[bristolman]

6 minutes ago, The Pom Queen said:

I don’t know, the MIL sent us photos of her being snowed in a couple of weeks back up North. Again I think it depends which part of the UK your from. 

Ps @Keith and Linda I also went ice skating on the Leeds/Liverpool canal.

Yes but I'm talking about prolonged periods of snow and ice, we just don't see it now. That week of snow was the worst in the close to 6 years we have been here, well for us wasn' even a week. 

[Guest The Pom Queen]

On 08/03/2018 at 08:43, ali said:

I don't know .. my two have been happy enough in their teens, but they have had the opportunity to travel too which has broadened their horizons. 

3 of mine have had the opportunity to go back to the UK for a holiday and not one of them as wanted to go, they love Australia and life has been great for them. I suppose all children are different some prefer to sit at home all day in front of a console others get out there and enjoy living and the outdoors. 

My 2 eldest sons went to a very elite private school in the UK yet only one of their friends as done well for themselves the rest just went on the dole leaving school at 15/16. Here my sons close friends have all gone to uni studying medicine, veterinary science, bio med, law the only one who didn’t go on to uni became a police officer like his father. 

‘I don’t know if times have changed in the UK but when I went to public school only 2% went on to uni, I find this rate a lot higher in Australia. 

[Guest The Pom Queen]

2 minutes ago, bristolman said:

Yes but I'm talking about prolonged periods of snow and ice, we just don't see it now. That week of snow was the worst in the close to 6 years we have been here, well for us wasn' even a week. 

Yes but again you aren’t up North, my Mum said she was so depressed at the moment as the rain hasn’t stopped for months. The North has always been known for being colder and wetter. 

[Guest The Pom Queen]

On 10/03/2018 at 21:18, bristolman said:

Perth is the last place I would ever want to live to be fair, it does nothing at all for me BUT others like it for whatever reason and that's fine. 

How long did you live there for?

Ive visited and loved every minute of it, there is so much to do.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

On 11/03/2018 at 03:55, northernbird said:

I don't get the British mentality that they always have to be doing something, going somewhere.  I haven't had a holiday in 8 years.  Haven't had time or money.  It's definitely a british thing because Australian friends of mine don't seem to have the same yearnings. I didn't feel the need to do something or go somewhere every weekend when I lived in the UK, US or Canada.  Life just takes over when you work full time so I would love to know where everyone finds the time.  Weekends are for shopping, housework and other mundane crap.  

I remember when I worked in the veterinary field, we had around 200 staff and not one had ventured out of Melbourne. 

[bristolman]

8 minutes ago, The Pom Queen said:

3 of mine have had the opportunity to go back to the UK for a holiday and not one of them as wanted to go, they love Australia and life has been great for them. I suppose all children are different some prefer to sit at home all day in front of a console others get out there and enjoy living and the outdoors. 

My 2 eldest sons went to a very elite private school in the UK yet only one of their friends as done well for themselves the rest just went on the dole leaving school at 15/16. Here my sons close friends have all gone to uni studying medicine, veterinary science, bio med, law the only one who didn’t go on to uni became a police officer like his father. 

‘I don’t know if times have changed in the UK but when I went to public school only 2% went on to uni, I find this rate a lot higher in Australia. 

Yes I think it's fair to say times have definitely changed.

'Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency showed that 89.3 per cent of undergraduates admitted in 2012/13 were from the state system.

It was up from 88.9 per cent a year earlier and 85 per cent 15 years ago'

Our boys friends are almost all with them at 6th Form college and most seem intent on going to Uni, one is going to be a carpenter. I'm not sure university intake from public schools has ever been close to 2%.  

[bristolman]

36 minutes ago, The Pom Queen said:

Yes but again you aren’t up North, my Mum said she was so depressed at the moment as the rain hasn’t stopped for months. The North has always been known for being colder and wetter. 

Well yes I can only comment on where I live, it's a bit inconvenient to have to say it's sunny here but I realise it may not be sunny everywhere, we can only talk about where we are. One of the reasons I would never live in the North is the awful weather lol

[bristolman]

37 minutes ago, The Pom Queen said:

How long did you live there for?

Ive visited and loved every minute of it, there is so much to do.

I've never lived there nor would I want to, it's far to isolated for me. That's nice for you but has no bearing on me or all the others that wouldn' want to live there. I also wouldn't live in Darwin or Manchester or Canberra or Leeds. 

[Sandgroper]

11 hours ago, bristolman said:

Yes but I'm talking about prolonged periods of snow and ice, we just don't see it now. That week of snow was the worst in the close to 6 years we have been here, well for us wasn' even a week. 

 Rubbish the winter of 2010/11 was horrendous, you might not have seen it but it was one of those prolonged periods of snow and ice you claim never happen anymore 

 

There you go just so you can't deny it ever happened 

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/dec2010 

Edited March 15, 2018 by Sandgroper
To educate

[NicF]

2 minutes ago, Sandgroper said:

 Rubbish the winter of 2010/11 was horrendous, you might not have seen it but it was one of those prolonged periods of snow and ice you claim never happen anymore 

Have to agree with this.  The winter of 2010/11 and the winter of 2011/12 were our last two winters in the UK before we moved to Australia and I have memories of them both being pretty bad.  I don’t think Bristolman was in the UK then though as I seem to remember he has been in the UK about the same length of time we have been in Australia so his timeframe really is limited to winters from 2012 onwards. 

[Sandgroper]

3 minutes ago, NicF said:

Have to agree with this.  The winter of 2010/11 and the winter of 2011/12 were our last two winters in the UK before we moved to Australia and I have memories of them both being pretty bad.  I don’t think Bristolman was in the UK then though as I seem to remember he has been in the UK about the same length of time we have been in Australia so his timeframe really is limited to winters from 2012 onwards. 

I know they were both terrible winters, along with the horrendous never ending summer rain of 2012. I just find it strange someone who has only been in the UK a few years can claim 'Yes but I'm talking about prolonged periods of snow and ice, we just don't see it now.' Garbage!

When it clearly does still happen it may be only 1 or 2 winters in 10 but it still does occur, the UK has never had prolonged periods of snow and ice consistently every winter. 

[Drumbeat]

12 hours ago, bristolman said:

Not sticking up for Home and Away as I think his posts are often over the top but to be fair often you don't realise how good something us until you leave it. 

Yes I get that but comments like 'choking hot dry desert air' are such rubbish - Perth is on the coast and is known for being windy.  It's not Utopia but it sure as hell isn't as bad as he makes out.

[Toots]

16 minutes ago, NicF said:

Have to agree with this.  The winter of 2010/11 and the winter of 2011/12 were our last two winters in the UK before we moved to Australia and I have memories of them both being pretty bad.  I don’t think Bristolman was in the UK then though as I seem to remember he has been in the UK about the same length of time we have been in Australia so his timeframe really is limited to winters from 2012 onwards. 

The weather is pretty variable from region to region in the UK.  Maybe Bristolman lives in a milder, drier area.  Tasmania is only a small place but the weather certainly isn't the same all over the island on the same day.  The temps can vary by over 10 degrees and it can be pouring with rain in one place and sunny in another.  

[bristolman]

5 minutes ago, Drumbeat said:

Yes I get that but comments like 'choking hot dry desert air' are such rubbish - Perth is on the coast and is known for being windy.  It's not Utopia but it sure as hell isn't as bad as he makes out.

I agree, Perth doesn't appeal to me in the slightest but loads of people like it there so it must be fine. It's exactly the same as those who say the weather in the UK is rubbish most of the year or you can't go outside for 7 or 8 months of the year, it simply isn't true. 

[Sandgroper]

53 minutes ago, Toots said:

The weather is pretty variable from region to region in the UK.  Maybe Bristolman lives in a milder, drier area.  Tasmania is only a small place but the weather certainly isn't the same all over the island on the same day.  The temps can vary by over 10 degrees and it can be pouring with rain in one place and sunny in another.  

The weather is variable in England but not significantly I doubt you would ever get a 10c difference other than the extreme South of England compared to the extreme North of England and then maybe occasionally not regularly.

What can vary a lot is rainfall with Western England getting considerably more rain than Eastern England for instance Hereford near to Bristolman is gets a lot of rain compared to Cambridge where I believe Quoll lives 734 mm compared to 557 mm. It's definitely something anyone considering moving to the UK should research beforehand.

[bristolman]

1 hour ago, Toots said:

The weather is pretty variable from region to region in the UK.  Maybe Bristolman lives in a milder, drier area.  Tasmania is only a small place but the weather certainly isn't the same all over the island on the same day.  The temps can vary by over 10 degrees and it can be pouring with rain in one place and sunny in another.  

Yes the weather is incredibly variable, we get lower than average rainfall for the UK for instance so yes milder and drier. 

[Guest The Pom Queen]

8 hours ago, Toots said:

The weather is pretty variable from region to region in the UK.  Maybe Bristolman lives in a milder, drier area.  Tasmania is only a small place but the weather certainly isn't the same all over the island on the same day.  The temps can vary by over 10 degrees and it can be pouring with rain in one place and sunny in another.  

Agree but I wish he would say “in the village where I live” instead of saying the “UK”. It’s like you said weather can vary tremendously and just because it doesn’t rain in your area doesn’t mean it’s not 10 minutes down the road. We had a huge storm come through a few weeks back, took down a number of our trees and the neighbours, debris everywhere, yet nothing 10 minutes away

[Guest The Pom Queen]

6 hours ago, bristolman said:

Yes the weather is incredibly variable, we get lower than average rainfall for the UK for instance so yes milder and drier. 

Argghhhh again you are saying the UK. It’s strange because my family up North all say the opposite. Also remember a number of places in Australia have had a drought until just recently.

I can’t find an updated graph but look at these two that compare rainfall and heat.

 

[Toots]

That's why I can't get my head around the fact that many people can't grasp the fact that the weather is so different all over Australia.  As I said, it's different even in Tasmania.  Snow in some places, very wet in others and dry somewhere else.  

[Skani]

22 minutes ago, Toots said:

That's why I can't get my head around the fact that many people can't grasp the fact that the weather is so different all over Australia. 

The weather site I use frequently shows temperatures in real time and it's not that uncommon to have a difference of 40C between the hottest and coldest places in Australia at the same time.  Not quite that difference at the moment...but it is currently showing 39.4 at Wiluna in W.A.  and  3.7 on Mt. Wellington, Hobart.

[MelT]

I hope the OP (and others) won't let the obvious bitterness and twisted outlook in Home-and-Happy's posts get to them.  I am very, very sorry that Home and Happy went through such a dreadful time in Australia - although I have to say, it sounds as though it was completely self-inflicted, since no one was forcing them to stay - but their posts are just ridiculous.  Hot dry desert air?  Really.

Look up the black Saturday fires 2009 and the Queensland floods of 2011/2012/2013 (I lived through all..) if you doubt the extreme harsh Australian climate. That is my experience. No I am not bitter and twisted. Australia has been good to us in some ways but it is not home. Counting down the weeks until we move back to the UK - 23 weeks to go....

[Toots]

32 minutes ago, MelT said:

Look up the black Saturday fires 2009 and the Queensland floods of 2011/2012/2013 (I lived through all..) if you doubt the extreme harsh Australian climate. That is my experience. No I am not bitter and twisted. Australia has been good to us in some ways but it is not home. Counting down the weeks until we move back to the UK - 23 weeks to go....

When I read posts from lots of different forum members about their not so nice experiences here, I think my OH and I have been very lucky.  We've never personally experienced bushfires or floods.  The heat never really bothered me either until I was older then I loathed the summer days when temp. rose to over 30C.  Now that we are in Tassie the climate suits us very well.

All the best with your move back to the UK MeIT.  

 

 

[bristolman]

6 minutes ago, Toots said:

When I read posts from lots of different forum members about their not so nice experiences here, I think my OH and I have been very lucky.  We've never personally experienced bushfires or floods.  The heat never really bothered me either until I was older then I loathed the summer days when temp. rose to over 30C.  Now that we are in Tassie the climate suits us very well.

All the best with your move back to the UK MeIT.  

 

 

Over the years we have experienced bushfires when living in Geelong and floods in Brisbane. It's partly why I react when some on here carry on about the weather here, I shouldn't react I know lol

[northernbird]

On 3/11/2018 at 05:24, RMG said:

If I suggested to my husband or kids that we tidied the house at weekends there would be a riot.

we work to live, enjoying life, travelling, having fun as a family ( writing this on our way to Thailand). Both of us work, kids get lots of attention and interaction. 

Different people enjoy different things, no way is right or wrong as long as the people doing it are happy.

Then you are very lucky.  Weekend is the only time there is for me to do all those mundane household things.  Thank goodness for online grocery shopping otherwise that would be another job to fit in.