Been here a while.

[Bulya]

3 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

You might not go to the beach every night but live close enough and you could. We still go every weekend, even in winter and a couple of times after work.

In summer I go most mornings before work, usually 5:30 for a ski paddle or swim then coffee with mates to put the world right before the working day starts.

It's amazing how much good weather and good environment can influence your wellbeing. You might still feel knackered when you get home from work but if you force yourself to go do stuff you'll feel a lot better than just watching TV. I know a lot of people will say you could do that in the UK too but it doesn't happen. My cousin came to stay with us a few years back. Got him into getting up and coming to the beach with me most mornings. He started running and exercising and swore he would get a few of our mutual friends to join him running when he got back to Chesterfield.

He was all fired up and managed to get half a dozen interested for a few weeks. Then the cold wet weather came and they dropped out one by one. Got an email from him couple of months later and he was back in the welfare every night.

Welfare?

[SteveandKirsty]

On 17/06/2019 at 14:36, Lavers said:

I think the migrants from the so called lesser countries will be moving for a better life, where as people like myself from the more established countries are just moving for a different life.

I'm under no elusion that I will encounter the same issues which I encounter in the UK but would like to see what its like when 9 times out of 10 you have decent weather at a weekend where we can all go out and hopefully the kids have a bit more to do than hanging around on street corners getting pissed at 11 yrs old.

When I get home from work I am knackered and just want to chill so I don't think that the minute we get to Aus that we will be going down to the beach every night. 

Nothing wrong with my life in the UK but what's wrong with trying something different.

That is very much the same as us.  

We lived in a desirable area of the UK, but that came at a cost.  A cost that despite having two reasonably well paid jobs we were struggling to sustain and were struggling to move on to the next step of the property ladder.  We toyed with the idea of moving to another part of the UK - Wales or Yorkshire - but neither were for me, mainly down to the wetter weather in Wales and the colder weather in Yorkshire as I suffer from fibromyalgia.   Hence we completed what others (never us) have described as "our dream" and moved to South Australia instead.  We never thought our lives would be significantly better here, just different and just as with yourselves, the chance was there and if we didn't try it we would spent the rest of our lives looking back thinking "what if".  

It does dishearten me that so many talk Britain down and now many are using Brexit as an excuse to twist the knife in.  Many back in the UK think we left because of Brexit.  Yes, of course we were getting fed up with all the talk of it and do on but we started this journey back in 2013.

The reality of what we have found and are finding here are on other threads but it gets back to life is what you make it.  Kirsty has found a job and is settling in well.  She is the skilled visa holder, works in an industry that is short on local talent (in Adelaide) although ironically her visa is for the job she did prior to the one she last did in the UK and although applied for two jobs here in that profession, heard nothing at all back.  

What is good for one is not good for another.  There is also vast regional variations across Australia.  Kirsty had an employee come to her yesterday because he was homesick.......for Queensland!  So everyone is in the same boat, no matter where they are from.  Playing one country off from another is not the right thing to do.  A lot of the issues that exist in the UK exist in Australia too, no matter where you are.

We are going to take it in stages to see where we are and what we think.  Three months, six months and then 12.  By the latter the lease will be coming up on our house and we will then decide whether Adelaide/Australia really is right for us.  

[Jon the Hat]

6 hours ago, SteveandKirsty said:

That is very much the same as us.  

We lived in a desirable area of the UK, but that came at a cost.  A cost that despite having two reasonably well paid jobs we were struggling to sustain and were struggling to move on to the next step of the property ladder.  We toyed with the idea of moving to another part of the UK - Wales or Yorkshire - but neither were for me, mainly down to the wetter weather in Wales and the colder weather in Yorkshire as I suffer from fibromyalgia.   Hence we completed what others (never us) have described as "our dream" and moved to South Australia instead.  We never thought our lives would be significantly better here, just different and just as with yourselves, the chance was there and if we didn't try it we would spent the rest of our lives looking back thinking "what if".  

It does dishearten me that so many talk Britain down and now many are using Brexit as an excuse to twist the knife in.  Many back in the UK think we left because of Brexit.  Yes, of course we were getting fed up with all the talk of it and do on but we started this journey back in 2013.

The reality of what we have found and are finding here are on other threads but it gets back to life is what you make it.  Kirsty has found a job and is settling in well.  She is the skilled visa holder, works in an industry that is short on local talent (in Adelaide) although ironically her visa is for the job she did prior to the one she last did in the UK and although applied for two jobs here in that profession, heard nothing at all back.  

What is good for one is not good for another.  There is also vast regional variations across Australia.  Kirsty had an employee come to her yesterday because he was homesick.......for Queensland!  So everyone is in the same boat, no matter where they are from.  Playing one country off from another is not the right thing to do.  A lot of the issues that exist in the UK exist in Australia too, no matter where you are.

We are going to take it in stages to see where we are and what we think.  Three months, six months and then 12.  By the latter the lease will be coming up on our house and we will then decide whether Adelaide/Australia really is right for us.  

Don't you come on here with your common sense approach!  This is the internet!!!

Seriously though, we will be doing much the same, take it as it comes and don't expect it to be easy.  Nothing is forever, and there may be a time in future when a move back is the best thing for us.

[Jon the Hat]

21 hours ago, Bulya said:

Welfare?

A sort of social club or working mens club.

[Bulya]

8 hours ago, SteveandKirsty said:

That is very much the same as us.  

We lived in a desirable area of the UK, but that came at a cost.  A cost that despite having two reasonably well paid jobs we were struggling to sustain and were struggling to move on to the next step of the property ladder.  We toyed with the idea of moving to another part of the UK - Wales or Yorkshire - but neither were for me, mainly down to the wetter weather in Wales and the colder weather in Yorkshire as I suffer from fibromyalgia.   Hence we completed what others (never us) have described as "our dream" and moved to South Australia instead.  We never thought our lives would be significantly better here, just different and just as with yourselves, the chance was there and if we didn't try it we would spent the rest of our lives looking back thinking "what if".  

It does dishearten me that so many talk Britain down and now many are using Brexit as an excuse to twist the knife in.  Many back in the UK think we left because of Brexit.  Yes, of course we were getting fed up with all the talk of it and do on but we started this journey back in 2013.

The reality of what we have found and are finding here are on other threads but it gets back to life is what you make it.  Kirsty has found a job and is settling in well.  She is the skilled visa holder, works in an industry that is short on local talent (in Adelaide) although ironically her visa is for the job she did prior to the one she last did in the UK and although applied for two jobs here in that profession, heard nothing at all back.  

What is good for one is not good for another.  There is also vast regional variations across Australia.  Kirsty had an employee come to her yesterday because he was homesick.......for Queensland!  So everyone is in the same boat, no matter where they are from.  Playing one country off from another is not the right thing to do.  A lot of the issues that exist in the UK exist in Australia too, no matter where you are.

We are going to take it in stages to see where we are and what we think.  Three months, six months and then 12.  By the latter the lease will be coming up on our house and we will then decide whether Adelaide/Australia really is right for us.  

Don’t make the big mistake so many poms make.  Australia is pretty much a franchise, eg. Every state/territory is completely different, but under the one ‘umbrella’ so to speak.  If it gets to the point you realise it doesn’t suit, try a different state/territory.  Very, very few actually do. 

[newjez]

On 19/06/2019 at 08:37, Paul1Perth said:

You might not go to the beach every night but live close enough and you could. We still go every weekend, even in winter and a couple of times after work.

In summer I go most mornings before work, usually 5:30 for a ski paddle or swim then coffee with mates to put the world right before the working day starts.

It's amazing how much good weather and good environment can influence your wellbeing. You might still feel knackered when you get home from work but if you force yourself to go do stuff you'll feel a lot better than just watching TV. I know a lot of people will say you could do that in the UK too but it doesn't happen. My cousin came to stay with us a few years back. Got him into getting up and coming to the beach with me most mornings. He started running and exercising and swore he would get a few of our mutual friends to join him running when he got back to Chesterfield.

He was all fired up and managed to get half a dozen interested for a few weeks. Then the cold wet weather came and they dropped out one by one. Got an email from him couple of months later and he was back in the welfare every night.

It's not the weather. If you wear the right gear in the UK, it's often more comfortable exercising than in Australia. Even sub zero.

It's the lack of light that kills it.

[SteveandKirsty]

10 hours ago, Bulya said:

Don’t make the big mistake so many poms make.  Australia is pretty much a franchise, eg. Every state/territory is completely different, but under the one ‘umbrella’ so to speak.  If it gets to the point you realise it doesn’t suit, try a different state/territory.  Very, very few actually do. 

Many actually can't - or believe they can't.  We are are State Nominated to South Australia and thus by the letter of it, restricted to residing here until at least 2021.  I know that many do ignore that (and get away with it) but it is something that is now being enforced a lot more.  When I attended the Immigration SA jobs workshop last week, this very question was asked and the answer was basically no - unless there were circumstances or a good reason.  With Kirsty having a job in SA, it is unlikely that this would now be granted - particularly if we were looking to move to Victoria as an example.

I have visited every State of Australia (Kirsty only has Tas & Qld missing) at least once over the past 20 years, starting as a backpacker where I worked in both Queensland and Victoria.  And indeed yes, Australia differs greatly state to state which indeed many newcomers to the country do not realise.  As I noted above, Kirsty dealt with a native Queenslander who simply doesn't feel "at home" in South Australia this week.  Tasmania is a lot more like New Zealand than the rest of Oz in a number of ways etc.

It is all a way off yet, the only other State that we would look at would be WA but all a very big IF for now.

[ramot]

5 hours ago, newjez said:

It's not the weather. If you wear the right gear in the UK, it's often more comfortable exercising than in Australia. Even sub zero.

It's the lack of light that kills it.

I would say it depends a bit on your age. It’s much more appealing in your 70’s plus to be wearing light clothes and your trainers to go for a regular walk for most of the year, than look at the weather outside in UK and make the same decision. Obviously exceptions, but as I spend about 3 months in UK most years, and avoid winter, I definitely see far fewer older people bothering in comparison to the Sunny Coast. We are out in our droves!!!  Coastal walking groups, Tai chi and yoga on the beach, walking along the beach, which is sparkling at the moment in mid winter. Yes Summer is hot for a couple of months, but you get up earlier so you don’t miss out,  it just about perfect for the rest of the year.

[Bulya]

24 minutes ago, ramot said:

I would say it depends a bit on your age. It’s much more appealing in your 70’s plus to be wearing light clothes and your trainers to go for a regular walk for most of the year, than look at the weather outside in UK and make the same decision. Obviously exceptions, but as I spend about 3 months in UK most years, and avoid winter, I definitely see far fewer older people bothering in comparison to the Sunny Coast. We are out in our droves!!!  Coastal walking groups, Tai chi and yoga on the beach, walking along the beach, which is sparkling at the moment in mid winter. Yes Summer is hot for a couple of months, but you get up earlier so you don’t miss out,  it just about perfect for the rest of the year.

Summer isn’t hot everywhere in Oz.  

[Paul1Perth]

On 21/06/2019 at 02:54, newjez said:

It's not the weather. If you wear the right gear in the UK, it's often more comfortable exercising than in Australia. Even sub zero.

It's the lack of light that kills it.

You reckon? I've lived in both countries for a long time and the weather is the main thing that puts people off. That and not living close to the ocean.

[Paul1Perth]

On 18/06/2019 at 13:00, Lavers said:

High streets are struggling but I think that's just down to the internet letting us buy things cheaper seeing as we have had our pants pulled down for years and secondly they keep building retail parks just outside of town centres which everyone seems to go to instead.

High streets are struggling everywhere. Sales on everywhere you go. Too many people shopping online.

Some good bargains now if you can be bothered visiting stores.

[Paul1Perth]

On 19/06/2019 at 19:15, Bulya said:

Welfare?

Miners Welfare. After the pits closed luckily the welfare stayed open. There's a welfare and a working men's club in North Wingfield where he lives. As well as about 20 pubs to choose from. 

Quite a few have closed since I lived there though.

[Paul1Perth]

On 19/06/2019 at 14:21, Lavers said:

Thanks for the input guys and loopylu I have factored all these things into my budget best i can. Also i think things like that will start happening in the UK also.

I've looked on the job sites for my trade as a boilermaker / metal fabricator and there seems to be plenty of jobs available with good rates of pay.

Theres a few guys at my place who have just come back from Aus and they say that they struggle to get skilled men just like they do here, so I'm confident that with my experience I will find a job.

The thing is you never know if you're doing the right thing or not financially but then I'm not thinking of moving for financial reasons, so as long as we can live fairly comfortably then that will do for me.

I'm a supervisor in the UK but I can earn the same money in AUS back on the tools.

If you get a job fifo on the tools you can make a lot of money. Not for everyone though. Single man's game I reckon. 

My eldest did it for a few years. Worked 6 months and took 6 months off travelling. He's had a ball.

[Paul1Perth]

On 19/06/2019 at 18:13, Marisawright said:

You just need to be sure you’re moving somewhere you can afford to be close to the beaches. I’m Sydney for instance, the average person lives an hour or two from the nearest beach, far inland, because homes near the beaches are for millionaires only 

That's one of the reasons we chose Perth. Even half an hour from a beach is too far. Walking distance preferable, then when visitors come they don't depend on you for transport.

[Paul1Perth]

On 19/06/2019 at 17:23, s713 said:

Paul, has there ever been a scenario discussed on this site that you haven't had a 'mate' go through so that you can share his/her experience with us?

You name it, a mate has done it, the Australian version of events is preferable and everyone agreed it was. Every time.

I think most people are looking for a comparison of what's different and maybe better. If I've had mates or relations tell me what they've experienced then it's all relevant.

We've been here a long time now so have had lots of visitors.

[sualg]

On 19/06/2019 at 20:13, Marisawright said:

You just need to be sure you’re moving somewhere you can afford to be close to the beaches. I’m Sydney for instance, the average person lives an hour or two from the nearest beach, far inland, because homes near the beaches are for millionaires only 

Respectfully disagree, I’m in Narrabeen on the northern beaches, short walk to the beach and as I’m logged into my NAB account I can categorically tell you I’m not anyway near a millionaire. 

[James H]

At the end of the day its better to have tried it and find out you don't like it than not try it at all ! 

I've lived in the UK, I know Australia has its own problems and the grass isn't always greener etc. The UK in my opinion is getting worse even in my life time it feels to be getting worse. Wether I'm more exposed to the s**t now I'm older I don't know. 

Australia is definitely worth a shot ! 

[Marisawright]

9 hours ago, James H said:

At the end of the day its better to have tried it and find out you don't like it than not try it at all ! 

I've lived in the UK, I know Australia has its own problems and the grass isn't always greener etc. The UK in my opinion is getting worse even in my life time it feels to be getting worse. Wether I'm more exposed to the s**t now I'm older I don't know. 

Australia is definitely worth a shot ! 

I think that's a good attitude if you're single or a couple with no kids. 

Trouble is, a lot of migrants are couples with two or three children.  They've already got a fully-furnished home in the UK, which they have to sell with all the associated costs, and they either have to ship all the furniture, or sell it at a fraction of the value and buy every stick again when they arrive in Australia. Unlike people without kids, they can't camp with minimal furniture or make-do in a one-bedder until they decide whether they like it, or hop around the country looking for work.   And then if they don't like it, the same again in the other direction.

All up, "trying it" would cost the average family at least $60,000, and very likely a lot more.  We had someone post recently who says it's cost them $90 000 so far.

For most people, that is a lot of money to throw away on a "I might as well give it a go" attitude.

[Bulya]

28 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

I think that's a good attitude if you're single or a couple with no kids. 

Trouble is, a lot of migrants are couples with two or three children.  They've already got a fully-furnished home in the UK, which they have to sell with all the associated costs, and they either have to ship all the furniture, or sell it at a fraction of the value and buy every stick again when they arrive in Australia. Unlike people without kids, they can't camp with minimal furniture or make-do in a one-bedder until they decide whether they like it, or hop around the country looking for work.   And then if they don't like it, the same again in the other direction.

All up, "trying it" would cost the average family at least $60,000, and very likely a lot more.  We had someone post recently who says it's cost them $90 000 so far.

For most people, that is a lot of money to throw away on a "I might as well give it a go" attitude.

Cheap when you consider the mental cost of “what if”

[Bobj]

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

I think that's a good attitude if you're single or a couple with no kids. 

Trouble is, a lot of migrants are couples with two or three children.  They've already got a fully-furnished home in the UK, which they have to sell with all the associated costs, and they either have to ship all the furniture, or sell it at a fraction of the value and buy every stick again when they arrive in Australia. Unlike people without kids, they can't camp with minimal furniture or make-do in a one-bedder until they decide whether they like it, or hop around the country looking for work.   And then if they don't like it, the same again in the other direction.

All up, "trying it" would cost the average family at least $60,000, and very likely a lot more.  We had someone post recently who says it's cost them $90 000 so far.

For most people, that is a lot of money to throw away on a "I might as well give it a go" attitude.

Many, many families sold up and did it in the '50s and '60s. Most were housed in nissen huts, some were housed in flats, a few were put in boarding houses. They gave it a "go" and the vast majority succeeded. I was in a boarding house, along with 2, 2 kid families and 1 other single.(1963)

Cheers, Bobj.

[SteveandKirsty]

11 minutes ago, Bobj said:

Many, many families sold up and did it in the '50s and '60s. Most were housed in nissen huts, some were housed in flats, a few were put in boarding houses. They gave it a "go" and the vast majority succeeded. I was in a boarding house, along with 2, 2 kid families and 1 other single.(1963)

Cheers, Bobj.

Yes, but, the world - and especially Australia - is a different place now than it was in 1963.  

My great Aunt and Uncle did just that in 1959.  They initially arrived from England to Albany in WA, but could find little or no work so would have faced the conundrum of whether to stay or go but instead they moved to Melbourne and made a go of it.  Kirsty's great-great Uncle and Aunt were amongst the founding settlers of Canberra (Blundell's Cottage on Lake Burley Griffin was their actual house and is now a museum) They came on an assisted farming package. 

Australia is built on migrants from around the globe making it work and many more will do the same. But it is a huge gamble, more so now than it has been for a while and even for Kirsty and I just as the two of us with no children, we sold up everything in the UK (including our furniture for a cheap price or given away) moving to another part of Australia unlikely to be a viable option, simply on the costs alone. 

[Marisawright]

37 minutes ago, Bobj said:

Many, many families sold up and did it in the '50s and '60s.

No, they didn't. They arrived with a determination to make a go of it, come what may.   And they stuck it out even though it wasn't always easy.

That's totally different from attitudes like, "Let's give it a go, we can always come home if we don't like it", or "Nothing's forever, we'll never know if we don't try". 

The times are different too.   They came to an Australia with abundant opportunity, cheap housing, plenty of jobs.  Nowadays Australia has some of the most expensive housing in the world and unemployment problems like any other developed country.   

I love living in Australia but I count myself lucky that I arrived when it was an easy place to settle.

Edited June 26, 2019 by Marisawright

[Paul1Perth]

2 hours ago, SteveandKirsty said:

Yes, but, the world - and especially Australia - is a different place now than it was in 1963.  

My great Aunt and Uncle did just that in 1959.  They initially arrived from England to Albany in WA, but could find little or no work so would have faced the conundrum of whether to stay or go but instead they moved to Melbourne and made a go of it.  Kirsty's great-great Uncle and Aunt were amongst the founding settlers of Canberra (Blundell's Cottage on Lake Burley Griffin was their actual house and is now a museum) They came on an assisted farming package. 

Australia is built on migrants from around the globe making it work and many more will do the same. But it is a huge gamble, more so now than it has been for a while and even for Kirsty and I just as the two of us with no children, we sold up everything in the UK (including our furniture for a cheap price or given away) moving to another part of Australia unlikely to be a viable option, simply on the costs alone. 

It was a lot harder on everyone back in 1963. The main thing that's changed is peoples expectations and the ability to put up with hardship.

Fair enough if you're settled and happy with what you have.

[Marisawright]

3 hours ago, Bulya said:

Cheap when you consider the mental cost of “what if”

Oh rubbish. What if we go and live on the Riviera? What if I go and join the circus?  We all have daydreams pf places we’d like to go or things we’d like to do but we know they’re not sensible so we get over it. 

[Bulya]

23 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Oh rubbish. What if we go and live on the Riviera? What if I go and join the circus?  We all have daydreams pf places we’d like to go or things we’d like to do but we know they’re not sensible so we get over it. 

Agree to disagree