Been here a while.

[MARYROSE02]

7 hours ago, Dusty Plains said:

I feel your pain. I grew up in Sydney, got married in the 70s and bought a house in the late 70's,  but only on the periphery. We could not afford to live close to to town. In the 1970's there were jobs galore. Australia's post modern golden age was in the 70's and 80's. At that time Australia has the world's best standard of living, the No1 quality of life and the Australian dollar was worth, at one stage, $1.28 American. 

It took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to drive, my  1974 VW Kombi Van from home to work in South Sydney.

When I retired 3 years ago, that same journey  took 2 and a half hours on a good day. that is 5 hours travel per day at best.

We were in drought, but there was no water restrictions back then.Warraganba dam was full most of the timeCrime was low,  I subsequently worked across several continents, including Asia North America and the UK ( Europe of cause).

The point is ...........immigration!  

 I am not saying that you and others on here are part of the problem,, well at least necessarily.  Most people are entitled to seek a better life, and back then it probably was a better life for immigrants coming to Australia.

However that is what has wrecked Sydney.  There are far too many people trying to utilise road rail water supplies and a nyriad of other factors that were never designed for massive immigration.

That why life is "tough" at the moment. I hope you feel my pain also.

I don't actually think life is tough at the moment. I have my peaks and troughs but I never look back to any golden age.

Perhaps Sydney's problems are as much poor planning as from immigration although most big cities suffer similar problems.  The new build estates go up without the level of public transport we enjoy in eastern Sydney. When my brother bought his first house in Edensor Park in 1986 I stayed there for a couple of days whilst he was away and without a car and no public transport it was like being in a open prison.

When I bought my own unit in 1987 the interest rate was 18 per cent. If only I could get that kind of rate for my savings now although any problems I have are not usually financial ones.  I've been able to muddle my way through and generate a decent income from various sources assuming I don't work again

[Canada2Australia]

14 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

That's an interesting point. I don't know why I came to Australia and, frustratingly, whilst I started a diary in 1978, the year I left, I never wrote down the reasons, not for better weather, nor a better job,  or better lifestyle. I think it was just to have an adventure, the only one I've really had.

Perhaps when you make the decision to come to Australia it subtly changes your mindset from being perfectly happy in the UK to "having" to make that move; you can't go back. Well, you can of course and I did, for a while.

I'm a member of two Facebook groups, both rooted in nostalgia, one for my local village in England and the other in Sydney, and I enjoy them equally. But ultimately, I live here in Sydney.

For me,  I came here through an opportunity arising from work; a chance to live an work in another part of the world and have a bit of an adventure while I was at it. I didn't come for a better quality of life as I come from a country that is generally rated on par or slightly higher than Australia globally in terms of quality of life (both being higher than the US which is all that matters!  Haha). I see it as a lateral move for myself and I honestly don't know if I will stay forever. At a minimum,  I will obtain citizenship in a year or two and see what happens.  

My ultimate dream is to spend time between both countries, but I don't know how practical that would actually be simply because of the geographical distance between Canada and here. I'll likely have to choose one over the other,  which is a bit sad for me, but I'm not getting any younger! Either way,  I have 2 countries I love passionately that I can call home,  and I feel very blessed by that! 

BTW,  I had a few opportunities to move to the US for work and had considered it,  but when I researched what the working conditions where like down there,  where you ultimately become slave labour and are not paid appropriately for that, I decided against accepting those offers, and am now very thankful that I did. 

I also have the ability to obtain my UK citizenship through a commonwealth ancestral visa scheme,  but would have to uproot myself again to go live and work there for a minimum of 5 years before I could get citizenship,  and at this stage in my life I don't really want to do that. Had I known about this when I was younger, I likely would have pursued that opportunity and adventure,  but I think I'm good with where I'm at in my life now. One day I will make it out to England and visit my relatives there 

Edited August 2, 2019 by Canada2Australia

[Toots]

6 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

I must have been close to you as I was living in Miller Street, Cammeray in 1981 having spent 1979 and most of 1980 in Neutral Bay, Hayes Street first in that private hotel, then Yeo Street where I also worked for a while. It took 3 months to get my first job, looking in both Perth and Sydney. I've been meaning to go down to Circular Quay, take the ferry to Neutral Bay, walk up to Military Road, have a beer in The Oaks, then make my way back, bus maybe or walk to North Sydney and get the train. I shared flats with my brothers.

We were a 5 minute walk from The Oaks.  The flat was in Bent Street at the top near Military Road.

[MARYROSE02]

6 hours ago, Toots said:

We were a 5 minute walk from The Oaks.  The flat was in Bent Street at the top near Military Road.

I just looked on the map and can see Yeo St connects with Bent St. After moving up from Hayes Street, where I stayed in the Royal Hotel but my brothers moved round the corner to Lower Wycombe Road, we had a posh flat in Yeo Street. Looking at the map I can remember getting a ferry from Balmain to Milsons Point, then walking up to The Oaks and getting lost in that big park - Forsyth Park. I thought I knew my way around and got very flustered. Every Sunday morning in 1979 we played hungover football in Anderson Park.

I have both sad and glad memories of the Royal Hotel where there was a variety of people from all over the world as well as Australia. There was an old guy, English too, living on the 3rd floor next to me, had a "gammy" leg but it never occurred to me to talk to him or offer to get him something from the shops, just as it never occurred to me to store some bottles of water and snacks in my room. I used to drink from my cupped hand in the communal bathroom. My Dad would have known what to do.

[MARYROSE02]

9 hours ago, Canada2Australia said:

For me,  I came here through an opportunity arising from work; a chance to live an work in another part of the world and have a bit of an adventure while I was at it. I didn't come for a better quality of life as I come from a country that is generally rated on par or slightly higher than Australia globally in terms of quality of life (both being higher than the US which is all that matters!  Haha). I see it as a lateral move for myself and I honestly don't know if I will stay forever. At a minimum,  I will obtain citizenship in a year or two and see what happens.  

My ultimate dream is to spend time between both countries, but I don't know how practical that would actually be simply because of the geographical distance between Canada and here. I'll likely have to choose one over the other,  which is a bit sad for me, but I'm not getting any younger! Either way,  I have 2 countries I love passionately that I can call home,  and I feel very blessed by that! 

BTW,  I had a few opportunities to move to the US for work and had considered it,  but when I researched what the working conditions where like down there,  where you ultimately become slave labour and are not paid appropriately for that, I decided against accepting those offers, and am now very thankful that I did. 

I also have the ability to obtain my UK citizenship through a commonwealth ancestral visa scheme,  but would have to uproot myself again to go live and work there for a minimum of 5 years before I could get citizenship,  and at this stage in my life I don't really want to do that. Had I known about this when I was younger, I likely would have pursued that opportunity and adventure,  but I think I'm good with where I'm at in my life now. One day I will make it out to England and visit my relatives there 

I suppose it depends upon what kind of work you are able to do in the USA? One of my brothers moved there after 15 years in Australia and spent another 15 in the USA  and he now has three passports.  He just travels around now, ups sticks at the drop of a hat, without a backward glance.

My other brother lives 60km on the outskirts of Sydney, well at the moment it is the outskirts but that might be Goulburn soon.  (joke!?) I don't go out there very often though there was a time when I needed to see him every weekend. He wasn't so far away then in Picnic Point, near Revesby. I guess I've got more used to bering on my own now. I'll take a friend's dog out for a walk soon, then maybe other friends to go out for a drink with later on.

Commonwealth ancestral scheme? That's interesting. But I imagine it is hard to keep moving, although not for my peripatetic (?) brother.

 

[Toots]

9 hours ago, Canada2Australia said:

For me,  I came here through an opportunity arising from work; a chance to live an work in another part of the world and have a bit of an adventure while I was at it. I didn't come for a better quality of life as I come from a country that is generally rated on par or slightly higher than Australia globally in terms of quality of life (both being higher than the US which is all that matters!  Haha). I see it as a lateral move for myself and I honestly don't know if I will stay forever. At a minimum,  I will obtain citizenship in a year or two and see what happens.  

My ultimate dream is to spend time between both countries, but I don't know how practical that would actually be simply because of the geographical distance between Canada and here. I'll likely have to choose one over the other,  which is a bit sad for me, but I'm not getting any younger! Either way,  I have 2 countries I love passionately that I can call home,  and I feel very blessed by that! 

BTW,  I had a few opportunities to move to the US for work and had considered it,  but when I researched what the working conditions where like down there,  where you ultimately become slave labour and are not paid appropriately for that, I decided against accepting those offers, and am now very thankful that I did. 

I also have the ability to obtain my UK citizenship through a commonwealth ancestral visa scheme,  but would have to uproot myself again to go live and work there for a minimum of 5 years before I could get citizenship,  and at this stage in my life I don't really want to do that. Had I known about this when I was younger, I likely would have pursued that opportunity and adventure,  but I think I'm good with where I'm at in my life now. One day I will make it out to England and visit my relatives there 

I worked on a large ranch just outside San Luis Obispo, California.  It was a well paid job and I was given a little furnished cottage rent free and gas and electricity was paid by my boss.  This was in the early 70's.  When the mares were foaling I worked a 7 day week and long hours but I loved it.  I was also lucky enough to travel over a lot of the USA when yearlings were delivered to buyers.  It was a happy time in my life but at the end of a couple of foaling seasons I was ready to leave.

[Canada2Australia]

2 hours ago, Toots said:

I worked on a large ranch just outside San Luis Obispo, California.  It was a well paid job and I was given a little furnished cottage rent free and gas and electricity was paid by my boss.  This was in the early 70's.  When the mares were foaling I worked a 7 day week and long hours but I loved it.  I was also lucky enough to travel over a lot of the USA when yearlings were delivered to buyers.  It was a happy time in my life but at the end of a couple of foaling seasons I was ready to leave.

Overall people are treated like grunt minions down there,  and more and more companies are choosing not to pay overtime,  especially in my industry. If a company in my industry in Canada had the same mentality,  they would have no employees left. We are treated quite well in Canada. I would say Australia falls in the middle of the two countries, perhaps slightly closer to Canadian standards, and I can live with that as a minimum. 

Edited August 3, 2019 by Canada2Australia

[Jon the Hat]

Immigration isn’t the problem, failure to invest enough of Australia’s wealth in top quality infrastructure is the problem; poor politicians taking the easy way.