Sudden pull to move back to UK after 8 years in Aus

[MARYROSE02]

On 31/10/2020 at 12:15, Paul1Perth said:

Yeh, the vibes not the same but the accents are. My son went a couple of times with some mates, he said it was full of UK people wanting to fight about football. 

Perth is a lot bettet. Joondalup is still a very new place though so it will get better.

Coming up to my 42nd anniversary of arriving in Australia, Paul, disembarking at Freemantle, before getting a train to Perth, three nights at I think the YCMA in Hay St, then a month at Travel Mates hostel at either 396 or 496 Newcastle St. It's still there albeit with a different name, or it was in December, 2017, when I stood outside and took a couple of photos.

I loved Perth from day one. I wrote it in my diary! But I could not get a job. Perhaps I should have just stayed. I remember after a week in the YMCA in Adelaide I missed the guys in the hostel in Newcastle Street and decided to go back. One of them said he posted on the notice board, 'The Adelaide Kid is returning." But then I met two Swedish guys who were going to Sydney and I changed my mind, thinking I've got to see the Opera House, the Bridge and Bondi Beach (all well worth seeing too!) I arranged to meet those two guys on the steps of the Opera House.

I was seriously thinking about giving Perth another go until I came up to Surfers Paradise. There is a two bedroom, two bathroom, one car space unit, in the Monte Carlo building in Orchid Ave where we live, for sale at $395,000. One block back from the beach, 200  metres walk and the upper floors would have sea views. There's no way you get a unit like that at any beach suburb in Sydney. I don't even know if you would get one out in the far Western 'burbs?

[starlight7]

1 hour ago, MARYROSE02 said:

Coming up to my 42nd anniversary of arriving in Australia, Paul, disembarking at Freemantle, before getting a train to Perth, three nights at I think the YCMA in Hay St, then a month at Travel Mates hostel at either 396 or 496 Newcastle St. It's still there albeit with a different name, or it was in December, 2017, when I stood outside and took a couple of photos.

I loved Perth from day one. I wrote it in my diary! But I could not get a job. Perhaps I should have just stayed. I remember after a week in the YMCA in Adelaide I missed the guys in the hostel in Newcastle Street and decided to go back. One of them said he posted on the notice board, 'The Adelaide Kid is returning." But then I met two Swedish guys who were going to Sydney and I changed my mind, thinking I've got to see the Opera House, the Bridge and Bondi Beach (all well worth seeing too!) I arranged to meet those two guys on the steps of the Opera House.

I was seriously thinking about giving Perth another go until I came up to Surfers Paradise. There is a two bedroom, two bathroom, one car space unit, in the Monte Carlo building in Orchid Ave where we live, for sale at $395,000. One block back from the beach, 200  metres walk and the upper floors would have sea views. There's no way you get a unit like that at any beach suburb in Sydney. I don't even know if you would get one out in the far Western 'burbs?

Ohh- wow.  You wouldn't get anything close to that in Melbourne, not even after the Covid rubbish. Surfers is much more lively and exciting than dreary old Perth- you go for it, kid!!

[Paul1Perth]

3 hours ago, starlight7 said:

Ohh- wow.  You wouldn't get anything close to that in Melbourne, not even after the Covid rubbish. Surfers is much more lively and exciting than dreary old Perth- you go for it, kid!!

There's nothing dreary about Perth. Maryrose loved it too.

[starlight7]

Well some people like Mildura,too- another one I wouldn't want to live in.

[MARYROSE02]

8 hours ago, starlight7 said:

Ohh- wow.  You wouldn't get anything close to that in Melbourne, not even after the Covid rubbish. Surfers is much more lively and exciting than dreary old Perth- you go for it, kid!!

I liked Perth when I went back for the first time in over twenty years in December, 2017. I stayed in South Perth, loved the location opposite the CBD and looking over the Swan River, which is more like a lake there. By the time I left I had become a 'local' in much the same way I am here in Surfers. It is odd how things turn out. I never really intended to be anywhere than Sydney.  

I must admit that walking down to the beach three times today at various times was magical. How many of us get the chance to live walking distance from a beach combined with all the other services we need?  I loved going to Bronte and Clovelly when I lived in Sydney but they are 7km from the city and they do not have all the services that Surfers Paradise has.

 

[MARYROSE02]

5 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

There's nothing dreary about Perth. Maryrose loved it too.

It is true, I did love it and I could love it again! I intended to go there this year but Covid 19 thwarted me, but at the same time, Covid 19 led me to Surfers Paradise!

What is the problem with Perth? It's the most isolated city in the world? So what? Do you need to go to Sydney or Melbourne because the services are not available in Perth? No. And Perth is closer to Europe which nobody ever mentions, and closer to many other parts of the world than from Sydney or Melbourne.

Nowhere to go? Personally, I hate going away for the weekends but if I loved going away - east, south or north of Perth? I've done some of those trips myself - out to the York, Northam, etc or south to Margaret River and Albany. In England I preferred spending my weekends in the New Forest on my doorstep, within walking or cycling distance.

It does not really matter where I go. Perhaps I am, what is the right term - insular? provincial? like a Medieval villager - they never went more than seven miles from where they lived? I don't care how far I am from Europe or the Eastern States or Brisbane and there are always alternatives, eg New Caledonia if you miss France- I have always wanted to spend a few weeks there.

[Red Rose]

Look at what people say about the quality of life in Perth on the numbeo site, it’s pretty enlightening  

[FirstWorldProblems]

1 hour ago, Red Rose said:

Look at what people say about the quality of life in Perth on the numbeo site, it’s pretty enlightening  

Bloody hell. You aren’t kidding.  

[Senfield]

On 25/10/2020 at 07:56, Toots said:

All the very best on your return to the UK Senfield.    Please keep in touch and let us know how you settle in once you are back.

Will do Toots. Tough week ahead, partner moving into a rental. All very real now. 

[Paul1Perth]

16 hours ago, Red Rose said:

Look at what people say about the quality of life in Perth on the numbeo site, it’s pretty enlightening  

Can't be bothered to look to see what other people think about their lifestyle in Perth on yet another multi media site. I know our lifestyle is great, we love it and that's all that matters. There are several sites out there where people that like to complain about everything gather. Makes them feel better or something.

What the hell is numbeo?

[MARYROSE02]

21 hours ago, Red Rose said:

Look at what people say about the quality of life in Perth on the numbeo site, it’s pretty enlightening  

I clicked on the site for a quick butchers and noticed that the newest post about Perth is one long whinge by a failed Pommie or other migrant.

[tea4too]

The 'failed' pom rhetoric is outdated MR, it adds nothing to the threads and only serves to promote the  nastiness of the Aus versus UK slanging matches that used to take place on a regular basis. Many of us 'old timers', yourself included perhaps, found ourselves caught up in the crossfire but I for one was glad to see the back of such posts. T x

[bug family]

12 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

failed Pommie

what is a failed pommie? ...just asking

[Marisawright]

On 02/11/2020 at 01:14, MARYROSE02 said:

It is true, I did love it and I could love it again!

But then again, I recall you posting about how you really liked Penrith (outer bogan suburb of Sydney).... 

Seriously, not saying Penrith is awful.  But there would be very few people who would put it at the top of their list of choices - there are many far better suburbs in outer Sydney.   

What it says to me is that you are a fairly self-sufficient person and your needs are few, therefore you are easily pleased.   Some of us are more demanding, which is probably a character flaw but it's the way we're made.  And some of us need the bright brashness and stunning variety of a huge city, whereas others are happiest where life is more tranquil.   

Edited November 3, 2020 by Marisawright

[MARYROSE02]

30 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

But then again, I recall you posting about how you really liked Penrith (outer bogan suburb of Sydney).... 

Seriously, not saying Penrith is awful.  But there would be very few people who would put it at the top of their list of choices - there are many far better suburbs in outer Sydney.   

What it says to me is that you are a fairly self-sufficient person and your needs are few, therefore you are easily pleased.   Some of us are more demanding, which is probably a character flaw but it's the way we're made.  And some of us need the bright brashness and stunning variety of a huge city, whereas others are happiest where life is more tranquil.   

I got to know  Penrith, a place I would never usually go, because I got a job there, and it 'grew' on me. I still don't care for any of the 'burbs around it but Penrith itself is more like a town than a suburb. It even has a 'High Street' which endeared itself to me. When I was waiting for the train back to Sydney I could see a space to the north being redeveloped and I thought how convenient it would be - walking distance to the station, Westfield, cinemas, Joan Sutherland (?) Arts Centre, and express trains to the city - 48 minutes to Central as opposed to, I think, another 20 minutes more o the Western Line trains. Had I been just starting my career rather than ending it, and perhaps just having moved to Sydney I could have moved there. Its closeness to the Blue Mountains and the Nepean River would have compensated for being so far from the beach.

As 'hubs' go, I still have a soft spot for Penrith though I've not been there since I left the job there. I hate Blacktown, don't care for Campbelltown, ditto Parramatta though that has a good location in the 'real' centre of Sydney. I worked there too. I don't care for Chatswood though it's close to the City, Where are the other 'hubs?' Hurstville? No, Sutherland? No, Bankstown, definitely No, Brookvale No. The only one I like is Bondi Jn, where a friend has just bought a unit in the old Cock n Bull pub, now a new building with a new C & B below.

What I like is to have all the important facilities within walking distance or a short ride away so Surfers Paradise is perfect. Surry Hills was good but I could not walk to the beach.

 I DID regard Penrith as 'Bogan Central' before I worked there, making the usual jokes about 'flannos, Uggs, ACDC", but as I said, it grew on me. Parts of where I come from in England are "Bogan Yokel Central!"

 

[Home and Happy]

On 23/10/2020 at 04:14, bug family said:

I am stuck in one of them suburbs and absolutely agree with this ^^^^^..............just having a look out the window at a colour bond fence, next to a house like a box, next to a colour bond fence, next to a house like a box, next to a colour bond fence...you get the idea, mind numbing....oh hold on a minute....yep, there appears to be a middle aged couple taking a stroll..... I need a lie down

Hehe....not a grey colour bond fence by any chance ?   Many an evening we spent out on the patio, stewing in that baking dry heat....plotting our exit from 4x2 suburbia.