How Long before you realised that Australia was or was not the place that you wanted to spend the rest of your days ?

[Tulip1]

4 minutes ago, MARYROSE02 said:

I still can't get my head around the idea, using kebabs as an example, specifically Turkish or Lebanese, as my suburb in Sydney is full of Lebanese and Turkish restaurants, some, eg. Abduls, have been there for over 50 years, how a London kebab can be noticeably different than a Sydney kebab.

When I go to my fave Turkish restaurant in Surry Hills, Erciyes (I think) as part of the "ethnic" experience, I like to have a Turkish beer - Efes - imported from Turkey.

Imagine if I said that the Efes imported to Australia from Turkey tastes worse than the same Efes imported to the UK from Turkey.
 

Kebab can mean different things though. Here it can be meat chunks on a stick of course but many would think of a donor kebab if you talked about getting a kebab. Many love those where the meat is thinly sliced off the hot revolving thing that vaguely resembles meat and then covering it with red cabbage, salad bits and chilli sauce. Add the cheesy chips and it’s a winner. That’s the kebabs my sons mean when they say you’re nicer. They’ve not found anywhere that does them as good.  They’re not morning, just when they’re over here they always get a few and comment on how good they are as they can’t them them quite like it in Oz. 

[MARYROSE02]

11 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

Was it ADI you worked for on Garden Island? If so we worked for the same mob. I used to love going to Garden Island in Sydney. Used to stay at the Holiday Inn Potts Point (really right in the middle of Kings Cross, across from the Coca Cola sign, but Potts Point sounds better).

Walk to work at the Island, they used to let us cut through HMAS Kuttubul, the land based training centre, and walk down the gardens to the main base. Almost like an English tiered Garden with little gazebos and fantastic views of the harbour. Pity the general public don't get to see any of that, priveleged that we worked there.

I spent lots of weeks there on one project, didn't come back to Perth for weekends as it was better financially for work to keep me in the hotel on expenses. Made the most of it, walked everywhere and knew Sydney better than I knew Perth.

Tried out some brilliant restaurants, pubs in the rocks, everything paid for by work. One of the best steaks I've ever had was the meat and wine restaurant in Darling Harbour, next to imax. The blue cheese on vodka sauce was amazing. Used to start off with a dozen oysters kilpatrick, then steak and a desert.

Another great place in darling harbour did a full rack of ribs which were excellent. If I wasn't on expenses I wouldn't have been going to them, I reckon people on work trips keep those places going.

Used to finish work, change into running gear, run through the botanic gardens to the opera house and back, to work up a thirst and an appetite. Loved it round Kings Cross, Darlinghurst and Woolloomooloo. ADI had a great deal for a while at the blue on the wharf, I still preffered staying at the holiday Inn though. TheBlue was really upmarket but the bar and restaurant were like sitting in a wind tunnel.

Loved my visits to Sydney.

Yes, ADI - Australian Defence Industries - although when I started there in 1984 it was still Department of Defence (I transferred from the Aussie Customs Service after 3 years). in 1989 the Government decided to part privatise it and we retained our salary rights but the super scheme changed from the CPS to Aussie Super. It is wholly privatised now I believe and owned by Thales.

I never went down to GID via Kuttabul but there is/was a secondary entrance via Billyard Ave, Elizabeth Bay and there is a set of stairs down from Macleay St or Wylde St. The easiest way for me to get there was train from Central to Kings Cross then walk down either Victoria Road or Darlinghurst Road. Sometimes I would walk all the way from Surry Hills via Crown or Bourke or Riley Street.

The Cross has changed since I worked at GID. The introduction of the Lock Out Laws clamped down on the post midnight partying and there has been redevelopment there. There was a hotel at the corner of Darlo and Victoria Street with a bar - The Goldfish Bowl? That I think is gone along with the hotel and a new apartment block erected.

The Beatles stayed in Potts Point/Kings Cross  in 1964 - Sheraton maybe. I talked to some women at a GID reunion who wagged off work to go up and stand outside their hotel.

Apart from a brief period in Personnel by the main gates I spent most of my time in Building 30 on the eastern side of the island, past the dry dock (horrible if it rained and both caissons were out meaning a long diversionary walk). Wonderful up on "the Hill" the garden area where the tennis courts are and the 1788 graffiti. I think that part of the Island may be open to the public now.

I used to run the same route in the mid 1980s with a Chief Petty Officer who worked in my office, every lunchtime, Cowper Wharf Roadway, Mrs McQuarie's Chair, Botanical Gardens, Farm (?) Cove, south of the Opera House, Macquarie St.

I had some good times there, stayed friendly with a bunch of guys for a long time after I left - there is a FB group by the way - but it became stressful under ADI. I worked long, long hours, including Saturdays, with overtime admittedly  but I could not cope. I was devastated when I was retrenched but it was, in retrospect, my lucky day. Good redundancy payment, and I went back to England and spent time with my parents which I would never have been able to do.

Isn't there a Garden Island in Perth too? I meant to go looking for it!

 

[Dusty Plains]

13 hours ago, AliQ said:

So very true Marisawright, totally agree.

We love living over here, in fact we have just bought a new property, but I would not say that our life is better, it's different, that's all.

We've always enjoyed and appreciated the environment and experience of living here, but it's not always better than the UK, it's just different !

And so,  Vive la Difference !  Why would anyone travel across to the other side of the earth to find the identical lifestyle to the one they left behind? I don't get it.  Isn't it the difference that is the attraction, and surely not the similarity?  

Edited November 23, 2020 by Dusty Plains

[MARYROSE02]

29 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

Kebab can mean different things though. Here it can be meat chunks on a stick of course but many would think of a donor kebab if you talked about getting a kebab. Many love those where the meat is thinly sliced off the hot revolving thing that vaguely resembles meat and then covering it with red cabbage, salad bits and chilli sauce. Add the cheesy chips and it’s a winner. That’s the kebabs my sons mean when they say you’re nicer. They’ve not found anywhere that does them as good.  They’re not morning, just when they’re over here they always get a few and comment on how good they are as they can’t them them quite like it in Oz. 

I am not a kebab person although those revolving things are ubiquitous - Abduls has them and Erciyes,  "Meat chunks on a stick?" That is what I like - freshly cooked. It is the same with pide. I want it freshly cooked and prepared. In Erciyes you order your pide and watch them prepare it fresh, kneading the dough for the bread, adding the ingredients then into the oven.

There is a kebab place downstairs here in Surfers. I've not ordered from there but when I pass it they have mounds of tomato, cheese, lettuce, onion, whatever else they use and all I can think is that the homesick Pommie will look at it and say, "Nah, no good, It's AUSSIE chicken, AUSSIE lamb, AUSSIE tomato, AUSSIE cheese, AUSSIE lettuce." I don't care if the guy who cooks it IS from Turkey/Persia/Lebanon, it's not as good as English."

[Tulip1]

1 hour ago, MARYROSE02 said:

I am not a kebab person although those revolving things are ubiquitous - Abduls has them and Erciyes,  "Meat chunks on a stick?" That is what I like - freshly cooked. It is the same with pide. I want it freshly cooked and prepared. In Erciyes you order your pide and watch them prepare it fresh, kneading the dough for the bread, adding the ingredients then into the oven.

There is a kebab place downstairs here in Surfers. I've not ordered from there but when I pass it they have mounds of tomato, cheese, lettuce, onion, whatever else they use and all I can think is that the homesick Pommie will look at it and say, "Nah, no good, It's AUSSIE chicken, AUSSIE lamb, AUSSIE tomato, AUSSIE cheese, AUSSIE lettuce." I don't care if the guy who cooks it IS from Turkey/Persia/Lebanon, it's not as good as English."

I agree, you’ll get the homesick pommies that would say exactly that. My sons are definitely not in that category though.  It’s  a joke in my house that they get several kebabs when here because they prefer them. Nothing wrong with that and they will equally say something in Australia tastes nicer than it’s equivalent here. 

[Bulya]

5 hours ago, Dusty Plains said:

And so,  Vive la Difference !  Why would anyone travel across to the other side of the earth to find the identical lifestyle to the one they left behind? I don't get it.  Isn't it the difference that is the attraction, and surely not the similarity?  

So many poms think they’re moving to pommyland with sunshine.  Very little research done, and it shows...

[Paul1Perth]

18 hours ago, newjez said:

I used to get a doner kebab in Perth, although technically I think it was a souvlaki. They were to die for 

The thing I bought in England called a kabab was so disgusting I've never ordered one ever again.

Never try and eat one sober. They just don't taste the same.

[Tulip1]

8 hours ago, Dusty Plains said:

And so,  Vive la Difference !  Why would anyone travel across to the other side of the earth to find the identical lifestyle to the one they left behind? I don't get it.  Isn't it the difference that is the attraction, and surely not the similarity?  

I doubt anyone would want the identical lifestyle they’d left behind but most of us enjoy the occasional home comforts. Even those to go to Spain on holiday for a week or two love to pop to the little shop down the road to buy a newspaper and some walkers crisps (or lays as they are called in Spain) and don’t forget the little bag of PG tips for the hotel room because the ones they have just don’t taste the same.  People love to experience new things but they also sometimes enjoy what they know and like. All perfectly normal. 

Edited November 23, 2020 by Tulip1

[Paul1Perth]

11 hours ago, calNgary said:

Stop it.. i will start dribbling,lol. The nearest thing i've found is a beef,cheese and onion pie and its just not the same.

Cal x

There's a pie shop in Rotto that takes some beating. Off the ferry, straight to the pie shop, beef cheese and bacon pie followed by a jam doughnut.

[Marisawright]

8 hours ago, Dusty Plains said:

And so,  Vive la Difference !  Why would anyone travel across to the other side of the earth to find the identical lifestyle to the one they left behind? I don't get it.  Isn't it the difference that is the attraction, and surely not the similarity?  

Just look at the posts from would-be migrants here.  They post asking for suggestions where to settle, and I usually respond by asking, "what are you looking for?"  Top of the list is always "better weather".  Then they might say, "a laidback lifestyle", as if they're going to be able to work shorter hours and have longer holidays (which for most occupations, isn't the case).  I've never seen, "to experience a different culture" (which is what people say when they're proposing to move to Europe, for instance).  

I do think there's often an unspoken assumption that because we speak English and so many Brits migrated there in the 20th century, life in Oz will be pretty much like home, with sunshine.  Whereas I think Sydney and Melbourne have far more in common with European cities than British ones, which is why I love them so much.  That stuck me forcibly on our trips to Europe during our year in the UK.

[Paul1Perth]

8 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

Yes, ADI - Australian Defence Industries - although when I started there in 1984 it was still Department of Defence (I transferred from the Aussie Customs Service after 3 years). in 1989 the Government decided to part privatise it and we retained our salary rights but the super scheme changed from the CPS to Aussie Super. It is wholly privatised now I believe and owned by Thales.

I never went down to GID via Kuttabul but there is/was a secondary entrance via Billyard Ave, Elizabeth Bay and there is a set of stairs down from Macleay St or Wylde St. The easiest way for me to get there was train from Central to Kings Cross then walk down either Victoria Road or Darlinghurst Road. Sometimes I would walk all the way from Surry Hills via Crown or Bourke or Riley Street.

The Cross has changed since I worked at GID. The introduction of the Lock Out Laws clamped down on the post midnight partying and there has been redevelopment there. There was a hotel at the corner of Darlo and Victoria Street with a bar - The Goldfish Bowl? That I think is gone along with the hotel and a new apartment block erected.

The Beatles stayed in Potts Point/Kings Cross  in 1964 - Sheraton maybe. I talked to some women at a GID reunion who wagged off work to go up and stand outside their hotel.

Apart from a brief period in Personnel by the main gates I spent most of my time in Building 30 on the eastern side of the island, past the dry dock (horrible if it rained and both caissons were out meaning a long diversionary walk). Wonderful up on "the Hill" the garden area where the tennis courts are and the 1788 graffiti. I think that part of the Island may be open to the public now.

I used to run the same route in the mid 1980s with a Chief Petty Officer who worked in my office, every lunchtime, Cowper Wharf Roadway, Mrs McQuarie's Chair, Botanical Gardens, Farm (?) Cove, south of the Opera House, Macquarie St.

I had some good times there, stayed friendly with a bunch of guys for a long time after I left - there is a FB group by the way - but it became stressful under ADI. I worked long, long hours, including Saturdays, with overtime admittedly  but I could not cope. I was devastated when I was retrenched but it was, in retrospect, my lucky day. Good redundancy payment, and I went back to England and spent time with my parents which I would never have been able to do.

Isn't there a Garden Island in Perth too? I meant to go looking for it!

 

Yep, Thales own it all now. French company. As soon as they took over security gates went up at the Kuttubul entrance and no more wandering around wherever you wanted. Thales got their lease cancelled on a lot of the Island buildings and their head office in Sydney is out at Olympic Park now. Pity, there are loads of offices and buildings on Garden Island now just sat unused. 

It's an eye opener wandering round the old workshops and seeing all the machines, lathes, shapers, massive drills, etc all still in place from way back. 

[Dusty Plains]

4 hours ago, Bulya said:

So many poms think they’re moving to pommyland with sunshine.  Very little research done, and it shows...

There are the normal similarities of course, but its a foreign country, full of mostly friendly foreigners, but doing foreign things.  Those foreigners have not been British subjects since 1948.  

Edited November 24, 2020 by Dusty Plains

[MARYROSE02]

1 hour ago, Paul1Perth said:

Yep, Thales own it all now. French company. As soon as they took over security gates went up at the Kuttubul entrance and no more wandering around wherever you wanted. Thales got their lease cancelled on a lot of the Island buildings and their head office in Sydney is out at Olympic Park now. Pity, there are loads of offices and buildings on Garden Island now just sat unused. 

It's an eye opener wandering round the old workshops and seeing all the machines, lathes, shapers, massive drills, etc all still in place from way back. 

I don't know if you can follow this link to the Facebook GID group. The members are more the tradies than off

https://www.facebook.com/groups/39605807387

I used to go back regularly each time I came back to Sydney on holiday to see who remained from my department - Materiel Divisioin, (MMAT come to think of it - Manager Materiel) Dockyard Supply Centre, Building 30 plus we had other staff in BLD 37 upstairs.

I got to know a lot of the foremen. On my last day one of them took me down to the floor of the dry dock with a ship there which for some reason I'd never done in all the time I was there.

In some ways it was more of a "community" when it was run by the Dept of Defence - we had a club - Dock Officers' Club which was open on Friday nights before that got shut down post ADI (when all the corporate BS started and they use words like "teams" (which I continue to loathe whenever i hear it used), after they decimated the workforce and destroyed the team ethos.

There is one guy I know who is still there from my office so he must be 25 to 30 years' service now. I guess that, 24 years after I left myself, I no longer think very nostalgically / sentimentally about GID. I gradually lost contact with all the guys I worked with too.

After a succession of jobs in England after I left school I finally got a job as a weighbridge clerk at a rubbish incinerator run by Hants County Council - maybe my best ever job - 1975 - 1978. Imagine if I had stayed there for 45 years, maybe still working there!  After I came to OZ I went through the same cycle of a succession of jobs until, after I became a permanent resident I joined the Commonwealth Public Service. I came back to the CPS in later years as a casual.

[MARYROSE02]

5 hours ago, Bulya said:

So many poms think they’re moving to pommyland with sunshine.  Very little research done, and it shows...

I did plenty of research - before the Internet of course, scouring the libraries for books on Australia, many of them written in the 1950s and 1960s, and a few from the 1970s. I also subscribed to "Australian Outlook" a newspaper for prospective migrants. Does that still exist? I just tried Googling it but no luck apart from one on Ebay from 1976:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Vintage-1976-Australian-Outlook-newspaper-for-migrants-relatives-visitors-/133401168072

I was somewhat scared of Australia and Australians, partly because the uncouth blokes I worked with delighted in telling my how Aussies hated "us", and partly because the only Aussies I was exposed to were the cricketers, who all lived up to the stereotypes - Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thompson, Ian Chappell, Rod Marsh.

I would never describe Australia as "Pommyland with sunshine" . I think I might go for something like the Australian Constitution itself - part British, part American but mostly uniquely Australian. On the other hand, whenever I ask Pommies if they like it here and why they like it here, the weather is right up there. 

I don't know if lack of research is a problem because however much research you do it is still often unsettling moving to a new country. Even moving to a new house in your own country is stressful. Most people do settle down however even if it takes a couple of years???!!!

 

[bug family]

14 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

Imagine if I said that the Efes imported to Australia from Turkey tastes worse than the same Efes imported to the UK from Turkey.

Yep not quite the same there maryrose, Iam afraid  ...... Efes is a Turkish beer made in Turkey, with Turkish Hops which is exported around the world, the bottle you buy in Side which is part of the Antalya province in turkey for example, is the same as the one you get in a Sydney bar here in Australia.......the Kebabs however are not, there does seem to be a whiff of looking for some form of discrimination in your post, when there really is none, nothing to see here I am afraid,  because as a human I am aloud to discern between different food products and say which i prefer, this has nothing to do with discrimination of a culture or the nationality of the person cooking it, I know this having spent time exploring various regions of turkey, with my wife who lived there for a while and who speaks Turkish (I speak a little)  and in general I still prefer the kebabs back in the UK lol ....by the way it has been lost along the way the reason I said I prefer British Kebabs initially was due to the location of the kebab shops being in Britain it was meant as tongue in cheek ...glad we cleared that up

[bug family]

3 hours ago, Dusty Plains said:

Those foreigners have not been British subjects since 1948.  

I think at the last census there where over 1 million British residents of Australia, it may be a 'foreign land' but a percentage of that land is populated by the British, and last time i looked there was a union flag on the top left section of the Australian flag so definitely British subjects

[bug family]

8 hours ago, Bulya said:

So many poms think they’re moving to pommyland with sunshine.  Very little research done, and it shows...

yep spot on Bulya took me four years in total, all my life's savings, a number of flights to and from Australia to get assessed for my visa at the time, but no research done on my part just did it on a whim, ........you need to look into getting a job as a meet and great at the Airport, you would be great at meeting  all the 'pom's' who arrive here looking for sunshine, you could advise them on their lack of research 

[Dusty Plains]

33 minutes ago, bug family said:

I think at the last census there where over 1 million British residents of Australia, it may be a 'foreign land' but a percentage of that land is populated by the British, and last time i looked there was a union flag on the top left section of the Australian flag so definitely British subjects

That has nothing to do with being either British or otherwise.  Hawaii also has a Union Jack on its flag yet its a state of the USA. 

I think Bulya was right. 

[Marisawright]

7 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

There's a pie shop in Rotto that takes some beating. Off the ferry, straight to the pie shop, beef cheese and bacon pie followed by a jam doughnut.

Sounds disgusting to me.  I never realised, until I'd been away from the UK for several years, how much pastry and dough is involved in the British diet.  Living in Sydney, I got so used to eating grilled meats, fresh salads and fresh fruits that I completely lost my taste for food wrapped in pastry or deep fried.   When we were living in the UK a few years ago, relatives kept serving up "treats" for me, thinking I'd have missed pasties and pies, battered fish and black pudding, and I had to pretend I loved it all - while in actual fact I was having to choke it down. 

[Guest]

On 22/11/2020 at 09:45, Pendragon said:

I am a Cornishman from a small village and I can relate to community, such as doesn't exist in Australia. As a previous post I made, I have been in Perth for over 13 years, although travelled Australia, but in that  time I have made not a single friend. Acquaintances yes, friends no. Not that I haven't tried, just can't find a commonality. I am wishing to retire soon and can't see myself enjoying it in Australia. I have agreed with my family that I will return to  Cornwall where I can relate to others.  Currently it is only work that keeps me going. Had I come to Australia as a younger man with a young family things may have been different. All I can say is that you borrow your family, do what you feel is best for you. Soon as gone as forgotten. 

Completely agree with your statements surroundings your feelings on commonality etc. and I'm sorry you don't see yourself in Australia much longer.

I am in a similarly tricky situation. I hate Perth. The isolation is numbingly boring, the people are smug and self-absorbed, the roads and highways are dull and unending, the beer and barbie culture is amost stupifyingly blanketed across the entire population with any nod to non-drinking sensibilities frowned upon.

I'm culturally and envrionmentally starved of oxygen. No hills/fields/villages/true architectural history/winding roads/proper seasons/decent people/friends. I ache for my country and my heritage.

We moved out here 14 years ago with two children (now three) and they are all settled, including my partner who has an aversion towards my rose-tinted view of the UK and in particular Gloucestershire. I cannot bear the thought of introducing my homesickness into family life. My partner has all of her family here including mum and dad. She is embarking on a Masters course in February and has no idea I'm so unhappy. My own mother died very suddenly and out of the blue three years ago and it broke me. The almost paralysing need for me to be in England again is breaking me again. Guilt (as has been mentioned here a lot) makes me stay, trying to make the most of what we have and what Perth can offer. But it's not enough to ever make me feel settled or want to integrate properly. I'm here for my job, which pays the mortgage, which keeps the family together. We can't afford to fly back every year... or even two, to visit as my father reaches old age - we'd be looking at $10-12k for all of us.

I suspect, like you, once our children have their own lives in order and don't necessarily need us as much... I will broach the subject with my partner. The fear and anxiety that keeps my mouth shut is no way to live though, but that's the price paid for hopefully giving my children a great start, a bright future and the possibility of being able to call England and Australia... home.

Only 10-15 years to go.

[Paul1Perth]

6 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

I don't know if you can follow this link to the Facebook GID group. The members are more the tradies than off

https://www.facebook.com/groups/39605807387

I used to go back regularly each time I came back to Sydney on holiday to see who remained from my department - Materiel Divisioin, (MMAT come to think of it - Manager Materiel) Dockyard Supply Centre, Building 30 plus we had other staff in BLD 37 upstairs.

I got to know a lot of the foremen. On my last day one of them took me down to the floor of the dry dock with a ship there which for some reason I'd never done in all the time I was there.

In some ways it was more of a "community" when it was run by the Dept of Defence - we had a club - Dock Officers' Club which was open on Friday nights before that got shut down post ADI (when all the corporate BS started and they use words like "teams" (which I continue to loathe whenever i hear it used), after they decimated the workforce and destroyed the team ethos.

There is one guy I know who is still there from my office so he must be 25 to 30 years' service now. I guess that, 24 years after I left myself, I no longer think very nostalgically / sentimentally about GID. I gradually lost contact with all the guys I worked with too.

After a succession of jobs in England after I left school I finally got a job as a weighbridge clerk at a rubbish incinerator run by Hants County Council - maybe my best ever job - 1975 - 1978. Imagine if I had stayed there for 45 years, maybe still working there!  After I came to OZ I went through the same cycle of a succession of jobs until, after I became a permanent resident I joined the Commonwealth Public Service. I came back to the CPS in later years as a casual.

Not on facebook MR, find it's a massive time stealer. My wife joined up a few years back to see what our eldest was up to and where he was when he was travelling for months on end. Then, slowly, she's got more and more into it and you know it's a waste of time trying to talk when she's looking at her phone.

She's nowhere near as bad as some people though. It's an addiction.

[Paul1Perth]

46 minutes ago, 22B said:

Completely agree with your statements surroundings your feelings on commonality etc. and I'm sorry you don't see yourself in Australia much longer.

I am in a similarly tricky situation. I hate Perth. The isolation is numbingly boring, the people are smug and self-absorbed, the roads and highways are dull and unending, the beer and barbie culture is amost stupifyingly blanketed across the entire population with any nod to non-drinking sensibilities frowned upon.

I'm culturally and envrionmentally starved of oxygen. No hills/fields/villages/true architectural history/winding roads/proper seasons/decent people/friends. I ache for my country and my heritage.

We moved out here 14 years ago with two children (now three) and they are all settled, including my partner who has an aversion towards my rose-tinted view of the UK and in particular Gloucestershire. I cannot bear the thought of introducing my homesickness into family life. My partner has all of her family here including mum and dad. She is embarking on a Masters course in February and has no idea I'm so unhappy. My own mother died very suddenly and out of the blue three years ago and it broke me. The almost paralysing need for me to be in England again is breaking me again. Guilt (as has been mentioned here a lot) makes me stay, trying to make the most of what we have and what Perth can offer. But it's not enough to ever make me feel settled or want to integrate properly. I'm here for my job, which pays the mortgage, which keeps the family together. We can't afford to fly back every year... or even two, to visit as my father reaches old age - we'd be looking at $10-12k for all of us.

I suspect, like you, once our children have their own lives in order and don't necessarily need us as much... I will broach the subject with my partner. The fear and anxiety that keeps my mouth shut is no way to live though, but that's the price paid for hopefully giving my children a great start, a bright future and the possibility of being able to call England and Australia... home.

Only 10-15 years to go.

That's a tough place to be 22B. Can't you have a trip back on your own once the borders are open?

[Marisawright]

3 hours ago, bug family said:

yep spot on Bulya took me four years in total, all my life's savings, a number of flights to and from Australia to get assessed for my visa at the time, but no research done on my part just did it on a whim, ........you need to look into getting a job as a meet and great at the Airport, you would be great at meeting  all the 'pom's' who arrive here looking for sunshine, you could advise them on their lack of research 

Goodness, it does sound like you thought long and hard - so how on earth didn't you realise how much you'd miss home? Genuinely curious.

[bug family]

7 hours ago, Dusty Plains said:

Those foreigners have not been British subjects since 1948.  

well Dusty......last time I checked, I am one of them foreigners and I am BRITISH and hold a British passport  (along with a hundreds of thousands of other Brits) therefore i am most definitely a British subject

[bug family]

17 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Goodness, it does sound like you thought long and hard - so how on earth didn't you realise how much you'd miss home? Genuinely curious.

Long story, because we initially came out on holiday to look around, and as we all know by now holidaying is not the same as living in a country, then we got taken by a migration agent (after spending money with them) so we had to start all over again and this time I did all the paperwork and lodgements, I had to fly out to be assessed for my then trade, then fly back and wait and wait, looking back we just got carried along by the adventure of it all and our lives just hung on getting through every stage (my wife and her family had been to Perth a number of times and liked it)I was happy to give it a go but always with an eye on returning, I mentioned previously that before i stepped foot in Australia I had voiced that we would return home one day, which with hindsight should have told me something, i also admit to naivety in that like lots of others I am sure, I was sold on the better place, better life, better weather, etc that was and still is sold in the media ....and then finally the old chestnut you never know really how much you miss something until its gone i suppose