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

[bug family]

1 hour 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.

22B..we sound very, very similar

[Marisawright]

30 minutes ago, bug family said:

22B..we sound very, very similar

You two should get together. You’re both in Perth 

[MARYROSE02]

6 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

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.

I know there are disadvantages with it but it has been great for me as a way to keep in contact with friends and relatives whether they are in OZ or in the UK. I would not have any contact with them otherwise. Nobody writes "proper" letters any more, not even by email.  I actually bought 10 airmail Xmas stamps today which should be more than enough for the few Xmas cards I still send. That FB GID group is my only contact with GID. I still talk to a few people from Royal Mail which I left in 2008, so it's been a boon for maintaining some contacts. I'm more likely to be looking at the Daily Mail on my phone than Face Book!

[MARYROSE02]

9 hours ago, bug family said:

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

It is because I have seen many posts from Pommies complaining about the Indian food in Australia not being as good as the Indian food, not in India (or other parts of the sub-continent) but in the UK. I have simply extended this (patronising in my opinion) sentiment to all the other "ethnic" cuisines available in Australia - Greek, Italian, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Thai, Japanese, Turkish, Lebanese, Nepalese, Persian, Vietnamese, etc, etc, none of whom as as good, if you listen to some Pommies, as the "real" thing you get in the UK.

It is irrelevant if all these "ethnic" restaurants are owned by people who have emigrated to Australia, just like us, cooking food according to the recipes they grew up with or learnt in their home countries, the food is still not as good as it is in the UK. Naturally, to me this is BS. My sister in law is Italian. Imagine my telling her that her mother's food is not authentically Italian enough because she is not from the UK.

Sometimes, if I feel confident that the staff in the restaurant have a good sense of humour I might risk telling them that "I loved their food but if the want the real thing they have to go the UK."

[MARYROSE02]

7 hours 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.

If you were single like me, I'd say "Chuck your job in, rent your house out and go back to England on the first available flight" which is basically what i did 24 years ago. But in my case, I was retrenched from my job after 15 years, and I don't know if I would have had the 'courage", if that is the right word, to have chucked it in. There is a lot of hindsight and luck there too. My Mum was ill and I did not know it and would  I have quit to go back and help my Dad and Mum had I known?

But, unlike me, you are married with three children, something which I sometimes regret not having. On the minus side you hate Australia and on the plus side you have a family who love you and love Australia..

I am mostly happy being single and I often say that it is my "default" position. Four months ago, I packed my bags and came up to Surfers Paradise but again I had no ties to stop me doing it.

I was trying to edge towards asking you a question but I don't want to do it.

 

[Quoll]

10 hours 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.

Don't hold it in. I did that for a very long time and I didn't realise the damage it did to my health - both physical and mental - until I didn't feel that way any more (ended up back in UK for nearly 9 years). I know you don't want to introduce your exogenous depression (that's what homesickness really is!) into your family but if you are to survive the next decade or so you could probably do with a support network behind you.

I'd like to think that if my OH was desperately unhappy about something that he'd talk to me about it then we could address the issue together - of course, I didn't talk to him about my despair back then because, I guess, I wanted to protect him and I'm a big strong woman I fight my own battles. However, it was better once it was out in the open. Initially we worked on a compromise situation which went part of the way to solving my problem but then when we went on holiday in 2011 for our son's wedding  and he saw how vulnerable my parents were he suggested (and I jumped at the chance) that we should stay and care for them. We did that until March this year - mum died in 2017 and dad died in June, since we got back here so now I have nothing in Cambridge where I belong but we have one son and grandson in UK (son  went on holiday and never came back) and one son and granddaughters here. I still want to be there, where I belong but it won't happen and I've just had the most fantastic 9 year sabbatical so I'm grateful for that. I'm trying really hard to like being here this time around but it just ain't happening.

I wish you all the best because your situation is unenviable and hope that you take good care of yourself! 

[Bulya]

15 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 

Nah you could do that.  You’re the perfect example...

[Red Rose]

My job is in Cambridge! Haven't physically moved there yet because of lockdown but seems like a nice city so far from what I have seen and very flat!

[Marisawright]

7 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

I know there are disadvantages with it but it has been great for me as a way to keep in contact with friends and relatives whether they are in OZ or in the UK. I would not have any contact with them otherwise. Nobody writes "proper" letters any more, not even by email.  I actually bought 10 airmail Xmas stamps today which should be more than enough for the few Xmas cards I still send. That FB GID group is my only contact with GID. I still talk to a few people from Royal Mail which I left in 2008, so it's been a boon for maintaining some contacts. I'm more likely to be looking at the Daily Mail on my phone than Face Book!

I'm the same. I kept sending Xmas cards for a few years then gave up altogether, because all my friends were sending electronic ones.  I joined Facebook because otherwise I'd never know what my nieces and nephews were up to!

[Marisawright]

7 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

It is because I have seen many posts from Pommies complaining about the Indian food in Australia not being as good as the Indian food, not in India (or other parts of the sub-continent) but in the UK....

My sister in law is Italian. Imagine my telling her that her mother's food is not authentically Italian enough because she is not from the UK

There is an enormous difference between saying something is "not as good" and saying something is "not as authentic".  

I think the pizzas in Italy are not as good as the ones in Summer Hill in Sydney.  The Italians in  Sydney have developed the recipe and their pizzas are fabulous. So they're not authentic, but they are better.

Same with Indian in the UK.  It's not the same as in India - with more affluence, better access to ingredients and a mixing of Indians from different parts of the country, the recipes have evolved. Any Brit going to India is likely to be disappointed because although the curries will be more authentic, they won't necessarily be "as good". 

[Marisawright]

4 hours ago, Quoll said:

Don't hold it in. I did that for a very long time and I didn't realise the damage it did to my health - both physical and mental - until I didn't feel that way any more... I know you don't want to introduce your exogenous depression (that's what homesickness really is!) into your family but if you are to survive the next decade or so you could probably do with a support network behind you.

This deserves a gold start.  @22B, this is excellent advice and I urge you to follow it. Right now, you're killing yourself.  If you can't bring yourself to tell your wife, then find a counsellor. You may be thinking a counsellor won't solve anything, but that's not the point.  You'll find it helps just to have someone you can unburden to, for one thing. And a counsellor can help you develop a strategy to let your wife know how you're feeling without causing the conflict you fear.  Please get help.

[Tulip1]

31 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

There is an enormous difference between saying something is "not as good" and saying something is "not as authentic".  

I think the pizzas in Italy are not as good as the ones in Summer Hill in Sydney.  The Italians in  Sydney have developed the recipe and their pizzas are fabulous. So they're not authentic, but they are better.

Same with Indian in the UK.  It's not the same as in India - with more affluence, better access to ingredients and a mixing of Indians from different parts of the country, the recipes have evolved. Any Brit going to India is likely to be disappointed because although the curries will be more authentic, they won't necessarily be "as good". 

I agree.  There’s also a big difference between complaining and comparing. You may prefer the Costa Blanca to the Costa de sol and when mentioning it may say something like I don’t like that one as much, just prefer this one.  You may prefer the bread in Australia to the bread in Germany. They are just comparisons. We all know some people love to complain and moan about things like this but I think many are just talking about their personal preferences. Nothing wrong with liking one thing more than another regardless as to how authentic it is or for any other reason. 

[Toots]

17 hours 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.

You don't have to take your entire family with you to visit your Dad in the UK.  Your partner has all her family here so she's fine but you are miserable and homesick and you really need to let her know this.  Before Mum died, I managed to get back to visit her fairly often - mostly every second year and she came here on the alternate year.  I took our two sons when they were younger but went on my own to see her as well.  It could make such a difference to your whole outlook if you could manage to "escape" to the UK on your own every once in a while.  It's definitely time to let your partner know how unhappy you are.  I don't know how you manage to hide it from her.

[MARYROSE02]

3 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I'm the same. I kept sending Xmas cards for a few years then gave up altogether, because all my friends were sending electronic ones.  I joined Facebook because otherwise I'd never know what my nieces and nephews were up to!

I think I only received half a dozen Xmas cards last year but one of my aunts and a neighbour from England still send me cards. Plus I like to send a few others to some of my friends and relatives. I use picture postcards or sometimes the sets of prestamped cards you can get in most post offices here. Coasters work quite well too. I picked up half a dozen of them from the Surf Club last night. They have the Surf Club logo and Surfers Paradise on one side and are blank on the other so perfect for a stamp, address and short message.

My Dad used to have a long list of addresses and working for Royal Mail we used to get 20 quid or so, something like that in 1st and 2nd class stamps each Xmas.

Same with me, regarding nieces and nephews. Without FB and Instagram I would not know what they are up to.

[MARYROSE02]

On 24/11/2020 at 00:02, 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?  

Well, I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I do do much the same, whether in Southampton, Sydney, or now, Surfers Paradise. Instead of The Times I have The Australian. In place of a walk around the village of Marchwood, I walk around the "villages" of Surry Hills and Surfers Paradise. The country lanes have been replaced by the beach. The two pubs and snooker club in Marchwood have been replaced by two or three bars and the surf club here, and I interact with mostly Aussies instead of mostly Poms.

And footie-wise - as Roy and HG once said (allegedly) "Too much sport is not enough", and instead of one footy code - soccer - I now have four codes and all year round football.

[bug family]

11 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

It is because I have seen many posts from Pommies complaining about the Indian food in Australia not being as good as the Indian food, not in India (or other parts of the sub-continent) but in the UK. I have simply extended this (patronising in my opinion) sentiment to all the other "ethnic" cuisines available in Australia - Greek, Italian, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Thai, Japanese, Turkish, Lebanese, Nepalese, Persian, Vietnamese, etc, etc, none of whom as as good, if you listen to some Pommies, as the "real" thing you get in the UK.

It is irrelevant if all these "ethnic" restaurants are owned by people who have emigrated to Australia, just like us, cooking food according to the recipes they grew up with or learnt in their home countries, the food is still not as good as it is in the UK. Naturally, to me this is BS. My sister in law is Italian. Imagine my telling her that her mother's food is not authentically Italian enough because she is not from the UK.

Sometimes, if I feel confident that the staff in the restaurant have a good sense of humour I might risk telling them that "I loved their food but if the want the real thing they have to go the UK."

Sorry maryrose you miss my point totally ......from what I understand, what you are saying is if for example a Indian restaurant in Sydney is run by staff and cooks who originated in India, have grown up cooking Indian food all their lives and I mention that I prefer Indian food cooked in the UK, that I am somehow being disrespectful etc...huh  well what happens if the restaurant in the UK also (which most do) happens to be staffed by those who have originated in India and also grown up cooking their recipes, your saying I am not allowed to prefer their cooking as I am being patronising and possibly discriminating against them me thinks you are looking to be offended by something that does not exist ........I could not care less the ethnicity of the person cooking my food as long as it tastes good ......I simply prefer in general the food back in the UK because that is what I have grown up with, it is what I am used to simple as that, and I can make the comparison based not on the ethnicity of the person cooking it but simply on what I believe tastes better to me ...no discrimination or patronising going on no need to worry,.........my final example being I actually prefer Mc McDonalds (other establishments are available ) in the UK, not because I don't like the food here but because in the UK i can get  a banana milk shake (never worked out why they do not do them here) and they also serve a curry dip, sorry I do not think it is authentic curry dip but it tastes great so who cares......at no time do I consider that I am being disrespectful to the clown with the large red boots and curly red hair by making this comparison 

[bug family]

6 hours ago, Bulya said:

Nah you could do that.  You’re the perfect example...

Hey...just a thought maybe we could do it together

[Dusty Plains]

18 hours ago, bug family said:

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

The foreigners are the Australians in the foreign land of Australia. That was the point you missed .... Australia is a foreign country for Britons . Its not the UK, as Bulya suggested.   

[MARYROSE02]

4 hours ago, Marisawright said:

There is an enormous difference between saying something is "not as good" and saying something is "not as authentic".  

I think the pizzas in Italy are not as good as the ones in Summer Hill in Sydney.  The Italians in  Sydney have developed the recipe and their pizzas are fabulous. So they're not authentic, but they are better.

Same with Indian in the UK.  It's not the same as in India - with more affluence, better access to ingredients and a mixing of Indians from different parts of the country, the recipes have evolved. Any Brit going to India is likely to be disappointed because although the curries will be more authentic, they won't necessarily be "as good". 

That's true. I guess I'm just not as nostalgic/sentimental for the UK. Curries, fish and chips, pork pies, pork sausages (as opposed to the vile beef ones that Aussies seem to prefer - my one food whinge), "Cornish" pasties - I find the Aussie varieties perfectly adequate, and I prefer Aussie lager style beers to "craft" beers so I have no great desire to find "Ye Olde English pub Down Under". There is a pub Pommie friends raved about in Sydney called, I think The Duke of Clarence, which I did go into once for a butchers but just had OJ,

https://thedukeofclarence.com/

https://www.timeout.com/sydney/bars/the-duke-of-clarence

 

[MARYROSE02]

25 minutes ago, bug family said:

Sorry maryrose you miss my point totally ......from what I understand, what you are saying is if for example a Indian restaurant in Sydney is run by staff and cooks who originated in India, have grown up cooking Indian food all their lives and I mention that I prefer Indian food cooked in the UK, that I am somehow being disrespectful etc...huh  well what happens if the restaurant in the UK also (which most do) happens to be staffed by those who have originated in India and also grown up cooking their recipes, your saying I am not allowed to prefer their cooking as I am being patronising and possibly discriminating against them me thinks you are looking to be offended by something that does not exist ........I could not care less the ethnicity of the person cooking my food as long as it tastes good ......I simply prefer in general the food back in the UK because that is what I have grown up with, it is what I am used to simple as that, and I can make the comparison based not on the ethnicity of the person cooking it but simply on what I believe tastes better to me ...no discrimination or patronising going on no need to worry,.........my final example being I actually prefer Mc McDonalds (other establishments are available ) in the UK, not because I don't like the food here but because in the UK i can get  a banana milk shake (never worked out why they do not do them here) and they also serve a curry dip, sorry I do not think it is authentic curry dip but it tastes great so who cares......at no time do I consider that I am being disrespectful to the clown with the large red boots and curly red hair by making this comparison 

I suppose it is because I have been here 12 years and I can no longer remember the differences between the UK food and the Aussie food. Fair enough had I been here for 12 days and I went for my first "Aussie" curry and I might think "Definitely not as good as in the UK". I vaguely recall going into Coles or Woolies just after I came back and thinking "This is inferior to ASDA " but now when I go into Coles or Woolies I cannot remember what it was I liked about ASDA. It is the same with food,

I had a bowl of Aussie muesli, Aussie milk, Aussie blueberries today for breakfast, and grilled Aussie fish, Aussie chips and Aussie salad last night. It's hard for me to imagine that if I did a "blind" tasting alongside the same dishes but made from Pommie ingredients I could tell not just the difference but which country they came from. I have got a crap palate of course.

[MARYROSE02]

36 minutes ago, Dusty Plains said:

The foreigners are the Australians in the foreign land of Australia. That was the point you missed .... Australia is a foreign country for Britons . Its not the UK, as Bulya suggested.   

I usually think of myself as just "living" here, i..e. I don't actively notice the differences between England and Australia and I don't see myself as "foreign" or "alien", and the only thing that makes me stand out from "Aussies" is my accent. And other than occasionally commenting on my accent, "Aussies" don't see me as a "foreigner".

The one actively English thing I do is watching the English Premier League but even with that, whether watching Spurs games in a pub or discussing Spurs on Facebook, the other fans are just as likely to be Aussies as Pommies, and we are all Spurs fans first.

 

Edited November 25, 2020 by MARYROSE02

[Toots]

38 minutes ago, MARYROSE02 said:

That's true. I guess I'm just not as nostalgic/sentimental for the UK. Curries, fish and chips, pork pies, pork sausages (as opposed to the vile beef ones that Aussies seem to prefer - my one food whinge), "Cornish" pasties - I find the Aussie varieties perfectly adequate, and I prefer Aussie lager style beers to "craft" beers so I have no great desire to find "Ye Olde English pub Down Under". There is a pub Pommie friends raved about in Sydney called, I think The Duke of Clarence, which I did go into once for a butchers but just had OJ,

https://thedukeofclarence.com/

https://www.timeout.com/sydney/bars/the-duke-of-clarence

 

I have no nostalgia whatsoever for pork pies, pork sausages, steak and kidney pie, kebabs, curries etc etc.  Helps that I don't eat meat I supposed.    As for cheese and onions pies, it's very easy to make my own.  I do enjoy good fish and chips though.  Best I remember having was in the north east UK.  Had some good ones here too.

[MARYROSE02]

5 minutes ago, Toots said:

I have no nostalgia whatsoever for pork pies, pork sausages, steak and kidney pie, kebabs, curries etc etc.  Helps that I don't eat meat I supposed.    As for cheese and onions pies, it's very easy to make my own.  I do enjoy good fish and chips though.  Best I remember having was in the north east UK.  Had some good ones here too.

I preferred breaded fish to battered when I was in England. I still remember, nostalgically, scampi, chips and peas in the Pilgrim Inn in my local pub in Marchwood. But it was Australia that introduced me to grilled fish, chips and salad. Fish in a bag was one of my Dad's favourites.

https://www.pilgriminnmarchwood.co.uk/gallery

[Quoll]

7 hours ago, Red Rose said:

My job is in Cambridge! Haven't physically moved there yet because of lockdown but seems like a nice city so far from what I have seen and very flat!

Oh lucky you! It's a lovely place and, yes, very flat - you can get a bit of altitude if you walk/run/cycle up the Gogs (where the golf course and the iron age fort are) but it is definitely pancake country! We lived in a little village 5 miles to the south, on the train line to London and it was perfect albeit eyewateringly expensive.  There are loads of nice little villages on the outskirts though and transport is imho quite good most of the time.  If you're a cyclist then you're home and hosed, it's a very cycle oriented city.

[Parley]

20 hours ago, bug family said:

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

Is there even such a thing as a British Subject. A very old fashioned term.

Australia governs itself and is not subject to another country since the 40s