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

[MARYROSE02]

On 23/01/2021 at 20:56, Karl D said:

Have to say I’ve read this this thread from the start, absolutely heartbreaking at times, other times uplifting. There’s a good book in there somewhere.

We have a great life on the South West coast of Ireland, beautiful Kerry mountains and coastline, but, our two grown up daughters are there in Sydney,  both permanent residents now and citizens. We have a new grandson born  in November 2019 and thankfully we there for the birth, we have been going twice a year for around six years now. COVID has made us feel so remote from them, we have cancelled four flights so far and no end in sight.

so, we are are applying for the 143 visa and are in the system. From reading these posts I feel we will need to keep a foothold in Ireland, just in case!

I was trying to think why my parents never pushed through to get permanent residency in Australia after I came here followed by my two brothers. I don't know why and I cannot ask them now. They loved coming out here and at one point they bought a house here. I shall ask my brothers and report back!

You have been out here many times already so you must have some idea how you feel about living in Australia? It's just a question of finding out which is more important - being close to your daughters or being in Ireland? If you do move to Australia it will take a few months to settle, then see how you feel.

[MARYROSE02]

On 20/01/2021 at 10:49, Bulya said:

 

A lot more.  I’ve been to Jugiong, Yass, Binalong, Goulburn, Mittagong, Bowral, and Moss Vale for day trips recently.  Always something new happening in these once dead country towns/villages.  Yass and Jugiong the big surprises...and Dirty Janes in Bowral is simply amazing..

I never thought of them as "once dead!" In their "dead times" they had the things that I always liked about country towns - the usually 19th century architecture, police station, courthouse, bank, pub/hotel. I just liked walking around them. Every state has them too, whether Albany in WA or Albury in NSW.

[Karl D]

We have to stay east coast really, I think we have settled on the Central Coast / Port Stephen’s area, we can afford Sydney suburbs but want to keep money in reserve and looking online you get a lot more for your bucks.

This is still a couple of hours from our girls but at least we are on the same piece of rock!

Edited January 24, 2021 by Karl D

[Bulya]

3 hours ago, Karl D said:

We have to stay east coast really, I think we have settled on the Central Coast / Port Stephen’s area, we can afford Sydney suburbs but want to keep money in reserve and looking online you get a lot more for your bucks.

This is still a couple of hours from our girls but at least we are on the same piece of rock!

Port Stephens is a much nicer place than the Central Coast which is pretty rough..

[ali]

20 hours ago, Parley said:

What are you on about ?

I think Bulya is saying that each state is very different and there isn't a one state fits all.  Before we arrived my hubby had said that if we didn't like it Australia was a big place and we'd try another state.

[Bulya]

5 minutes ago, ali said:

I think Bulya is saying that each state is very different and there isn't a one state fits all.  Before we arrived my hubby had said that if we didn't like it Australia was a big place and we'd try another state.

I knew you’d understand...

[MARYROSE02]

19 hours ago, Bulya said:

Port Stephens is a much nicer place than the Central Coast which is pretty rough..

Possibly nicer. I rather like Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest but there is no public transport to speak of. On the Central Coast, which I admit I have sometimes dissed as "Blacktown with a beach", there are some nice places - Terrigal for eg, and there is a train service to Sydney and Newcastle.

[MARYROSE02]

On 19/01/2021 at 11:28, Paul1Perth said:

We've lived here for nearly 30 years and never felt that Perth is any more isolated than Manchester was from anywhere. If you wanted to go on holiday anywhere nice from the UK you had to jump on a plane. 

Now we live in a place that has everything that we used to pay to go on holiday for a couple of weeks a year from the UK, then start saving up for the following year.

If you fancy a change you have the airport here just the same. In these days of covid I can't imagine being "stuck" in a nicer, safer place.

As I said before, the tyranny of distance means that if you live in the Eastern States you have a 24 hour flight with at least one stop if you want ot go to Europe as opposed to one, 17 hour direct flight to LHR. But people don't talk about that kind of tyranny of distance do they?!

It's only a tyranny of distance if you NEED to go to those places. I remember wondering if the distance from Surfers to Cairns was like Surfers to Sydney and someone on here told me that it's double or more to get to Cairns.  Fair enough but although I'd like to go to Cairns I don't NEED to go there, It's the same with Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane even, just up the road, or Perth, a long, long way past just up the road!

 

[Bulya]

4 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

Possibly nicer. I rather like Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest but there is no public transport to speak of. On the Central Coast, which I admit I have sometimes dissed as "Blacktown with a beach", there are some nice places - Terrigal for eg, and there is a train service to Sydney and Newcastle.

No comparison.  More expensive though.  

[Paul1Perth]

11 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

As I said before, the tyranny of distance means that if you live in the Eastern States you have a 24 hour flight with at least one stop if you want ot go to Europe as opposed to one, 17 hour direct flight to LHR. But people don't talk about that kind of tyranny of distance do they?!

It's only a tyranny of distance if you NEED to go to those places. I remember wondering if the distance from Surfers to Cairns was like Surfers to Sydney and someone on here told me that it's double or more to get to Cairns.  Fair enough but although I'd like to go to Cairns I don't NEED to go there, It's the same with Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane even, just up the road, or Perth, a long, long way past just up the road!

 

I was disappointed with Cairns. Port Douglas is nicer and Palm Beach is lovely.

[Paul1Perth]

On 25/01/2021 at 03:04, Bulya said:

Port Stephens is a much nicer place than the Central Coast which is pretty rough..

Rough in what way?

[Paul1Perth]

On 24/01/2021 at 20:54, Karl D said:

What we will have to weigh up is if having the “out” card of keeping property back here, will that mean it will just be easier to give up of things are temporarily bad? We do realise that the Australia we’ve seen is in short stays and not what actually being there to live so are not naive. We have been to the far north of QLD, stayed in Brisbane and the Gold Coast area, the Central coast, Sydney many times of course, Melbourne, Perth and had the strangest two days of our trips in Alice Springs. Now that place really is wierd. So had a brief look at the country.

anyway we have a few years to wait, thanks for the welcome.

Problem is keeping property in Ireland will be another worry and expensive. 

Never really fancied Alice Springs. Been through the airport a couple of times and now they've closed the climb up Ullaru or Ayers Rock as it used to be there's zero point going.

[MARYROSE02]

On 25/01/2021 at 01:53, Karl D said:

We have to stay east coast really, I think we have settled on the Central Coast / Port Stephen’s area, we can afford Sydney suburbs but want to keep money in reserve and looking online you get a lot more for your bucks.

This is still a couple of hours from our girls but at least we are on the same piece of rock!

Despite over thirty years living in Sydney in two separate stints (twelve years back in England in between), I don't really know the Central Coast. Four years ago, my brother and I had a seven day holiday staying one night in Newcastle, two in Nelson Bay, two in Tea Gardens and two in Terrigal. Nelson Bay is a longish drive from Newcastle and Tea Gardens the same from the north south expressway and I don't think there is much in the way of public transport.

I liked Terrigal a lot but it's half an hour by bus to Gosford for the train to Sydney or Newcastle so my suggestion would be to live in Gosford, preferably within walking distance of the station and town centre.

Of course, I do have my hatreds and prejudices, specifically of driving in and around Sydney and long commutes whether by car or public transport.  Gosford will have all the facilities you need, or may need. You could look at Newcastle too, NSW's second city, which also has everything you need.

I suppose if you are worried about moving permanently to OZ then wanting to go back you could leave your home either empty or rented out then rent out here till you see how you feel. I leased my flat in Sydney out whilst I was in England, and then I did the same to my home in England when I came back to Sydney. That house in England is still rented out giving me an income. An estate agent in England manages it for me, collects the rent, arranges repairs, etc. The only problem is that I packed the loft with personal effects which I have to do something about.

I know you want to keep a cash reserve, hence not buying in Sydney but personally, I would prefer to be closer to my family, especially if something goes wrong, but also it's just nice to be nearby.  My other brother and his daughter live in the same suburb which makes it much easier for visiting each other and seeing his grandchild. But again, remember my dislike of long commutes!

[Toots]

13 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

Possibly nicer. I rather like Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest but there is no public transport to speak of. On the Central Coast, which I admit I have sometimes dissed as "Blacktown with a beach", there are some nice places - Terrigal for eg, and there is a train service to Sydney and Newcastle.

We thought of retiring to the Central Coast but after a few days sussing the place out we didn't like the feel of a lot of the towns.  Can't really explain why really.  Some of the areas are a bit on the rough side.  Terrigal and Avoca Beach are lovley.  We then thought of going south to the Ulladulla area but that didn't feel right for us either.  We knew we wanted to be close to the sea without the summer holiday crowds.  In the end we chose Tassie's north coast.  I had been looking at properties in Tasmania for years and hoped we could possibly end up here   ......................  and here we are.

[Marisawright]

2 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

Rough in what way?

Bogans

[Bulya]

4 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

Rough in what way?

Those that can’t afford Sydney.  It’s not Rooty Hill but it is struggle town  

[Bulya]

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

Bogans

That was the word I was looking for...

[Marisawright]

18 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

As I said before, the tyranny of distance means that if you live in the Eastern States you have a 24 hour flight....

You keep missing the point.  The "tyranny of distance" has nothing to do with how far it is to the UK or to any other country for that matter. You're only going to do that once a year or even less, so it doesn't really matter if the trip is a few hours longer.  

The "tyranny of distance" applies to things you want to do frequently during your everyday life.  Some people are happy going to the same places over and over again, whereas other people crave variety in their lives.   For instance, from Sydney I could easily (and cheaply) hop on a plane and overnight in Brisbane to see a visiting ballet company, pop down to Melbourne for a flamenco festival, or drive down to Canberra for the Floriade.  There was also a great bellydance retreat in Byron and dance weekends in Newcastle and Wollongong that I used to enjoy.  If I had lived in Perth, the flights would've cost three times as much and take three times as long, and I couldn't have afforded to do them all.  That's the tyranny of distance. 

People will say "but there's plenty to do in Perth" but that's a matter of opinion. The fact is that there's plenty to do in Sydney too - more than in Perth, purely because of their size - but I still felt the need to go and visit other cities and towns, which I could do cheaply and quickly (unlike Perth). 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Marisawright

[Bulya]

33 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

You keep missing the point.  The "tyranny of distance" has nothing to do with how far it is to the UK or to any other country for that matter. You're only going to do that once a year or even less, so it doesn't really matter if the trip is a few hours longer.  

The "tyranny of distance" applies to things you want to do frequently during your everyday life.  Some people are happy going to the same places over and over again, whereas other people crave variety in their lives.   For instance, from Sydney I could easily (and cheaply) hop on a plane and overnight in Brisbane to see a visiting ballet company, pop down to Melbourne for a flamenco festival, or drive down to Canberra for the Floriade.  There was also a great bellydance retreat in Byron and dance weekends in Newcastle and Wollongong that I used to enjoy.  If I had lived in Perth, the flights would've cost three times as much and take three times as long, and I couldn't have afforded to do them all.  That's the tyranny of distance. 

People will say "but there's plenty to do in Perth" but that's a matter of opinion. The fact is that there's plenty to do in Sydney too - more than in Perth, purely because of their size - but I still felt the need to go and visit other cities and towns, which I could do cheaply and quickly (unlike Perth). 

And that’s why I couldn’t live in Perth, or Adelaide again.  I need variety...

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Bulya
Addition

[thompsonmax]

On 23/01/2021 at 10:53, bug family said:

Hi Thompsonmax....which one Australia or the UK?

Hi, Australia for sure )

[bug family]

1 hour ago, thompsonmax said:

Hi, Australia for sure )

It is a great place to visit and holiday ....but living here (in my opinion) has far less to offer than life back home

[Karl D]

12 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

Problem is keeping property in Ireland will be another worry and expensive. 

Never really fancied Alice Springs. Been through the airport a couple of times and now they've closed the climb up Ullaru or Ayers Rock as it used to be there's zero point going.

We thought Alice was relatively close to Ullaru, on a map looks like it. How wrong we were, 5am pick up and 5 hour drive there and back then in hotel at 2am the next day and back at the airport first thing for the flight to Perth. Alice had a lot of very shouty and drunk people in the streets, we didn’t feel unsafe it was just not like anywhere we’d been to in Oz. When we arrived at the airport we went to get a taxi and the guy at the information stand said “he’s probably already got a fare, so no telling what time he will be back” - like one taxi in town. We ended up getting a shared hotel dropper bus, all in 50c heat. . Won’t be going back.

[bug family]

15 hours ago, Bulya said:

And that’s why I couldn’t live in Perth, or Adelaide again.  I need variety...

 

my favourite bit....the black land rover would love one (out of my price range) ....snow looked very pretty though

[Bulya]

16 hours ago, bug family said:

It is a great place to visit and holiday ....but living here (in my opinion) has far less to offer than life back home

Far more, if you’re not stuck in Perth...

[MARYROSE02]

21 hours ago, Marisawright said:

You keep missing the point.  The "tyranny of distance" has nothing to do with how far it is to the UK or to any other country for that matter. You're only going to do that once a year or even less, so it doesn't really matter if the trip is a few hours longer.  

The "tyranny of distance" applies to things you want to do frequently during your everyday life.  Some people are happy going to the same places over and over again, whereas other people crave variety in their lives.   For instance, from Sydney I could easily (and cheaply) hop on a plane and overnight in Brisbane to see a visiting ballet company, pop down to Melbourne for a flamenco festival, or drive down to Canberra for the Floriade.  There was also a great bellydance retreat in Byron and dance weekends in Newcastle and Wollongong that I used to enjoy.  If I had lived in Perth, the flights would've cost three times as much and take three times as long, and I couldn't have afforded to do them all.  That's the tyranny of distance. 

People will say "but there's plenty to do in Perth" but that's a matter of opinion. The fact is that there's plenty to do in Sydney too - more than in Perth, purely because of their size - but I still felt the need to go and visit other cities and towns, which I could do cheaply and quickly (unlike Perth). 

Ah, well that holds true for people who do need to travel constantly between the state capitals and smaller cities but if that is not an important part of your live, Perth is as good as anywhere else.  It is one thing to say that "Perth is boring", and another to say that "Perth is boring because it's the most isolated city in the world." Then there is a  third group who may say that "Perth is boring", but they really mean that "Australia is boring."

I don't want to second guess Paul in Perth but I sense from his posts that if he had chosen Sydney instead of Perth his life might have followed the same kind of trajectory; Lived near a beach (if he could have afforded it), joined the local surf life saving club and built his social life around that, played golf, and generally done the same in Sydney as if he had done in Perth.