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

[FirstWorldProblems]

54 minutes ago, MARYROSE02 said:

Admittedly,  there is less than zero possibility of my 'acquiring' a partner, but all the same, these posts frighten the @#$% out of me!

I could be happily ensconced in either England or OZ then one day my partner says "I'm homesick for Bourke or Barrow and I want to go home RIGHT NOW!"

If you’re lucky enough to fall in love with a wonderful person who loves you back, there’s probably going to be a number of compromises, no matter the circumstances.  Step children, awful in-laws, excessive business travel, intermittent depression, a golf addiction........Admittedly a partnership with ties to opposite sides of the world is an extreme example.......but it’s one that’s worth it if everything else is great. 
 

 

[ramot]

7 hours ago, Marisawright said:

You'll miss both in Australia, big time!   Don't get me wrong, there is some great produce here, but Australian supermarkets are not good at value-adding.  You'll  need to make your own pies and sausages and paellas and beef bourguignon from scratch, because there's not a big range available in the supermarkets.  I still miss the meal deals in M&S!     

During the Covid lockdowns, some cafés and restaurants have been surviving by selling ready meals (i.e. cold meals you take home and heat up) as well as straightforward take-away, so it will be interesting to see if that continues,

Our local golf club restaurant starting selling take away meals, on two days a week, the sales grew from over 300 in the first week to over a thousand weekly. Life is pretty well back to normal on the Sunshine Coast, but they are still selling loads of take away meals. They now also supply two local retirement villages, so business is not slowing down. We know the quality is really good, they are reasonably priced, and we still buy the occasional meal. They make so much money from the takeaways they would be daft to stop.

[MARYROSE02]

11 hours ago, FirstWorldProblems said:

If you’re lucky enough to fall in love with a wonderful person who loves you back, there’s probably going to be a number of compromises, no matter the circumstances.  Step children, awful in-laws, excessive business travel, intermittent depression, a golf addiction........Admittedly a partnership with ties to opposite sides of the world is an extreme example.......but it’s one that’s worth it if everything else is great. 
 

 

I admit I have sometimes looked at couples and envied them - even if it means going to Bunnings or B & Q and IKEA every weekend. I'm guessing that IKEA is the same whether in the UK or OZ?

Edited October 27, 2020 by MARYROSE02

[MARYROSE02]

On 24/10/2020 at 21:16, bug family said:

Just wondering, at what stage did you realise that Australia was the place that you wanted or did not want to spend the rest of your days ?

For me before I had even set foot in Australia I knew and voiced, that I would want to return home to the UK one day,  As a couple we set a goal of 10 years then we would return, with hindsight this was a bit naive I now realise this, as a lot can and has happened in the 9 years we have been here, for example, we are no longer living as a married couple (we are like best buddies and share the house still), my wife no longer would consider going back home, we also have two children now, where as we came with only one,  and finally all my wife's family now live here, so she is settled......but me...I will still go home one day of that I am sure, .........................what about you?

When you do go home doesn't that mean you will be going home on your own, assuming your 'best buddy" and your kids all want to stay in OZ? And the longer you stay in OZ, you might just find that when you do get back to the UK, it will mean a long period of settling in (at best - I know this from personal experience) or at worst, you find you are homesick for OZ (again my personal experience).

And this applies equally to people making the trip the other way. I've had to go through settling in periods in both England and Australia  having gone back to England after 18 years here, then after 12 years in England, back to Australia.

Ultimately, it has just come down to where my family live. My parents are have passed away in England and I have two brothers in Australia. I suppose in a way I have emigrated again, this time from Sydney to Surfers Paradise although this has been an seamless experience probably because I'm living with one of my brothers.

[Paul1Perth]

Probably the first day and evening we were here. Left the UK in February after a typical wet cold winter. Landed in Perth at about 11:00 pm. Met by friends we stayed with for a couple of weeks who live in Applecross in an older house on a big block. 

Woke up about 10:00am to bright sunshine, friends gone to work, their 2 daughters gone to school. Had a walk with the wife and 2 year old down to the river front and had a look round the parks. 

Evening came and our friends took us down the foreshore for a barbie (free barbecue, what a novelty, just press a button). Kids got on well they had 2 daughters and our son is still friends with them now. 

Sat with a beer and my wife a wine on a nice balmy evening in shorts and T shirt, brilliant views of Perth over the River, thought this will do me. Luckily my wife thought the same and we've never looked back.

Moved to a beachside suburb North of Perth after renting for a year and still in the same house. 2 boys now, 31 and 25. Eldest has travelled all over the World. He's a sparkie/inlec and has worked FIFO for most of his working life here. He lived in Whistler, Canada for a year as he loves snowboarding. Met his girlfriend who's an Aussie from Newcastlein Canada. Lived in Newcastle for a while but they aŕe both back in Perth now. 

Still love it and feel lucky to be here. My Sister and family applied for emigration after they came on their first holiday. Her hubby was in the police force and thought they would get in via that. Didn't work out, they didn't get accepted. Devastated wasn't a good enough description for how they felt. 

[Jon the Hat]

On 25/10/2020 at 22:29, FirstWorldProblems said:

Not that it’s all roses.....it’s a full 15 mins to a Waitrose. 

That's a human rights violation right there.  I have a proper Waitrose (juice bar, wine bar, cafe, bakery cafe, sushi, etc) and then a little Waitrose a bit close for emergencies.  Both 5 minutes away.  M&S take more like 10 as my car doesn't fit in their car park....

[Marisawright]

On 26/10/2020 at 22:13, MARYROSE02 said:

I could be happily ensconced in either England or OZ then one day my partner says "I'm homesick for Bourke or Barrow and I want to go home RIGHT NOW!"

If someone is "happily esconced" and oblivious to (or dismissive of) a partner who is becoming more and more miserable and depressed, then they only have themselves to blame when their partner finally snaps!

Edited October 28, 2020 by Marisawright

[MARYROSE02]

22 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

Probably the first day and evening we were here. Left the UK in February after a typical wet cold winter. Landed in Perth at about 11:00 pm. Met by friends we stayed with for a couple of weeks who live in Applecross in an older house on a big block. 

Woke up about 10:00am to bright sunshine, friends gone to work, their 2 daughters gone to school. Had a walk with the wife and 2 year old down to the river front and had a look round the parks. 

Evening came and our friends took us down the foreshore for a barbie (free barbecue, what a novelty, just press a button). Kids got on well they had 2 daughters and our son is still friends with them now. 

Sat with a beer and my wife a wine on a nice balmy evening in shorts and T shirt, brilliant views of Perth over the River, thought this will do me. Luckily my wife thought the same and we've never looked back.

Moved to a beachside suburb North of Perth after renting for a year and still in the same house. 2 boys now, 31 and 25. Eldest has travelled all over the World. He's a sparkie/inlec and has worked FIFO for most of his working life here. He lived in Whistler, Canada for a year as he loves snowboarding. Met his girlfriend who's an Aussie from Newcastlein Canada. Lived in Newcastle for a while but they aŕe both back in Perth now. 

Still love it and feel lucky to be here. My Sister and family applied for emigration after they came on their first holiday. Her hubby was in the police force and thought they would get in via that. Didn't work out, they didn't get accepted. Devastated wasn't a good enough description for how they felt. 

I think I spoke with you before about Applecross which I got to know on my two trips to Perth in Dec / Jan 17/18 and May 18 when I stayed mostly in South Perth but also did 2 weeks in an Airbnb opposite the 24 hour IGA. Is that still Applecross or do they call it Canning Bridge?

I was planning to go over to Perth this year to see friend in South Perth. She even booked a holiday at a place west of Margaret River for about now. I told her I might come for my next birthday on Anzac Day 2021 (though I doubt McGowan will ever open the border again).

In the meantime I managed to "escape" to Qld in July and I've been here ever since in Surfers Paradise and now I'm thinking 'Sod Perth (& Sydney) I'm staying here forever). 

Actually,  there are some similarities between Surfers Paradise and the Swan River frontage in South Perth where I stayed for a while.

Your first impressions tie in with my own when I arrived in Perth on 3 Nov 18(sic)78 as I was immediately taken by it. But I could not get a job and headed east eventually to Sydney. 

What is the name of the suburb you live now? (So I can Google it).

[Quoll]

1 hour ago, MARYROSE02 said:

I was planning to go over to Perth this year to see friend in South Perth. She even booked a holiday at a place west of Margaret River for about now. I told her I might come for my next birthday on Anzac Day 2021 (though I doubt McGowan will ever open the border again).

Aha, are you an Anzac Day baby too?  I usually joke that that's the only reason I came to Australia, so I would always have a holiday on my birthday!  I've missed out on that for the last few years!

[Paul1Perth]

2 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

I think I spoke with you before about Applecross which I got to know on my two trips to Perth in Dec / Jan 17/18 and May 18 when I stayed mostly in South Perth but also did 2 weeks in an Airbnb opposite the 24 hour IGA. Is that still Applecross or do they call it Canning Bridge?

I was planning to go over to Perth this year to see friend in South Perth. She even booked a holiday at a place west of Margaret River for about now. I told her I might come for my next birthday on Anzac Day 2021 (though I doubt McGowan will ever open the border again).

In the meantime I managed to "escape" to Qld in July and I've been here ever since in Surfers Paradise and now I'm thinking 'Sod Perth (& Sydney) I'm staying here forever). 

Actually,  there are some similarities between Surfers Paradise and the Swan River frontage in South Perth where I stayed for a while.

Your first impressions tie in with my own when I arrived in Perth on 3 Nov 18(sic)78 as I was immediately taken by it. But I could not get a job and headed east eventually to Sydney. 

What is the name of the suburb you live now? (So I can Google it).

I'm not into letting everyone know where I live Maryrose, can't be too careful. Google hillaries boat harbour and we are close to there, you'll get an idea of what's around.

Surfers is nice isn't it. Stayed there a few times when I was working on jobs at Oakey. We used to stay in Toowoomba during the week but if the job was for a couple of weeks I'd go to the Intercontinental on surfers for the weekend. They wouldn't let us on the base at the weekend and it wasn't worth flying back to Perth.

Toowoomba is pretty boring over a weekend and it used to be cheaper to stay in the interconti with the brilliant buffet breakfast in the revolving restaurant then stay in Central Apartments in Toowoomba. If it's still going try the breakfast on Sunday mornings. It gets packed so a booking is a good idea.

Our friends still live in Applecross but we've not been to see them for ages. We usually catch up with them for a few drinks in Perth, then we can all get there and back on public transport and have a few drinks.

[MARYROSE02]

2 hours ago, Quoll said:

Aha, are you an Anzac Day baby too?  I usually joke that that's the only reason I came to Australia, so I would always have a holiday on my birthday!  I've missed out on that for the last few years!

Yes, I thought that made me special. Funnily enough I was talking to a guy in the Surf LS club last night who told me his birthday is on Anzac Day and I was thinking this is the first person I've met with the same birthday.  Not the same age though. I did once work with  girl whose 18th birthday was the day before mine so she was very close in age to me.

In England, not far from me in the village of Brockenhurst is a war memorial dedicated to mostly NZ soldiers who died in WW1. There was a military hospital in Brockenhurst. Each Anzac day they have a service at the church - St Nicolas I think - and someone comes down from the NZ embassy/consulate in London.

[MARYROSE02]

44 minutes ago, Paul1Perth said:

I'm not into letting everyone know where I live Maryrose, can't be too careful. Google hillaries boat harbour and we are close to there, you'll get an idea of what's around.

Surfers is nice isn't it. Stayed there a few times when I was working on jobs at Oakey. We used to stay in Toowoomba during the week but if the job was for a couple of weeks I'd go to the Intercontinental on surfers for the weekend. They wouldn't let us on the base at the weekend and it wasn't worth flying back to Perth.

Toowoomba is pretty boring over a weekend and it used to be cheaper to stay in the interconti with the brilliant buffet breakfast in the revolving restaurant then stay in Central Apartments in Toowoomba. If it's still going try the breakfast on Sunday mornings. It gets packed so a booking is a good idea.

Our friends still live in Applecross but we've not been to see them for ages. We usually catch up with them for a few drinks in Perth, then we can all get there and back on public transport and have a few drinks.

Sorry, I did not mean to pry. Often when I'm talking to someone and they mention something like where they live, or which footy team they go for I immediately want to Google it. There's a couple who go in my local cafe here whom my brother has known much longer than me, I was talking to them one day and said 'Where are you from?" "Melbourne." "Who do you go for?" "Carlton and North Melbourne." I said to my brother, "How come you never asked them which teams they go for? If someone comes from Melbourne they ALWAYS have a team." The couple are both originally from Egypt too.

Are you Eagles or Dockers by the way? Or perhaps a WAFL team? I noticed that whilst there may be a "them against us" attitude to "The Eastern States" it does not extend supporting the "other" WA AFL team when they play a team from the east?!

I Googled the Intercontinental Surfers Paradise and I see it's quite a long way from SP - Hope Island? north of Helensvale? I like SP because everything is easy walking distance. That is why I was taken by South Perth although the first apartment I stayed in on Melville Parade alongside the expressway was a bit of a walk to Mends St (and more importantly the Windsor Hotel). However the second place I stayed was on the Esplanade itself and it was perfect, five minutes maybe, and coming home I loved to walk along the riverside and I could just cut back across the green to the apartments. Walking along the riverside there is like walking along the sand here which I also like to do, day or night.

Meeting in the city makes sense I guess.  I was much taken by the train line running down the middle of the expressway although I only got the train once from Canning Bridge to the CBD. I liked the relative lack of traffic in Perth, compared to Sydney, taking my No Birds hire car out for usually pleasant drives listening to Curtin FM. I don't particularly like the roads on the Gold Coast either but as long as I stay on the tram route it's perfect.

I've not been to Toowoomba for a long time. Oakey? Is that a military base?

[Guest]

Interesting conversations here.

Sadly, I feel I might be one of very few for whom it took a few years to realise Perth was not for them. But, I cannot even discuss moving home to the UK. Our children are settled, teenage years are just around the corner and my partner is happy, with a large social network and her family all here too including Mum and Dad. That's all I should need, right? Except, I hate it. I'm lucky enough to have a stable job and I can pay my bills and life in Perth is one the whole... good. But the elements of life here that I dislike greatly outweigh the positives. I can count on one hand the true factors that I would find hard to swap for the UK... weather... water... safety... a deep sense of 'being a proud Englishman'. I can't come to terms with staying here until I retire, yet fear I will have to, given the stage our children are at and the reason we started a-fresh was for them.

[Guest]

On 24/10/2020 at 19:16, bug family said:

Just wondering, at what stage did you realise that Australia was the place that you wanted or did not want to spend the rest of your days ?

For me before I had even set foot in Australia I knew and voiced, that I would want to return home to the UK one day,  As a couple we set a goal of 10 years then we would return, with hindsight this was a bit naive I now realise this, as a lot can and has happened in the 9 years we have been here, for example, we are no longer living as a married couple (we are like best buddies and share the house still), my wife no longer would consider going back home, we also have two children now, where as we came with only one,  and finally all my wife's family now live here, so she is settled......but me...I will still go home one day of that I am sure, .........................what about you?

I hear you. My partner had been to Oz in a previous life and travelled extensively hence she already knew it was right for her. We now have three children and are bound by a very decent education system which has done us some favours so to wrench them home to a dubious educational future would be a step too far. Perth is utterly boring and you quickly run out of new or interesting things to do. To get a decent holiday requires booking years in advance, or travelling for hours on a plane. There are no hills.... no mountains... no real green... just red earth and sand and asbestos.

My ideal scenario would be to buy a property back in the UK so as to spend a decent amount of the holidays there getting my fix. But to be honest, if I am bound to spend the rest of my life in Australia, it certainly won't be here.

[Drumbeat]

3 minutes ago, 22B said:

I hear you. My partner had been to Oz in a previous life and travelled extensively hence she already knew it was right for her. We now have three children and are bound by a very decent education system which has done us some favours so to wrench them home to a dubious educational future would be a step too far. Perth is utterly boring and you quickly run out of new or interesting things to do. To get a decent holiday requires booking years in advance, or travelling for hours on a plane. There are no hills.... no mountains... no real green... just red earth and sand and asbestos.

My ideal scenario would be to buy a property back in the UK so as to spend a decent amount of the holidays there getting my fix. But to be honest, if I am bound to spend the rest of my life in Australia, it certainly won't be here.

Well I live in the Perth Hills so I can't agree that there aren't any 

[Quoll]

46 minutes ago, 22B said:

I hear you. My partner had been to Oz in a previous life and travelled extensively hence she already knew it was right for her. We now have three children and are bound by a very decent education system which has done us some favours so to wrench them home to a dubious educational future would be a step too far. Perth is utterly boring and you quickly run out of new or interesting things to do. To get a decent holiday requires booking years in advance, or travelling for hours on a plane. There are no hills.... no mountains... no real green... just red earth and sand and asbestos.

My ideal scenario would be to buy a property back in the UK so as to spend a decent amount of the holidays there getting my fix. But to be honest, if I am bound to spend the rest of my life in Australia, it certainly won't be here.

Oh dear.  Talk to your OH about how you are feeling and do it now. Unsure where you get the dubious educational future from - I have friends who have had kids and now have grandkids in many parts of the country and whilst I would be a tad anxious about a few places where I wouldnt want to be living anyway, almost all of my mates' kids and grandkids are doing just fine (as is my grandson as far as I can see - streets ahead of his Canberra cousins).

I didnt tell my OH, not in as many words anyway and until he complained about the long showers I was taking (I cried in the shower) he had no idea.  Once we talked about it  we came to an agreeable compromise for the short term and he moved to UK with me for 8 years (returned in March). We are still living in compromise land and as soon as Covid stops trapping me I will be backwards and forwards as long as I can manage it.

Look after yourself, it doesnt get any easier with time, unfortunately.

[Paul1Perth]

3 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

Sorry, I did not mean to pry. Often when I'm talking to someone and they mention something like where they live, or which footy team they go for I immediately want to Google it. There's a couple who go in my local cafe here whom my brother has known much longer than me, I was talking to them one day and said 'Where are you from?" "Melbourne." "Who do you go for?" "Carlton and North Melbourne." I said to my brother, "How come you never asked them which teams they go for? If someone comes from Melbourne they ALWAYS have a team." The couple are both originally from Egypt too.

Are you Eagles or Dockers by the way? Or perhaps a WAFL team? I noticed that whilst there may be a "them against us" attitude to "The Eastern States" it does not extend supporting the "other" WA AFL team when they play a team from the east?!

I Googled the Intercontinental Surfers Paradise and I see it's quite a long way from SP - Hope Island? north of Helensvale? I like SP because everything is easy walking distance. That is why I was taken by South Perth although the first apartment I stayed in on Melville Parade alongside the expressway was a bit of a walk to Mends St (and more importantly the Windsor Hotel). However the second place I stayed was on the Esplanade itself and it was perfect, five minutes maybe, and coming home I loved to walk along the riverside and I could just cut back across the green to the apartments. Walking along the riverside there is like walking along the sand here which I also like to do, day or night.

Meeting in the city makes sense I guess.  I was much taken by the train line running down the middle of the expressway although I only got the train once from Canning Bridge to the CBD. I liked the relative lack of traffic in Perth, compared to Sydney, taking my No Birds hire car out for usually pleasant drives listening to Curtin FM. I don't particularly like the roads on the Gold Coast either but as long as I stay on the tram route it's perfect.

I've not been to Toowoomba for a long time. Oakey? Is that a military base?

Sorry mate, it was the Crowne Plaza I stayed at with the revolving restaurant. Well worth a visit.

Oakey is a very small town with a military base. Nothing much there at all. Makes Toowoomba look lively.

[Paul1Perth]

58 minutes ago, 22B said:

I hear you. My partner had been to Oz in a previous life and travelled extensively hence she already knew it was right for her. We now have three children and are bound by a very decent education system which has done us some favours so to wrench them home to a dubious educational future would be a step too far. Perth is utterly boring and you quickly run out of new or interesting things to do. To get a decent holiday requires booking years in advance, or travelling for hours on a plane. There are no hills.... no mountains... no real green... just red earth and sand and asbestos.

My ideal scenario would be to buy a property back in the UK so as to spend a decent amount of the holidays there getting my fix. But to be honest, if I am bound to spend the rest of my life in Australia, it certainly won't be here.

That's a different Perth to the one I live in. My wife booked Rottnest a couple of weeks before we went, via scoupon. $370 including ferry from freo, bikes included on the ferry, 2 nights in one of the better rooms at the lodge with breakfasts included. Great deal. We are going down to Dunsborough in a couple of weekends for an adventure race. 

No hills? Ever tried riding a bike in the hills? Guees not. 

No real green? There's kilometres of it, including forests, don't even have to go far, swan valley has loads of wineries.

You have to go a long way to get to the red earth and dust. I'm not a fan of that either.

[calNgary]

2 hours ago, 22B said:

I hear you. My partner had been to Oz in a previous life and travelled extensively hence she already knew it was right for her. We now have three children and are bound by a very decent education system which has done us some favours so to wrench them home to a dubious educational future would be a step too far. Perth is utterly boring and you quickly run out of new or interesting things to do. To get a decent holiday requires booking years in advance, or travelling for hours on a plane. There are no hills.... no mountains... no real green... just red earth and sand and asbestos.

My ideal scenario would be to buy a property back in the UK so as to spend a decent amount of the holidays there getting my fix. But to be honest, if I am bound to spend the rest of my life in Australia, it certainly won't be here.

Have you visited other States? It may seem strange to you as you pine for the UK, but moving States could tick more of your boxes,make you happier and thus making life more bearable for you. Qld and Northern NSW have an abundance of greenery and National parks but also have the decent weather, beaches etc like WA.. If you are very unhappy and your family do not want to return to the UK ,moving States is a relatively small comprise for them, so worth suggesting and discussing.

 Cal x

[ali]

4 hours ago, 22B said:

I hear you. My partner had been to Oz in a previous life and travelled extensively hence she already knew it was right for her. We now have three children and are bound by a very decent education system which has done us some favours so to wrench them home to a dubious educational future would be a step too far. Perth is utterly boring and you quickly run out of new or interesting things to do. To get a decent holiday requires booking years in advance, or travelling for hours on a plane. There are no hills.... no mountains... no real green... just red earth and sand and asbestos.

My ideal scenario would be to buy a property back in the UK so as to spend a decent amount of the holidays there getting my fix. But to be honest, if I am bound to spend the rest of my life in Australia, it certainly won't be here.

I have to disagree with the holiday thing and it's not our experience of living in Perth - but appreciate we're all different.  Have you thought of living in Tassie - reminds my hubby of Wales.

[MARYROSE02]

18 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

That's a human rights violation right there.  I have a proper Waitrose (juice bar, wine bar, cafe, bakery cafe, sushi, etc) and then a little Waitrose a bit close for emergencies.  Both 5 minutes away.  M&S take more like 10 as my car doesn't fit in their car park....

I like the idea of five minutes walk but not five minutes by car as I no longer have a car. In my English village I preferred to walk over to Alldays (or is it the Co Op  now) which was 150 metres, than to drive to Asda, Tesco or Waitrose. It was the same in Sydney with a convenience store outside my door and the lady who ran it happy to get things in for me. And here in Surfers Paradise, the supermarket is like Alldays in Marchwood - 150 metres away, with the beach another 100 metres!

[MARYROSE02]

5 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

Sorry mate, it was the Crowne Plaza I stayed at with the revolving restaurant. Well worth a visit.

Oakey is a very small town with a military base. Nothing much there at all. Makes Toowoomba look lively.

I know the Crowne Plaza having stayed there with my brother last year for almost two weeks, and friends of ours stayed there earlier this year. It's right by Florida Gardens tram stop and I did get the tram down there a few weeks back, and walked to Broadbeach. It's three stops on the tram from Cavill Ave.  It has its own little tavern in the side street and there's an Irish pub called Darcy Arms not too far away. We had a meal there with our friends.  I did not know last year but do now that Northcliffe Surf Life Savers Club is not far too. I've not been to the revolving restaurant though.

I looked up  Oakey - never been there. I like going to country towns and I still have the belief that is where 'real' Aussies live. I guess it is close enough to Toowoomba for the more advanced services you might need. Perhaps it is a little like my village Marchwood which has an army base and a military port.
 

[MARYROSE02]

5 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

That's a different Perth to the one I live in. My wife booked Rottnest a couple of weeks before we went, via scoupon. $370 including ferry from freo, bikes included on the ferry, 2 nights in one of the better rooms at the lodge with breakfasts included. Great deal. We are going down to Dunsborough in a couple of weekends for an adventure race. 

No hills? Ever tried riding a bike in the hills? Guees not. 

No real green? There's kilometres of it, including forests, don't even have to go far, swan valley has loads of wineries.

You have to go a long way to get to the red earth and dust. I'm not a fan of that either.

My own theory would be that it's not that a particular place is 'boring' but that other factors in your life are making you unhappy. I went to Perth in December, 2017 for the first time in 36 years, and I was immediately 'taken' by it. Perhaps my tastes are simpler but I basically do the same thing wherever I am in the world - find a bar or two and a cafe or two. After 4 weeks I was a 'local' in the Windsor Hotel. I support Tottenham Hotspur and I soon found where the Spurs fans go to watch games - pub in Subiaco - forgotten the name - Rosie O'Grady? or was that the name of an Irish bar I went to in Northbridge the second time I went over to WA? And after midnight the games are on in the casino at Burswood.

Perth is basically (for me) a mini Sydney, plenty of beaches, much more pleasant to drive in than Sydney though. I know I'm patronising Perth, but hopefully in a nice way, if I say that Perth traffic jams would not even rate a mention in Sydney. I'm not especially into wine but if you are then the Swan Valley wineries are half an hour away instead of three hours to the Hunter Valley. It is a long flight from Perth to other parts of Australia but I rarely go inter state anyway and on the other hand, Europe is a shorter flight!

As it happens Covid prevented me making a third trip to Perth and now I'm in Surfers Paradise, somewhere I can imagine some people would find boring - Benidorm Down Under? But I love it and I've done the same as I did in Perth (and in England when I went back for 12 years) and found some bars and cafes and turned myself into a local. 

Easy as! Is that an Aussie expression?

'

[Tink]

Home is where it suits at the time . The last couple of years I’ve had itchy feet , gone back to Europe back here . Covid has kept me here . I’ve made a home , doing all the things I did there . It’s making a niche for yourself enjoying where you are . Look for all the good in a place , enjoy it , no where has to be forever but good memories and good times so much nicer to look back on than discontent , it’s all in your attitude .

[Paul1Perth]

9 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

I know the Crowne Plaza having stayed there with my brother last year for almost two weeks, and friends of ours stayed there earlier this year. It's right by Florida Gardens tram stop and I did get the tram down there a few weeks back, and walked to Broadbeach. It's three stops on the tram from Cavill Ave.  It has its own little tavern in the side street and there's an Irish pub called Darcy Arms not too far away. We had a meal there with our friends.  I did not know last year but do now that Northcliffe Surf Life Savers Club is not far too. I've not been to the revolving restaurant though.

I looked up  Oakey - never been there. I like going to country towns and I still have the belief that is where 'real' Aussies live. I guess it is close enough to Toowoomba for the more advanced services you might need. Perhaps it is a little like my village Marchwood which has an army base and a military port.
 

They were still building the tramway last time I was there so it's been a while.