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

[MARYROSE02]

42 minutes ago, Paul1Perth said:

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

I am sitting in the Coffee Club Cafe about 20 metres from Cavill Ave station and a tram to Helensvale just went by.

The Qld govt intends to extend the line to Coolangatta airport and I think there is a plan with NSW to extend it to Tweed Heads. 

The tram to Broadbeach has just arrived. Another ten minutes or so and two more will come by. It is a wonderful service. 

Sydney's eastern subs tram finally got going last year and I'm not so sure about that one. I had bus outside my door as opposed to 10 min walk to tram stop or to Central Station for train to city as opposed to tram so it is not so convenient. 

Our apartment is above the cafe and 100 metres away is Woolies supermarket. The beach is 250 metres the other way. Another tram to Helensvale just left as I've been typing.

 

People tell me how close they are to places but they mean by car not walking. My brother wants to go to Pacific Fair and he will want to drive but it is 4 or 5 stops on tram and tram stop is right outside the mall. Plus I hate parking in mall car parks. Always get lost!

[MARYROSE02]

8 hours ago, Tink said:

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 .

I've never really planned my moves; they have just 'happened.' 1996, I was retrenched from my job in Sydney after 15 years and I went back to England intending it to be an extended holiday for up to a year. I bought a round the world air ticket. If my parents had not been in England I doubt I would have done that. I wasn't intending to get a job in England but I did and then I ended up staying for 12 years, and after my parents passed away I came back to Australia, and even that was not necessarily intended to be 'for good.'

And now, after nearly 12 years back in Sydney, it seems as if I have moved to Surfers Paradise and I am becoming a Queenslander (not till after Origin though). I can't really say that I miss anything about Sydney and the prices of real estate in my price range are certainly superior.

[Quoll]

21 minutes ago, MARYROSE02 said:

I've never really planned my moves; they have just 'happened.' 1996, I was retrenched from my job in Sydney after 15 years and I went back to England intending it to be an extended holiday for up to a year. I bought a round the world air ticket. If my parents had not been in England I doubt I would have done that. I wasn't intending to get a job in England but I did and then I ended up staying for 12 years, and after my parents passed away I came back to Australia, and even that was not necessarily intended to be 'for good.'

And now, after nearly 12 years back in Sydney, it seems as if I have moved to Surfers Paradise and I am becoming a Queenslander (not till after Origin though). I can't really say that I miss anything about Sydney and the prices of real estate in my price range are certainly superior.

Gosh, I cant believe how much our lives have had similar events - dont suppose we really are twins (are you a '49-er).  None of our moves were really planned either and certainly none were ever "the one to end all others".  We started out in PNG, DH decided to go to Uni and Bristol offered.  He applied for PhD scholarships and ANU offered then the best place for public servants was still in Canberra.  We went back to UK for a holiday in 2011 and ended up staying until March this year, caring for the olds - in my head it's not "forever" but who knows!!!  And today I had lunch in the Coffee Club in the Canberra Centre.  I absolutely dont think Queensland or WA would ever be in my future - Vic or Tas maybe but now being the proud owner of air conditioning I may never set foot outside the house ever again!

[MARYROSE02]

16 hours ago, Quoll said:

Gosh, I cant believe how much our lives have had similar events - dont suppose we really are twins (are you a '49-er).  None of our moves were really planned either and certainly none were ever "the one to end all others".  We started out in PNG, DH decided to go to Uni and Bristol offered.  He applied for PhD scholarships and ANU offered then the best place for public servants was still in Canberra.  We went back to UK for a holiday in 2011 and ended up staying until March this year, caring for the olds - in my head it's not "forever" but who knows!!!  And today I had lunch in the Coffee Club in the Canberra Centre.  I absolutely dont think Queensland or WA would ever be in my future - Vic or Tas maybe but now being the proud owner of air conditioning I may never set foot outside the house ever again!

I just spent half an hour typing  a reply, pressed a random key, and BOOM! Lost it all. Could not even identify the key so i don't do the same thing again. God's way of telling me I'd written a crock of @#$%. So, I must do a shorter version in case I lose it again. When I'm typing in Gmail or Google docs it usually saves it, even in the 'cloud' whatever that is. I have a Chrome Book which does not do Word.

None of my moves have been planned, from coming to OZ on a working holiday in 1978 and getting residency in 1980 because the government had an amnesty for illegal immigrants and I was here before the cut off date. Losing my job in 1996 and going back to England to see my parents and getting a job with Royal Mail and staying 12 years. After my parents died I came back to Oz but not with the intention of staying  - but I did! And finally this move to Qld which only came about because my brother was here.

Now it looks like I'm going to sell my home in Sydney - hard for me to do being sentimental over a place my parents helped me buy. My brothers are pushing me along. I guess I should look forward not back - get a lovely new place. Sell the house in England too!

So, are you not settled where you are now? Stupid question? 'Wherever you lay your hat is NOT your home?! I deal with the heat by mostly staying in during the day . The air con here is fine and kept me warm during the winter unlike my inefficient heaters in Sydney, though my flat was not too bad.

I've been doing an Open Uni course on and off for five years with an assignment due today - a poem which is a kind of review of my life both here and in OZ - "Mary Rose" aged 66 and a half (sorry not 49er - ripping off Adrian Mole but I will cite the reference if I keep that line as I will a reference to Good Times by Eric Burdon and the Animals - "When I think of all the good times that I've wasted having good times." I shall sing this line as it is an audio poem too.)

Got to head down to the Coffee Club for breakfast with my brother. He's been there every day all year and as he pays I tag along. We do lunch coffee there too.

D

 

[Red Rose]

I love Australia, but if you keep scratching the surface there is just not as much underneath as the UK. I don't want to use the word sterile, but I just don't think it has as much depth as the UK. I had to live away from the UK for 10 years to realise how much I actually took it for granted. 

[Toots]

9 minutes ago, Red Rose said:

I love Australia, but if you keep scratching the surface there is just not as much underneath as the UK. I don't want to use the word sterile, but I just don't think it has as much depth as the UK. I had to live away from the UK for 10 years to realise how much I actually took it for granted. 

Lots of returnees feel the same as you.  At least you all went back and didn't stay in Australia slowly starting to hate the place.  I've known people in Canada and New Zealand who also returned to the UK and are perfectly happy there.

 

[MARYROSE02]

6 hours ago, Red Rose said:

I love Australia, but if you keep scratching the surface there is just not as much underneath as the UK. I don't want to use the word sterile, but I just don't think it has as much depth as the UK. I had to live away from the UK for 10 years to realise how much I actually took it for granted. 

You need to be more specific about the 'lack of depth' in Australia as compared to the UK. I have lived, worked, and played, for long periods in both countries and I find it hard to discern any great difference in the two countries.  We talk about football, real estate, our families, current affairs, whatever. I am in Surfers Paradise tonight and I could have equally been in my local village pub in England.

[Bulya]

Took years to feel right in Australia.  Now you couldn’t get me back to Blighty in a pine  box!

[bug family]

On 31/10/2020 at 15:53, Red Rose said:

I love Australia, but if you keep scratching the surface there is just not as much underneath as the UK

I have to totally agree 

[starlight7]

We have lived here in Australia for nearly 50 years now and have all our children ,grandchildren and now great grandchildren here. When we emigrated early 1970s it took approx 6months to 'settle' and feel right- once we had bought our first house here that is. Everytime  I went back to the UK, after approx  2-3 weeks,  I got this feeling of being suffocated by crowds and just pined for Australia and the weather in Melbourne which is ok, despite what the rest of Australians say! Certain things about the UK you don't find here and I do miss- history of course, the age of buildings, pubs, little country villages but I just felt right here in a way I never did in London or for that matter in the midlands where we last lived. I became much more outgoing here because I had to and I found it easy to make friends ( some of whom I still catch up with now). I don't think I would have settled anywhere else except Melbourne though.  We lived in Tassie for a while but it wasn't for me, a bit too small and boring ( though now we are older I am sure we might like it). We all have somewhere we feel at home I think.

[MARYROSE02]

5 hours ago, bug family said:

I have to totally agree 

You have to be more specific. 

[MARYROSE02]

4 hours ago, starlight7 said:

We have lived here in Australia for nearly 50 years now and have all our children ,grandchildren and now great grandchildren here. When we emigrated early 1970s it took approx 6months to 'settle' and feel right- once we had bought our first house here that is. Everytime  I went back to the UK, after approx  2-3 weeks,  I got this feeling of being suffocated by crowds and just pined for Australia and the weather in Melbourne which is ok, despite what the rest of Australians say! Certain things about the UK you don't find here and I do miss- history of course, the age of buildings, pubs, little country villages but I just felt right here in a way I never did in London or for that matter in the midlands where we last lived. I became much more outgoing here because I had to and I found it easy to make friends ( some of whom I still catch up with now). I don't think I would have settled anywhere else except Melbourne though.  We lived in Tassie for a while but it wasn't for me, a bit too small and boring ( though now we are older I am sure we might like it). We all have somewhere we feel at home I think.

The odd thing about history is that now, places like Sydney have over two hundred years of 'British' history. I think Hyde Park Barracks was built around 1817? But here in Surfers Paradise I realized with some shock that I am older than most of the buildings here! 

Sydney also seems more crowded than my village in the New Forest, so much so that I half wished I'd moved to London before coming to OZ so I could adjust to life in a big, BIG city

[Toots]

11 hours ago, starlight7 said:

We have lived here in Australia for nearly 50 years now and have all our children ,grandchildren and now great grandchildren here. When we emigrated early 1970s it took approx 6months to 'settle' and feel right- once we had bought our first house here that is. Everytime  I went back to the UK, after approx  2-3 weeks,  I got this feeling of being suffocated by crowds and just pined for Australia and the weather in Melbourne which is ok, despite what the rest of Australians say! Certain things about the UK you don't find here and I do miss- history of course, the age of buildings, pubs, little country villages but I just felt right here in a way I never did in London or for that matter in the midlands where we last lived. I became much more outgoing here because I had to and I found it easy to make friends ( some of whom I still catch up with now). I don't think I would have settled anywhere else except Melbourne though.  We lived in Tassie for a while but it wasn't for me, a bit too small and boring ( though now we are older I am sure we might like it). We all have somewhere we feel at home I think.

........................   and I couldn't be happier here.   I'm certainly never bored but I'm one of those people who dislikes cities and crowds.  I don't need any of that anymore.  Had my fill after many years in Sydney.

[Bulya]

On 29/10/2020 at 16:10, Quoll said:

Gosh, I cant believe how much our lives have had similar events - dont suppose we really are twins (are you a '49-er).  None of our moves were really planned either and certainly none were ever "the one to end all others".  We started out in PNG, DH decided to go to Uni and Bristol offered.  He applied for PhD scholarships and ANU offered then the best place for public servants was still in Canberra.  We went back to UK for a holiday in 2011 and ended up staying until March this year, caring for the olds - in my head it's not "forever" but who knows!!!  And today I had lunch in the Coffee Club in the Canberra Centre.  I absolutely dont think Queensland or WA would ever be in my future - Vic or Tas maybe but now being the proud owner of air conditioning I may never set foot outside the house ever again!

Far better places than Coffee Club.  Enjoy your air-con, a necessity in Canberra summers!

[bug family]

12 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

You have to be more specific.

Mmmmm let me think Maryrose   ....some things are tangible and you can definitely make the comparison, but others not so much, therefore it is hard to be specific, that is because everyone feels different about where they live and what they experience here and have experienced elsewhere in their lives......for example in my opinion, here the suburbs are all very nice and clean and the houses look shiny on the outside, but its a facade, as on the inside they are all pretty much the same boxy soulless layout and quite dark and depressing and life here, for me at least seems to be the same ......its a choice of beach, bbq, aussie football, v8 holdens, with a bit of alcohol, sunburn, mosquitoes and endless outback...and not much else ...oooo but we have got a tour of freemantle prison that you can go on for the sixteenth time ..... for example you mention village pubs in one of your earlier posts, that feeling that you get when you discover a little village and its pub that you have never been to before....compared to.....discovering another coles in a generic shopping centre set in the middle of a bunch of houses all built on a large sand pit.....just not the same is it.....It is unfair I suppose to compare historical items as yes Britain has a massive amount of culture and historical places and I am not going to get into making a comparison list as i would be obviously biased in what I would list,  I simply tend to agree on what red rose commented that underneath the shiny exterior here it is not very shiny at all .....in fact its very dull

[MacGyver]

20 minutes ago, bug family said:

Mmmmm let me think Maryrose   ....some things are tangible and you can definitely make the comparison, but others not so much, therefore it is hard to be specific, that is because everyone feels different about where they live and what they experience here and have experienced elsewhere in their lives......for example in my opinion, here the suburbs are all very nice and clean and the houses look shiny on the outside, but its a facade, as on the inside they are all pretty much the same boxy soulless layout and quite dark and depressing and life here, for me at least seems to be the same ......its a choice of beach, bbq, aussie football, v8 holdens, with a bit of alcohol, sunburn, mosquitoes and endless outback...and not much else ...oooo but we have got a tour of freemantle prison that you can go on for the sixteenth time ..... for example you mention village pubs in one of your earlier posts, that feeling that you get when you discover a little village and its pub that you have never been to before....compared to.....discovering another coles in a generic shopping centre set in the middle of a bunch of houses all built on a large sand pit.....just not the same is it.....It is unfair I suppose to compare historical items as yes Britain has a massive amount of culture and historical places and I am not going to get into making a comparison list as i would be obviously biased in what I would list,  I simply tend to agree on what red rose commented that underneath the shiny exterior here it is not very shiny at all .....in fact its very dull

I haven't read too many of your posts BF so please forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn. I was just wondering if you would have/might still prefer a different city/state to Perth/WA based on what you've written? Most of the 'historical' buildings and small interesting country towns are probably to the East rather than West, with larger population density to support these things (relatively speaking). Its not the same history as the UK of course, but I wonder if it might have been enough of a hint of it to help you feel more settled?

[bug family]

56 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

I haven't read too many of your posts BF so please forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn. I was just wondering if you would have/might still prefer a different city/state to Perth/WA based on what you've written? Most of the 'historical' buildings and small interesting country towns are probably to the East rather than West, with larger population density to support these things (relatively speaking). Its not the same history as the UK of course, but I wonder if it might have been enough of a hint of it to help you feel more settled?

Hi MacGyver, Do you know what, I think you are probably right, given another roll of the 'Australia dice' i would not have settled for WA and gone over East and maybe, just maybe things would have turned out different...for a start it would have been a lot further away from my mother in law , ......But yes it does seem that would have suited us better as a family, unfortunately we have come to far down the road and are no longer a married couple (although we are like best friends living in the same house) and we want very different things...but yes, given another shot I would have tried over east

[MARYROSE02]

2 hours ago, bug family said:

Mmmmm let me think Maryrose   ....some things are tangible and you can definitely make the comparison, but others not so much, therefore it is hard to be specific, that is because everyone feels different about where they live and what they experience here and have experienced elsewhere in their lives......for example in my opinion, here the suburbs are all very nice and clean and the houses look shiny on the outside, but its a facade, as on the inside they are all pretty much the same boxy soulless layout and quite dark and depressing and life here, for me at least seems to be the same ......its a choice of beach, bbq, aussie football, v8 holdens, with a bit of alcohol, sunburn, mosquitoes and endless outback...and not much else ...oooo but we have got a tour of freemantle prison that you can go on for the sixteenth time ..... for example you mention village pubs in one of your earlier posts, that feeling that you get when you discover a little village and its pub that you have never been to before....compared to.....discovering another coles in a generic shopping centre set in the middle of a bunch of houses all built on a large sand pit.....just not the same is it.....It is unfair I suppose to compare historical items as yes Britain has a massive amount of culture and historical places and I am not going to get into making a comparison list as i would be obviously biased in what I would list,  I simply tend to agree on what red rose commented that underneath the shiny exterior here it is not very shiny at all .....in fact its very dull

Ah but you are going in heavy on the stereotypes. AFL? No problem for me. If I hadn't come to Australia I would never have developed an interest in either AFL or NRL, or RU for that matter. I already liked cricket which meant the summers were sorted. Now I have both AFL team - Sydney Swans - and NRL team - Melbourne Storm, and I would recommend to anybody with an interest in football (soccer) who is coming to OZ to find themselves local teams, including soccer of course, as all the states have a professional soccer team too (apart from Tassie). I would say the same thing to any Aussie going to the UK - find yourself a footie team to go for. Actually half the blokes I know who watch Spurs here are Aussies anyway.

Aussie pubs, Pommie pubs? You can always find somewhere nice. In Perth, or rather South Perth, I became a local very quickly in the Windsor Hotel, and when I stayed for a couple of weeks in Applecross, Raffles hotel became my local. Spurs fans go to a pub in Subiaco  - Rosie O'Gradys? Or is that the name of the Irish pub I went to in Northhbridge when I stayed there for a week. No matter, they made me welcome. I liked Subiaco too, ditto Freemantle though I've not done the Gaol. But then again, I don't 'do' the tourist attractions.

Here in Surfers Paradise, as I said on another post, I am older than most of the buildings and I have not been on a single tour in three months. Those shopping centres you describe could be any of the suburban supermarkets in England - Tesco, Morrisons, ASDA (tho I liked ASDA). And since coming to Surfers I've done exactly as I did in Perth, finding myself some local bars. OK, none of them have thatched roofs or do real ale but the people are the same. My brother just came back from Waxy's Irish pub where he put his bets on the Melbourne Cup saying how friendly it was and he'd made five friends just by asking how to put bets on. He shamed me because I went in there and was put off by the queues and too shy to ask for help with my bets.

I never get tired of walking along the beach in Surfers and I never got tired of walking or cycling in The New Forest. They are both unique with their own different attractions. You may just get a shock if and when you go back to live in the UK and find that you miss OZ! You won't be the first to be like that.

 

[Marisawright]

25 minutes ago, MARYROSE02 said:

You may just get a shock if and when you go back to live in the UK and find that you miss OZ! You won't be the first to be like that.

 

There's one important difference between you and bug family.  Like I said, you are adaptable - you liked Perth, you liked Adelaide, you liked Sydney, you like Surfers, you like Penrith, you like various places in the UK - you're the ideal migrant, able to settle in a wide variety of places.

Bug family feels a yearning for England. It's not rational, it's not based on whether a place is nice to live or not, it's a deep-seated need to be in the land where he belongs.  Australia could be a paradise and it would make no difference.  He could go back to England and discover it's a s*** heap and he would still be happy as a pig in mud. You may not have that strong attachment to a place, but an awful lot of people do.

[Toots]

1 hour ago, bug family said:

Hi MacGyver, Do you know what, I think you are probably right, given another roll of the 'Australia dice' i would not have settled for WA and gone over East and maybe, just maybe things would have turned out different...for a start it would have been a lot further away from my mother in law , ......But yes it does seem that would have suited us better as a family, unfortunately we have come to far down the road and are no longer a married couple (although we are like best friends living in the same house) and we want very different things...but yes, given another shot I would have tried over east

I remember one of your earlier posts where you said the in-laws were a bit of a nightmare.  You poor bloke.  They caused quite a number of problems for at one time didn't they?  I don't know how you manage to retain your sense of humour.  

[Quoll]

7 hours ago, Bulya said:

Far better places than Coffee Club.  Enjoy your air-con, a necessity in Canberra summers!

There are probably better places for coffee but so very few of them serve it with cream (and no I dont want a lecture on how that is unhealthy for you blah blah blah, like they tend to do) and the Coffee Club do - every time I ask!!!  I usually ask a place up front if they have cream with coffee and if they say no, then I wander on.  Some of them think they are being helpful with a dollop of thickened something and I have even had a small saucer of what looks like whipped cream put down beside the cup. The concept of pouring cream is beyond most of them.  Thrilled with the aircon (it's actually ducted reverse cycle stuff so much better than we were anticipating getting!)

[newjez]

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

There's one important difference between you and bug family.  Like I said, you are adaptable - you liked Perth, you liked Adelaide, you liked Sydney, you like Surfers, you like Penrith, you like various places in the UK - you're the ideal migrant, able to settle in a wide variety of places.

Bug family feels a yearning for England. It's not rational, it's not based on whether a place is nice to live or not, it's a deep-seated need to be in the land where he belongs.  Australia could be a paradise and it would make no difference.  He could go back to England and discover it's a s*** heap and he would still be happy as a pig in mud. You may not have that strong attachment to a place, but an awful lot of people do.

The new series of all creatures great and small is pretty damn good.

I would expect it to cause an exodus of old migrants back to England.

[Bulya]

55 minutes ago, Quoll said:

There are probably better places for coffee but so very few of them serve it with cream (and no I dont want a lecture on how that is unhealthy for you blah blah blah, like they tend to do) and the Coffee Club do - every time I ask!!!  I usually ask a place up front if they have cream with coffee and if they say no, then I wander on.  Some of them think they are being helpful with a dollop of thickened something and I have even had a small saucer of what looks like whipped cream put down beside the cup. The concept of pouring cream is beyond most of them.  Thrilled with the aircon (it's actually ducted reverse cycle stuff so much better than we were anticipating getting!)

Govt temp recommendations are good.  19.5 winter, 24.5 summer.  Every degree over or under adds 10% to the power bill.  Never had coffee with cream only skim/low fat milk. 

[Quoll]

4 hours ago, Bulya said:

Govt temp recommendations are good.  19.5 winter, 24.5 summer.  Every degree over or under adds 10% to the power bill.  Never had coffee with cream only skim/low fat milk. 

Ah you haven’t lived!!! 

[Quoll]

4 hours ago, newjez said:

The new series of all creatures great and small is pretty damn good.

I would expect it to cause an exodus of old migrants back to England.

It is great isn’t it?! My granddaughter loves it and wants to go and live in England!!!