Stuck in ‘Paradise’

[MARYROSE02]

6 hours ago, BrisPaul said:

I started feeling like we'd made a mistake within 12 months. After the first few months of catching up with everybody and the routine of life kicked in. Realisation started to hit home. I never said anything and just got on with it for fear of unsettling my family again. We just got back in time for my 15 year old to squeeze into secondary school as you all know the Aussie school age left her a year behind. She worked really hard and caught up with the curriculum and got back on track. So the option of going back to Australia wasn't even on the table. As I said in the previous post the timing was awful due to the school age of my eldest and was my biggest regret in the decision.

I don't think we've ever said "we wish we stayed in the UK and never emigrated" because it was the happiest we've ever been as a family. Having a really well paid job the country really did give us everything we wished for and more. We lived in North Lakes and life just became a bit plastic. Oz is full of these estates that have gorgeous homes well thought out amenities with playgrounds, schools and shopping centres sprung up overnight. We were really, really happy for a while then started to feel it was a bit soul less. I can't put my finger but I wish we'd have just stayed and I've no doubt the feelings of wanting to return to our roots would have passed.

We live on the Wirral so its not too bad of an area, and if anything being in Oz has made us appreciate where we are more than ever. I regularly go into Snowdonia National Park hiking and have weekends away in the UK more than what we've ever done before we emigrated.

Life is full of crossroads isn't it? You make a choice and hope its the right one, some you win and some you don't and my own personal choice at that crossroad was wrong. But I will say one thing if I was still there now and had been trapped there unable to see my last remaining parent as all our friends over there have I'd be absolutely beside myself so I suppose I've spared myself that anguish. Hahaha.

My eldest daughter who I've been telling you about rang us last night to tell us she's selling her car as she wants to go back to Oz for a month over Christmas. Strange turn of events this week for me stumbling over an old Pomsinoz email which lied me to post to my daughter saying she's coming back!!

My youngest is in Leeds Uni and absolutely loves it and has no urges to return at all but either way the one thing I have given them is the option with the dual passport to leave if they want to later on in their lives.

Anyway, I hope you all choose the correct turning at your own personal crossroads.

Life is full of those crossroads and in 1996, after 18 years in Sydney and 15 years in the same job I was made redundant. At the time I was devastated but if ever there was a cloud with a sliver lining that was it. I went back to England with a one year return ticket and stayed for 12 years. My mum died within a year following and accident. (She was knocked over by a dog in our driveway. ) My dad died 8 years later and I stayed on for a couple of more years. I'd got used to living in England and had a nice job with Royal Mail.

Eventually,  I came back to Sydney and I've not been back to England for 13 years. Life seems essentially the same for me whether I'm in Southampton, Sydney, or now, Surfers Paradise. I'm sitting on the seafront 300 metres from where I live.  I could not do that in Southampton or Sydney but in Southampton I rode my bicycle every day and I've not been on a bike in Sydney. 

Wherever I live I find cafes, restaurants and pubs (or the Surf Club here) where I can become a "local". I don't distinguish between "Aussies" and "Pommies" as if they are different. They are all friends.

I know what you mean about the new housing estates. One of my brothers lives in such an estate,  brand new homes but 60 km from Sydney CBD. He says "it's boring and there's nowhere to go" but at least he's got a car. Without a car it can be like living in an open prison if you have to rely on public transport. Then again, my village in England had poor public transport, not too bad during the day but not at night. If I drove home from work at 2130 I was home by 2150. If I relied on bus and train it was 2250 after waiting 30 minutes for a bus from the station. 

Are you an Aussie citizen? I guess if you are you can always come back as I did?

[Parley]

I certainly would not like to live in one of those new estates either with houses on tiny blocks and limited amenities.

Obviously most suburbs aren't like that.

I could equally say England is full of those awful slums with houses all stuck together in a long row. Very depressing.

Equally untrue of course to generalise whether Aus or UK.

[Marisawright]

5 minutes ago, Parley said:

I certainly would not like to live in one of those new estates either with houses on tiny blocks and limited amenities.

Obviously most suburbs aren't like that.

Actually, I think a very large number of suburbs are like that, across Australia.   I notice a big differnce between Melbourne and Sydney, in that so many Melbourne suburbs have kept their own high street and their own character, whereas in Sydney so much was knocked down, and the big Westfields pretty much wiped out the high streets in the neighbouring suburbs. 

[Parley]

5 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Actually, I think a very large number of suburbs are like that, across Australia.   I notice a big differnce between Melbourne and Sydney, in that so many Melbourne suburbs have kept their own high street and their own character, whereas in Sydney so much was knocked down, and the big Westfields pretty much wiped out the high streets in the neighbouring suburbs. 

I am more referring to the outer newer suburbs like Berwick and I assume places like Caroline Springs and places out in the far west of Melbourne.

New suburbs developed in the last 20 years or so seem to be very similar cookie cutter houses on small blocks. Driving around the streets feels like you are in a maze.

You are right about the demise of the High Street. That doesn't bother me too much. I like wandering round somewhere like Doncaster Shoppingtown or The Glen. Chadstone admittedly is huge and I usually get lost.

Edited February 22, 2022 by Parley

[Marisawright]

19 minutes ago, Parley said:

You are right about the demise of the High Street. That doesn't bother me too much. I like wandering round somewhere like Doncaster Shoppingtown or The Glen. Chadstone admittedly is huge and I usually get lost.

I like going to the big shopping malls occasionally too.  However in Sydney they've led to situations where all the local shops roundabout close down, then the high street empties out and the shopfronts become graffiti'd wrecks, so then people don't want to go there for restaurants or the pub either, so then the restaurants and pubs close down too, and you've got a suburb with nothing but houses and a kebab shop. 

[Bulya]

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

I like going to the big shopping malls occasionally too.  However in Sydney they've led to situations where all the local shops roundabout close down, then the high street empties out and the shopfronts become graffiti'd wrecks, so then people don't want to go there for restaurants or the pub either, so then the restaurants and pubs close down too, and you've got a suburb with nothing but houses and a kebab shop. 

Exactly the opposite in Canberra where the local shopping centres are booming, and a good thing too..  the suburbs of Cook and Aranda are two perfect examples.  

[NickyNook]

2 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I like going to the big shopping malls occasionally too.  However in Sydney they've led to situations where all the local shops roundabout close down, then the high street empties out and the shopfronts become graffiti'd wrecks, so then people don't want to go there for restaurants or the pub either, so then the restaurants and pubs close down too, and you've got a suburb with nothing but houses and a kebab shop. 

Have they? I've not noticed that and I often go to multiple large malls in Sydney. It's certainly not the case near the Westfields in Bondi Junction, Chatswood, Hornsby, Hurstville or Miranda.

Which suburbs are you referring to?

[Blue Flu]

3 hours ago, Parley said:

I certainly would not like to live in one of those new estates either with houses on tiny blocks and limited amenities.

Obviously most suburbs aren't like that.

I could equally say England is full of those awful slums with houses all stuck together in a long row. Very depressing.

Equally untrue of course to generalise whether Aus or UK.

Increasingly, In Perth anyhow, they are building multiple houses on ever smaller blocks across numerous suburbs. I'm inner city, and it is all about increasing density. Aesthetics don't play a large part but profit does. 

[Chortlepuss]

On 22/02/2022 at 18:08, Blue Flu said:

Increasingly, In Perth anyhow, they are building multiple houses on ever smaller blocks across numerous suburbs. I'm inner city, and it is all about increasing density. Aesthetics don't play a large part but profit does. 

Here in Brisbane the plot sizes get smaller and smaller but the McMansions built on them don’t! Huge 5 bed 2 bath houses inches from next door and with a tiny strip of yard at the back. We want to move to a smaller house with a bigger yard but these are snapped up by developers who concrete over every square inch. My dream is to plant a tropical garden but even with a reasonable budget, I’ve no chance! 

[Blue Flu]

37 minutes ago, Chortlepuss said:

Here in Brisbane the plot sizes get smaller and smaller but the McMansions built on them don’t! Huge 5 bed 2 bath houses inches from next door and with a tiny strip of yard at the back. We want to move to a smaller house with a bigger yard but these are snapped up by developers who concrete over every square inch. My dream is to plant a tropical garden but even with a reasonable budget, I’ve no chance! 

So sad what has been happening in Australia for sometime now and gathering pace. I've been in the market as well over recent years and have come across some appalling builds , leaving me wondering how ever did this get approval. Way out of sync with the neighbourhood, only to return some years later to witness so much of that locality vandalized by developers .

But still coming with a hefty price tag in a country ever devoured by greed at many levels. The same is happening in my inner city area now. (besides a lot else) Aesthesis being a word not in the council nor developers dictionary.   

[Bobj]

2 hours ago, Chortlepuss said:

Here in Brisbane the plot sizes get smaller and smaller but the McMansions built on them don’t! Huge 5 bed 2 bath houses inches from next door and with a tiny strip of yard at the back. We want to move to a smaller house with a bigger yard but these are snapped up by developers who concrete over every square inch. My dream is to plant a tropical garden but even with a reasonable budget, I’ve no chance! 

@Chortlepuss

$369,000 on half acre opposite my placeA45681D0-6985-498E-AAB4-FEFCAA3BAC0E.webp

The bloke who owned it has mangoes, bananas and assorted tropical fruit trees 

And only 200 metres to the beach! An ideal place to buy and retire
Cheers, Bobj.

[RandL]

9 hours ago, Bobj said:

@Chortlepuss

$369,000 on half acre opposite my placeA45681D0-6985-498E-AAB4-FEFCAA3BAC0E.webp

The bloke who owned it has mangoes, bananas and assorted tropical fruit trees 

And only 200 metres to the beach! An ideal place to buy and retire
Cheers, Bobj.

Oh I miss that blue sky

[proud preston]

@Chortlepuss and @Blue Flu- agree entirely with your posts