Back from Oz

[Guest Gags]

I grew up in England and moved to Oz with my Australian girlfriend after I graduated . I lived in Melbourne for the next 3 years and had a great time, but towards the end of the 3 years realised that better weather wasn’t everything in life. I had reached a bit of a dead-end career-wise (due in no small part to Aussie bureaucracy) and decided to move home about a year ago.

Coming back to the UK felt like waking up from a deep sleep. The speed with which things happen was really refreshing and things that I’d taken for granted previously suddenly became really appreciated.

Some of the people on this website (and in general) strike me as incredibly naive with regards to Australia, making comments about the place either without ever being there or having just arrived and blinded by sunshine. They seem to think that moving to Oz will result in one big beach party, one never ending barbeque and talk about the place as if it was the garden of eden. Sorry, it isn’t.

Being realistic, you will do essentially the same things as you do here: commute to work, work, commute to home, eat, watch TV, go out, sleep, repeat, repeat, weekend. Having held several jobs in Oz, I worked with a vast number of different of local people, primarily in a similar age bracket (20-30) and of a similar background (relatively middle-class and mostly degree-educated). This pattern generally holds true.

Unless you live in London you are likely to spend longer on your commute in Australian cities. Many of my friends thought nothing of travelling an hour each way to work, in fact several even had longer journeys combining driving to their local train station, catching a train into the city and then tram to their office. Very concentrated CBDs and virtually unchecked suburban sprawl means that people often live huge distances from their place work. I now live on the edge of Leeds, 5 miles from the city centre. In Melbourne this would be classed as an inner suburb. Where I live now is walking distance from rolling hills, cows, sheep, literally a couple of miles to the Dales.

The unemployment rate is higher in Oz and depending on what industry you work in, you are likely to find more job opportunities in the UK and likely to get paid more for the same work, especially if you are a skilled professional. If you don’t live in the South-East of England, the cost of living is very similar. Coming from the Yorkshire, I actually found Sydney expensive and Melbourne comparable. There are overs and unders, sure, but averaged out across a ‘Basket of Goods’ prices were very close – its certainly not as cheap as the States and not nearly as cheap as smug locals would have you believe.

You seem to get more public holidays in Australia but less annual leave. 4 weeks is standard, where many employers in the UK now offer 5 or even 6 weeks (even if it is salary-sacrificed into flexible benefits packages). The holidays are all bunched up around Christmas – that’s also their summer holiday because of the reversed seasons. Apart from Afl, nothing seems to happen there over winter (actually most of the year round come to think of it).

With your time off their is infinitely more things to do in the UK, or at least from the UK. Generally 2 hours travelling time is what you want to arrive at your destination of choice. Within 2 hours I could be in Paris. 2 hours from Melbourne and i’d be driving through never-ending nothingness, on the way to Wolf Creek probably.

Having been back in the UK for about 12 months, I have had a much outdoors lifestyle than in Oz. It may be warmer there, but you seem to spend your life in an air-conditioned cocoon. Since being back I have played more golf, gone walking in the dales and the lake district (there is nothing that I saw in Oz that can compare to these in terms of beauty). From where I now live, I can go on day trips to York and Harrogate and go to lovely country pubs for Sunday dinner. I have only been back a year but have already been for weekends away to Prague and Paris, worked in Chicago for a fortnight and am going to Tuscany in June. These sort of opportunities simply do not exist from Australia. Once you are there, it is very long way to anything else.

Don’t get me started on Australian TV (non-stop American reality show imports littered with adverts). The music scene is awful. The food is strictly Greek/Italian or Viet/Thai. Nobody has heard of Tapas. Curries are almost impossible to find. And French food might as well not exist.

A lot of people cite their children as the prime reason for emigrating which I find quite strange. As if a bigger garden and a bit more sunshine is all kids need!

Did i think my friends and colleagues were any happier or more rounded individuals as a result of growing up in Australia? Certainly not. For most of the people I know in Australia, many have rarely been outside the state of Victoria. The vast majority have only been outside of their home country once or twice, generally on a year out working in a bar in London, ‘doing’ all of Europe in a 3 week contiki tour.

Whilst, I count many Australians amongst my best friends, I have to admit that on the whole, the geographic isolation and inward-focused media leaves them relatively uncultured, often quite narrow-minded and occassionally extremely bigotted when compared to people of similar socio-economic backgrounds in the UK. Those that don’t believe me should have been in Oz when the Shappelle Corby case was in the news. The way people I knew (and the country as a whole) reacted to it made me embarrassed to be in the country at the time.

There is massive problems of drug abuse (especially Crystal Meth and Heroin) and gambling is seen as socially acceptable, normal even. People who think that anti-social behaviour is purely a British problem are absolutely deluding themselves. My ‘neighbours’ in Melbourne used to use our stairwell as a urinal. Fights in pubs and on the street are commonplace, often much more violent than in the UK. My girlfriend’s cousin recently had a freind die in her arms from stab wounds inflicted after a fight out in Perth. Another friends of mine has permanent damage to his eyes after a gang jumped him in St Kilda and kicked and scratched and gouged at him, completely unprovoked. Young people get involved in illegal drag-races out in the suburbs every single weekend. If you keep an eye on the local news you may also have heard about the Cronulla race riots, Premier Brack’s daughter recently being taken to A & E after underage binge-drinking and yobs defacing the ANZAC memorial. People who think this stuff doesn’t happen in Australia are, frankly, living in cloud cuckoo land.

Because of the nature of the work I do, most of the people I worked with had been to University. Because of the financial constraints of tertiary education in Australia, the majority of people I knew had both lived at home and worked part time to fund their studies. University was 3 of the best years of my life, mostly as a result of living away from home and being completely immersed in the student way of life. The Australians I know have a massive void in their experience as a result.

I grew up in a small village in a rural area. As a result we had big a massive garden. Did this make my childhood more enjoyable? No. The things I enjoyed most were trips abroad or knowing that I would be able to do what I wanted in life, going away to University and having the world at my feet.

I used to go on holiday at least once a year either with my family or with school. The furthest kids go in Oz is on school camp to Maloooonlongatta or somewhere else completely irrelevant.

 

For people like myself, young, ambitious and cultured, Australia has very little to offer. From England I may not have the time and money to do everything that I want to do. Trapped in Australia, however, there simply weren’t enough things to keep me occupied. The world is an amazing place, I couldn’t be removed that far removed from it again. People contemplating a move to Oz should really look beyond the beaches and shiny office buildings before they decide to sacrifice all the things they take for granted.

[Guest MelW]

There must be some good sides to oz, my reasons to move to Brisbane as you stated are to give my children a better standard of live, not just for the outside culture, as we go camping quite a few weekends in summer, but this country has nothing to offer for me, husband or my young children, the goverment take most of the money for taxes and then a bit more on top, yet we both work more than full time hours just to keep paying for every tom, dick and harry that they keep letting into 'this fabulous country' that you are so proud of. Maybe we are naive, but is there really anything wrong with wanting to dream of a better place than this hell hole.

[Guest mandytuck]

Hi, welcome back to England. It sounds as though you are disillusioned with your time in Oz. I am not denying that England is a glorious country as far as views and places to go are concerned, but the way it is being run down at the moment does not give me any confidence that it will be a good place for my sons to try and make a good life for themselves and their future families. I know Oz is isolated when you compare it to here and that there is not the same history or culture, but we have seen it here already and want to try something different. England is becoming so much like the USA (gangs, guns, knives, drugs, cut-throat business ideals etc.) that it scares me! The amount of illegal immigrants and also legal ones that only come here to get benefits as we are so soft with them worries me too. If life at home is so hard and dangerous, why is it usually young men who come here....what about their families left behind on their own in the 'dangerous, hard country'? I welcome anyone who wants to work and pay taxes like the rest of us, but not others. I know Oz has it's bad points...I would be stupid to think otherwise, but it can't be as bad as we are heading here.

[Guest Gags]

There are some good points to Australia and i left behind a lot of good friends, but i can literally count the things i miss about Australia on one hand. The fact of the matter is that I have done much more in one year since returning to the UK then i did in the entire 3 years i was in Australia. It must be a generational thing because I simply don't get it. The kind of response you post stating every 'Tom Dick and Harry' makes me think you are the typical Daily Mail-reading racist expat that'll probably get along fine with the redneck locals in rural Queensland. Australia is a country of immigrants if you hadn't noticed, what do you expect to find there, a Ku Klux Klan convention. Melbourne and Sydney in particular have huge immigrant belts where you wouldn't see many a white face, you would be shocked!

[Guest clayton gang]

Hi, welcome back to England. It sounds as though you are disillusioned with your time in Oz. I am not denying that England is a glorious country as far as views and places to go are concerned, but the way it is being run down at the moment does not give me any confidence that it will be a good place for my sons to try and make a

Hi Mandy

 

After reading this thread I agree with what you say and think you have hit the nail on the head. We are not going for the sunshine and the beaches. We are going because like you said the UK has changed so much and not for the best. I have educated children with degrees and sadly my daughter can not even get a job.

 

I know one thing when you work in Australia you are better thought of, in the UK this is not the case. You don't go to school you get incentives here, you do go to school and work hard you get nothing. If you know how to work the benefits system you are sorted and believe me I know. After working for NHS for 21 years and seeing the changes I would not say they are for the best.

 

My family are going to Australia to work and be appreciated for what we do. My children are not babies but educated people who deserve better and I feel the UK can not offer this anymore.

 

Jenny

[Guest clayton gang]

There are some good points to Australia and i left behind a lot of good friends, but i can literally count the things i miss about Australia on one hand. The fact of the matter is that I have done much more in one year since returning to the UK then i did in the entire 3 years i was in Australia. It must be a generational thing because I simply don't get it. The kind of response you post stating every 'Tom Dick and Harry' makes me think you are the typical Daily Mail-reading racist expat that'll probably get along fine with the redneck locals in rural Queensland. Australia is a country of immigrants if you hadn't noticed, what do you expect to find there, a Ku Klux Klan convention. Melbourne and Sydney in particular have huge immigrant belts where you wouldn't see many a white face, you would be shocked!

 

Sorry Gags

 

I think you are wrong. I am not racist and never have been, In my line of work I deal with lots of different nationalities and may I say with respect. I supposebly live on the outskirts of one of the worst cities in the UK (HULL). Life has changed so much and yes we do have a lot of different nationalities living in the UK who will do jobs that a lot of people won't. Maybe a few years down the line you may wonder why you ever came back.

 

How would you feel if you had a child who was beat up just because they didn't like the way he was dressed. This was by a group white youths who had been drinking. If they had got him on the floor they would of killed him.

 

Please don't judge us when you don't know why we want to leave the UK.

[Guest scottish-kiwi]

thanks for your post gags - very interesting to read. one downside of this forum i find is that it is for poms looking to move to oz so not many poms who have been in oz for years write on it - would be very interesting to hear from lots of poms who have been in oz long term. youhave definitely given me lots to think about. i agree i too have rose tinted glasses on - but a lot of that to do with wanting it to be better! i try not to think about the deadly snakes, spiders, termites that literally eat homes, the drought that is very very serious and lots of other potentially negative things. i just need to go and see what its like - the one thing your post has made us do though is we are going to put our stuff into storage in the uk and wait until we are there and then make a decision whether or not to ship stuff across or come back - so thank you again for your post - good to hear real experiences in oz.

[Guest Abi&Dan]

There are some good points to Australia and i left behind a lot of good friends, but i can literally count the things i miss about Australia on one hand. The fact of the matter is that I have done much more in one year since returning to the UK then i did in the entire 3 years i was in Australia. It must be a generational thing because I simply don't get it. The kind of response you post stating every 'Tom Dick and Harry' makes me think you are the typical Daily Mail-reading racist expat that'll probably get along fine with the redneck locals in rural Queensland. Australia is a country of immigrants if you hadn't noticed, what do you expect to find there, a Ku Klux Klan convention. Melbourne and Sydney in particular have huge immigrant belts where you wouldn't see many a white face, you would be shocked!

 

Gags

 

I read your original post with interest - I entirely agree people often deal with the whole emigration issue with blinkers on and many will get a few very nasty surprises when they return to the real world.

 

However, the later response to Mel simply makes me think you're one of the many people who take pleasure in coming onto sites such as PIO and intentionally raining on people's parades - treating people who you know nothing whatsoever about as if they're everything you despise in life. It's not a great behavioural trait.

 

The choice to emigrate or even to return to the UK is entirely down to individuals and people's experiences can be very different. You certainly should not be judging everyone else on your own jaded view.

 

I for example am 26 years old, grew up for 17 years in Harrogate (day trip? pah! not for me again) and now live in York. I am intelligent and well educated and have a good, well paid job. However, I also like my life extremely laid back and Oz will suit just fine thank you very much. If it doesn't I'll return to the UK and continue not to make assumptions about other people.

 

If I've read you wrong, I apologise, but if that's the case you should probably be a bit more careful what you put in print.

[Guest Rachel&Stu]

Hey Abi,

You took the words right out of my mouth.......:skeptical:

 

Rachel x

an avid Daily Mail reader who happily shares her space with ANYONE as long as they are not gonna try and blow me up. Ta.

[Guest MelW]

Once again you seemed to of judged incorrectly, I am by no means a racist, and I have many friends of different backgrounds and races, and everyone is free to move around the world as the next person, everyone is free to have an opionion also, this is the first ever post that I have felt so strongly about, every country has its faults, and no where is perfect, my point been with the Tom, Dick and Harry comment is that we have our own people struggling to survice yet we give these people an easy ride when entering our country. If they made it as hard to get here as it is to enter other countries maybe I and other people would not feel so bitter, but I resent the fact that you have judged me as racist !!!!!!! You could not be further from the truth.

[The Broughtons]

I got my visa and I'm still going too!!!!!!!

[Guest leanneandmark]

yep us too. and why not!!!!

[Kabroom]

I grew up in England and moved to Oz with my Australian girlfriend after I graduated . I lived in Melbourne for the next 3 years and had a great time, but towards the end of the 3 years realised that better weather wasn’t everything in life. I had reached a bit of a dead-end career-wise (due in no small part to Aussie bureaucracy) and decided to move home about a year ago.

Coming back to the UK felt like waking up from a deep sleep. The speed with which things happen was really refreshing and things that I’d taken for granted previously suddenly became really appreciated.

Some of the people on this website (and in general) strike me as incredibly naive with regards to Australia, making comments about the place either without ever being there or having just arrived and blinded by sunshine. They seem to think that moving to Oz will result in one big beach party, one never ending barbeque and talk about the place as if it was the garden of eden. Sorry, it isn’t.

Being realistic, you will do essentially the same things as you do here: commute to work, work, commute to home, eat, watch TV, go out, sleep, repeat, repeat, weekend. Having held several jobs in Oz, I worked with a vast number of different of local people, primarily in a similar age bracket (20-30) and of a similar background (relatively middle-class and mostly degree-educated). This pattern generally holds true.

Unless you live in London you are likely to spend longer on your commute in Australian cities. Many of my friends thought nothing of travelling an hour each way to work, in fact several even had longer journeys combining driving to their local train station, catching a train into the city and then tram to their office. Very concentrated CBDs and virtually unchecked suburban sprawl means that people often live huge distances from their place work. I now live on the edge of Leeds, 5 miles from the city centre. In Melbourne this would be classed as an inner suburb. Where I live now is walking distance from rolling hills, cows, sheep, literally a couple of miles to the Dales.

The unemployment rate is higher in Oz and depending on what industry you work in, you are likely to find more job opportunities in the UK and likely to get paid more for the same work, especially if you are a skilled professional. If you don’t live in the South-East of England, the cost of living is very similar. Coming from the Yorkshire, I actually found Sydney expensive and Melbourne comparable. There are overs and unders, sure, but averaged out across a ‘Basket of Goods’ prices were very close – its certainly not as cheap as the States and not nearly as cheap as smug locals would have you believe.

You seem to get more public holidays in Australia but less annual leave. 4 weeks is standard, where many employers in the UK now offer 5 or even 6 weeks (even if it is salary-sacrificed into flexible benefits packages). The holidays are all bunched up around Christmas – that’s also their summer holiday because of the reversed seasons. Apart from Afl, nothing seems to happen there over winter (actually most of the year round come to think of it).

With your time off their is infinitely more things to do in the UK, or at least from the UK. Generally 2 hours travelling time is what you want to arrive at your destination of choice. Within 2 hours I could be in Paris. 2 hours from Melbourne and i’d be driving through never-ending nothingness, on the way to Wolf Creek probably.

Having been back in the UK for about 12 months, I have had a much outdoors lifestyle than in Oz. It may be warmer there, but you seem to spend your life in an air-conditioned cocoon. Since being back I have played more golf, gone walking in the dales and the lake district (there is nothing that I saw in Oz that can compare to these in terms of beauty). From where I now live, I can go on day trips to York and Harrogate and go to lovely country pubs for Sunday dinner. I have only been back a year but have already been for weekends away to Prague and Paris, worked in Chicago for a fortnight and am going to Tuscany in June. These sort of opportunities simply do not exist from Australia. Once you are there, it is very long way to anything else.

Don’t get me started on Australian TV (non-stop American reality show imports littered with adverts). The music scene is awful. The food is strictly Greek/Italian or Viet/Thai. Nobody has heard of Tapas. Curries are almost impossible to find. And French food might as well not exist.

A lot of people cite their children as the prime reason for emigrating which I find quite strange. As if a bigger garden and a bit more sunshine is all kids need!

Did i think my friends and colleagues were any happier or more rounded individuals as a result of growing up in Australia? Certainly not. For most of the people I know in Australia, many have rarely been outside the state of Victoria. The vast majority have only been outside of their home country once or twice, generally on a year out working in a bar in London, ‘doing’ all of Europe in a 3 week contiki tour.

Whilst, I count many Australians amongst my best friends, I have to admit that on the whole, the geographic isolation and inward-focused media leaves them relatively uncultured, often quite narrow-minded and occassionally extremely bigotted when compared to people of similar socio-economic backgrounds in the UK. Those that don’t believe me should have been in Oz when the Shappelle Corby case was in the news. The way people I knew (and the country as a whole) reacted to it made me embarrassed to be in the country at the time.

There is massive problems of drug abuse (especially Crystal Meth and Heroin) and gambling is seen as socially acceptable, normal even. People who think that anti-social behaviour is purely a British problem are absolutely deluding themselves. My ‘neighbours’ in Melbourne used to use our stairwell as a urinal. Fights in pubs and on the street are commonplace, often much more violent than in the UK. My girlfriend’s cousin recently had a freind die in her arms from stab wounds inflicted after a fight out in Perth. Another friends of mine has permanent damage to his eyes after a gang jumped him in St Kilda and kicked and scratched and gouged at him, completely unprovoked. Young people get involved in illegal drag-races out in the suburbs every single weekend. If you keep an eye on the local news you may also have heard about the Cronulla race riots, Premier Brack’s daughter recently being taken to A & E after underage binge-drinking and yobs defacing the ANZAC memorial. People who think this stuff doesn’t happen in Australia are, frankly, living in cloud cuckoo land.

Because of the nature of the work I do, most of the people I worked with had been to University. Because of the financial constraints of tertiary education in Australia, the majority of people I knew had both lived at home and worked part time to fund their studies. University was 3 of the best years of my life, mostly as a result of living away from home and being completely immersed in the student way of life. The Australians I know have a massive void in their experience as a result.

I grew up in a small village in a rural area. As a result we had big a massive garden. Did this make my childhood more enjoyable? No. The things I enjoyed most were trips abroad or knowing that I would be able to do what I wanted in life, going away to University and having the world at my feet.

I used to go on holiday at least once a year either with my family or with school. The furthest kids go in Oz is on school camp to Maloooonlongatta or somewhere else completely irrelevant.

 

For people like myself, young, ambitious and cultured, Australia has very little to offer. From England I may not have the time and money to do everything that I want to do. Trapped in Australia, however, there simply weren’t enough things to keep me occupied. The world is an amazing place, I couldn’t be removed that far removed from it again. People contemplating a move to Oz should really look beyond the beaches and shiny office buildings before they decide to sacrifice all the things they take for granted.

 

 

Fine, but are you still with your girlfriend?

[Guest kdal]

Hiya Gags,

We live in the South East of England, so used to the high cost of living i.e. property prices

 

I am not at all naive and to be quite honest the work situation does scare me a little, but of course you never know until you try - and boy have we tried here! I have my own business and so does my OH, but to run your own company in this country is becoming increasingly difficult with employment law and taxes and Health and Safety etc.... (I won't bore you with it all).

 

You mentioned the people fighting, I think where there are night clubs and alcohol you get this anywhere it comes with the territory unfortunately. I would worry about my children when they are old enough to go to a pub/club as much in Australia as I do here.

 

Your comment about Europe is my only concern for our children as we have 'Been there done that', they have with us but not on there own with their friends. In saying that I don't think the world is such a big place anymore with flights and lots of competitive prices, I think years ago it was a different story Australia may as well have been in Mars, but fortunately enough thats not the case anymore.

 

My cousin whom was born here in the UK but now lives in Oz, came back to England when he was in his late 20's he enjoyed the travelling with his Aussie partner but was glad to get back home to Australia. So I think we all have a different story to tell but we must experience it or we will never know.

 

I wouldn't want people that have been to Australia and then returned here not to put their feelings on this forum as it is interesting read, but you should not call us all 'naive' because we want something that does not interest you anymore. I think the people that have hit back at you have only done so because they feel you insulted them and not because of the comments you made about experiences in Australia.

 

Out of interest did your Australian girlfriend come back to England with you? Or did she choose to stay in Australia?

 

With kind regards

[Guest Diane Paul and the kids]

And when we get ours we are off too

[Guest hays]

well I love my rose tinted specs.........anybody want to borrow them? or do you have your own?

[Guest Clare]

Wow,this thread is the most interesting I have been on!!

In an ideal world I would hate to live in a town where the local high school has had 2 children commit suicide and another aged 15 fighting for his life after being attacked in the street.

A place where a man is left half dead outside your house on Boxing day(he lived) after being clobbered with a piece of wood.

This is the lovely(thats NOT a sarcastic lovely) seaside town of Lytham St Annes where I live,considered to be a highly desirable place to bring up children.

The thing is all countries have problems, if people want to try something new then why not! I am sure Gags(is that right?) your glasses were pretty pink when you embarked on your new life in Oz?

By the way has your Australian girlfriend come back with you,and what's her opinion?

 

Clare:skeptical:

[Guest JRaj]

I totally agree with Gags, we have been in Sydney for 7mths and can't see many plus points here.

 

In essence it's another big city with all the sh1t to go with it.

 

I am an Indian, born and bred in Pinner,West London. In the 30 years of living there, I have never been mugged, burgled, beatenup, been a victim of racist slur etc.

 

Come to Sydney and get called a coon.!!! I said p1ss off it's a BLACK MAN'S COUNTRY.

[Guest alli moz]

Hi gags,

 

Interesting to hear all your comments and in fact the majority are indeed quite true.

 

I grew up in Uk and lived there for 28 years until I went to live in sydney for 18months thereabouts. All that time I felt completely disillusioned with australia, the people, the winter etc etc. I managed to persuade my now husband to go back to the UK - we stayed for 5 years where i worked as a salaried gp. In that time i realised how much I missed australia and its beautiful unspoilt countryside and beaches. I was sick of the rain, gloomy days, NHS, politics, high taxes, congested roads etc etc I agree that being close to europe is great and we often used easyjet/raynair for a weekend away but I am looking forward to exploring the pacific and more of Se Asia. Indian, chinese and italian food for that matter are better back in the UK but i do love the thai food here in australia (as good as thailand) and nobody does a steak as good as the aussies!

 

Needless to say we have moved back to Oz but now live on the sunshine coast which I find much more settling than sydney ever was. It is laid back, people are friendlier, the weather so far has been better up here than sydney. We do go outdoors more here than when we were in cheshire. All we ever did there was go to trafford centre or ikea shopping. Luckily my husband (programmer) and i have found jobs. I work in beautiful maleny. I get the best of both worlds the country and the coast! Hopefully we will be here for many happy years although I am a realist and I might change my mind yet again in another 2-3 years! Afterall i still have family in the UK which I miss.

 

The grass is always greener!!

[Guest Clare]

JRAJ

 

Now who's being racist?

[tuckerfa]

Mr JRAJ,

 

You say you are Indian, but were born and brought up in Pinner, London? Surley this makes you English? If your born and bred in England, your English, if your born and bred in Wales, your Welsh. If you want to use a tag to show your "race", why not say "of Indian desent".

Personally I never use my "tag" of saying I'm of Scottish/North African desent.

Born in England, brought up in England. Therefore English.

 

I'm sorry to hear you have suffered racism in Sydney. No one should have to put up with that, but unfortunatly, some people are so narrow minded they don't know anything better. Believe it or not, one of my elder brothers was sent down last year for various racism offences. He seems to have forgotten his roots. Needless to say I think he's an arse and have had nothing to do with him for the past 6 years or so.

 

I've rambled to long. I hope things improve for you in Sydney.

 

Best regards

 

The Tuckers

[Guest Pasty]

Hi

 

All I can say to Gag and JRAJ is that you obviously have no kids are are under the age of 30 so you don't remember when times were good in the UK and we never wanted to leave, before Tony Blair started to let anyone in and engllish is now not the first language spoken in many schools! Before you started to give a load of wages back to government for everything, before goups of kids hung out on street corners in packs of 15+ and scared the life out of you cos they have nothing to do, before houses and cars got constantly broken into.

 

Don't knock things you don't know about, let people experience for themselves what Oz is like, if it's not for them, they can decide what to do themselves. You are looking from a difference perspective than a lot of people who post on this site so as my mum used to say if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!

 

Jackie

[Guest london cabbie]

Well Gags,sorry it didn't work out for you in australia but you really shouldn't condemn or insult people who are embarking on this life changing journey.Do you really think that people go to oz and think it is all bbq's and beaches and that they dont put in months/years of research?.Dont you also realize the heartache and trauma that people on this site suffer through leaving loved ones behind and saying goodbye to people they might never see again,taking huge risks not only with their own lives but those of their children?

 

Do you honestly think that people might go through all this do this just so they can have a few barbecue's and go swimming!! if you do then i am afraid sir that you are the naive one,quite a suprise really coming from someone who is degree educated and a world traveller like yourself.

 

Let me just try to explain briefly to you why people are leaving england in droves searching for something they hope is better for themselves and their children,life in england has changed dramatically over the past few years,people find themselves working 12/14 hours a day maybe more to survive and pay all the taxes that this goverment keeps inventing.There is very little quality of life here any more and people are just fed up with it,can you blame them?they have had enough of stealth taxes ,had enough of the NHS service,had enough of crime,violence,and had enough of paying for the freeloading economic migrants who are coming in such numbers that our whole fabric of society is threatened,councils cant cope its as simple as that ,in certain areas shools are in near meltdown as well as housing and we are supposed to just suffer it and pay up like good british citizens.

 

I drive around the london streets 12/14 hours a day 5/6 days a week,this great cultural metropolis with the royal opera house in all its splender and people sticking needles in their arm on the doorstep!,shaftsbury avenue the theatre center of london with people savagely fighting and sticking knives in each other in front of all the tourists who come here for a cultural experience.Tail gateing? you should drive down park lane mate ,gambling? only a matter of time before every major city has a super casino.Travelling time!it can take 2 hours sometimes to get from one side of london to the other to get to your favourite tapas bar!!

 

So yeah it might not be all plain sailing in oz but people are just looking for a different if not better way of life and dont forget not everybody is"young ambitious and cultured" like you!!.

[Stuju]

Hi Gags,

I have only been in oz for 10 months and im afraid i completly agree with you...... if you could place the weather & beaches of oz in the uk then we would have the perfect world..... oz is def in a coma and 90% of the time there is nothing to do...... along with every thing else you said you are SPOT on !!!!

[ali]

Hi Gags,

 

I'm sorry that Australia didn't work out for you, but wonder why after 12 months of having such a wonderful like back in the UK you have felt the need to join a site that is primarily for people looking to migrate to Australia?

 

I respect all the opinions that you have formed for yourself about your life and experience in Oz - because they are yours, but really you should not judge other peoples reasons for migration as they too are personal to them.

 

Alot of people here are of a more mature age than yourself, and have families, they will not have taken their decisions lightly, selling family homes, leaving well paid jobs and support networks - travelling alone and without many responsibiliies is a wonderful thing - it becomes much more difficult when you have the welfare of your children and family to consider.

 

I'm sure you would have understood that peoples talk of BBQ's and swimming pools aren't

peoples main reasons for leaving the UK and that generally these are humours comments???

 

You're right about TV - it's rubbish, but I watched very little in UK and don't watch it much here either, but then I never expected Australia to be England with sunshine.

 

Great that you still manage to get outside - my little boy loves soccer - he managed to play only 3 times last year from October - December in the UK because the of the weather, he hasn't had one game called off here (even if it's raining), and it may not mean alot to many people but to my son it's meant the world. We can't judge how successful the move here is on the material things we gain. It's the little things like that which make it worthwhile.

 

I think it's great that you've posted and told us about your experience, I think it helps people to focus on what the move and Australia will really be like, but it doesn't mean it will be the same for all of us. Given your time over and being in a relationship you would probably still go - treat it as the life experience it was - you've done what alot of people would love to do - be greatful.

 

Ali