Decision made - we're going back

[fish.01]

Hi Sally,

We have been in Caloundra about the same time as you (arrived July 2008), and we are also sharing some of the difficulties you and your family are experiencing.

I can't find work at the moment but was gainfully employed for the first two years here. I am lucky to have a wife who is a nurse and she is keeping us a float at the moment.

One of my biggest hurdles is finding common ground, good personality & sense of humour, with the average Queenslander. Although I hate to generalise, native Queenslanders fitting said description are a rare breed indeed. I believe I can safely say this as I have as many Ozzie mates as foreign mates and none of the Ozzies are from Queensland. They seem more open minded, less racist and smile with you even when your wallet is not out of your pocket. :cute:

The Ozzies have a saying 'Queensland is great accept for the Queenslanders', I agree.

I think deep down you love Australia, but maybe not the average Australian, in Queensland anyway. Please forgive me if I am wrong.

From someone who is sympathetic to your situation.

 

Queensland, like everywhere else, has many demographics. Maybe you have just planted yourself in the wrong one. In the smaller regional places people are more likely to be as you say so you have to look harder. Similar to the UK in that respect. I live in Brisbane and have many, many friends who are not as you describe and are in fact very similar to my friends in the UK.

[Guest Bailey Bunch]

Queensland, like everywhere else, has many demographics. Maybe you have just planted yourself in the wrong one. In the smaller regional places people are more likely to be as you say so you have to look harder. Similar to the UK in that respect. I live in Brisbane and have many, many friends who are not as you describe and are in fact very similar to my friends in the UK.

 

I have banded this around for some time and most people are in agreement with me, to the point where some people return home because of it. There is definitely a higher concentration of red necks in Caloundra but I still stand by what I say. I am really pleased you have many, many ozzie mates. For me, most are acquaintances or opportunists, my richer friendships are with those born overseas, Britain, USA & Middle East, I guess our circumstances are what we have in common.:biggrin:

[fish.01]

I have banded this around for some time and most people are in agreement with me, to the point where some people return home because of it. There is definitely a higher concentration of red necks in Caloundra but I still stand by what I say. I am really pleased you have many, many ozzie mates. For me, most are acquaintances or opportunists, my richer friendships are with those born overseas, Britain, USA & Middle East, I guess our circumstances are what we have in common.:biggrin:

 

More rednecks in smaller regional towns, less in bigger cities. Just how it usually works here and in the UK. As you live in Caloundra you are more likely to meet this - by no means everyone of course. Where I live in Brisbane most people are nothing like this - in fact the total opposite. To blame it on a whole state or to leave the whole country just doesn't match my experiences at all - but then we are all different - plus sometimes when you immigrate you do not understand the community you are in and how different it can be depending on exact location. Whereas in our home country we know what is what instinctively from a lifetime of training.

[Guest Bailey Bunch]

More rednecks in smaller regional towns, less in bigger cities. Just how it usually works here and in the UK. As you live in Caloundra you are more likely to meet this - by no means everyone of course. Where I live in Brisbane most people are nothing like this - in fact the total opposite. To blame it on a whole state or to leave the whole country just doesn't match my experiences at all - but then we are all different - plus sometimes when you immigrate you do not understand the community you are in and how different it can be depending on exact location. Whereas in our home country we know what is what instinctively from a lifetime of training.

 

I believe my problem is that I understand the community too well. I wish I was still wearing my rose tinted glasses, like a tourist or a migrant in their first month.

I think Brisbane is more forward thinking, by how much, I'm not sure. From what I have seen, the migrants that often click have the same attributes so fit in nicely.

Anyway, back to the thread, good luck Sally with the move back. We are going back for the first time at Xmas and really looking forward to seeing everyone.:yes:

[fish.01]

I believe my problem is that I understand the community too well. I wish I was still wearing my rose tinted glasses, like a tourist or a migrant in their first month.

I think Brisbane is more forward thinking, by how much, I'm not sure. From what I have seen, the migrants that often click have the same attributes so fit in nicely.

Anyway, back to the thread, good luck Sally with the move back. We are going back for the first time at Xmas and really looking forward to seeing everyone.:yes:

 

We'll have to agree to disagree then as I am surrounded by many people in my daily life who are nothing like you describe ....in fact I think you would rather like them .... hope you find your niche wherever that is.

[Guest Bailey Bunch]

We'll have to agree to disagree then as I am surrounded by many people in my daily life who are nothing like you describe ....in fact I think you would rather like them .... hope you find your niche wherever that is.

 

Nobody said I was unhappy with the situation, on the contary, I am very content. I am even more content knowing who I prefer to spend time with rather then endlessly trying to make it work with people who think differently to you. I have a large friend base, active social life and great family life. Just a lot wiser with it.:cute:

[fish.01]

Nobody said I was unhappy with the situation, on the contary, I am very content. I am even more content knowing who I prefer to spend time with rather then endlessly trying to make it work with people who think differently to you. I have a large friend base, active social life and great family life. Just a lot wiser with it.:cute:

 

Apologies, it wasn't until after I posted that last bit that I thought it could be taken the wrong way as I know you didn't say you were unhappy or friendless....just hoped you would find a general community that fitted you better. I know they exist so I live in hope for you even if you don't :wink: :wubclub:

[Guest Bailey Bunch]

:nah:I will never say anything remotely negative about any Ozzie ever again......promise.

[Guest]

I fully understand your decision, more and more it seems are coming to the same conclusion. I have just returned from the UK and really couldn't believe how cheap many things were, especially food and clothes, it was nothing to do with the exchange rate, it was just very cheap. Anyway you were just there so you know what I am saying. We didn't even fill a trolley last week at Woolies and it was over $200, we were gobsmacked.

We keep being told there are all these jobs but unless you are near the mines it is very tough for many trades especially around Brisbane.

Good luck back home.

 

 

Just curious, how much was petrol in the UK? ..... don't things end up being swings and roundabouts in the end? Income seems to be the bottom line when it comes to these huge decisions. Good luck with finding work back in the UK and settling back to life there.

[Guest chris955]

From memory it was around 1.20 a litre ? I can't remember exactly. I wont be looking for work when I get back, my wife will be doing some part time work until we are set up. Thanks.

 

Just curious, how much was petrol in the UK? ..... don't things end up being swings and roundabouts in the end? Income seems to be the bottom line when it comes to these huge decisions. Good luck with finding work back in the UK and settling back to life there.

[fish.01]

:nah:I will never say anything remotely negative about any Ozzie ever again......promise.

 

Deal. And I will never try to give another perspective except yours again.....promise. :wink:

[Guest Aldo]

and i'll.......................................

just have a nice cuppa tea:cute:

[fish.01]

and i'll.......................................

just have a nice cuppa tea:cute:

 

Don't forget to stir :wink:

[Guest Bailey Bunch]

Deal. And I will never try to give another perspective except yours again.....promise. :wink:

 

Yawn.................why do i bother with Fozzies, waste of time.:laugh:

[Paul1Perth]

What's a fozzie?

[Guest chris955]

[Guest TheArmChairDetective]

Just to address some of the things you mention, in July 08 unleaded fuel in the UK was 118p a litre at it's peak, it then dipped to 85p a year later and is now back to around 120p a litre. In effect you will be paying pretty much the same now as you did 2 1/2 years ago.

I'm not sure what pubs you drink in but when I was there a few weeks ago a pint was around 2-3 pounds, that means the glass of wine was 7-8 pounds :elvis:

Tomatoes in Asda are currently 2 pounds a kilo. if you consider that hugely expensive you will be in for a shock when you get here. On the other hand you can buy bananas for 55p a kilo, they can be $6 -7 here and we grow them.

 

Fuel: I live in the UK, I know what it costs to buy fuel as I do so regularly,this time last year I was paying £57 to fill my car, this time LAST WEEK I filled the truck up with 78 litres of diesel. (I always use the same "cheapest garage" in the area, ASDA). £92.74UK . That's the exhange rate equivalent of $149.35AUS and for my friends in the US of A.$147.32 for 17 and a bit Gallons !!!

 

The litre price of Diesel at ASDA last night was £118.9p I agree thats not the highest its ever been here as we had a hike in 2008 but it was back to just under a quid a litre in 2009.

 

Food:

Tomatoes at ASDA can be as high as £6.82 as well as low as £1.64 a kilo for some, it's not hard to check.

 

As for buying bananas in Australia, maybe you should contact these people as they quote $3.98 a kilo and have them do a re write

 

I imagine that people in Australia might well start harvesting their own home grown tomatoes if the alleged sabotage in Queensland took place and Australia raises it's prices in the face of a shortage

 

BOOZE:

A bottle of spirits can cost as much as £20 a bottle, this week we have a rollback to £15

 

Beer and wine, I repeat a pint of real ale and a glass of wine cost just short of £10 in my local pub, Oh and a total of 2,365 pubs closed in 2009 with the current closure rate allegedly being 39 per week, so it's a probability that alcohol prices might rise in pubs whilst they seem to lower in supermarkets.

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

Fuel: I live in the UK, I know what it costs to buy fuel as I do so regularly,this time last year I was paying £57 to fill my car, this time LAST WEEK I filled the truck up with 78 litres of diesel. (I always use the same "cheapest garage" in the area, ASDA). £92.74UK . That's the exhange rate equivalent of $149.35AUS and for my friends in the US of A.$147.32 for 17 and a bit Gallons !!!

 

I take it you are using the current $1.6 to £1 exchange rate?

 

Wages in Australia are based on approximately a rate of $2.2 to £1.

 

The $1.6 current rate is only relevant if you are visiting either country, or your unlucky enough to have to exchange your pounds into dollars because you need them to emigrate with.

 

Living in Australia and working there, you will be paid in Australian dollars and the wages are about $2.2 to £1, this is based on nurses, prison officer, tradies etc.

 

Its easy to compare prices using the current rate and if you want to go on the internet and buy things on line from the uk, from Australia, then things are dirt cheap here, but the cost of living earning wages in each country and living there is almost the same, my feeling is that it is slighly dearer in Australia, but nothing that should scare would be migrants off from emigrating.

[Guest chris955]

Yes fuel has gone up by the same proportion here, it is quite scary. I remember being able to buy LPG for 11c a litre years ago and now it is 60c. We still have cheap(ish) petrol which is a bonus for us.

 

The banana and tomato prices you showed are very representative of how much more groceries cost here. I found when I was there that most things were cheaper, not all but most. Of course that ISN'T using the up and down exchange rate, I use a realistic 2:1 rate.

Like here I think more and more people are drinking at home, pubs still seem very busy and the good ones will stay.

 

Fuel: I live in the UK, I know what it costs to buy fuel as I do so regularly,this time last year I was paying £57 to fill my car, this time LAST WEEK I filled the truck up with 78 litres of diesel. (I always use the same "cheapest garage" in the area, ASDA). £92.74UK . That's the exhange rate equivalent of $149.35AUS and for my friends in the US of A.$147.32 for 17 and a bit Gallons !!!

 

The litre price of Diesel at ASDA last night was £118.9p I agree thats not the highest its ever been here as we had a hike in 2008 but it was back to just under a quid a litre in 2009.

 

Food:

Tomatoes at ASDA can be as high as £6.82 as well as low as £1.64 a kilo for some, it's not hard to check.

 

As for buying bananas in Australia, maybe you should contact these people as they quote $3.98 a kilo and have them do a re write

 

I imagine that people in Australia might well start harvesting their own home grown tomatoes if the alleged sabotage in Queensland took place and Australia raises it's prices in the face of a shortage

 

BOOZE:

A bottle of spirits can cost as much as £20 a bottle, this week we have a rollback to £15

 

Beer and wine, I repeat a pint of real ale and a glass of wine cost just short of £10 in my local pub, Oh and a total of 2,365 pubs closed in 2009 with the current closure rate allegedly being 39 per week, so it's a probability that alcohol prices might rise in pubs whilst they seem to lower in supermarkets.

[Niki]

sorry to hear your news , we are still looking to go to sunshine coast within the next year!

there are loads of cheap shops here - TK MAXX , tescos and all that , but then then everything is so lean here at the moment , and a lot of people are starting to feel the effects of the cuts , pay rise freezes etc...

so sorry it hasn't worked out for you but sure you will be happy back with family and friends and you gave it go which is more than most people do!

good luck !

[Guest TheArmChairDetective]

 

I take it you are using the current $1.6 to £1 exchange rate?

 

Wages in Australia are based on approximately a rate of $2.2 to £1.

 

 

Its easy to compare prices using the current rate and if you want to go on the internet and buy things on line from the uk, from Australia, then things are dirt cheap here, but the cost of living earning wages in each country and living there is almost the same, my feeling is that it is slighly dearer in Australia, but nothing that should scare would be migrants off from emigrating.

 

I was really trying to say what I said at the start, you have to base a decision to migrate anywhere on where you want to be and what you hope to get out of it, not becasue x,y and z is cheaper or you have convinced yourself it is because of a quick holiday somewhere.

 

My apologies to the OP for the topic sliding slightly.

[caramac]

I wonder if Sally has bothered to get to the end of this thread. I don't think she's worried about the price of tomatoes, bananas and petrol, just the fact that her husband is finding it hard to get work, so they have had to make a 'head' decision to return to the UK.

 

But, just in case she has made it this far....

 

Sally, you are obviously finding this decision difficult and I'm really sorry you've found yourself in this position. This is probably going to sound a bit depressing, but I just wanted to warn you about how you MAY feel when you get back, just because you sound just like I did when we made the decision to return from Perth.

We came back to the UK the first time in 2003 after 4 years away. I was ambivilant about coming back, but wasn't prepared for how sad I felt when we actually got here. Like you, we had lovely friends to come back to, but I found settling back incredibly difficult. Friends are delighted to have you back, but I found mine weren't interested in what I'd been doing, or what we'd seen. They expected us (not unreasonably) to slot back into our old lives, but that's hard; we'd changed because of our experience and I didn't want to erase four years of my life as though they hadn't happened. I think it took longer for me to settle back into life here than it took to settle in Perth in the first place, but it did happen eventually!

I have wondered whether posting this is the right thing to do because I don't want you to feel worse than you do already. You'll probably get back and just feel a huge sense of relief, but if you don't, I wanted to you know that you're not the only one who finds coming home hard.

 

Good luck

 

PS -I've been back from Sydney almost a year now - it was much easier second time aorund!:yes:

[Guest Shreen]

I fully understand your decision, more and more it seems are coming to the same conclusion. I have just returned from the UK and really couldn't believe how cheap many things were, especially food and clothes, it was nothing to do with the exchange rate, it was just very cheap. Anyway you were just there so you know what I am saying. We didn't even fill a trolley last week at Woolies and it was over $200, we were gobsmacked.

We keep being told there are all these jobs but unless you are near the mines it is very tough for many trades especially around Brisbane.

Good luck back home.

 

I totally agree with you, Tesco's is loads cheaper. But you can't argue with the quality here. Tesco fruit and veg is foul!

[Guest flo&mags]

I'm sorry your going back to & that I couldn't convince you to try Perth - good luck though with it all & hope that yr house sells quick & that you get to the Islands for your holidays. Oz will miss you too!!

[Guest TheArmChairDetective]

I wonder if Sally has bothered to get to the end of this thread. I don't think she's worried about the price of tomatoes, bananas and petrol, just the fact that her husband is finding it hard to get work, so they have had to make a 'head' decision to return to the UK.

 

 

 

I feel sure she has, and she is probably definately worried about the price of everything at the moment, and it has probably contributed to the overall decision.

As for jobs, I have my fingers crossed for her husband as they don't grow on tree's in the uk either.