Originally Posted by the troubadour

Motorways can be very tedious but at least there is a choice. Also on the Continent the stop overs and road houses are more varied. Also of course the German autobahn is great to drive on in a fast car.

There is always great train options especially in Europe and a very extensive coach service in UK, as alternatives.

Originally Posted by Blackey_Oz

Can't wait !! Yes, I do intend to take the time to explore, passionately await.
A train, a bus !?!?
I haven't and will never be seen on a train/bus as long as my butt points toward the ground LOL, thanks anyway, always by motorcycle(sometimes a car but very very rarely)

P.S: @aussietobe
I must be a dummy as I absolutely do not understand what your babbling about or how any of it relates to my questions.

Originally Posted by the troubadour

Some great biking country to be found there, although I'd be scared in some of the cities with the way car drivers are. For me a great ride would be in summer from Germany right up to the top of Norway during the height of summer, in the midnight sun, through beautiful countryside, not forgetting the Finnish lakes and Swedish forests en route.

Originally Posted by Blackey_Oz

Oh now ya' sweet-talking !! Sounds brilliant.
Sydney drivers no diff I'm sure, they hate bikes/bikers here with a passion and know the coppers will usually side with them, at 61(43 on big bikes) I've survived riding defensively keeping the attitude every SOB steel cage is your enemy and out to kill you.
The Amalficoast Italy few friends tell me, shown me their pics riding there also sounds fantastic as well.

BTW-Happy new year to all
(Yes Santa can use it too)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...434b2d8f7f2c98

Originally Posted by verystormy

Be aware that UK and eupore are much more about sport bikes. If you can appreciate them, then going to the Isle of Mann TT is a must - and you can even have a go.

http://touch.cycleworld.com/all/81353#1

Originally Posted by steve-n-jo

As those who have seen my other posts would be aware, I am not a fan of living in Australia and after nearly 10 years the novelty has truly worn off!!

.....Then I was thinking.. "Its too bloody far away, that's the main problem!"

Sounds like a stupid 'obvious' statement, but for years I have been telling myself "hey its not that far...only a day away"

It is not a day away... well actually it is, its a day away from practically everywhere and nearly two days away from England (our best travel time from door to door is 32 hours)

So if you want isolation, love spending hours getting anywhere, want to put visiting loved ones through the hell of very long haul flight and all the associated risks, and don't mind never being able to 'pop' anywhere... come to Australia where space and isolation are plentiful and the rest of the world 'aint that far away...on a jet!!'

Originally Posted by Molly Coddle

I feel for those of you who are torn between Australia and the UK.

That is a position I don't want to find myself in 5 years down the line, I can imagine it's not a nice place to be in. We have a week to make our minds up, due to my husbands employer needing to know. So, will we stay here in Australia or will we move back to England. We are in a position to do both. The easy option would be to move back. However, I do like Australia but I have to ask myself do I want it to be my home for the foreseeable future. Not sure. It's a tough one. My head feels like it's going to explode going over and over the pros and cons.

England offers us better education for the kids and more money, obviously we have family and friends there too, but I also have family and friends here, albeit not my childhood friends but friends none the less.
Australia offers us some fantastic weather which enables us to do all the things we love to do. I also love the overall optimistic attitude people have here, but is that enough to keep us here, I don't flipping know...


Eldest son wants to go in the RAF. He would have liked to join the RAAF but you have to be a citizen, so that would be 4 and a bit years wait. So that's a bummer.


Youngest son, who is the most a academic of the two has only had three days of school since we arrived on the 28th of August due to the school fannying about getting him a place. This was a major set back for me and him. If we do go back to England he will have to go back into year 9 rather than year 10 due to all the GCSE prep he's missed. Also he won't get back in his old school, places there are like gold dust, so it would be another new school for him. Probably one we would have to pay for, however if we moved back to the same area, he would still have his old set of mates, which are a good set of lads, same for the eldest, he had a good bunch of mates too.... Decisions, decisions....



If there's one thing I've learnt from this whole process, it's this.....' If it isn't broken, don't try and fix it!'



You live and learn!

Originally Posted by aussietobe

These stats do not apply to the vest majority of people who live in Australia. There are still big distances to travel in the UK, have been on the m4 lately? Gridlocked traffic.

Originally Posted by SteelCityBrickie

Trust me, not many here are. It's all doom and gloom. The news is full of doom and gloom. The papers - Ebola, air crashes, people going missing, murders, shootings, dawn terror raids - it's constant negativity. It's why I want out. Even if just for a few month.

Originally Posted by moneypenny20

Where are you going to go where they ignore world affairs?

Originally Posted by Bix

Large chunks of the USA perhaps?

Originally Posted by SteelCityBrickie

Struggling to edit your quote on this stupid phone but I wanted to pick out your 'people are so optimistic here' comment.

Trust me, not many here are. It's all doom and gloom. The news is full of doom and gloom. The papers - Ebola, air crashes, people going missing, murders, shootings, dawn terror raids - it's constant negativity. It's why I want out. Even if just for a few month.

If I do have kids, ideally I don't want them raised here in england. The schools near me have 60 different languages in em. Hardly ideal is it?

Hopefully I'll get to meet some of you soon. A familiarity upon my arrival would help me immensely.