arkon

Good question! I'm now stuck here, we brought our dogs over and can't put them through the ordeal of the flight and quarentine again, To all you people without dogs you won't understand, but we just cant put them through it again, so I estimate staying for about another 12-14 years untill they are both passed away then its look out blighty here I come back!!

Tiawamutu

Sorry to hear you are not happy...I understand fully about your predicament with your dogs. We have 2 cats.

Where in Oz do you live? Have you not tried moving to another area?

Also, is there nothing at all you like about the place?

arkon

Hmmmm. geez I need to think hard on this one... I think most people after such a large commitment like the ordeal of getting the visa, which I have to say in my opinion is only about once again raising revenue, can't then admit to people, family, friends & forums just how different and how much of a poor cousin australia is. Back to your question... I'd like to say the weather, but this is very subjective, summer is toooo hot. Sumer is like the UK in winter on a very rainy day, you cant go out side, even the ausies admit they don't like summer, my family have been here 30 years or more and still can't wait for summer to be over. but if you like sun that will give you cancer after 30 minutes then thats a positive. Sorry still not answering the question...

Positives:- People very friendly, hardly any immegrants in rural areas, Lovely deserted huge beaches, excellent bird life and other wildlife, Food is not bad but not up to european standards, cheap beer, good looking woman (in cities only), cheap wine,Teenagers pay a pittance in car insurance so all drive V8 6Liter super cars,Land is cheap (rural only) thats about it.

Heres a short list of whats bad just so all you 'grass is greener' brigade know exactly what your in for....

* Poor educatoinal standard in state schools
* workers have no desire to be measured on standards
* jobs worths
* 6 men to do 1 mans job
* road works don't use trafic lights, 6 people with lollypop sticks will do
* inconsistant fee structure in medical stuff
* imported goods have high import dutys so are very expensive
* internet comercial ussage at about UK 1990 level but with broadband common
* impossible to get a price on goods in most industrial estate shops
* don't try buying over the internet from abroad
* union mad
* can't have a meal here unless your a member
* can't join this club if you belong to another within 5 km
* I only want a pint, not a half!!
* Want a boat, you need to pay a fee
* want to fish, you need a licence
* want an air rifle, sell your 1st born son
* want something delivered within a week, sell your 2nd son
* want to buy from ebay? pay more for postage than the winning bid!
* Postmen wont deliver if it cant be done from a sitting position
* Postman will deliver a card to say 'cant be arsed to deliver your small parcel come and get it your self'
* Pay all your income in tax unless you pay all your income in accountants fees
* You must have more than 1 can of car spray paint in this whole town!
* What!! I'm not allowed to buy ring main wire unless I have a certificate?
* What!! you cant do any DIY work thats worth over $5000 without going on a builders course!
* What!! I can't come and work for you unless *I* have liability insurance!!
* What!! I have to pay a fine because *YOU* stole my car!!
* What!! you want how much to put this car on the road?
* What!! you've given me DOUBLE demerit points on my licence because I commited a driving offence at xmas, easter and any other public holiday. was my crime worse because jesus was born?
* 'On my oath!' means I'm lying thru my teeth

Thats it, there's plenty more but I've got to go now and buy my return ticket!

Tiawamutu

You really hate the place then....You must have had a really bad experience

Where did you say you lived???

arkon

Hi, Mid north coast and don't get me wrong the place is lovely, just a shame I can't transplant it back to the UK, say somewhere on the south coast of france! I don't think its the area, Were not short of money so thats not the problem, we've tried from Batemans bay to Brisbane and every where is beutiful, but the Australians and thier rules are everywhere.

arkon

No I don't hate it, its more like when you maybe have a work collegue who hums or whistles without knowing it, just many many small irretating things, that all add up, but not really anything to do with the country per se. The place lulls you into a false sense of security, its so like britain on the face of it even down to the side you drive on, but its like the place is playing at being a country and just not very good at it. Its just very immature, they might have been 1st to give woman the vote, but woman are still at one end of the room at parties and men at the other, woman talk about all things girlie and men are men. Sheilas... well bless them there only woman after all. (I'm a man by the way and the sexism out here even annoys me!) Give it another 300 years and who knows it could be a great place.

nik

I am sorry you don't like Australia, but I must say, your previous rant had me laughing all the way through, so it has cheered me up no end this afternoon. Not that that helps you!! If it makes you feel any better, it is chucking it down here, surely too hot sun is better than none?!!

baggie

those are 2 of the best and honest posts i have seen on this forum,

we have been out to perth for 2 weeks in april on a reccie and have since thought of nothing else but moving out there or staying in the uk,we have finally come to our decision that we are staying in the uk and moving away from the city to a more rural area for our 2 girls to grow up away from the hussle and bussle of city life,in your post you have pointed out all the reasons why we decided not to go,but we needed the journey to oz and all the thinking about going to make us realise that our lives in the uk are really not that bad and also we now see the uk in such a different light as before there are some stunning places within about 25 miles of where we live now but we had never seen them before sticking to saftey radius of about 5 miles either way from where we live,

to sum up perth is a beautiful place and probably one of the best places i could see to bring kids up,but thats just on the surface when you delve deeper and find that education is apparently not as good as the uk,taxes are higher,banks charge you for using their air conditioning,the summers are very hot (the 26 degrees we have had lately really knocked my 4 and 2 yearold off their feet),no pubs in walking distance of a lot of places,
i'm glad we went and will be returning for holidays but our choice is it's a bit overated and we didnt realise how well we've got it here and we just need a bit 'fine tuning' to change our lives from good to fantastic..

dunno if this helps anyone but feel better now its off my chest.......

nik

Cheers - appreciate the honesty. We have moved away before and know that the grass is not really greener on the other side, just different shades! Hope you find a nice new place to live here!

Tiawamutu

Think I'll stop watching this thread as it's totally depressing me

Load of bollox too

ABCDiamond

I think we all do that.

I remember when I used to say things very, very similar to you, and then eventually returned to the UK. But after 4 years back there, I ended up coming back to Australia, as overall, I felt that Australia was better, even with some of the things I didn't like about it. Admittedly I did find a different part of Australia to finally settle in.

Badge

Arkon reports accurately all in one hit which makes it sound bad but it is not as bad as it seems. There are 2 sorts of migrants - the ones that take it and see it as a one of the bad things - there are probably UK aspects just as trialling and get on with life, and others who see it as doom and gloom. I lived in Australia for a year with bank charges and RTA red tape etc and found it all easier and quicker - it was not until I found this site that I realised how much of a nightmare it was for many. Sometimes I think that this site is a forum of anne robinsons from 'watchdog' who time and measure for the sake of it lol. My attitude sometimes in life is 'play the game' - and win it rather than cheat. Play to the whistle etc get the decisions in your favour.

I was actually very impressed, for example, with the RTA - you can get most things on the spot - I couldn't believe that I could get a state transfer - number plate in person or a photo licence - bugger me - on the spot - noone ever seems to state this - or get a TFN on the spot too (with paper notification arriving later on) without having to post *anything*.This was the first thing I noticed about red tape in Australia. I found alot of things easier - I have aussie mates who found that red tape was worst in the UK as things often failed to arrive or took ages and noone sorted things out on the phones.

I've had a couple of problems and here things were sorted quickly - in the UK it took me almost a year to sort out one tiny issue of a recurrent bill. So whilst some red tape seems bizarre, often it is sorted out quickly.

There are lots of things that outweigh an annual visit and/or payment to the RTA. You can get around bank charges to a degree - I don't care about the occasional dollar - I might have pissed it up the wall anyhow if I was younger.

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renth

I've got to say this is a pretty accurate observation. However, in my opinion the positives outweigh the negs by a long way.

Badge

lol - good list.

Ask for a 20oz glass. I think you can do that.

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renth

In Perth you can get pints almost anywhere now. I guess it's because there are so many Poms. I've not done the maths but I bet it's more expensive to drink in pints than middies.