For those looking at comming out
May 14th 2007, 3:37 am
#16
Crazy Cat Lady
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 65,493
Re: For those looking at comming out
Can I start a book on how fast it will be before someone suggests the OP post this on the MBtoUK forum. Oh bugger I just did
May 14th 2007, 3:38 am
#17
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Apr 2005
Location: On the edge of the Dandenongs, Melbourne
Posts: 2,387
Re: For those looking at comming out
Thanks Hutch 
I get very frustrated when some posters assume that their part of Australia is the same as everyone elses.
We're 32kms out of the city and have lights on the roads (well, apart from the scary mountain ones), we have public transport and we have a great pub, with dart board, open fire and Old Speckled Hen (no pokies or TAB)!
I used to work for the Bristol Cultural Development Partnership, so perhaps my view on culture is wider than some - but, for me, Melbourne and surrounds are stacked with cultural activity.
I get very frustrated when some posters assume that their part of Australia is the same as everyone elses.We're 32kms out of the city and have lights on the roads (well, apart from the scary mountain ones), we have public transport and we have a great pub, with dart board, open fire and Old Speckled Hen (no pokies or TAB)!
I used to work for the Bristol Cultural Development Partnership, so perhaps my view on culture is wider than some - but, for me, Melbourne and surrounds are stacked with cultural activity.
May 14th 2007, 3:47 am
#19
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 43
Re: For those looking at comming out
What I was trying to say is have a proper look at where they are going what they want and think before you come out.
Oz has a lot going for it.
The biggest problem with this forum is that some of the negatives are never given credence. If you move out from one of the bigger cities in OZ you can be very isolated. Go north from Melbourne for over 2 hrs and apart from Bendigo or Echuca the towns have about 200 people with a small corner shop and nothing else. All the towns are about 1/2 hr from any other town. A Sunday drive would constitute driving for 2-3 hrs to get anywhere.
Other things to consider :-
Phone costs - higher cost
Internet - higher cost
Education cost - books, school fees (even non private)
Dental - high cost no NHS (even though it is hard to get in the UK)
Medical - 33% private
Road deaths are shocking I think it was 25 at xmas!
Weather - much better
Weather - much better
Weather - much better
I had to put something in that was good!
Oz has a lot going for it.
The biggest problem with this forum is that some of the negatives are never given credence. If you move out from one of the bigger cities in OZ you can be very isolated. Go north from Melbourne for over 2 hrs and apart from Bendigo or Echuca the towns have about 200 people with a small corner shop and nothing else. All the towns are about 1/2 hr from any other town. A Sunday drive would constitute driving for 2-3 hrs to get anywhere.
Other things to consider :-
Phone costs - higher cost
Internet - higher cost
Education cost - books, school fees (even non private)
Dental - high cost no NHS (even though it is hard to get in the UK)
Medical - 33% private
Road deaths are shocking I think it was 25 at xmas!
Weather - much better
Weather - much better
Weather - much better
I had to put something in that was good!
May 14th 2007, 4:01 am
#20
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2004
Location: Sydney, Australia - formerly Portsmouth UK
Posts: 938
Re: For those looking at comming out
The biggest problem with this forum is that some of the negatives are never given credence. If you move out from one of the bigger cities in OZ you can be very isolated. Go north from Melbourne for over 2 hrs and apart from Bendigo or Echuca the towns have about 200 people with a small corner shop and nothing else. All the towns are about 1/2 hr from any other town.
I think where it can become a problem is if people emigrate to these areas without understanding what it means to live in a fairly remote area in Australia.
May 14th 2007, 4:02 am
#21
Australia's Doorman
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: The Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia
Posts: 11,056
Re: For those looking at comming out
If you move out from one of the bigger cities in OZ you can be very isolated. Go north from Melbourne for over 2 hrs and apart from Bendigo or Echuca the towns have about 200 people with a small corner shop and nothing else. All the towns are about 1/2 hr from any other town. A Sunday drive would constitute driving for 2-3 hrs to get anywhere.
Phone costs - higher cost - I pay much less, despite the fact that I work from home and regularly (like every day, for several hours) phone the UK and the states.
Internet - higher cost - not for me - used to pay about £50 a month in the UK, here I pay $90 for an 8Mb line.
Education cost - books, school fees (even non private) - yep - education costs - books, clothes etc...
Dental - high cost no NHS (even though it is hard to get in the UK) - had no problems with Medicare, hurts a bit paying for a GP appointment but I get most of it back...
Medical - 33% private
Road deaths are shocking I think it was 25 at xmas! - over 3000 people die every year on UK roads.
Weather - much better
Weather - much better
Weather - much better
I had to put something in that was good! - no, you didn't *have* to, if it's crap for you then it's crap.
Internet - higher cost - not for me - used to pay about £50 a month in the UK, here I pay $90 for an 8Mb line.
Education cost - books, school fees (even non private) - yep - education costs - books, clothes etc...
Dental - high cost no NHS (even though it is hard to get in the UK) - had no problems with Medicare, hurts a bit paying for a GP appointment but I get most of it back...
Medical - 33% private
Road deaths are shocking I think it was 25 at xmas! - over 3000 people die every year on UK roads.
Weather - much better
Weather - much better
Weather - much better
I had to put something in that was good! - no, you didn't *have* to, if it's crap for you then it's crap.
May 14th 2007, 4:06 am
#22
Made the move -
Joined: Apr 2004
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 2,910
Re: For those looking at comming out
i live in Mildura, population of Mildura alone is about 55,000, surround areas equal roughly 20,000, its a big place up here, and believe me there is more than a corner shop
dont create assumptions on places from what you hear from other people 
May 14th 2007, 4:11 am
#23
Account Closed
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 9,316
Re: For those looking at comming out
I'm intrigued by the open spaces thing. Down here we seem to have tonnes of the stuff (and a lot with nice boardwalks). Certainly my part of Australia provides me with more open public space than any of the places I lived in the UK.
May 14th 2007, 4:16 am
#24
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2003
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 716
Re: For those looking at comming out
I know I will get slated for this but for those who are thinking of coming out here I thought I would let you have some info:-
I think the biggest mis information is that people have rose coloured glasses.
I am in a very good job high paid. The things I would say to people are:-
Work is ok if you are high paid the cost of living comparatively to the UK is:-
Food - far more expensive
Travel - air travel - far more expensive
Travel - Car second hand far more expensive
Travel - new car cheeper
Travel - petrol - far cheeper, but have to travel further
Clothing - cheeper not as much choice lot of imported crap
Houses- cheeper, standard of build poor
Eating out - cheeper, but no good pubs
Cinema - same
People - friendly if they have to be (if they work for you or with you)
The things I miss - open space that you are allowed to go on. Most of the land in Oz is privately owned.
If you go outside of a city you will not have any lights on the road at night, there is no public transport outside of cities so if you have children you will have to run them everywere we spend about 15-20 hrs per week doing this.
Culture there is non, history museums are full of aboriginal crap once you have looked at one boomerang you have seen them all. The Oz culture revolves around drinking at home (cant walk to a pub outside the city) watching the football (Oz footbal), fishing in a muddy river if there is any water, working 50 hr / week for low pay staying inside in summer as it is to hot to go outside.
Derek
I think the biggest mis information is that people have rose coloured glasses.
I am in a very good job high paid. The things I would say to people are:-
Work is ok if you are high paid the cost of living comparatively to the UK is:-
Food - far more expensive
Travel - air travel - far more expensive
Travel - Car second hand far more expensive
Travel - new car cheeper
Travel - petrol - far cheeper, but have to travel further
Clothing - cheeper not as much choice lot of imported crap
Houses- cheeper, standard of build poor
Eating out - cheeper, but no good pubs
Cinema - same
People - friendly if they have to be (if they work for you or with you)
The things I miss - open space that you are allowed to go on. Most of the land in Oz is privately owned.
If you go outside of a city you will not have any lights on the road at night, there is no public transport outside of cities so if you have children you will have to run them everywere we spend about 15-20 hrs per week doing this.
Culture there is non, history museums are full of aboriginal crap once you have looked at one boomerang you have seen them all. The Oz culture revolves around drinking at home (cant walk to a pub outside the city) watching the football (Oz footbal), fishing in a muddy river if there is any water, working 50 hr / week for low pay staying inside in summer as it is to hot to go outside.
Derek
May 14th 2007, 4:20 am
#25
Australia's Doorman
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: The Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia
Posts: 11,056
Re: For those looking at comming out
May 14th 2007, 4:48 am
#26
Account Closed
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 9,316
Re: For those looking at comming out
Yea, it's the whole right-to-roam thing though - pretty much any field or land in the UK you could almost always find a public footpath across it. That's down to the age of the UK of course and I can see why it's different here. Just a bit of a shame when you can't, for instance, walk along the coast here because it's privately owned. That said there's some enormous public parks and rain-forests around that you can walk on.
Last edited by MartinLuther; May 14th 2007 at 4:52 am.
May 14th 2007, 5:21 am
#27
Victorian Evangelist
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Melbourne, by the beach, living the dream.
Posts: 7,704
Re: For those looking at comming out
This is a positive, right?
One of the things I am looking forward to when we move back downunder (used to live in rural NZ) is being able to see lots of stars at night.
Buzzy
May 14th 2007, 5:25 am
#28
Crazy Cat Lady
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 65,493
Re: For those looking at comming out
Well I love lack of lighting. And as I remember areas where I lived in the UK the countryside roads didn't have lighting either but I guess views are relative to where you come from and what you're used to.
May 14th 2007, 5:27 am
#29
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 2006
Location: 'stralia
Posts: 2,383
Re: For those looking at comming out
Besides, don't we all have headlights for driving on unlit roads at night?
May 14th 2007, 5:32 am
#30
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2004
Location: Sydney, Australia - formerly Portsmouth UK
Posts: 938
Re: For those looking at comming out
Yeah. I also love the lack of lighting. Back in the UK the streetlights in our old road were 'upgraded' by the council to meet EU standards. The result was the road was like Blackpool illuminations. If you didn't have blackout curtains then bedrooms on the front of the house never got properly dark. I'm sure years ago the street lights used to be turned off after a certain time but now they burn right through the night even though almost nobody is out. What a waste of energy