jond

Well time has flown since we landed in November. We were lucky that my 2 Sisters already live here so we had no problem about finding accommodation.

Our house was sold in England, but the sale fell through just before completion, we sold it again only for them to pull out on the day of completion. Third time lucky and it eventually sold. This was a bit stressful but made easier by the fact that we were living rent free, if not I would have gone mad and broke.

I found a job within 3 weeks of arriving and its been pretty good so far, Julie has since got part time work at my Sisters firm so we have been very lucky on that point.

We have recently moved into our house in Mount Martha and we just love the area.

So not wanting to ramble on, what are the good and bad points.

Good: great people, very friendly and helpful, a more relaxed life style and working conditions, although I actually work longer than I did in the UK. Great climate, except when its cold it feels a darn site colder at 15 degrees here than it did in England.

Bad: Poor quality beer, rubbish TV although we don,t watch it that much. I miss my mates and a quick drink with them after work.

I could probably think of another dozen points both good and bad but as they don't spring to mind they can't be that important.

We consider ourselves very lucky to have landed on our feet so quickly with the help of my family already here and have nothing but admiration for those people who come here with no family or friends and have to start pretty much from scratch, I am not sure we could have done that.

Well I leave it at that and we can now start to get on with our lives and explore the area a bit more.

John

Shellfish

That would be the lack of double glazing and central heating s'pose nowhere is perfect

jond

Yeah, your right our windows are paper thin, great for the summer but not when its pouring down and windy

hevs

Unless you're me

BadgeIsBack

kiwichild

Australian standard beers are crap. Try something from the James Squire range if you want a half decent Aussie beer. The pilsner and the 'hop thief' are two I like. Crown lager and Hahn premium are ok. In general though the best beers in OZ are imported. I drink Stella or newcastle brown on tap at my local, depending on what I fancy on the day.

jond

I know that there are a few decent beers out there, but in the norm you are faced with 3 or 4 taps with similar types of beer i.e VB, Carlton, Cascade etc I normally drink Carlton draught as this is not too bad.

Tonight we are watching the FA Cup final in a pub that sells Old Speckled Hen, so I should manage a few pints of that ok.