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Anyone miss blighty?

Anyone miss blighty?

Old Jul 30th 2006, 12:17 pm
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Default Anyone miss blighty?

Out of interest?

I love my life here, just as i loved my life back in the UK. I have absolutely no plans to ever move back, but i do occasionally have pangs of homesickness. Does anyone else miss the UK, or is it just me?

I'm not talking family and friends here, i mean the country and people. I am making the trip back this year for Christmas, and i really am starting to get excited! I am even looking forward to seeing London again, safe in the knowledge that i will never have to commute again.

Things i am looking forward to revisiting (things i miss).

Country pubs (with that hoppy smell).
Ale!
Country lanes (with hedges!).
Central heating (with a dial, and radiators).
A train ride! (cant believe it myself)
Crunchy frost.
WHSmiths.
Eurostar/LeShuttle (and a cheese and wine run to france!)
Southern sandstone outcrops (near Tonbridge), winter climbing with numb fingers!

Theres lots more too... After 4 years its going to be pretty cool having a "holiday" in the UK!

Anyone else care to list a few things they want to see/do (in the UK) again?
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Old Jul 30th 2006, 12:29 pm
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

I'm thinking the same, we've been here 1 1/2 years and it woud be nice to take the new bub to see family and friends... maybe book a last minute flight and surprise some of them.
I'd like to -
See mates
Go sales shopping and stock up on all the cheap stuff as Oz is a season behind (or is that ahead?)
Go to Boots, Whittards, Thorntons, Next, Primark, H and M, Burtons for him, Mothercare for bubs, Adams for the kids...
Take my 3 year old on a red London bus to see the sites
Have a picnic in the sunshine without worrying too much about UV / flies / darkness
Visit a country pub if we have any money left after shopping
Go on the London eye, see beefeaters and do touristy stuff
Hop off to Greece to see more family
Get bored of the place and $od off back to Aus, wearing many layers to avoid extra baggage incurred by shopping loads
Seriously, I would like a short stay there but have no plans to return for good as we are settled here now.
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Old Jul 30th 2006, 12:30 pm
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

I forgot to add that I'd like really to see if it's changed much or if it still feels the same
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Old Jul 30th 2006, 2:10 pm
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

Originally Posted by Larissa
I forgot to add that I'd like really to see if it's changed much or if it still feels the same
I'm sure it is the same as you remember. Please learn to speak in Polish or any other eastern European language before you come over though. You want to be able to speak to the locals
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Old Jul 30th 2006, 3:23 pm
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

Originally Posted by PeteY
Out of interest?

Things i am looking forward to revisiting (things i miss).

Country pubs (with that hoppy smell).
Ale!
Country lanes (with hedges!).
Central heating (with a dial, and radiators).
A train ride! (cant believe it myself)
They do have train rides in Aus so bit puzzled by that bit unless you meant London Underground.

Don't need to go back now Rohan now do shipping to Aus and they up the postage but discount the price at the checkout bit... .
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Old Jul 30th 2006, 4:49 pm
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Wink Re: Anyone miss blighty?

Originally Posted by kevinbloomfield
I'm sure it is the same as you remember. Please learn to speak in Polish or any other eastern European language before you come over though. You want to be able to speak to the locals
Spot On ! ! !

R.
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Old Jul 31st 2006, 1:26 am
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

Originally Posted by kevinbloomfield
I'm sure it is the same as you remember. Please learn to speak in Polish or any other eastern European language before you come over though. You want to be able to speak to the locals
Ahhh, you sound like you will just love multicultural Australia
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Old Jul 31st 2006, 1:32 am
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

I don't really miss living in the UK but it's a great place to visit.

Unfortunately my daughter's new epilepsy has caused us to cancel this year's trip which is a shame... Maybe next year.
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Old Jul 31st 2006, 1:36 am
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

Of course I miss it spent 40 years there and it's a fantastic country, but I'd also miss it here if I were there.
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Old Jul 31st 2006, 1:37 am
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

Originally Posted by annqldau
They do have train rides in Aus so bit puzzled by that bit unless you meant London Underground.

Don't need to go back now Rohan now do shipping to Aus and they up the postage but discount the price at the checkout bit... .
No trains within 450ks of me im afraid, unless you count a scenic railway which runs one or two times a year
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Old Jul 31st 2006, 2:21 am
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

Originally Posted by PeteY
Out of interest?

I love my life here, just as i loved my life back in the UK. I have absolutely no plans to ever move back, but i do occasionally have pangs of homesickness. Does anyone else miss the UK, or is it just me?

I'm not talking family and friends here, i mean the country and people. I am making the trip back this year for Christmas, and i really am starting to get excited! I am even looking forward to seeing London again, safe in the knowledge that i will never have to commute again.

Things i am looking forward to revisiting (things i miss).

Country pubs (with that hoppy smell).
Ale!
Country lanes (with hedges!).
Central heating (with a dial, and radiators).
A train ride! (cant believe it myself)
Crunchy frost.
WHSmiths.
Eurostar/LeShuttle (and a cheese and wine run to france!)
Southern sandstone outcrops (near Tonbridge), winter climbing with numb fingers!

Theres lots more too... After 4 years its going to be pretty cool having a "holiday" in the UK!

Anyone else care to list a few things they want to see/do (in the UK) again?
Someone asked me, last night, about my plans to go back next year for a visit and I must admit I'm not filled with enthusiasm. The only reason for me to go back is to meet up with friends and family. If it was just my parents I would pay for them to come here. I would rather spend the money on visiting other countries in this region of the world, but I guess that'll just have to wait until the kids have left home.

Out of your list I do miss the country pubs (or indeed any decent pub within staggering distance). I've found plenty of ales as good as those I used to drink in the UK. We've not quite got the hedges, but there are loads of roads and loads of landscapes around here that are reminiscent of the UK. In some cases they are reminiscent of an idealised UK landscape that I never got to see in the UK. We've got lots of trains down here and Puffing Billy is the best steam train I've been on. We went to the snow a couple of weeks ago to get our fill of the cold stuff and had a few great days of tobogganing. I never understood WH Smiths (yes - I know that's just me) but I did like the occasional trip through the Tunnel, especially when it was subsidised by Tescos.

I hope you have a nice trip back and enjoy all the things that you are looking forward to.

Cheers
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Old Jul 31st 2006, 2:39 am
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

I would enjoy a trip back to Blighty, because, by definition, it would be on vacation.

I hate sightseeing, so have never been into big cities, other than the zoo, or science museum, or museum related to specific interest matter, I prefer drink, food and people watching.

I've never quite got the British public obsession with shops, ie WH Smiths, partly because they ceased to be a needy fixture of my life over 8 years ago so I have weaned myself off them. I did enjoy them over 10 years ago, but working on Oxford Street for 3 years in a previous life put me off the British high street in general. I also think it is because my interests are pan-global, truly portable the world over, and so I'm not 'tied into' shopping or a consumer culture in general.

I would buy some decent business shirts with decent cutaway collars from John Lewis - enough to see me through 5 years or so, and I would grab my CD collection off my old man.

After a few weeks, I would be glad to get away back to a real country though, back to my chainsaw, space and a slower pace of life We're lucky in that we get pubs, (with fires), vallies, dens, forest glades in our village, mins from the house, so I don't miss the Brit countryside one bit.

My wife was a real London 'darling' , lots of 'posh' friends in the dance world over there so she'd like it too. I'd look forward to meeting some of them as I never got a chance to meet them all before dragging her halfway across the world!

The other day she announced just how perfect her life was here in Melbourne.

Last edited by thatsnotquiteright; Jul 31st 2006 at 2:41 am.
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Old Jul 31st 2006, 2:46 am
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

Nope, but maybe that's because I'm Canadian. Hehehe

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Old Jul 31st 2006, 3:53 am
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

If you want a train ride, I suggest the Thirlmere Flier, from Sydney to Thirlmere.

Absolutely fanbloodytastic.
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Old Jul 31st 2006, 4:20 am
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Default Re: Anyone miss blighty?

Christmas Day in England.
The first snowy day of winter
The countryside on a summer's day.

That's about it - and none of the above are currently enough to get me back there.
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