Keelie

After spending the past month visiting our son in Queensland, the following impressions might be of interest to some.
First off, we have no hesitation in saying what a beautiful state Queensland is.. miles of barely populated beaches, and lush tropical scenery.
As for the Aussie people, very friendly, down-to-earth, helpful, and interested in hearing about Canada.

Now comes the 'whinging' part.
We've never been in such a bloody cold house as the one our son is renting.
It's warm enough during the heat of the day, but in the late afternoon untill mid-morning it's like being in a fridge.
The houses have no central heating, and for someone who is small-boned and slender this is pure misery. The day after our arrival we made a bee-line for Targets to buy an electric blanket...this may well have saved my life!
If I mentioned to Aussies about being cold in the house, without fail the response was "But you come from Canada, you're used to the cold" It had to be pointed out that we're used to the being cold outside, not INSIDE. Anyway..enough of that.
Most of the houses in the large town where my son lives seem quite flimsy...I hope they never have a tornado or a severe storm, they'd be decimated in minutes.
We did visit some lovely subdivisions, and the newer houses are more substantial, although I think whomever designed them should have sought some female input...some odd plans to say the least.

Surprisingly we found fruit and veg's quite expensive compared with Canada.. some items double the price. My son has a large garden, and we enjoyed the abundance of fresh produce that he grows year round.

Another myth that was shattered is the belief that all Aussies are tanned, fit and active in sports. We've never seen so many overweight young people as in Queensland. In Canada most of the obese tend to be middle-aged.... young people here are for the most part, fit and active.
I spoke with a woman who works at a Medicentre, and learned that it can take months, sometimes years, to obtain an appointment with a specialist.

We enjoyed out time in Australia, and went to Queensland with an open mind, and the possibility that we might want to move there. We're well aware that a month is not long enough to form a true impression of a country, but I can honestly say that we're more appreciative of our lives in Canada than ever before, and will not be making any changes in the foreseeable future.
We're fortunate in our retirement to be able to make the escape to Mexico or Arizona for the worst of the winter months, and will continue in this.
As for our son...he loves his work, and enjoys all that the country has to offer. When his contract expires in 2005, he has plans to live and work in France for a few years.
There is much more that I could say, but this is enough for now.
On the way home, we stopped over in Sydney for three days, what a beautiful world-class city...not the place that I lived in in the early 60's, hardly recognized it.
Good luck to all of the New Adventurers, hope everything works out for you.
Keelie.

Don

Great post - thanks!

Didn't notice quite so many young & obese in my time in QLD but others on this forum have said the same as you and maybe I was mixing in 'fit' circles!!!

Nice to see your post, Keelie

brisnick

I thought I saw more overweight kids in Victoria.

And Melbourne sems to be the world capital of the pot belly (the Melly Belly as we affectionately call it)!

pommie bastard

Nice to hear a Canadains view point , I am sure Kiwipaul will tell you that that everything that you posted about QLD homes is untrue but he would.
Just spent another bloody cold night in a Perth home in backward Australia myself.

Kiwipaul

I had no intension of commenting on this because it was genuine view from someone out here. Depending on the type of house and it's location and what the poster is used to they might find it cold.
But as far as I'm concerned winter is virtually over as it's now warming up at night (lasted all of 6 weeks). The inside temp of my house never got below 13C with no heating whatsover and as I'm from the Uk that is a breeze for me.

Slight rain last night first time for about 3 weeks and overcast now but still 20C plus at 09:30

pommie bastard

You post some crap ,all my homes in the Uk were all heated and never cold as for here the homes are poorly insulated and bloody cold in Winter.
The wind in Perth cuts 5c-10c off reported temps dream on.

The Tooth Fairy

I found N. American houses stiflingly hot in winter.

dotty

Hardly anyone here disagrees that houses in OZ have very little in the way of heating or cooling. Mind boggling in 2003 that most are living in the dark ages regarding comfort levels in the home given the extreme temps Oz has winter and summer.

However this must be a goldmine opportunity for immigrants. Airconditioning salesmen, installers, somebody to educate OZ that the rest of the world has heating and cooling!!

$$$$$$$$$$$ all the way.

The Tooth Fairy

Excessive heating and cooling results is maladapted people who end up being stuck indoors.

ACE

All the houses and appartments we looked at and stayed in had air con and heating, is this not the norm?. Spent two winters in Perth and i must say i was never cold inside, we had the heating on for a couple of hours in the evening and an hour or so in the morning, maybe we were just lucky with our winters, in 2001 had quite a few t-shirt weather days at Applecross park, Kings Park, Rottness Island, on the Swan, Hilarys etc. Experienced many a frosty morning at hubby's uncles farm in South Oz but also some warm sunny days.
ACE

pommie bastard

True why build houses at all?

Wilf

Very wise, Keelie. There are many people on the site who will gain a new appreciation for their old lives in the UK once they have emigrated to Oz. Hard as it is for many to believe, having heard negative propaganda about the UK all their lives, Oz does not offer a better life than the UK and that is a hard lesson to learn. When you ask most people in the UK, when they talk about something bad there, "Have you personally experienced it?", they generally admit that they haven't but "It has all been in the papers/on the telly/my friend told me". The UK media is very negative about life in the Uk and they are nearly always full of bull. Nothing the UK likes more than bad news and anti-UK bull. Nothing Oz likes more than good news and pro-Oz bull.

pommie bastard

Your dreams are great get real nights in Winter in Perth are down to 2c plus its rains heavy and the bloody wind can cut you in two.

The Tooth Fairy

Little doubt that shelter enhances comfort and longevity but I draw a line when too much comfort results in sedentary habits that are not healthy.

pommie bastard

Your comments account for the poor building standards in Australia , why give the punters what they do not need give them cheap over blown sheds.