Budawang

Good luck with all that.

By the way, there have been some terrible delays due to roadworks on the Hume highway near Goulburn. My 2.5 hour run from Sydney took 4.5 hours with the traffic backed up for kilometres. The worst part was the workers had gone home by the short stretch of road they were working on.

Wol

Yes, I've been through them several times the last week: just like the M25!

quoll

for the end of this week then!!!

Wol

She's just phoned - she hasn't seen the surgeon and has just found out that he thought she had gone home several days ago!

Unbelievable - she's still got major problems and no way is able to leave hospital.

I'm tempted to say it could only happen in - no, I'd better not be accused again of whingeing.

quoll

Sorry to hear that. I've always had excellent care at JJ and have been fortunate with the surgeons I have had there too. Hope they can sort out a way to get her home safely in the not too distant future!

paulry

Sorry to hear that.

I hope they get their act together soon so that your wife can properly recover and go home.

Wol

Thanks - it's a bit (!) off-topic anyway

paulry

Since when have topics been strenuously adhered to?

Drop me a line if there's anything I can help with.

Wol

Cheers - have PMd you.

Lucy Loose Nut

Well I'm an ex pat living in Canberra and love it here! Been to Sydney and it was horrendous. Can't move for people and it's dirty and has tramps sleeping in shop doorways in the middle of the city which was a shock. Sydney is okay to visit and then leave. Canberra doesn't have as many people which makes it so much easier to get from A to B. I've found the people to be very nice, friendly and helpful. The weather is also good here (lovely summers and autumn is truly spectacular). Although the winters can be cold, the days are usually crisp with lots of blue skies. I managed to get a job fairly easily with a very good wage I might add.

There is plenty to do here but I think most people have already mentioned that. I find it quite insulting how the Aussies pooh-pooh Canberra and talk about it like it is hell on earth or something! To compare it with Milton Keynes is just laughable if not ridiculous. I note that many people (Aussies)haven't even been here so how would they know what it was like? I am fit and healthy living here with good clean air (unlike the other major cities which are extremely polluted). I can ride my bike almost anywhere without any trouble or a zillion drivers knocking me off the road as there are so many cycle tracks. There are some very good restaurants here, great shopping malls and the best thing is that you can get around without huge, major traffic delays. The education system is also superb and it's a great city to bring up your children too.

All in all I'm glad I emigrated here as it is unspoilt, clean, has beautiful scenery and plenty to do sooooooooooo ...... there!

odowdchr

Did anybody see the Robin Archer speech last week? Quite good and a real jocular dig at the media over here...."Canberra" gets blamed for everything when it's the politicians from all over Oz that make the decisions.
It's like when Americans blame "Washington" for bad decisions......it's not the actual city of Washington that's done anything wrong, just the people who gather there. People end up forming a warped opinion without actually ever going there.
My own view....Canberra is wonderful and very underrated. It suffers from it's difference compared to everywhere else, but it's a designed City and works well....it's just structured. This can be called "bland"....but it works for me.
Flew back from Sydney this afternoon....took off at 1.30pm and walked through the front door in Canberra at 2.45. It used to take me longer to go 20km's to get home from work in the UK.
One thing that everybody says, including the Aussies....it needs more decent pubs and a few more "earthier" joints.
From what i can see...it goes from wine bars straight to bogan "dives" with nothing in between. There's a bit of character missing occasionally....but with a good crew of mates you make your own atmosphere.