joveazey

Hi,

We are hoping to go to Perth in Jan/Feb so this year will be our last Christmas in the UK. Last year we went to stay with my sister in law in Perth and although it was weird, the weather and everything, I didn't feel nostalgic for home. We did shopping the night before Christmas eve and then sat in the lounge wrapping up all the kid's pressies. My little boy was only 5 months then and it was the most I have felt excitement for Xmas since I was very young. In the morning we had a full English and bucks fizz outside and then went to the beach for an hour or two. We had buffet lunch and then when the kid's had gone to bed the four of us had barbied prawns and wine by the pool. All in all it was a lovely day. Mark and I have already decided that we will cook Xmas dinner when we live there (must remember to buy a house with air con!) as that was the only thing we didn't like. Mark is not one for buffets, he prefers a "proper" dinner, and I too think that maybe Christmas Day is a special day to cook a special dinner and eat at the table. After all, we'll probably have a posh lounge that we'll never use !!

Christmas here is always a nightmare, can't drink cos got to drive home, dad gets hammered and falls asleep on the sofa so there's nowhere for anyone to sit. Can't be arsed with it all. Now we have our little boy it will be even worse because there are both sides of the family to keep happy. We are already dreading this Christmas !!

Jo

jopaulss

Hi Jo
Hey you will have to come meet us all and have a new years drink with us Perth style, well Perth ladies pole dancing style should be different hey.
Just think of it as the final one and grit your teeth and smile it might be quiet sad when you think of it, you know leaving and all, then again on the other hand it could be which ever way good luck and enjoy
Joanne

Celtic_Angel

OMG are you trying to tell me that the homes over there DON'T have any A/C??
I've got mine running at least 8 months out of the year

joveazey

Hi JoPaulss,

I'm hoping that the Perth Ladies are still going strong when we arrive ! Reading all the posts has made me feel much better about leaving friends. We are luckier than some anyway as Mark's sister and husband + 3 kids live in Perth and so does his cousin and her husband and 2 kids. One of my friends from school is flying out for good on the 9th Oct and will be living in Kallaroo, another school friend is already there so at least we won't feel so stranded ! I can't wait to meet the Perth ladies, they sound like just my cuppa tea !!!

Jo

possoms

an example of some aussie christmas cards i bought last year ermmm dont know why writing came out backwards but you get the idea

Pollyana

You can get some really fab Aussie Christmas cards, can't you. Also, they go on sale early as "Across the Miles" cards, so that you can get them off to people in the UK, Europe, wherever. I think the first ones I saw were at the end of August - not a big overkill thing, but they were there if you looked - same as UK Mothering Sunday, they have cards specially for that too.

possoms

[QUOTE=Ceri] And now I don't want this "sanity" of Aus. It's like living in a bubble in this country. Doing my head in

Can't really fully answer it why we are still here I suppose. You plan to go, then something comes up, like a big contract so you don't want to let others down.We've planning to move back to the UK for ages ( could have told you Aus was not for us over 5 years ago) but we never seem to get around to it. Don't know, I need a shrink to tell me that one

where's my flight holdall , and b*gger to everything ?? lol

cheers

Hi Ceri

can you tell me why its like living in a bubble as i am feeling really low about the whole process at the moment and we are only in the early stages

thanks kay

possoms

Hi Pollyanna

I knew you would reply to the christmas card cos seeing your teddy bear annual just now reminded me of it i bought the cards last november in perth to send to friends and family but couldnt part with the best ones i love them too much

Kay

Pollyana

Hi Kay,
Yep, the Teddy Bear Annual had to make another appearance!

I also read your answer to Ceris post, and I think I have a similar feeling - living in a bubble - though I couldn't have put a name to it. Its like - you feel sort-of separate, the country/city is going on around you, and you know you should feel at home, you should feel you belong, cos you live here, but somehow there is an invisible barrier that stops you being a real part of the life going on around you.
I feel as if sometimes I am looking at Oz as an outsider - I still don't feel I live here - don't think I will till we have our own place, instead of The Blokes place, and I have all my things unpacked. I feel like I don't really fit.
The odd thing is, when with my old friend in Tassie - I never felt like that. I always felt I belonged and fitted there; I think its Queensland where I don't feel I fit. Its like being in a coccoon - being part of the place, but at the same time being separate. very strange.
Don't know if that makes sense, and I'll be interested to read what Ceri says in the morning.

possoms

Thanks for your response Pollyanna

its a fear i have, well to be honest i am feeling the same where im living now i come from the city and have moved into my partners house in the country which took a lot of getting used to different county different outlook different wavelength!!- one bus an hour one shop etc - and now i love living in the country but want a new home together too many ghosts in this place of his past life and it will never be my home but we are going to Tas which is a lot like the surroundings here but with a more positive outlook to it so hopefully we will be ok.

Kay

Ushas

Yes heading home soon. Hoping to be home for my mum's birthday in January. Taking hubby back with a spouse visa.

It's all in and application has been looked at but delayed because he flew out to Oz today to talk with future employers.

So I'm home on my own, jealous as hell and bored already. lol

ABCDiamond

Some do and some don't. When we lived in Sydney we had our Air Con on almost all year. Either warming us up, or cooling us down !
But here on the Bayside near Brisbane we don't need it as much, although when we got our top temps of about 36/37C last summer we were using it almost every night, as the breezes weren't helping.

If you do buy a house without it, you can add it in.
A ducted system for a low set 3 bed house is about $9,000
Individual split systems vary but around $1,800 plus fitting ($500-$700), seems pretty common.

Ceri

Don't let me put you off. I personally feel if I'm living in bubble. I miss real diversity,different tongues and culture of many different peoples from all walks of life. Maybe I would have liked Aus if I've never travelled. I just find Aus so bland, as if no other land exists outside Australia, narrow minds of some. I don't feel as if I belong here. I can't really put it all into words.

I've got plusses for Aus too.. but they don't outweigh the negatives for me.

Plenty of people do like it here, plenty of people don't. Please don't let me put a downer on your already "feeling low". Australia may be what you are looking for, but it's not personally for me, we are all different, and want different things.

cheers

queenie

Ceri I wonder if that is Qld? I found it very dull and suburban both on GC and in Brisbane too. The people were nice enough but uneducated and did not want to discuss much outside of Target sales. I felt like I was slowly drowning in a sea of mediocrity. However we have moved to Sydney now and love it - very cosmopolitan and everyone I meet has travelled or from another country. Not that that is my criteria for liking someone but helps in conversation and also helps in them accepting me too.

Would be interested in hearing from others who have tried both places too.

Queenie

jad n rich

Over the past 3 years AC has begun to catch on, the demand for it has really gone up especialy the split systems where you can just do a bedroom or family room/kitchen by spending under 2 grand, then at least you have somewhere to escape to.

I am a builder and the main obstacle seem to be (as with everything) cost, people are trying to cut stuff out of houses not add in around the 10 grand to fully aircondition. I'd say even 10 years ago, AC was like for the rich and famous, the average aussie had a fan which you dragged from room to room, and its not because its not hot, just like central heating its never caught on because of expense. But the last few summers have been rippers heat wise and thats why people really have been forced into doing something about it or living very uncomfortably for quite some months. All of our shopping malls are AC and cars usually have the option of AC for around an extra $2000.