halflinggirl2000

In one of your posts you said that you were situated somewhere "NSW mid north coast" Not having a good handle yet on the regional names would that be between Sydney and Newcastle or Newcastle and up, as it would be nice to know to what area your remarks/feelings are based on/about.

Cheers Nicky

arkon

We are about 3 hours north of north Sydney about 2 hours north of Newcastle. About half hour North of Taree and about 45 minutes South of Port Mcquarrie. I'd always wanted to live like Felicity Kendle in the Good life and when we came here choose this place for that reason mainly. All I can say is be carefull what you wish for. One thing I can definately say is we needed to be nearer a city, We are too young to retire to this kind of lifestye.
The place here is Beutifull there is no doubt about that and the weather is probably some of the best your likley to get here and there are excellent beaches close by. But if none of these things on there own float your boat then there is nothing else here for you. (I'm talking about where we are here, not Australia as a whole)

TopCat3

I've said it before, and I'll say it again (even though I promised myself I wouldn't ) - you would have to be the most misunderstood person on this board, Arkon.

I don't think you make sweeping generalisations, I think you are very area-specific and gripe-specific. I think your use of metaphor and simile could be misconstrued as generalising, though. It's a kind of shorthand you use to make a point and for some reason instead of its being seen as a literary style some folks think you are having a dig at them.

It takes guts to come on here and speak your personal truth time after time and deal as patiently as you do with your detractors. You, as far as I can remember, have never resorted to personal insults, you just add explanation.

There is an old saying - "Never complain, never explain" to which you don't seem to subscribe!

I also think it was sensible to refer the OP to your earlier posts by doing a search for herself rather than stir up a hornet's nest (whoops I'm metaphoring now!), then you got accused of generalising.

Face it, Arkon, few people see you and your posts the way you do, and you've got a lot of pushing uphill to do to stay sane on this board and stay on the mid-North coast. Why do you do it to yourself?

I know you've committed to property and a business as well as the move, and when you feel like that it's hard to see a way out. Yet there will be one, if you take some time out and think laterally.

Good luck.
TC

arkon

Thanks TC at least someone out there can see what I'm trying to say, and yes I do think its my style of writing that gets me into the most trouble. Most times what I write seems witty to me in my head as I write or said a bit tongue in cheek. I can also see why people think that I generalise, but as I’ve said if more often or not I get short changed then I'm bound to think its a national pastime. No different I think than stereotyping, which I never used to subscribe to and would not usually judge a book by its cover but then after 10 years of employing people you do start to stereotype because people do more often or not fit a stereotype, and the reason for this waffle is that based on my time here most of the people do fit into a couple of types that I’m not going to describe for fear of a lynching. And if it does come over as generalising then there’s another old saying about ‘if a shoe fits’.

As for why I do it (post on here)…. Too much time indoors with weather or mossies keeping me off the land, then the need to counter the “I’m moving from uk to Oz because of XXXX (replace with social, economic or criminal act here),when they all exist here in varying quantities. Also when people ask for pro’s and con’s then why not reply with the con’s as I see them, seeing as 25-50% return home I’m obviously not alone in my perceptions of the place.

arkon

Oh and we now have a plan of action. I'm putting the farm up for sale now and over the next few months we are going to scout out Melborne and Brisbane and early next year return to the UK for a holiday just to make sure the UK is how we left it!

The Aardvaark

I also follow Arkon's posts and I couldn't have put it better myself.

TopCat3

That's fantastic!
I was just downstairs for an hour or two doing some cooking for the week and my thoughts turned to you and this thread and "all that". And I thought to myself, why doesn't he just sell up so he's not tied and go and rent in a few cities for a few months at a time, just taking whatever work he can, and see where he likes to be best? And take a trip to UK to make sure it's not just nostalgia and rose-tints? Then decide, and by then, the dog... well, we won't go there. Mmmm...perhaps I should PM him.

Then I come back up for a sneaky peek before bed and lo and behold-you took the words out of my mouth!

Don't bypass Sydney. Whilst it might not be the place to settle it might be good to spend a month or two here just to put perspective on all the other places. The northern beaches are very nice and the Inner West is interesting with all its different cultural flavours side by side in the different suburbs.

Don't you feel a whole heap better just having a game plan?

arkon

In a word yes. I think I'd resigned myself to never selling this place without throwing away a couple hundred thousand. Where I am only 1 other property is for sale in this price bracket so its doubtfull a local could afford it, but I've just got some prices for selling it on the web only sites and its none too bad and gives me a national and international audience for it. so fingers crossed.

We spent 2 months in Sydney and the trafic would drive me bonkers, I did like hornsby though apart from the paralysis ticks and lychees that infest the area. Were off to melborne for a week to have a look see, we need cooler and places to eat out, the restraunts here are pants and I'd kill for a decent chinese and indian.

Hutch

*strokes chin thoughtfully*

diddy

Good onya Arkon. Good to see you're doing something about it all.

Paul.

arkon

Errrr, yes I did once throw a personal insult when I called you a knob, for which I do appologise, I then quickly realised I was lowering myself to the normal standard on here and havn't done it since. At least you have the honour of being the only person I've called a knob.

I know we don't get on, so lets not start fighting, I just don't reply to any of your posts (except this one) and I think it will be for the best. BE is full of enough childish name calling without me adding to the problem.

TopCat3

For cooler and restaurants, Melbourne would probably fit the bill nicely for you. Lygon street I think is the restaurant street. Tell Mrs A shopping is wonderful esp shoes. (and they wear them, there). Melbourne is more genteel and a little more formal and correct and reserved than Sydney, Yes, I think from what I know of you it might suit you well. Brisbane is very hot and humid, however.
TC

Vegemite Kids

The thing is Arkon whilst these 500 posts you have made are all valid facts from your experience they are not necessarily valid facts for australia as a whole.

As an example, whilst at Uni in Glasgow I got mugged twice, once of which was by a student from a school for the deaf. Does that mean that 50% of all muggings in Glasgow are committed by deaf people ? Based purely on my experience yes it does, but I'm sensible enough to know that my experience is not representative for everybody who lives in or visits Glasgow. I was just unlucky. The vast majority of people in glasgow never even get mugged once, let alone twice.

I think you are also sensible enough to know that your experiences in OZ are not representative for everybody who lives in Australia (if they were, OZ would have been depopulated a long time ago ) However they are certainly valid points to be considered and planned for - when we moved here we did worst case scenario planning so when things turned out "normal" we felt we had won a watch so to speak.

You seem to have been very unlucky in your new life. Hope things get better from now on.

Vegemite Kids

To put it in a nutshell Julie

Pros : Its different

Cons : Its different




My experience is not typical for this forum cos I'm 6th generation Australian, but left as a teenager to finish my education in Europe, went to Uni in Scotland, after which I got a job in France. Then got married, moved round Europe for a bit, went to the middle east, back to Europe, got divorced, moved round a bit more and finally 24 years later came back to OZ with my new hubby and we are both loving it.

New hubby had never been to OZ before and came on blind trust, but is having a ball.

For him the main positive is that he has been able to give up his engineering job and retrain as an apprentice stonemason. The down side for him is missing his mum and sister although his mum has been for 2 visits already so thats helped.

For me the main positives are the stability (knowing I never need to move country again) and the fact that my arthritis is much much better and I havent had to use my calipers in over a year. In fact if you saw me now you wouldnt even know I had arthritis. The negatives for me are none, other than the possibility that hubby might change his mind one day and want to go back to Europe.

arkon

I thought Australia was depopulating, I can't remember where I read it but it said that Australia was unable to sustain its population levels unless it stepped immigration up massively.