Originally Posted by kporte

and posters such as arkon have been berated for posting opinions percieved as negative. thank god for the "negative" posts or i'd be going into this like the light brigade!! cheers

Originally Posted by touchingcloth

One of the reason's why Arkon's posts have been berated, is because he believes his live in rural Oz represents the rest of Australia.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but posts such as his are absolutely useless....even if you were to move to Wiggamollooolaa (population 7)

Originally Posted by kporte

been visiting BE for a few months now and it has amazed me how my ideas and misconceptions of a life in Oz have changed. when the idea of moving came to my wife and i, the motive was simply for a better quality of life. i believed that the cost of living was far less than the uk, that houses were a giveaway and that i would earn far more dough. i am not entirely sure where i gleaned these useful nuggets of info, but joining BE put me right. there have been many threads concerning these issues, and posters such as arkon have been berated for posting opinions percieved as negative. thank god for the "negative" posts or i'd be going into this like the light brigade!! my wife and i are still very much up for it and i have the possibility of a decent job on reasonable pay in the picture from yesterday, but now our tentative plans are geared around realistic goals and the 4 bed house with pool and two new cars has changed to 2 bed house and 2 year old Holden with high mileage!
i still hold onto the belief we will have a better quality of life but because we will be prepared to downsize our life in a lot of ways. it is so easy to get carried away with the idea that Oz is some kind of shangrila and i thought i was past this at 40. your thoughts on this, as always, will be most welcome.
cheers

Originally Posted by Pollyana

A lot of them to raise points that are valid in other parts of Aus - lack of competition, small amounts held in stock, that kind of thing is relevant in many other places. Whilst some of his problems are only relevant to alpaca farms out the back of Whoop Whoop, other ring very true with people in other rural areas, and even in cities.
Also - why shouldn't he post about his worries? Someone else may be considering becoming an alpaca farmer out the back of Whoop Whoop, so his points deserve an airing

Originally Posted by JosieJ

Hi LesleyM

reading your post you mentioned your husband was still going through the redtape for his electrical licence. My better half will also have to go through this - you couldn't tell me what it's all about could you? Is your husband still able to work in this field whilst he's getting his licence or not? Look forward to hearing form you!

Josie

Originally Posted by Lord Pom Percy

Someone said that if they had public BBQ's in the UK they would all be vandalised and destroyed in no time.

Originally Posted by phoenixinoz

Great post.

You're right. It is important to get a mixed bag of views, at least that way you wont be disappointed. Australia is a beautiful place to live and thankfully for most people it's a great choice, however for some it seems like purgatory and an expensive mistake and this is why it is such an emotive subject. No one moves to Aus because they hate Australia, however for some people Australia just doesn't "gel" somehow...and this can have devastating effects and be very very stressful.

We had no pre-conceived ideas about Aus. Having never even visited before we had no idea what we would like or dislike about it however we did expect it to be different to the UK, which I think helped temper our initial views. Don't ask me why we didn't visit and why we risked everything, as although we are risk takers it was probably the most risky thing we have ever done. However for us it has worked out, albeit life aint perfect, but we realise this wherever in the world you live. Our life in UK was good i.e great jobs and excellent standard of living etc...but we lived to work rather than worked to live.....and herein lies the answer... FOR US....as the answer is that simple really.

Aus suits us and vice versa. It isn't everyone's cup-o-tea and life here certainly is not a bed of roses, the job situation for example is dire IMHO and very much over rated / over stated ....but again this is MY opinion based on MY experience. I accept everyone's views differ based on THEIR experiences.

For us, the Aussie people, the climate, the lifestyle, the "easiness" of life <read less day to day stress> is so much more enjoyable. And sometimes this is attributed to insignificant things, take for example yesterday.

I had to go to the Doctors, so off I trot, unannounced to my local GP, only to find them fully booked up [my fault, no appointment]....anyways, I go home, ring a few local GP's and manage to be seen in the afternoon. I go to Dr's, get my prescription and then go to Medicare to get a refund for the cost of seeing the Dr.

Medicare office are so professional, so prompt and so efficient and refund me $31.45 of the $46 dollars it has cost me to see the Dr. I then go across to the Pharmacy and pick up my prescription for $20. Again, efficient, polite and professional. Now all in all, I was seen on the same day, was "serviced" politely and efficiently and professionally and it cost me about $35 bucks. Now personally speaking, this was far less stressful than when I lived in UK.

In UK I would ring the Dr's surgery only to have a surly receptionist tell me I should have rung earlier and then ask me what's wrong ....then I would have been informed that unless it was an emergency <read life threatening> then I could have an appointment in a week ..Now personally speaking, it is things like THAT that used to stress me out. If I'm poorly, then the last thing I want to do is be vetted by a friggin receptionist or wait a sodding week, by which time I'm better, so I waste mine and the Dr's time

Then there is car parking; Here in Aus unless you go to the cities, parking is generally free. Yes FREE! My father came here for three months and in the end I nearly had to stamp a message on his forehead saying "Free parking" as he would have a heart attack every time I walked away from the car. He was paranoid I might get a parking ticket as he couldn't believe parking was free, and he would frantically be searching out for a parking meter worried I might get a parking ticket. "Dad....it's free" was what I said every time I parked the car, even before we set out to go anywhere and "are you sure" was always his response

Then there's the litter and dog shit; Yes, I know...not a big deal to some folk....but one thing I noticed was the lack of it here compared to UK. And believe me, I lived in a nice place in UK....but for some reason people still thought it was OK to let their dog crap and not have to clean up after themselves. And before anyone starts, I've got a dog so I love dogs. It's the owners that need training. Anyways, as I was saying, I've noticed here there are a lot of recreational areas with BBQs etc, and often people are out and about with their dogs, and the owners have their doggy bags to clean up. Of course there will always be a few selfish so-and-so's...but in the main people are respectful and responsible owners.

And then there are the BBQ areas. Again these are generally free, even the gas ones. I see people use them then clean them for the next person. You see the odd area untidy but in the main they are well kept and clean..

These are just a few examples of the day to day living that for us creates a better standard of living and of course the list is not exhaustive. There are also things that we miss from UK. How can you live somewhere for a long time and not do so?.... but this is Awwwwstralia....and it's a different country....and we have emigrated....so WE have had to learn to adapt

I accept this is not the same for everyone...and there are certain things you just can't compare. Missing friends and family for example. It doesn't matter where you are you are going to miss them once you decide to emigrate. That is part and parcel of emigrating, so no point even comparing this, of course you have no idea how you will cope with it until you do move though.

So....in summary, Aus aint perfect. There are some things which in my view are backwards here in Aus [work ethics for example] and other things where Aus beats the UK hands down and then other things where you will miss regardless [friends & family etc], but for us personally... overall Aus is the winner. It's a less stressful, more fulfilling day-2-day lifestyle and although very, very different, it's got some tremendous positives. This isn't the same for everyone though, and the only way you can ever know....is to try it!!

Good luck in your new adventure

Originally Posted by phoenixinoz

Great post.

You're right. It is important to get a mixed bag of views, at least that way you wont be disappointed. Australia is a beautiful place to live and thankfully for most people it's a great choice, however for some it seems like purgatory and an expensive mistake and this is why it is such an emotive subject. No one moves to Aus because they hate Australia, however for some people Australia just doesn't "gel" somehow...and this can have devastating effects and be very very stressful.

We had no pre-conceived ideas about Aus. Having never even visited before we had no idea what we would like or dislike about it however we did expect it to be different to the UK, which I think helped temper our initial views. Don't ask me why we didn't visit and why we risked everything, as although we are risk takers it was probably the most risky thing we have ever done. However for us it has worked out, albeit life aint perfect, but we realise this wherever in the world you live. Our life in UK was good i.e great jobs and excellent standard of living etc...but we lived to work rather than worked to live.....and herein lies the answer... FOR US....as the answer is that simple really.

Aus suits us and vice versa. It isn't everyone's cup-o-tea and life here certainly is not a bed of roses, the job situation for example is dire IMHO and very much over rated / over stated ....but again this is MY opinion based on MY experience. I accept everyone's views differ based on THEIR experiences.

For us, the Aussie people, the climate, the lifestyle, the "easiness" of life <read less day to day stress> is so much more enjoyable. And sometimes this is attributed to insignificant things, take for example yesterday.

I had to go to the Doctors, so off I trot, unannounced to my local GP, only to find them fully booked up [my fault, no appointment]....anyways, I go home, ring a few local GP's and manage to be seen in the afternoon. I go to Dr's, get my prescription and then go to Medicare to get a refund for the cost of seeing the Dr.

Medicare office are so professional, so prompt and so efficient and refund me $31.45 of the $46 dollars it has cost me to see the Dr. I then go across to the Pharmacy and pick up my prescription for $20. Again, efficient, polite and professional. Now all in all, I was seen on the same day, was "serviced" politely and efficiently and professionally and it cost me about $35 bucks. Now personally speaking, this was far less stressful than when I lived in UK.

In UK I would ring the Dr's surgery only to have a surly receptionist tell me I should have rung earlier and then ask me what's wrong ....then I would have been informed that unless it was an emergency <read life threatening> then I could have an appointment in a week ..Now personally speaking, it is things like THAT that used to stress me out. If I'm poorly, then the last thing I want to do is be vetted by a friggin receptionist or wait a sodding week, by which time I'm better, so I waste mine and the Dr's time

Then there is car parking; Here in Aus unless you go to the cities, parking is generally free. Yes FREE! My father came here for three months and in the end I nearly had to stamp a message on his forehead saying "Free parking" as he would have a heart attack every time I walked away from the car. He was paranoid I might get a parking ticket as he couldn't believe parking was free, and he would frantically be searching out for a parking meter worried I might get a parking ticket. "Dad....it's free" was what I said every time I parked the car, even before we set out to go anywhere and "are you sure" was always his response

Then there's the litter and dog shit; Yes, I know...not a big deal to some folk....but one thing I noticed was the lack of it here compared to UK. And believe me, I lived in a nice place in UK....but for some reason people still thought it was OK to let their dog crap and not have to clean up after themselves. And before anyone starts, I've got a dog so I love dogs. It's the owners that need training. Anyways, as I was saying, I've noticed here there are a lot of recreational areas with BBQs etc, and often people are out and about with their dogs, and the owners have their doggy bags to clean up. Of course there will always be a few selfish so-and-so's...but in the main people are respectful and responsible owners.

And then there are the BBQ areas. Again these are generally free, even the gas ones. I see people use them then clean them for the next person. You see the odd area untidy but in the main they are well kept and clean..

These are just a few examples of the day to day living that for us creates a better standard of living and of course the list is not exhaustive. There are also things that we miss from UK. How can you live somewhere for a long time and not do so?.... but this is Awwwwstralia....and it's a different country....and we have emigrated....so WE have had to learn to adapt

I accept this is not the same for everyone...and there are certain things you just can't compare. Missing friends and family for example. It doesn't matter where you are you are going to miss them once you decide to emigrate. That is part and parcel of emigrating, so no point even comparing this, of course you have no idea how you will cope with it until you do move though.

So....in summary, Aus aint perfect. There are some things which in my view are backwards here in Aus [work ethics for example] and other things where Aus beats the UK hands down and then other things where you will miss regardless [friends & family etc], but for us personally... overall Aus is the winner. It's a less stressful, more fulfilling day-2-day lifestyle and although very, very different, it's got some tremendous positives. This isn't the same for everyone though, and the only way you can ever know....is to try it!!

Good luck in your new adventure

Originally Posted by touchingcloth

One of the reason's why Arkon's posts have been berated, is because he believes his live in rural Oz represents the rest of Australia.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but posts such as his are absolutely useless....even if you were to move to Wiggamollooolaa (population 7)

Originally Posted by Exile

I live in Perth and have had very similar experiences to Arkon. It's not just rural Australia.

Originally Posted by Exile

I live in Perth and have had very similar experiences to Arkon. It's not just rural Australia.

Originally Posted by Lord Pom Percy

Perth is rural compared to Sydney or Melbourne. Perth is just a large country town in the middle of nowhere surrounded by thousands of miles of desert.