Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
#31
Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
we came with $40,000 AUS 2 yrs ago...no furnishings, just a couple of boxes of 'stuff'...i had a job, hubby didn't...2 pre teens.....
couldnt afford a house...so we rented....no worries... hubby got a job and we saved up for 18 mths got a decent credit score a deposit and bought our house.
yes mortgages are expensive here but we wouldn't have had a hope in hell of owning a house like this in the UK. it is not the best house in the best area..it is a lovely house in a lovely area. 20min walk to beach (there it is again) but we go to the beach most days...fishing, dog walking, chilling.
we love it, some dont, to me it is very sparkly...
couldnt afford a house...so we rented....no worries... hubby got a job and we saved up for 18 mths got a decent credit score a deposit and bought our house.
yes mortgages are expensive here but we wouldn't have had a hope in hell of owning a house like this in the UK. it is not the best house in the best area..it is a lovely house in a lovely area. 20min walk to beach (there it is again) but we go to the beach most days...fishing, dog walking, chilling.
we love it, some dont, to me it is very sparkly...
#32
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 252
Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
we came with $40,000 AUS 2 yrs ago...no furnishings, just a couple of boxes of 'stuff'...i had a job, hubby didn't...2 pre teens.....
couldnt afford a house...so we rented....no worries... hubby got a job and we saved up for 18 mths got a decent credit score a deposit and bought our house.
yes mortgages are expensive here but we wouldn't have had a hope in hell of owning a house like this in the UK. it is not the best house in the best area..it is a lovely house in a lovely area. 20min walk to beach (there it is again) but we go to the beach most days...fishing, dog walking, chilling.
we love it, some dont, to me it is very sparkly...
couldnt afford a house...so we rented....no worries... hubby got a job and we saved up for 18 mths got a decent credit score a deposit and bought our house.
yes mortgages are expensive here but we wouldn't have had a hope in hell of owning a house like this in the UK. it is not the best house in the best area..it is a lovely house in a lovely area. 20min walk to beach (there it is again) but we go to the beach most days...fishing, dog walking, chilling.
we love it, some dont, to me it is very sparkly...
#33
Forum Regular
Joined: Nov 2010
Location: NZ=>UK=>AU=>UK
Posts: 43
Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
Houses here may have more space in general but what they’re built out of has to be considered as well. Wood and tin here, brick and stone there. Here, I’m too cold in winter and too hot in summer whereas I was never cold inside any of the 6 different houses I lived in during my time in the UK, regardless of what the weather was doing outside.
Why do the aussie councils allow people to bastardise the period properties here so much? They rip the back off a period weatherboard property and put on a two storey, corrugated iron and glass brick extension – awful. Why not just rip it all down and start again instead of building these hotch-potch disasters all over the place?
Give me a Georgian period property over a modern aussie new build any day – I know which one will still be standing 100 years from now.
#36
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 6,600
Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
When I was on the migration trail and feeling a bit low with the whole thing, the lyrics to Gabrielle's "Dreams Can Come True" were always inspirational . ..
#38
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 516
Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
It depends on your dream, as previous posters have said I can't remember the last time i went to the beach but I love chilling out on the deck with a glass of wine listening to the parrots, I can't remember the last time I went in the ocean but I love sitting out under the stars with the kids watching a free movie. Make no mistake Australia is expensive, it can get too hot and it can feel too cold, you will get homesick, however in my opinion it never feels like we made a mistake and I thank goodness that we made it here and I can't imagine wanting to be anywhere else......there are lots of people who would trade places with me in a heartbeat and I feel very lucky to be living in Brisvegas............
#40
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2009
Location: Perth
Posts: 2,237
Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
Yes, most expats know what and where it is, even if a lot of eastern states Aussies don't. WA is a very warm part of Australia and the weather is very predictable here, so it doesn't fit into your statement "The warmer parts of Australia have the less predictable weather".
#41
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 252
Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
sjz - I agree that UK period properties are very nice to look at. However, they don't adapt well, and generally it costs a lot to fit them out like a new place.
New places (IMO) are not expected to have a lifetime of 100 yrs. More like 30-50, then its knock down and build again. Nothing wrong with that.
Old properties in Europe are one of the best things about European cities, but boy are they a bitch to live in and plan around.
#42
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Joined: Mar 2006
Location: Riverland, SA - Beds/Cambs/Nhants was home in UK
Posts: 1,503
Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
To the OP - I shouldn't be replying as I'm not a 1 yr only person but perhaps I can put something into the discussion?
If you expect Australia to sparkle, you are perhaps going to be disappointed. As many others have stated, same shit, shinier bucket perhaps.
Real life still goes on, albeit perhaps with more sun, more expensive lettuce, less Next or Marks and Spencers but reality it is and I still have to hunt out the dirty socks , clean the toilets and so forth!
I think we're in an unusual position - we didn't come with hopes of a pool in the backyard, or nightly walks along the beach. For us we wanted more time as a family and a better quality of life - by that I don't mean a flash car, house, holidays. We spend time as a family, having fun. This was our goal, we have achieved it, so I would say if that's what you mean by sparkle - yep it sparkles.
Still got money in UK as exchange rate is naff which in turn means we've not yet bought a house but it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. We'll do it at some point and then we'll buy but for now we're not fussed, we're too busy playing about in the flooded wetlands and rivers in our tinny
(Oh and when we do buy it'll be a new fangled modern thing with no gaps in the floor or roof, no damp, no mould) That's what most of the houses I lived in in the UK had, oh and of course it'll have masses of space!
If you expect Australia to sparkle, you are perhaps going to be disappointed. As many others have stated, same shit, shinier bucket perhaps.
Real life still goes on, albeit perhaps with more sun, more expensive lettuce, less Next or Marks and Spencers but reality it is and I still have to hunt out the dirty socks , clean the toilets and so forth!
I think we're in an unusual position - we didn't come with hopes of a pool in the backyard, or nightly walks along the beach. For us we wanted more time as a family and a better quality of life - by that I don't mean a flash car, house, holidays. We spend time as a family, having fun. This was our goal, we have achieved it, so I would say if that's what you mean by sparkle - yep it sparkles.
Still got money in UK as exchange rate is naff which in turn means we've not yet bought a house but it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. We'll do it at some point and then we'll buy but for now we're not fussed, we're too busy playing about in the flooded wetlands and rivers in our tinny
(Oh and when we do buy it'll be a new fangled modern thing with no gaps in the floor or roof, no damp, no mould) That's what most of the houses I lived in in the UK had, oh and of course it'll have masses of space!
#43
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 10,375
Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
You would need to move here now because you totally love australia, its ways its people, its politics, its geography.....
You no longer move to get a financial upgrade, we came 10 years ago, pound bought 2.5+ and houses were a third of the price they are now and most of our bills are double or treble what they were then too. Lucky I guess.
Sparkle, umm, work, school, kids, housework, bills, does that sparkle cause you move??
You get different small pleasures in life, a blue sky in OZ, a frosty field in the UK, a kookaburra here, a robin there, pretty much the same really, everwhere has nice little things about it.
One thing that I wouldnt move for is OZ weather, weve got UK rellies out here now, totally surprised about the weather, Perth nearly boiled them, Qld was going through its "moist" phase and melb they hit in time for awful weather in their words. Yet every email before arrival was about how wonderful the weather would be, you cant tell em Harsh climate at best.
You no longer move to get a financial upgrade, we came 10 years ago, pound bought 2.5+ and houses were a third of the price they are now and most of our bills are double or treble what they were then too. Lucky I guess.
Sparkle, umm, work, school, kids, housework, bills, does that sparkle cause you move??
You get different small pleasures in life, a blue sky in OZ, a frosty field in the UK, a kookaburra here, a robin there, pretty much the same really, everwhere has nice little things about it.
One thing that I wouldnt move for is OZ weather, weve got UK rellies out here now, totally surprised about the weather, Perth nearly boiled them, Qld was going through its "moist" phase and melb they hit in time for awful weather in their words. Yet every email before arrival was about how wonderful the weather would be, you cant tell em Harsh climate at best.
#44
Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
You would need to move here now because you totally love australia, its ways its people, its politics, its geography.....
You no longer move to get a financial upgrade, we came 10 years ago, pound bought 2.5+ and houses were a third of the price they are now and most of our bills are double or treble what they were then too. Lucky I guess.
Sparkle, umm, work, school, kids, housework, bills, does that sparkle cause you move??
You get different small pleasures in life, a blue sky in OZ, a frosty field in the UK, a kookaburra here, a robin there, pretty much the same really, everwhere has nice little things about it.
One thing that I wouldnt move for is OZ weather, weve got UK rellies out here now, totally surprised about the weather, Perth nearly boiled them, Qld was going through its "moist" phase and melb they hit in time for awful weather in their words. Yet every email before arrival was about how wonderful the weather would be, you cant tell em Harsh climate at best.
You no longer move to get a financial upgrade, we came 10 years ago, pound bought 2.5+ and houses were a third of the price they are now and most of our bills are double or treble what they were then too. Lucky I guess.
Sparkle, umm, work, school, kids, housework, bills, does that sparkle cause you move??
You get different small pleasures in life, a blue sky in OZ, a frosty field in the UK, a kookaburra here, a robin there, pretty much the same really, everwhere has nice little things about it.
One thing that I wouldnt move for is OZ weather, weve got UK rellies out here now, totally surprised about the weather, Perth nearly boiled them, Qld was going through its "moist" phase and melb they hit in time for awful weather in their words. Yet every email before arrival was about how wonderful the weather would be, you cant tell em Harsh climate at best.
Wuss? Me? Yes
The phrase "Australia's great weather" always makes me chuckle ... still, only 5 months until it cools down and the good weather (for me) returns ...
#45
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,412
Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
I don't know how it compares to the UK, but in comparison to Ireland there seems to be a lot more value afforded by the council to residents. The amenities are exceptional and the populus respects them. I can only imagine what would happen to free electric bbqs if we had them in parks in Ireland. They'd be pissed on and ripped apart most likely.