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-   -   Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone??? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/australia-54/has-australian-dream-lost-its-sparkle-anyone-696110/)

steen1976 Dec 7th 2010 1:33 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 
Not expecting too much from it. We've our reasons for wanting the move and firmly believe they will be realised - advancing both of our careers from where we are now.

But I know Oz isn't a utopia and there will be some struggles along the way.

Sunshine is a major factor though. :D I'm absolutely pig sick of this snow now.

xzibit Dec 7th 2010 2:10 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 

Originally Posted by steen1976 (Post 9026319)
Sunshine is a major factor though. :D I'm absolutely pig sick of this snow now.

Oh you'll soon be pig sick of the sun soon enough too!! :rofl:

There were never sparkles for me. I just liked the place so decided to move there. Exchange rate has made it a bit of a bugger bringing money from the UK, but it just means you have to work a bit harder when earning $ to make up for it.

steen1976 Dec 7th 2010 2:30 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 

Originally Posted by xzibit (Post 9026375)
Oh you'll soon be pig sick of the sun soon enough too!! :rofl:

There were never sparkles for me. I just liked the place so decided to move there. Exchange rate has made it a bit of a bugger bringing money from the UK, but it just means you have to work a bit harder when earning $ to make up for it.

Well I've a summer under my belt out there and I can safely say I'll take the Sydney sun to the Sunderland snow ;)

And I'm coming with nothing so the exchange rate isn't much of an issue either :(:D

Wendy Dec 7th 2010 5:04 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 

Originally Posted by steen1976 (Post 9026400)
Well I've a summer under my belt out there and I can safely say I'll take the Sydney sun to the Sunderland snow ;)

And I'm coming with nothing so the exchange rate isn't much of an issue either :(:D

I've had four summers in Australia and I'll take the sun to the snow anyday! :lol:

steve`o Dec 7th 2010 6:11 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 

Originally Posted by Dorothy (Post 9026116)
You know, I find myself agreeing with you more and more every day.

Australian dream? What Australian dream? Emigrating is a major lifechanging event. There should be no dreaming about it at all. It's a huge reality.


Originally Posted by DeadVim (Post 9026130)
This is cause for concern on both sides ;) :D

slippery slope ;)

TKline Dec 7th 2010 9:24 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 
Let's see... house prices are through the roof, exchange rate is dreadful for overseas visitors, inflation is very high but somehow the govt fudges the figures and tells us it's low... not low at all if you look at average grocery bills or electricity/gas/water etc all going through the roof. On the plus side the weather and beaches are as good as ever! :D

fish.01 Dec 7th 2010 9:29 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 

Originally Posted by TKline (Post 9027211)
Let's see... house prices are through the roof, exchange rate is dreadful for overseas visitors, inflation is very high but somehow the govt fudges the figures and tells us it's low... not low at all if you look at average grocery bills or electricity/gas/water etc all going through the roof. On the plus side the weather and beaches are as good as ever! :D

Just looking at "at average grocery bills or electricity/gas/water" would be fudging it ;)

TKline Dec 7th 2010 9:31 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 

Originally Posted by fish.01 (Post 9027221)
Just looking at "at average grocery bills or electricity/gas/water" would be fudging it ;)

I think they should look at the goods most people buy, not their fudged up 'basket of goods' that takes out all the stuff that went up the most - even house prices, the biggest purchase most people make, which are going through the roof, is ignored by CPI.

iamthecreaturefromuranus Dec 7th 2010 9:51 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 

Originally Posted by TKline (Post 9027211)
On the plus side the weather and beaches are as good as ever! :D

Weather and beaches, unsurprisingly, get mentioned everytime these threads come up.
I can see the beach from my front door.... and I think I've been on it half a dozen times in the last year. I used to go all the time, but its just a pile of sand at the end of the day and it WILL lose its attraction.

Is the weather 'better'?... well on average you would have to say of course it is. Nobody would be rushing here if the the weather was like Siberia... BUT, there are elements to Australian weather that can get just as tedious as the weather in the UK.
Walking the dog when its 28c and nearly 90% humidity, whilst surrounded by your own personal collection of bush flies, gets old very quickly.

As for the rest.. the 'Australian dream' now comes with one Hell of a high price tag.

sjz Dec 7th 2010 10:02 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 

Originally Posted by iamthecreaturefromuranus (Post 9027248)
Weather and beaches, unsurprisingly, get mentioned everytime these threads come up.
I can see the beach from my front door.... and I think I've been on it half a dozen times in the last year. I used to go all the time, but its just a pile of sand at the end of the day and it WILL lose its attraction.

Is the weather 'better'?... well on average you would have to say of course it is. Nobody would be rushing here if the the weather was like Siberia... BUT, there are elements to Australian weather that can get just as tedious as the weather in the UK.
Walking the dog when its 28c and nearly 90% humidity, whilst surrounded by your own personal collection of bush flies, gets old very quickly.

As for the rest.. the 'Australian dream' now comes with one Hell of a high price tag.



Agree completely.

If you’re planning on coming here JUST for the weather, forget it – its swings and roundabouts – you just have to adjust to wherever you are as best you can – sun or snow. I would hope there’s a bigger driver to it than that, like a career change or something, especially if you’re on to a good thing where you are. Btw, if you can’t afford to buy the house of your dreams in the UK you can’t here either.

Australia has winters too – try 4-5 months of grey skies, temp between 12-15 each day and light rain (annoying amount but not enough for the dams) on and off every day. Why do you think the aussies all go to northern Queensland and the pacific islands for their holidays? Remember the freebees you get with living in higher temperatures too – ants and cockroaches everywhere, snakes, skin cancer. A lot of the sunny days here in melbourne its too hot to sit in my backyard for more than 30 minutes - you spend a lot of days here under the air conditioner, in shopping malls, movie theaters or with the hoards at the beaches trying to stay cool.

The planet is changing for sure. If you stay in England for a few more years you might get some decent summers there eventually – they now make some of the best sparking wines in the world in the south. There are hot days there too - I remember a few years ago at a friends wedding, they were having pictures on the long walk outside Windsor castle – it was so hot the tarmac melted and she ended up with it all over the bottom of her dress.

If you’re sick of the cold, just go on holiday somewhere sunny instead. It would be a lot cheaper and save uprooting your family, job etc. I suggest right now might be a good time – I hear room rates in sharm-el-sheik are very reasonable right now.

asprilla Dec 7th 2010 10:11 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 

Originally Posted by iamthecreaturefromuranus (Post 9027248)
Weather and beaches, unsurprisingly, get mentioned everytime these threads come up.
I can see the beach from my front door.... and I think I've been on it half a dozen times in the last year. I used to go all the time, but its just a pile of sand at the end of the day and it WILL lose its attraction.


Exactly right. Why bother living near the beach, when you can just get a construction company to dump a pile of sand at the end of your driveway? :)



Seriously though, I think there are quite a few reasons why beaches get brought up. People like to holiday near the beach. When you are on a beach, you are pretty far away from all life's worries. For most people being on a beach is about enjoying yourself, and not doing any work.

People want to get away from life's worries, relax and enjoy themselves... this is the appeal of the beach. For me anyway, places like Sunshine beach and Peregian beach are good examples of the kind of lifestyle that many expats are after. (or at least a holiday home in either :) )

pomtastic Dec 7th 2010 11:07 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 

Originally Posted by iamthecreaturefromuranus (Post 9027248)
Weather and beaches, unsurprisingly, get mentioned everytime these threads come up.
I can see the beach from my front door.... and I think I've been on it half a dozen times in the last year. I used to go all the time, but its just a pile of sand at the end of the day and it WILL lose its attraction.

Is the weather 'better'?... well on average you would have to say of course it is. Nobody would be rushing here if the the weather was like Siberia... BUT, there are elements to Australian weather that can get just as tedious as the weather in the UK.
Walking the dog when its 28c and nearly 90% humidity, whilst surrounded by your own personal collection of bush flies, gets old very quickly.

As for the rest.. the 'Australian dream' now comes with one Hell of a high price tag.

Exactly, well said and I completely agree with you. All the same experiences as I have had.

A few of our friends and aquaintances live in beach side suburbs and yet I find it strange that none of the family can cast a fishing line, surf or do other things associated with the ocean and yet they rave about how fantastic it is to live so close to the sea.

moneypenny20 Dec 7th 2010 11:17 pm

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 

Originally Posted by pomtastic (Post 9027365)
Exactly, well said and I completely agree with you. All the same experiences as I have had.

A few of our friends and aquaintances live in beach side suburbs and yet I find it strange that none of the family can cast a fishing line, surf or do other things associated with the ocean and yet they rave about how fantastic it is to live so close to the sea.

I live close to the beach and agreed, I don't often go down there BUT the feeling of relaxation and good vibes I get from seeing the ocean every day, and being able to quickly and easily get there and just walk when my head is full of crap, is amazing. It's the best way I can find to get life in perspective.

littda01 Dec 8th 2010 12:33 am

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 
My own perspective as a recent arrival -

The price of the Aussie dream has gone up a lot over the last few years. Take this example. In 2006, for example, lets say the GBP bought you 2.2AUD. You had GBP100k to bring, so 220AUD. You were eyeing up a job in Aus at 100k. A nice 3bed in a good suburb of Melbourne would set you back about 450k. No worries, easily affordable! 30% deposit, mortgage 3x gross.

Wind forward to late 2010. Your 100k now gets you 100k. The same house is now costing around 650k. Lets be fair and say your salary is now 120k. 10% deposit, mortgage 4.88x gross.

Thats >50% less affordable. BIG difference in your net wealth and your potential quality of life.

These factors are a little transitory, granted, but noone can predict how long they might last for.

Now, as regards the weather. This yr has been pretty poor by all accounts. But generally, the weather is just a lot better than UK. It depends how "weather-sensitive" your life is. Mine is very, playing a couple of sports and liking to be outside generally.

The UK is terrible from that perspective because theres no predictability. Anythings possible. Melb is unpredictable too, but just less so, and from a better base. No competition at all.

If you're not that weather-sensitive, eg more of a culture person, the heat might annoy you. But to me, bring it on.

Geordie George Dec 8th 2010 12:46 am

Re: Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???
 
I don't know that dreams should come into such a major decision; you have to be realistic. The tedious parts of life still need to be done, regardless of where you live: household chores, bills to pay, a job to go to. Life in Aus is not really all that different to life in the UK, on the whole.

I try not to think about the exchange rate. I'm paid in dollars, I pay for things in dollars. It's more useful for me to know my hourly rate than the exchange rate.

The weather really depends on where you're going to be in Aus. Tassie certainly wouldn't suit me, but then neither would Cairns. Sydney's weather has sucked this winter and spring. Summer is finally starting to put in an appearance. Just!

I do agree with Matt and Dorothy - emigrating is a major life-changing event and attitude counts for everything. The more realistic you are, the less there is to be disappointed by. ;)


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