Buzzy--Bee

If you are NZ citizens book yourselves a one way ticket and get on the plane. You get a "perpetual" visa on arrival called TR444. There are no forms to fill in, you do not have to apply for it and you are guaranteed entry unless you are someone who Australia does not want no matter what their visa (eg convicted murderer).

Once you are here TR444 is on a day to day practical basis as good as PR. There are 1000s of Kiwis living here on that basis.

We were looking for the lifestyle of NZ combined with good economic realities and we have found that and more in Melbourne.

BB

ABCDiamond

I had one of those, built sometime before 1980. Not surprising I don't see much difference these days

They started building in 1958.

Double brick houses are available in Australia if people want them. But they may get a bit warm for 9 months of the year ?

ABCDiamond

The can't get many of the Social Security Benefits any more though, since 2001.

Mochinbach

I live in Adelaide in a really beautiful house. It's fine in the summer (condenser Air con) chilly in winter but we've bought a couple of these and that's sorted that! (They run with water not oil and are exactly like have a central heated radiator. Little ones for little rooms, big ones for big rooms and they are a lot cheaper here than in the UK)

We also have warm air heating and a Reverse Cycle Air con for boosts both in Winter and Summer.

I think our house is of a very high standard and wouldn't need to do very much to it if it was mine outright. If I had a choice I'd shove in under floor heating - slippers are a must! Carpets are out in the main rooms because we live near the beach and spend too much time bringing sand in with us

Here's a set of piccies of when we moved in - to give you and idea of the kind of house http://www.flickr.com/photos/mochinb...7623093545789/

I've blogged about it too a lot ! Feel free to read all about it! That's what it's for

http://www.rockinmochin.com/2010/01/...the-new-house/
http://www.rockinmochin.com/2010/01/16/two-days-on/
http://www.rockinmochin.com/2010/01/19/we-have-a-bed/

folic

We bought our place because of location. It's a few km from Sydney CBD. The grounds are great: no passing traffic despite the location and lots of gardens, parks, walkways, etc. It gained an award for design or something when it was all built, some ten years ago, approx.

We've lived here the full ten years. It has a lot going for it in terms of location, access to the city, transport, local shopping, etc.

Construction is close to 3rd world, to be honest. Cement block exteriors. Then behind that there's a gap. Then a weird type of thin metal framing. With very thin gyprock stuff stuck on to the weird metal framing. That's it. That's all. No batts in the ceiling. Just one thickness of cement block and about three millimetres of thin gyprock between us and the elements. Faces north south, so it bakes in summer and freezes in winter. And BIG glass windows and doors (glass is probably thicker than the gyprock. Amazing .. it got an award)

We had the wool carpet removed and laminated flooring installed. Only one room (daughter's) is air-conditioned, because she's a wuss. And that was only installed last summer

We own only one tiny little cheap fan-heater which I sometimes use in the bathroom while I'm showering (I forbid the rest of the family to do it because of danger of electrocution. I'm the exception because of course I'm indestructable)

The place is open-plan on the ground floor. Would cost the earth to use an air-conditioner several hours a day, summer and winter.

So, rather than spend our lives paying the electricity companies, I told the family to toughen up. It's a matter of attitude. It gets down to 7 and 8 degrees celsius inside the house quite often here in winter (sometimes lower). And I sit here, before my computer in the coldest corner of the living area until 3 in the morning quite regularly. I always have at least one big sliding door and one window open, because I smoke. Often I'll have the front door open too, although I've stopped doing that as often as I used to, ever since a 20-something guy -- having watched me cross the room to see what the hell he was up to out there -- tried three times to rip the security-fly-screen door open, the last try being when I was inches from him. (I'm an old lady and glad he finally ran off, because I'm not sure what would have happened next, because the door was wrecked after that. One more good tug would have opened it )

I wear polyester pajamas and usually a couple of washed-thin dressing gowns over the pajamas, finished with 'Mother's Day' type K-mart slippers (yes, got them for Mother's Day .. like cold little bricks, they are)

And that's it, apart from all of us having electric blankets on the beds. So it's just a matter of establishing a spartan type attitude, after which you get used to it

We lived for decades on the Gold Coast, where it's warmer in winter. But then again, it's also a lot hotter on the Gold Coast during summer

Aussie weather is 'demanding', to put it mildly. The humidity almost kills you in summer. And even the Gold Coast gets very cold at night in winter

Sydney must rival Manchester for grey days and rain - be it summer or winter

I've never understood the big fuss about Aussie weather. Australia's painted as one long comfortably warm and sunny paradise, when in reality, that's far from true

Open plan seems to be here to stay and of course that's the most difficult to keep warm/cool. But it looks nice, if you have enough unobtrusive storage space.

People comment sometimes about our reluctance to install full-house air-conditioning, like them. I shrug. The truth is, it saves money. And as a result of saving money, we haven't had to take out a mortgage on any of the last three properties we've bought. So, to us, it's worth being mortgage free and adding an extra cardigan. But I don't say that, because it sounds like boasting. And Aussies hate boasters.

Next of all, a small thing really, but in summer when it's hot and everyone has their air-conditioners turned up full blast, the grid or whatever it is collapses and there's a black-out. As well, we're supposed to be becoming more environmentally responsible and air-conditioners smack a little of 'white man's refusing to adapt to new environment' sort of thing ...

You get used to it, if you persist in toughing it out, be it hot or cold. We have neighbours who won't leave their indoor, air-conditioned comfort if they deem it 'too hot' or 'too cold' outdoors. For our family, indoors or outdoors, it's all the same. lol. So we just get on with life. I like the feeling of independence and freedom which that imparts. Or at least, that's what I tell myself

Wol

I couldn't live in a house that went down to 7 or 8'!

During winter it regularly goes down to several degrees of frost for a couple of months but even with the heating off at night the inside is rarely below 14' by morning, and it heats up to 21' within minutes when the heating comes on at 0700.

Insulation and double glazing - that's the message!

Pine Cone

These are exactly the sort of temperatures we're putting up with in NZ....in a relatively new house

Buzzy--Bee

Never drops below 17 degrees in our house in Melbourne... but then we do have uPVC double glazing and 7 inches of insulation in the walls....

BB

Wol

...shows the advantage of having your house built rather than taking what's on offer!

ABCDiamond

I couldn't live in a 'Country' that went down to 7° or 8°

Buzzy--Bee

Or building and specifying it yourself!!!

BB

Wol

'Swhat I meant, in your case

Amazulu

Speak for yourself - my house is very well built. I've been renovating it for the last 4 years and every time I knock something down or open something up it's f**king hard work and I can tell how well built it is. When we bought the place it was very tatty as it had not been maintained but basically sound.

BadgeIsBack

Shaping up to be an interesting thread. The line insulation keeps out the cold and the heat is an old, old sage favourite of this forum which I would have believed so your point and Petals is interesting.

I remember sweltering in the UK in a double glazed home. But most of the time AC is not needed so your point has credence.

I don't mind cooler homes and hate houses too warm. I do not expect most people to agree as many grew up in centrally heated houses and it is their devine right of birth. A good wood burner, or open fire is mandatory though for me as even looking at it makes me warmer and in part I light it as caveman tv is quite an allure. Constant ducted or even worse, ac on hot would drive me insane and I am sure others will agree.. I wonder how many new mansions in the burbs have wood-burners?

BadgeIsBack

It would also account for how your darling wife also parks her car employing the same unit of measure! And now you can use it when coming alongside in your boat - and so on...