Pollyana

Might have guessed you'd have something to say in the subject, Wilf. Well, just for your info, I have as many friends throughout Oz who are ex-pats, as I have friends/family who are Aussies. And a couple of the ex-pats are not sure they made the right decision, and have given me their totally honest view of Australia (before AND after I made the decision to emigrate).

I reckon that adds up to a balanced viewpoint?

pommie bastard

Keating was very clever ,how the hell did such a useless twat get voted in as PM sorry I keep forgeting this is Australia.

Wilf

Yes, I am saying that you should listen more to ex-pats, because they will be more likely to give you a useful idea of your future, than born and bred ozzies. Therefore, it is good that you have asked some ex-pats. All I am saying is, give their opinions more weight than those of the ozzies and you may avoid the mistake of emigrating downunder.

Pollyana

Too late, I'm going, but I shall weigh up life there with a balanced viewpoint, the same way that I made my decision.
If we decide the UK might suit better in the future, we will move back here. Carl arrives in 3 weeks from Brisbane for his first visit to the UK - I'm keenly awaiting his views on it, and I'm trying very hard not to influence him at all. We will be on the forum while he's here, and I'll let you know what he thinks.

Wilf

England can be overwhelming - so busy looking, rough round the edges, etc - to the eye when someone first pitches up, and that deters some. That's the trouble though. In the long term, the UK beats Oz hands down these days - yes, even with the "terror" of a few girls from yugoslavia begghing on the tube in London or with the rough and ready approach of some Englsih - because of the opportubnites it offers to have an interesting career set in a fascinating country. The Uk is a place accused of having no culture because the UK culture is the world's culture - the UK invented the modern world, even its language - and like kids do not know the air is there even though it is all around them, so the fans of little one trick pony cultures like Oz or Nz do not see the UK culture all around them in every day of their life and say there is none.

My point here is that I find it hard to believe that a young person from the UK would want to come to an empty place like Oz, especially when its future is so bleak and the risk of long term unemployment or, almost as bad, boring underemployment for years on end, for the rest of your life, is so high. Once the novelty wears off - and in Oz, a bland country that is much the same all over and has little to interest an active mind, that happens in 2 years - you are just left with you, your boring, unfulfilling job, your poor pay, long hours, little holiday allowance, and to compensate you - your larger house and a fortnightly play on the beach.

Good luck.

Pollyana

Oh Wilf, if you are referring to me as a young person, you know how to make a woman happy! As 40 looms on the horizon for both myself and Carl, I can assure you that both of us are a little more worldly wise than your average 18 year old. Been there, seen it, done it, got the t-shirt.

and my lovely, wonderful bloke!

Wilf

Well, although you are still young to me, at your age of 40 - where age prejudice kicks in when it comes to jobs and choices dry up when they have the younger people on offer, and longterm unemployment becomes a real possibility - you can not afford to make such an expensive (in lost life terms and in terms of risk to your future) move to somewhere like Oz. It is Ok for a rich retiree or a 20 year old, but could be very dangerous for someone of your age. You will not have the choice to come back to the UK and will be stuck there for good. It is no fun to be stuck I can tell you.

If I were you, I would never do what you are about to do. Do not take these things trivially or you will regret it.

pommie bastard

No age bull here madam you as young you as feel .

Jolyn

Pollyanna - I would love to be a fly on the wall to see what Carl makes of Brighton beach after Queensland. I was speechless when I first saw it. I could finally understand all those English movies featuring deck chairs on the beach - the pebbles are too damn uncomfortable for lying on a towel!

Good luck to you and your man and have a wonderful life together. Quality of life is so much more important than all the other stuff.

Wilf

"Quality of life" costs money - food, fuel, even a pair of shoes, shelter. This childish idea that "quality of life" and income are not connected is so ridiculous I am amazed that so many seem to believe it and yet here is another one. It is a terrible thing to make money from the UK, take it to Oz, and then thank Oz for what you enjoy, and yet, again, so many seem to do this. Be thankful that you are going to Oz with money, not coming from OZ with your hand held out like all the clever ozzies, with their heads screwed on, who will wave to you as you come in and they go out - they are leaving in droves because ozzies are not so thick as poms when it comes to knowing where life can be lived instead of rotting away.

pommie bastard

Did not Brigthon have the UKs first nudie beach , hardy souls them Brits.

Florida_03

As me 'ol ma says...

"the lack of money is the root of all evil"

Wilf

I just find it amazing that there is the idea that you can enjoy "life" without income. If nothing else, a satisfying career is one of the essentials of a happy and fulfilled life - you have to spend so much time at work that to "do anything" for the "lifestyle" just puzzles me - they would like to be unfulfilled for the majority of their life for 3 weeks a year on a beach? Well, it is not my way, that is all I can say.

I am also unusual here it seems in needing to hand over little pieces of paper whenever I want a pint, or a bucket and spade, or even to pay entry to a wildlife sanctuary, or to have some tablets to keep me alive. I have been fooled and this is all free to everyone else? I have been paying for my lifestyle and quality of life but it is free to everyone else?

I love poms who have made a pile in the UK and then say that the UK is a dump and OZ is where it is at. They treat the UK like a hole in the wall and then say how bad it is and it makes my blood boil. These kids need a lesson in how much "quality of life" can be enjoyed by the poor of the world, or are the poor just "not getting it?"

Pollyana

Gosh, that Wilf does talk a lot of drivel!

Jolyn - yes, Brighton beach will be a shock - he sounded a bit perplexed when I said it was all pebbles! Come to that Brighton itself will be a bit of a shock - bit of a seedy dump these day, and rather a contrast to Brisbane!And thanks for your kind words - I think we'll have a good quality of life, even without a lot of cash, and leaving in that dreadful country Wilf keeps describing.......!!!!

DavidT

The secret as with all PM's is in the qualification you mention.