Originally Posted by jensteve

I think and tis is a strange thing to admit, having left all family behind has been a good thing, mine where pretty high maintenance and insisted on regular visits and wrecking xmas morning and I love it now getting up xmas morning and doing our own thing, a bit selfish I know but true.

Originally Posted by chels

Two wonderful Christmases without the inlaws...

This year, they're coming out for 3 MONTHS :scared:

Moving out here and being far away from the inlaws has been great for me too, I feel my relationship with my OH is much better without them being able to interfere beyond their once a week phone call

Originally Posted by Pollyana

Since I moved here I have had to spent every Christmas with the MIL...... suddenly Christmases alone with Morecambe and Wise on the TV seem appalling

Originally Posted by jensteve

This xmas will be just us again, absolutely wonderful! the in-laws where supposed to come out as they have applied for cont parents visa but don't stand a chance selling by xmas.
Xmas morning shorts and t-shirt, potter round the house warm, not cold dredding getting out of bed, dip a toe into the pool and if like last year get chucked in, what a start to the day!

Love it, wouldn't be anywhere else at christmas time.
Jenny

Originally Posted by CadburysFingers

Australia is wonderful, we love it, and will never go back to the UK.

The problem with a large number of people that come here is they want to recreate what they had in the UK. i.e
They want Corrie then Eastenders,
They want their twice weekly dose of Ant and Dec.
They want the 'right' sort of chocolate.
They want Bovril
They want Smiths cheese and onion crisps
They want 'their' washing powder
They want gravy
They want their local chinese takeaway
They want Greggs meat pies
They want fish and chips
They want Hellmans mayonaise
They want Mr Kiplings .........
They want Heinz tomato soup.
They want Kendal mintcake
They want their mates
They want Walls sausages
They want British banks with their no fee accounts
They want kebabs
They want aniseed balls and gobstoppers
They want black puddings
They want fresh cream cakes (we dont get many shops that sell them here)
They want the Manchester Evening News
They want Terry Wogan
They want Marmite
They want Pot Noodles
They want Monster Munch
They want Eccles cakes
They want Horlicks
They want kippers
and the list goes on and on and on.....................

What they shold be doing is what we did and many others do, throw themselves into the Australian way of life, get down to the parks (they are quite literally everywhere) and the beach, take a picnic, meet new people (even if they arent from your home town ) and just get on with it. If you sit moping in your rental about everything you have left behind, then you will only have bad things to say, if you get out there and get on with life, you will only have good things to say.

Australia is a fantastic place, we have been here well over two years now, so please dont accuse me of 'rose tinted spectacles syndrome'. There are negatives about the place, but they are far outweighed by the positives.