Is the weather important ??
 

Was just wondering how important the Aussie weather is to your decision to emigrate ? Would you still be going if the weather was the same as the UK ??

And for those in Australia, has the quality of the weather lived up to your expectations or does it become a pain in the ass after a while??

For me, the good weather is an important factor in the move. I know there will be days when it is too damn hot but I hope that most of the year the weather will be good enough to enjoy a more outside lifestyle, particularly being able to eat and drink outside at restaurants - important as we have a young boy, something that you can only do for 3-4 months of the year here in London.

Wanted somewhere with a more temperate climate. Chose Melbourne over Adelaide as needed to be in a place without crazy, intense sun and heat. Even Mel was often too hot in the summer for the amount of sport we like to do outdoors.

Winter was milder than UK which meant could still exercise outdoors and commute by bike, without worrying about icy roads and snow. Definately a plus.

Found the 7 months of long drawn out evenings (sunset between 4.45 and 7pm for 7 months of year) more of a setback than any weather problems. Lack of long summer evenings also a pain in the butt!! But this was just because of what we like to do with our evenings after work.

I personally find UK climate is better for our outdoor lifestyle!! Depends what you want the weather to provide I guess

somewhere between key factor and Good bonus for us.

to be honest i dont think we would go if the weather was the same as the UK.

:)

I'm not sure what to vote...
I'd go along with the UK'ers, cos the weather here is similar, but I can't really chose between 'couldn't care less' and 'bonus but not important'.
It's inbetween!

I'm NOT looking forward to the hot days with no aircon at home (never seen airco at friends or our house in Perth area, but I do believe it is becoming more common) In the beginning I don't expect us to have it.

Also NOT looking forward to the cold evenings and nights in winter, without central heating. I am definetly getting a heating thing for the bathroom, and probably electric blankets, which I've always been against....

I'm looking forward to all the other weather in between, a bit warmer in general. And no freezing weather during the day. And a bit less rain at least.
I think my favourite temperature is about 25 degrees, so no where is perfect, and I'm not looking for perfection anyway!!

HAve to agree, mid-20s suits me fine too! Anything above 30 and I'm a big, flaked-out wuss!

As I am sitting here in Adelaide reading this it's 5am and way too hot to sleep - it's got to be around 30 degrees at the moment and blowing a gale.

I have never felt as cold in the winter in the UK as I do here. This is the only country where I have worn bed socks at night :D

We do get very cold, wet and miserable grey days here too you know! And yes I have seen snow a few times in the Hills around Adelaide.

Australia has bigger snowfields than in Europe - the winter sports industry is quite big in parts of NSW and Victoria.

As for sitting outside in the warm summer evenings - that's ok if you don't mind being eaten alive by those bloomin' mossies. There's something about Aussie mossies and pommie blood!

Its the Alcohol in the blood.

I have a funny feeling that I will be a little disappointed with Oz weather after a while. Even though I hate the UK weather I do like long summer evenings.

I don't understand your point about 7 mths of sunsets by 7pm?? What happens for the rest of the year ??

I like running and am a bit woried it will be too hot - but I will be damned if I am going to winge about it !!:D

When you say Oz has bigger snowfields than Europe, are you saying that they have more snow? Or are there more resorts? Because I love skiing but thought that the NSW scene was a bit poor and snow very dodgy.

I will be seriously impressed if you tell me that's not true !!

My husband wanted to go to OZ mainly for the climate as he has been living on the Eastern Med where it is hot and humid and he loves it. He says he could never live in the Uk as it is too cold. I am used to both so weaqther is not really an issue for me.

hmmmm..........
...like the heat.....
liked it when I was in Oz...
...liked the scorching heat we had last summer in the uk...........
slept like a baby!!
and my babies all slept well too,......heat didnt bother them when we had the intense heat last summer!
They were slathered in factor 50 every day...no probs.....bombed around all day at school and nursery...no probs so far.

No doubt will be slagged for being a pommie dreamer, but I dont GAF!!

Hate the cold, damp , grey winters .........my kids are going stir crazy stuck indoors cos the back yard is a mud bath!!!! Happily off to parks etc when its not raining too hard, or to just for kids (the soft play areas) but thats bleedin expensive with 3yr old twins!! cost me 3x£3x4times during half term!!!

grumble over....

sue:D

In Vic, clocks go back at end of March and go forward again at end of Oct - that's what I mean by 7 months. The other 5 months is your 'summertime' (and latest sunset will go up to about 8.30-9ish in Mel). So at end of Oct, you gain an extra hour of daylight in evening. Does that make sense?! Meg posted a great sunrise/sunset chart for Vic for me the other day but I cant remeber which thread it was on. Not all states have daylight saving.

here it is, better than I can explain it!

Thanks for that !! Makes perfect sense to me:)

8.30 - 9pm is not bad for sunset - better than I thought anyway !

Australian ski fields are a fraction of the size of what is on offer in Europe. The snow is less reliable and the season is shorter.

Winter here feels cold because one gets acclimatised to the heat of summer and the housing is designed to stay cool.

I know a lot of people on here think I hate heat. But I dont I cope well with anything up to 31/32. Its over that that it simply becomes frankly a nightmare to do anything. Dry heat becomes like a furnace, humid heat becomes like a steam room.

I dont think you can explain the intensity of the heat, every Pom we have ever had come out will tell us they love heat, they adore it but in actual fact when they arrive they had absolutely no idea what its like here:D

Eating outside, no way, mozzies flies.

I suppose you just try to "cope" with the weather from about November to March maybe longer. Get up early, avoid the sun, carry water, find shade, wear hats, sunblock, shirts etc. Avoid sport or anyting that requires energy.

Queensland has one bonus tho, when most of OZ has cooled from a furnace to peeing rain and cold , Qld has great winters most would enjoy, clear blue skies, almost no rain, temps in the low to mid 20's.

Voted for the " In the U.K, coulden't care less " category.

The weather / climate in Oz has absolutely no bearing on our desicion to migrate, funnily enough tho', it's one of the first things people mention, when they hear of our plans to migrate

" Oooh, all that lovely sunshine " etc, etc, :zzz:

Having two small children to cover up with factor 50 at all times makes the appeal of the sunshine, a little less appealing!!!:D

And moving to hot, humid and sticky Cairns makes the problems of the sun and it's associated factors all the more real.

Keep out of the sun kids! I have no desire to look like a dried up leather handbag within the next 20 yrs!!!:D

Hey- you missed NZ off your poll !!
just to add my two pence worth - Weather didn't pay any part in our decision to move at all, we didn't really care, but now that we've been here nearly 3 years we're agreed that it's actually really nice to be able to wear t-shirts most of the year and would not necessarily want to move back to a colder country. you do adapt though and last winter was the first I've actaulty felt cold.

I have lived in & enjoyed living in a part of SA (Zululand) that can make SE Qld seem like NZ (it regularly gets a very humid 45+), so weather will be no problem to me.

Thats what I thought ! So should I sell all my ski gear before coming and kiss a winter holiday goodbye or is it a viable option ??

Kind of guessed that nobody would emigrate to NZ for the weather !!:D :D

well i never made it home after coming over to oz for a year. had different reasons for staying at the time, but i think the biggest factor which makes me think i probably won't go back is the weather (shhhhh, the girlfriend thinks it's because of her...) - but not directly because of the weather, more because it offers the ability to be in the open air more, and if you plan on going somewhere for a weekend you can pretty much guarantee that you won't be sitting inside while watching the rain all day.

Weather was a big plus in deciding to move. Wife suffers from Reynaulds syndrome and she's much better in the heat. The psoriasis is loads better too, with the high UV levels.

I was surprised at how COLD AND WET Perth is for a few months each year. That's right - bloody freezing at night for about 3 months.

I voted UK cos you dont give any other options, but for us the weather is THE major factor cos Mairi has arthritis which is not good in Northern Europe. When she had her last op in 2003 we mentioned to the doc that we were thinking about going back to OZ and he said Quote "thats better than any medicine or operation". As it is at the moment Mairi has 2-3 months of each year where she has difficulty walking, so for us the weather is 99% of the reason. The other 1% is that Mairi wants to see her family again after 6 years since the last time.

So far, from the OZ results:
70% love the weather and
30% think its a pain.

We have done the ski thing here. Trouble is it is soooo expensive. The season is very short, August is probably the most likely month there will be enough snow to ski. When Canada 3000 was in operation we could fly to Whistler for $999 each. For a fortnights skiing it was cheaper to fly to bloody Canada, than ski in OZ.

That's interesting and useful, as my daughter has just asked me if we can go down to the snowy mountains some time !

Take into account the trans tassie airfares you are probably better off going to the more spectacular scenery in Middle Earth.

Now she is really confused ! She just wants to throw snowballs at me again !!

ABC, most years are ok in the aussie skifields, but there have been some duds (2001 I think was cr*p). despite what BP says, it will cost you more to go to NZ, we flew VB to Canberra & hired a car. Try Perisher Blue in the snowy mountains, its a good family resort. I also know people who have been to Charlotte Pass & they said its an excellent family resort, although more pricey. Price is hugely determined on the season & whether you want to stay "on snow" or not. August is the most reliable in terms of snowfall & peak season, we went end of June last year & they had massive falls. Its not even comparable to Europe or North America, but she'll get some fun out of it :) .

Alternatively you could fly to Melb & drive up to the Vic ski fields. Falls Creek & Mt Hotham are supposed to be good for families (Ive not been there though).

Perisher Blue

Charlotte Pass

Ski n Save

It was pretty even with the costings we did for going to treble cone. We couldn't do it in the end. Apparently the North Island had better snow than the South last season.

BP, yeah apparently, I know someone who lives in the north island who said they had a brilliant year. If you can get cheap flights in Oz with VB by booking far enough ahead (bearing in mind you will end up in Canberra & will still have to hire a car) , I would say do the aussie ski fields. Or drive down. Not even a thought of that with our kids :scared: Prices have always been skyhigh for flights to NZ during their ski season, interested to see how much cheaper it is now with Pacific Blue in the picture.

Ive only been to NZ & Queenstown etc in the summer. It was expensive enough then :eek: .

It looks like we are planning a holiday in the snow !! :cool:

I'd better do something to get the money to pay for it now !!

love the chart- I've been wondering about sunset times in mel. very helpful thx

:)

Melbourne has longer summer evenings than I realised. I got here a month after the summer solstice and still found it fairly light.

We have had some scorchers like 41, and most recently mid 30s but they are not too bad. Yesterday was hot, I was wearing my best suit - a bespoke Uk City dark woolen suit and it was OK - just. Was a tad hot on the way back but the train was an off peak one without ac. I find alot of coping with the heat is self-discipline, walk in the shade, walk slow - I find it's almost a mental thing. Exercise is another thing now.

Playing sport from 6pm onwards is grouse.

Our coach says last night, "I want you guys to turn up even when it is 10 degrees outside" - I thought - bloody hell - too easy!!

There have been a few mornings where you feel cold - for 5 mins. Also one morning at the show was cold - we were out and about - wearing jumpers, etc - temp was about mid - late teens, then got to 20 by the end of the day.

I love Aussie winters! Excuse to wear jeans, a singlet, and a fleece. Just buy a few cheap ones from Target/ K-Mart. I used one fav all winter in 2002, and only stopped wearing it when I lost it. For indoors, (where it is COLDER than outside) wear 2 - hey presto - or buy a small fire for the lounge room.

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I find it so bizarre watching the Target adverts at the minute with them frolicking in the snow. I mean, when are we ever going to have 6 inches of snow in Perth? Also found it weird when I was in Sydney last year to watch the ski update thing on the news - I think you forget when you are over here that there is snow out there somewhere.

All in all I have found the weather not to be as warm as I expected. I thought we'd have all year warmth with a couple of "summer rain" showers chucked in the fill up the resevoirs.
Although the summers are flippin hot - the rest of the year was not what I expected. Nice but not what I thought. :D

Re: Is the weather important ??
 

Really important to us and one of the main reasons for making the big move, we have had just 10-15 really hot sticky days this summer, easier to put up with than months of the cold, damp and dark winters in the UK. Ideal situation would be to holiday away in December and January, maybe Phuket later this year if the price is right and can convince the wife and 4 kids to have chrismas away from home.


Slater

Re: Is the weather important ??
 

You can find good weather in Spain and move there a lot easier than to Oz!

I grew up in Lisbon where the weather is probably on a par with Sydney. But, the standard of living, prospects for work and multi-cultral environment just doesn't compare.

So, for me, its the whole package that Australia offers. That, and the challenge of making it all happen!