Re: What Do You Miss?
 

"Invalid" <[email protected]> wrote
    > When (sorry...if) I get out there, I'll probably miss those cold winter mornings -
    > the ones where you get out of bed & freeze 'coz the heating didn't come on. Oh, no.
    > Hang on. No I won't...

Well, you might still get a few of those nostalgic moments living here. Our houses
aren't very well insulated against the winter in most parts of the country, so chilly
winter mornings can be quite chilly inside the house. Few houses with thermal-paned
windows or central heating in most parts of the country. So if you haven't figured
out how to program the timer on your heater, and you've got tile flooring in your
house, you might just experience those "cold winter mornings - the ones where you get
out of bed & freeze" afterall. The nice thing is, you don't get too many of those
mornings, depending on where you live.

Good luck,

Helena

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

Just chipping in to say the thing I missed most when we were living in Sydney was the twilight on long uk summer nights as,even in summertime, it gets dark very quickly .

(and watching West Ham)(lose usually!!)

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

    >On Sun, 17 Mar 2002 22:33:46 +0000 (UTC), "Winnie"
    ><[email protected]> wrote:

    >
    >"Bones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >news:[email protected]...
    >> p.s.I should have also added, for all those waiting to go, what do you think you
    >> will miss the most?
    >
    >Long phone calls to my parents

No need for phone call costs to be a problem.

Not sure what the NZ equivalents are, but if you use a discount calling card (which
are on sale almost everywhere in Australia) it's pretty cheap to call the UK (ie <10
cents per minute).

Two Australian providers are:
http://www.applecomm.com.au/products...allingcard.htm
http://www.cardcall.com.au

It can often be cheaper to ring the UK or US than to call long distance in Australia.

Jeremy

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

"Helena" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

    > Well, you might still get a few of those nostalgic moments living here.
Our
    > houses aren't very well insulated against the winter in most parts of the country,
    > so chilly winter mornings can be quite chilly inside the house.
Few
    > houses with thermal-paned windows or central heating in most parts of the country.
    > So if you haven't figured out how to program the timer on your heater, and you've
    > got tile flooring in your house, you might just experience those "cold winter
    > mornings - the ones where you get out of bed
&
    > freeze" afterall. The nice thing is, you don't get too many of those mornings,
    > depending on where you live.
    >
    > Good luck,
    >
    > Helena

Or you an always set up some insulation measures. Books or magazines against walls,
secondary glazing etc are easy ways to insulate and aren't too scary.

Slightly disinterested here - we both like a cool house anyway :o)

Winnie

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

"JAJ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

    > No need for phone call costs to be a problem.
    >
    > Not sure what the NZ equivalents are, but if you use a discount calling card (which
    > are on sale almost everywhere in Australia) it's pretty cheap to call the UK (ie
    > <10 cents per minute).
    >
    > Two Australian providers are:
    > http://www.applecomm.com.au/products...allingcard.htm
    > http://www.cardcall.com.au
    >
    > It can often be cheaper to ring the UK or US than to call long distance in
    > Australia.
    >
    > Jeremy

Cool, thanks Jeremy. Left up to me I'd make the long phone calls anyway (some
things are worth any money!) but parents would be fretting about the cost, bless
'em. I'll have to get some costs and show them, so they don't worry their dear
wrinkly brains :o)

Cheers Winnie

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

"Chris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Winnie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > >
    > > Cool, thanks Jeremy. Left up to me I'd make the long phone calls anyway (some
    > > things are worth any money!) but parents would be fretting about
the
    > > cost, bless 'em. I'll have to get some costs and show them, so they
don't
    > > worry their dear wrinkly brains :o)
    >
    > It costs $6.50 for 3 hours with Optus Freetime. I pay $9.09 to Japan for
3
    > hour chats (past 45 mins is free up to 3 hours... so it's $9.09 for 45 mins).
    >
    > Chris
    >

Wow! Isn't technology a wonderful thing. Thanks Chris!

Cheers Winnie

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

I thought you weren't allowed to take food into Australia. I got the impression they
were very strict about that kind of thing.

--
devnull

"Invalid" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On 17 Mar 2002 16:03:21 -0600, Bones wrote:
    > > p.s.I should have also added, for all those waiting to go, what do you think you
    > > will miss the most?
    > >
    > > cheers
    > Cadburys chocolate & M&S stuff seems to be a favourite for ex-UKers (trust me, I
    > know: about half my suitcase was full of that stuff when I went to visit my mum &
    > friends last December in Darwin).

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

You should declare everything that you bring in. The incoming passenger card is quite
specific about that. However, they shouldn't have any problems with chocolate or
sweets (ie you'll be allowed to hold onto them), it's things like meat and dairy
products that are a no-no. Customs do produce a leaflet giving full details of what
things are normally permitted or not.

Jeremy

    >On Tue, 19 Mar 2002 20:12:01 -0000, "devnull" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >I thought you weren't allowed to take food into Australia. I got the impression they
    >were very strict about that kind of thing.
    >
    >--
    >devnull
    >
    >"Invalid" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >news:[email protected]...
    >> On 17 Mar 2002 16:03:21 -0600, Bones wrote:
    >> > p.s.I should have also added, for all those waiting to go, what do you think you
    >> > will miss the most?
    >> >
    >> > cheers
    >> Cadburys chocolate & M&S stuff seems to be a favourite for ex-UKers (trust me, I
    >> know: about half my suitcase was full of that stuff when I went to visit my mum &
    >> friends last December in Darwin).

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

"Chris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Bones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Hi all,
    > >
    > > Just whiling away the long wait like so many on this NG, and we were wondering,
    > > for all those already down-under (Oz or NZ) what do you miss the most about dear
    > > old UK?
    >
    > Well this is more from mainland Europeans, but I guess UKers would feel
the
    > same. They miss the culture. We have no real culture... just borrowed
bits
    > and pieces. The Aussie culture that has developed and is noticeable, more revolves
    > around mateship etc. It does not, however, have any real
tangible
    > attachments.

I don't see it that way. We do have our own culture which sets us apart from other
countries and makes us Australian, with a unique identity. Our culture is new but it
exists. I'm quite aware of it. Migrants will miss their cultures but they can enjoy
many aspects of Australian culture, if they give it a fair go. It is evolving & being
refined, dropping some aspects of our past, adopting other aspects of our future.
It's a fusion of European, Anglo-Celtic, Aboriginal and Asian cultures, which IMHO,
makes it more interesting and creative, versus the same thing, for centuries.

I like the Italian influence on life here, with good coffee that you can enjoy for
several months of the year in outdoor cafes all over the city. I like the Asian
influence on cuisine, with satay-anything available (instant soups, meatpies,
sausages, burgers, kebabs, marinades, etc.). I like the English and Irish pubs, but I
prefer the food served in our pubs here (more interesting due to the fusion, you
see). And I prefer my beer cold, thanks. Plus, our pubs have much better wine lists.
We have Mexican influences as well, with the chimnea (outdoor, clay, wood-burning
oven) featuring in a lot of backyard patios so that we can extend the outdoor
barbeque and entertaining even longer. Several of my friends have built a forno - an
Italian influence - in their backyard. It's perhaps easier to adapt many aspects of
other cultures to life here, which is a good thing.

Some things are borrowed & adapted to our climate, attitude, geography. But that
still makes them Australian. Oktoberfest is part of the German culture, but beer was
invented by the Egyptians. Therefore it was borrowed. Does that make Oktoberfest any
less German? Wine is a big part of Italian and French culture, and Australian, but
its origins are in the Middle East. Any less Italian or French because of that? Don't
think so. Pasta apparently has its origins in China. Tell an Italian that pasta is
not really Italian. Make sure you can run fast ;)

Some uniquely Aussie things:

- surf lifesavers and the beach lifestyle (rashie vests, slip-slop-slap, shade tents,
eskies full of food and wine and beer, Boxing Day on the Beach, watching the last
sunset of the year on the beach, sandboarding, etc.);

- Australian house architecture, like the Queenslander, or the solid, double-brick
home, or the emphasis on outdoor entertaining areas and open plan design;

- backyard barbeques and all the things we manage to barbeque and all the excuses we
make for having a barbeque, and the frequency with which we have backyard
barbeques;

- the ute; Hill's Hoist; Vegemite; Akubra hat; Drizabone coats, bush bands, the red
earth, our vast deserts, Lamingtons, Cherry Ripes, Tim Tams, Pavlova, emuburgers,
damper, bark paintings, dot paintings, Blundstones, John Newcombe, Rod Laver, Ian
Thorpe, Susie O'Neill, footie, didgeridoo, the bloke in the singlet, stubbies and
thongs, road trains, Gallipoli, Anzacs, Yothu Yindi, Midnight Oil, Slim Dusty,
Sydney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, Yirawala, the Bushwhackers, Banjo Patterson, our sense
of humour and lack of political correctness, and on and on and on.

Uniquely Australian.

Our kids dress uniquely Australian too, with lots of surf gear like board shorts and
other clothing items made by surf clothing companies featuring in their daily wear.
Different from what my kids wore when they lived in Canada, which was more oriented
towards Gap influenced clothing, khakis and athletic wear. In fact, I think Aussies
are more unique in what we wear than North Americans and Europeans who wear a lot of
the same things - usually big coats.

    >There aren't many festivals or unique foods associated with Australia. So if you
    >like all of that back home, you'll definitely miss
it
    > when you come out here.

Gee, where do you live? You should tell everybody so they can avoid this cultural
wasteland you live in ;)

Last year I watched a ballet by the ocean, under the blue late-afternoon sky. I bet
you that's uniquely Australian. I recently went to see a few good, recent movies and
watched them in a park, on a picnic blanket, under the stars on a warm summer night.
We brought an eskie full of food and lovely Aussie wine. A much better version of the
drive-in movie. I've been on a wine tour in the Napa Valley, California. It was a
decidedly classy affair. I've been on a couple of wine tours here in our Swan Valley
and they were decidedly more fun, casual and memorable. The wines are different here
than in California or France, or Italy. They're uniquely Australian.

There's always something going on in and around Perth. Olive & Olive Oil Festivals,
Fremantle Sardine Festival, Wildflower Festival, Festival of Perth (arts, music,
etc.), Fairbridge Festival (same, local and int'l), Fringe Festival, Int'l Kids
Festival, Autumn Swan River Festival, Swan Valley Spring in the Valley Festival
(great Aussie wines, food, music, art), Surf Lifesaver competitions, fun runs of all
sorts, the Swim to Rotto (an island off of Perth), Camping & 4WD Show (Aussies take
camping and 4wheeling to a whole new level), Artrage, Blues at Bridgetown, the Wagin
Woolarama (sheep, sheepdogs, utes, bushbands (very Australian)), etc. And then down
in Margaret River - the Easter Blessing of the Vintage, Wine Region Festivals, and
other events involving artists, musicians, poets, whatever.

Sorry, but I take great exception to your perception of Australian culture, or, as
you put it, lack of it. Hence my long lecture ;)

    > Oh and Christmas is usually a hot stinking sweaty day :)

Not in Perth. Not stinking or sweaty at all. Hot yes, but I like it that way. Just
like New Year's Eve, spent dancing under the stars, barefoot.

Helena

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

Helena....I can't wait to get there, it sounds wonderful...and I agree everything you say is very definitely Australian!!

On the original subject of this thread....I will miss Bonfire Night!

sophia x

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

So Helena, you lived in Canada? Were you born there? I live in Calgary and would love
to migrate to OZ.....Just wondering how you did it, if you were a Canadian. I lived
in Oz for a year in '85/86, and fell in love with the place.

Bernie

"Helena" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Chris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > "Bones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > > news:[email protected]...
    > > > Hi all,
    > > >
    > > > Just whiling away the long wait like so many on this NG, and we were wondering,
    > > > for all those already down-under (Oz or NZ) what do you
miss
    > > > the most about dear old UK?
    > >
    > > Well this is more from mainland Europeans, but I guess UKers would feel
    > the
    > > same. They miss the culture. We have no real culture... just borrowed
    > bits
    > > and pieces. The Aussie culture that has developed and is noticeable,
more
    > > revolves around mateship etc. It does not, however, have any real
    > tangible
    > > attachments.
    >
    > I don't see it that way. We do have our own culture which sets us apart
from
    > other countries and makes us Australian, with a unique identity. Our culture is new
    > but it exists. I'm quite aware of it. Migrants will miss their
cultures
    > but they can enjoy many aspects of Australian culture, if they give it a fair go.
    > It is evolving & being refined, dropping some aspects of our
past,
    > adopting other aspects of our future. It's a fusion of European, Anglo-Celtic,
    > Aboriginal and Asian cultures, which IMHO, makes it more interesting and creative,
    > versus the same thing, for centuries.
    >
    > I like the Italian influence on life here, with good coffee that you can enjoy for
    > several months of the year in outdoor cafes all over the city. I like the Asian
    > influence on cuisine, with satay-anything available
(instant
    > soups, meatpies, sausages, burgers, kebabs, marinades, etc.). I like the English
    > and Irish pubs, but I prefer the food served in our pubs here
(more
    > interesting due to the fusion, you see). And I prefer my beer cold,
thanks.
    > Plus, our pubs have much better wine lists. We have Mexican influences as well,
    > with the chimnea (outdoor, clay, wood-burning oven) featuring in a
lot
    > of backyard patios so that we can extend the outdoor barbeque and entertaining even
    > longer. Several of my friends have built a forno - an Italian influence - in their
    > backyard. It's perhaps easier to adapt many aspects of other cultures to life here,
    > which is a good thing.
    >
    > Some things are borrowed & adapted to our climate, attitude, geography.
But
    > that still makes them Australian. Oktoberfest is part of the German
culture,
    > but beer was invented by the Egyptians. Therefore it was borrowed. Does
that
    > make Oktoberfest any less German? Wine is a big part of Italian and French culture,
    > and Australian, but its origins are in the Middle East. Any less Italian or French
    > because of that? Don't think so. Pasta apparently has
its
    > origins in China. Tell an Italian that pasta is not really Italian. Make sure you
    > can run fast ;)
    >
    > Some uniquely Aussie things:
    >
    > - surf lifesavers and the beach lifestyle (rashie vests, slip-slop-slap, shade
    > tents, eskies full of food and wine and beer, Boxing Day on the
Beach,
    > watching the last sunset of the year on the beach, sandboarding, etc.);
    >
    > - Australian house architecture, like the Queenslander, or the solid, double-brick
    > home, or the emphasis on outdoor entertaining areas and open plan design;
    >
    > - backyard barbeques and all the things we manage to barbeque and all the excuses
    > we make for having a barbeque, and the frequency with which we
have
    > backyard barbeques;
    >
    > - the ute; Hill's Hoist; Vegemite; Akubra hat; Drizabone coats, bush
bands,
    > the red earth, our vast deserts, Lamingtons, Cherry Ripes, Tim Tams, Pavlova,
    > emuburgers, damper, bark paintings, dot paintings, Blundstones, John Newcombe, Rod
    > Laver, Ian Thorpe, Susie O'Neill, footie, didgeridoo,
the
    > bloke in the singlet, stubbies and thongs, road trains, Gallipoli, Anzacs, Yothu
    > Yindi, Midnight Oil, Slim Dusty, Sydney Nolan, Arthur Boyd,
Yirawala,
    > the Bushwhackers, Banjo Patterson, our sense of humour and lack of
political
    > correctness, and on and on and on.
    >
    > Uniquely Australian.
    >
    > Our kids dress uniquely Australian too, with lots of surf gear like board shorts
    > and other clothing items made by surf clothing companies featuring
in
    > their daily wear. Different from what my kids wore when they lived in Canada, which
    > was more oriented towards Gap influenced clothing, khakis
and
    > athletic wear. In fact, I think Aussies are more unique in what we wear
than
    > North Americans and Europeans who wear a lot of the same things - usually
    > big coats.
    >
    > >There aren't many festivals or unique foods associated with Australia. So if you
    > >like all of that back home, you'll definitely miss
    > it
    > > when you come out here.
    >
    > Gee, where do you live? You should tell everybody so they can avoid this cultural
    > wasteland you live in ;)
    >
    > Last year I watched a ballet by the ocean, under the blue late-afternoon sky. I bet
    > you that's uniquely Australian. I recently went to see a few good, recent movies
    > and watched them in a park, on a picnic blanket, under the stars on a warm summer
    > night. We brought an eskie full of food and lovely Aussie wine. A much better
    > version of the drive-in movie. I've been on a wine tour in the Napa Valley,
    > California. It was a decidedly classy affair. I've been on a couple of wine tours
    > here in our Swan Valley and
they
    > were decidedly more fun, casual and memorable. The wines are different
here
    > than in California or France, or Italy. They're uniquely Australian.
    >
    > There's always something going on in and around Perth. Olive & Olive Oil Festivals,
    > Fremantle Sardine Festival, Wildflower Festival, Festival of Perth (arts, music,
    > etc.), Fairbridge Festival (same, local and int'l), Fringe Festival, Int'l Kids
    > Festival, Autumn Swan River Festival, Swan Valley Spring in the Valley Festival
    > (great Aussie wines, food, music,
art),
    > Surf Lifesaver competitions, fun runs of all sorts, the Swim to Rotto (an island
    > off of Perth), Camping & 4WD Show (Aussies take camping and
4wheeling
    > to a whole new level), Artrage, Blues at Bridgetown, the Wagin Woolarama (sheep,
    > sheepdogs, utes, bushbands (very Australian)), etc. And then down in Margaret River
    > - the Easter Blessing of the Vintage, Wine Region Festivals, and other events
    > involving artists, musicians, poets, whatever.
    >
    > Sorry, but I take great exception to your perception of Australian
culture,
    > or, as you put it, lack of it. Hence my long lecture ;)
    >
    > > Oh and Christmas is usually a hot stinking sweaty day :)
    >
    > Not in Perth. Not stinking or sweaty at all. Hot yes, but I like it that way. Just
    > like New Year's Eve, spent dancing under the stars, barefoot.
    >
    > Helena

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

Pounds, as in real live currency that is actually worth someting.

Stepping outside without being covered in a gooey white clag substance. Now now folks it is sunblock I am talking about, by the way.

Family, Funny how they are suddenly less of a pain in the rear when you have lost them.

Life without 12 of your neighbours kids running soaked through the house to use your pool. Watching 12 of your neighbours kids so their parents wont sue you if they drown in your pool.

Life without BBQ's. So boring after 569 of them.

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

I'm going to Aus later this year and here's a few things I think I'll miss:

Family and friends.

British sport (Aussies - don't laugh !) especially Wakefield Trinity Wildcats RLFC. Hurray !

British style fish & chips

Favourite places, like Whitby on the Yorkshire coast.

Hmmmm, not a lot more springs to mind at the moment I could list what I won't miss (and what I'm going to enjoy about Aus) but I don't want to kick off another "everythings great in Aus - no everythings crap in Aus" debate.

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

I would like to nominate Helenas message (message no. 23 in this thread), as the most
interesting one of the year so far. A lot of thought and effort was put into that and
I am sure that I wasnt the only one to appreciate it. Thanks Helena. Neil

Re: What Do You Miss?
 

Yes. It was a good reply alright. So good that I can forgive its lack of Rugby League coverage !