BadgeIsBack

I think the masses in general are scared of any weather that is vaguely inclement and people tend to attribute sun and warmth to outdoor play.
Fishermen and walkers are out in all weathers but most people would be put off.

When it is warm and mild in the UK in summer it is very pleasant - people tend to remember washed out August's in the UK and forget that the best weather is in May or June say. They then go to the Med in High summer and feel let down by the local weather.

I personally think that the culture in Australia is sort of technically more outdoors - people own boats etc, there is more of a culture for it even if it's not excluded in the UK. In the UK, people would choose to go down the pub, or watch the box - here people are visibly excited about camping and fishing and eating a tonne of praws - I've see Australians reduced to nervous wrecks on the promise of a plate - in the UK perhaps, people would be excited about the latest Jeremy Kyle boxset being released, and go water-skiing once on their holidays in France. Here a family might go every weekend if that was their thing.

I would also say that some outdoor sports in the UK are a tad elitist. 'Hiking', mountaineering can be rather - and can end up being a gear race. Over here, I find it a bit more inclusive.

big_matt

Good response (apart from the stereotyped bit about Brits just wanting to watch Jeremy Kyle etc).

Maybe my view is shaped by my own experiences. I've always played outdoor sports in the UK and most of my mates in Oz spend as much time in the pub (if not more) than my mates here do.

I do think outdoor activities in Oz can be prohibitively expensive (both skiing lift tickets and national park camping passes in oz are now officially the most expensive in the world) but with being close to the sea there is perhaps more opportunity for a wider variety of sports.

Zen10

I don't think it will be much longer before everything in Aus is the most expensive in the world, and I'm being literal and serious. Sydney is now the world's third most expensive city after Tokyo and Osaka. Melbourne is joint 4th.

big_matt

I saw that survey, and it's one I respect as well (unlike the ones which have agenda's it seemed to be an accurate and fair comparison).

There was comment on it saying 10 years ago no Oz cities were in the top 50. Now two are in the top 4. Apparently the group doing the survey had never seen such a jump.

When I first moved to Oz in 2004, if someone had said to me it would soon be more expensive to live there than Zurich I would have burst out laughing. It's a real concern.

Zen10

It's the oldest story, I'm afraid. A boom makes a handful of people very rich while barely touching the general population. The handful of people pour their money into investments while they are still cheap, inflating the real estate market and the wider economy with all the cash they are pumping into it. The general population catch on, but too late, and start buying the assets the rich bought last year. The rich are now selling of course. Meanwhile, wages are struggling to match inflation, and the cost of living goes up.

Pootle

Just curious why you would wait 4 years before moving? Your kids are at a great age now to move and the eldest may struggle to settle in school here if just moving for the last 2 years of schooling. In Melbourne they study for the VCE during high school which they complete during the final 2 years, years 11 and 12.

Jon77

I think there are real advantages for any kid in Australia with regards to the climate.

In the UK in the middle of winter when it is rainly / overcast it can be pretty much dark for the school run, and it can be pretty dark when they finish school as well. This doesn't impact on their edication of course, but it can be a bit depressing.

Even in the middle of winter in Sydney it is never dark for the school runs. I never leave work in the dark also. it is dark by the time I get home in June /July but it isn't that bad. Also my sons school has an outside covered teaching area that he loves being under. The kids do spend more of their time outdoors at school here which I think is a good thing.

We take advantage of the familty fun day Sundays in Sydney and go regularly to a beach all year round. Even in the middle of winter we go to the beach and again my son loves it

jad n rich

Cheap university fees.

Easy laid back education system, not much effort required in primary, so kids have a ball, party time at school. Not that way in grade 10+, schools then panic to finally teach them something.

The weather is not an advantage, UV in many places is a problem year round. Plus who the hell really enjoys such extremes of climate, take your pick.. extreme UV, extreme heat, flies, humidity floods or bushfires. Terrible climate especially in summer. Winters the nice bit in most of oz.

verystormy

Firstly, what issues do you think that you will escape in Oz. It has all the same problems - migration is news pretty much daily, drugs, young people going off the rails, crime. Even unemployment, particularly for new graduates is becoming an issue.

Thats before we even think about what Oz may or may not be like in 10 years.

verystormy

You are aware that Oz has one of the highest rates of vitamin D deficiency in the world?

BadgeIsBack

I mention Jeremy Kyle because I read these forums to see what UK people are interested in as I have been away awhile and TV and boxsets regularly comes up in what people do - or miss -and his name has come up a few times.

A lot of us were into outdoor activities in the UK and if you mentioned it in the pub or office you would get looks of disbelief or even horror. It's the same here to an extent. I think if you are into mainstream activity there is a chance here which people think they don't get in the UK - even if they are 'wrong'.

Look at boats - here it is very likely, I would say it is more likely that anyone will know of someone with a boat, and, have gone out in it, and indeed take it somewhere. How many people in a London office will let you know they are out on the Thames or South Coast for the weekend? I say it would be less likely.
Still.

As for the expense...hmmm...I get out in the mountains in the snow and you can take a tent and cross-country ski or crampon out on the plains without spending a ton. Having said that I did 'gear up' out of the US!

I think that even the extra hour? you get in Sydney/Melb over say London might make a difference to some. (The extreme favourable daylight hours in the UK is not all useable - kids need to go to bed of course!)

I think that the majority of people in mainstream activities could spend more time outside in Australia if that's their thing. I find a far greater portion of people camp here but I didn't know quite so many in London. It's hard to say. I think it's a bit disingenious to think that a city population cowers at home because there is a bushfire 4 hours away. Extreme heat is unpleasant but people start earlier or wait until later - in Victoria anyhow. Even this last week in Melbourne it has been a lot cooler - and very pleasant.

And some people move to Australia and do get a bit more outdoorsy.

bcworld

It only ever comes up in the same, cliched - look at the proles(!) - fashion in which you just used it!

BadgeIsBack

The way I have just used it! I just read what I have written and it is very literal and based on what people themselves write - I can only look at what is in front of me.
And it does comes up when people talk about what they miss. And did.

BadgeIsBack

Guys....I think I have found the error.

I don't mean Jeremy Kyle at all. I am mixing that name with the name of some comedians who have come out of the UK in recent years. And it seems that Kyle is a show, universally derided, not a comedy standup.

And a google by chance tells me it is Peter KAY..

I tell you now - when it comes to TV you can rely on me to get it wrong - and I DO rely on BE to tell me - it's my source of truth. This is what happens when you have been out of a place for a while.
It's been said before - migrants do eventually fail to pick up on references that are easily known elsewhere.

Zen10

But Kyle does cater to quite proley people though. It's television of the proles, for the proles, by the proles.