funkybuddah

Can any one tell me if it's worth taking my frozen food over to australia with me as I hear they don't do linda macarntey veggie food over there. Will it keep frozen, or will it all defrost??!!! Is that a silly enough question for you??

nice one grayling

I think people should be able to ask whatever they want to and if it doesn't sound interesting to you, then don't read it. I think i will have to disagree with you on this one.

anya4oz

I know that politicians in both the UK & Oz have set us all bad examples by shamelessly lying about everything, but it seems unfair to ask the largely decent, honest folk on this forum to lie, too.

Let's at least keep this place a haven of Free Speech & tolerance, where people can tell it *like* *it* *is*, good or bad, without having always to consider whether their comments are politically expedient or not.

Or is that asking too much....?

Anya.

scrawni

Why should we just write about the good stuff?

I for one like the idea that you get two sides of the argument. I don't just want to hear how fantastic it is here, I want the nitty gritty stuff, everyday stuff.

Saying that, it is also great to hear how brilliant Australia is but you have got to keep it real.

If they want to whing, let them, you don't have to read it!

Mandy

anya4oz

In other words: 'If they don't agree with *my* set of opinions, they can b*gger off!'

I would rename yourself 'Bigoted_Samanatha' if I were you!

Anya.

holte end

hey Polly, you post what the hell you want to, after all, you've been here long enough, lived the life and got the t-shirt, so I reckon you're entitled to an opinion!! We followed your posts throughout whole visa process, all your ups and downs, and found them both hilarious and informative.

All the folks who sit in front of their PC screens each day in the UK, devouring info on Oz, trying to mentally prepare themselves for what they feel will be a huge adventure, sadly, have no idea do they? We were those folks some months ago!!

You cannot even begin to understand what the whole emigrating process involves until you actually do it. The final hurdle is the actual move, the dismantling of your life in the UK and the re-assembling of it here in Australia. How you put it back together is a personal choice.

All I can say to people is don't judge someone who feels the need to complain about something that appears trivial to you, each of us has our own needs after all. As the old wise saying goes, "don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes" because if you do, it might come back and bite you on the butt!!

sunny_samantha

Just want to clarify that my point is that there is so much negativity on this site which is off-putting to people who are at different stages of the emigration process. It is interesting to see how much negativity this post has attracted (and yes I do realise that my title and indeed some of the things I said were negative too!!!!) I've read many people say that they do not wish to make comments that can in any way be construed as negative for fear of what is said in response to them. At the moment life here is good for us but we know that it is early days still. If however I felt really negative about our life here I wouldn't be willing to come and share this on the site - the reason being that I know a lot of people would not want to hear it and would spell that out to me. I'm not saying don't come on here and ask questions - that is what this forum is for! I looked forward to logging on here once we got our internet access sorted out but I find that I rarely do. People should be able to come on and express an opinion without always being criticised
Incidentally with regard to the comment about being a bigot - ridiculous! I was NOT saying that those people should get out of Australia but that they should think twice about what they post on this site and if all they can offer is negativity then perhaps they should get out of the site!!!!
I appreciate honest comments about life here (good or bad) but the whinging gets me down
Susan
p.s. Am now an expert on wine casks so could answer my own question!!!!! For those of you in Aus - isn't Dan Murphys great!!!!!!!!

Pollyana

Sometimes its a very fine line between 'realism' and 'negativity'

People should be able to post negative opinions as well as positive though.

But it seems from the replies on this post - and from a large bundle of private messages I received over the last week - that some people DO want to read the negative stuff, and don't just want to be told how blue the sky is and how clean the beaches are.
The trouble is that the true-to-life posts are vanishing because a few people don't like them. Gradually we stop posting about our experiences, and either vanish altogether, or just post jokey stuff. People are now thinking twice before sharing their experiences - I've already binned my "12 months on" post because it wasn't 100% positive and sunshiny.

I hope life continues to be lovely and rose-tinted for you, Susan.

scoobydoo

Samantha.....thie forum is not just for the "happy" stories and questions. It is for everyone to share their thoughts and experiences on living or trying to get to Australia. Some of those experiences may be negative and it often helps for people to be able to offload their thoughts. It also helps others who are trying to get to Australia see what others are going through, and maybe prepare them for times when all may not be wonderful.

If you feel that you would be unable to express negative comments for fear of how they may be construed then more fool you. There are an enormous amount of supportive people on this forum, and many that have been through bad times. If we don't tell it as it is we are enforcing the myth that life is all rosy when you emigrate to new lands....and the people that feel down or are having a hard time will disapear and lose the support that they may need to get them through.

Anyway...we have to keep up the tradition of the whinging pom!!!!!!!!!!

scoobydoo

Pollyanna....please do not bin your 12 months on report as I want to read it and I am sure there are others who do too. Pleeeease.

anya4oz

So I was right - you ARE in the business of suppressing Free Speech.

If the 'whinging' as you call it gets you down, maybe it is *you* who should get out of the site (why not go join one of the many political parties who are currently in the business of taking our rights away & suppressing Free Speech - with your views, you will do well)!

Tell ya what - leave us guys alone to 'whinge' & go watch FOXTEL on that 32 inch TV of yours!

Anya.

johanne

Well said Anya
Are you both still up for the bbq at Cardinia on the 20th?
ps lettuce is 99c today at Safeway...

kath n kim

!!!!! !!!!!

kath n kim

Please take your "12 months on" post out of the bin and tell it to us Polly!
I for one, (and I'm sure there's loads more....) would like to read a bit of "realism" on this forum (even if it's not all blue skies and sunshine!) You've been here, done it, bought the t-shirt, (and the witchy hat........!) Now tell us how it is..... (for you anyway...!)

surfdude

I can honestly say that whinging gets me down too but as you state, this is what this site is for. There is no way that any comment on this forum would put off potential migrants and it is insulting their intelligence to suggest so. Bad TV, the lack of pure cotton, the cockroaches are all part of life - true life. People are intelligent enough to know that life, where ever in the world, will never be 'perfect'. The people reading these posts are looking for any new information they can find while they go through the tedious, painful wait for their visa and the start of their new life. Try to think back to how you felt during this process and not sit on the moral high ground.

clandfam

what the hell is the problem with asking if a tv bought in the uk will work in oz?
it's not a whinge, but a credible question. same as importing a car/bike/microwave etc