Re: Aussies are selfish
 

Again?!?! :ohmy: ... I suppose. We've been in this house for over 2 years now. Probably time for another move.

Any recommendation on areas near Brisbane within 40 minutes' commute to the city, on the train line, near the shore, and with an acre of land? That's a real challenge.

Just kidding. We ain't moving... :)

Mrs JTL

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

For sure, people are people the world over, it's just boundaries and what's acceptable that differ.

I posted my Singapore snippets to show just what is the "norm" here. 6 years ago I lasted 3 months in a condo because it was "too noisy" when the neighbours were gathering at the barbie pits with 60 of their closest friends, and here I am thinking all of the above is fine, just part of every day life. :rofl:

(But yes, the hawking and retching is not a nice noise to wake up to.)

(I'll tell you sometime about what's acceptable behaviour on public transport...)

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

I think our problem as 'poms' here in Australia is that we are not afraid to confront a problem or noise, etc. The local way is to say nothing to the offending neighbours, and just call the police. We are from Yorkshire, and are therefore perhaps blunter than most. The locals don't like it a bit.

My brother-in-law came to stay 10 years ago: he had a bad heart and wanted to see his brother, my husband, one last time. Unfortunately he died here, and we had to cope with his widow's grief, our own grief, all the arrangements.... We had a very very noisy couple next door, so we called round and told them of our tragedy, and asked if they'd give us some quiet for a couple of days.

A few hours later there was a horrendous noise - they were cutting a car in pieces with one of those oxyacetylene things in the space between our two houses.

This was the end.

My husband called round to see them. They were unapologetic, so he told them to keep quiet or they would suffer. They said something like 'you and whose army?'. Big mistake. My husband is ex-special forces, our two sons were in the army reserves and had loads of army friends. All this was explained to them, in the most colourful language you could imagine.

They shut up. Almost the end of problem. Some noise started up a few weeks later, and it happened to be the lads' army night. They just stood at the end of their drive, in uniform, with my husband.

Finally, end of problem. Not long afterwards they moved out.

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

You ought to hire him out, missus! ;)

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

Maybe this thread should be renamed to "Aussie houses have crap sound insulation"

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

Oh doesn't the thought go through my mind every effing time a simple thread becomes more analytical in nature.

I also have a tendency to agree with the glum-in-the sun brigade cos there is all that glum stuff not 10k away which is why I can see exactly where they are coming from. I suspect people don't especially like it when you agree with them but have also sidestepped the issue yourself as it blows their Single Unified Theory of Australia right out of the window.

Apologies to the OP who is welcome to let loose with a whinge. When I lived in S London, I had burnt out cars and right old ferals on my door stop- but the Love Actually Londoners living up the road in Wimbledon or Wandsworth would have told me to move on. I agreed with them it was not Londoners it was the Londoners where I was. Problem was, I was skint and beggars can't be choosers.

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

Mate I thought you were safely ensconsced on acreage in the first place.:) BTW, if the answer to your question is No - then that's one of the reasons why I don't personally recommend Australia now to many.

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

I'm with you. I think it's partly becase the UK is becoming more enlightened and is starting to crack donw on anti-social neighbours. Not so here.

I could also give you many examples of selfishness in my suburb. A bloody great truck parked oppsite which the driver starts up at 6am and leaves idling for 10 minutes before he leaves ("Daddy a bus woke me up today").
Hoons - obviously. A guy with a stupid motorbike with no exhaust who likes to rev it up (because he has a small penis) as he's going along the road at 8.30pm. Neighbours who just leave the dogs outsude all night - barking.

A stupid woman who for the last coupel of weeks parks her delivery van at 4.15am outside our hosue whilst she's sorting out something in the back - has teh dorr open and the radio blasting out. (Went to speak to her at the weekend "Oh sorry, I just didn't think" "Really?")

They are brain dead.

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

Of course you can complain to the council after 7pm.

http://www.redland.qld.gov.au/Corp/E...tion/Noise.htm

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

Amen to that - never have I seen such crap built houses!

Geez, we hear our neighbour one side, farting and clearing his throat (in the most disgusting manner) and the other side, having blazing rows every time he's home (he works away somewhere).......

We have resorted to having arguments in whisper talk - couldn't possibly allow the neighbours to hear our business!! How terribly English of us! :p

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

We are on an acreage and happy with the location, most of the time.

Last night's incident was just one of those really annoying things we have to live with. Even when I was upstairs in the younger daughter's room, with door and double-glazed windows shut, the noise made by the bike as they were leaving still made her jump.

I'm looking into planting some very fast-growing tall hedges along the fence...

Mrs JTL

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

I wonder if anyone on this thread ever annoys their neighbours......bet all your neighbours are at work today going...

"should have heard that right cockney lot next door, telling their little Beatrice and William to eat their pork pies........ crikey, them English lot are ever so noisy....."

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

I am not a godzoner, but I do subscribe to the "people are selfish' idea.

I moved into a lovely little close in Wandsworth Common, London- about 10 houses all in all. As the removal men started unloading the fruit loop next door came out and started kicking my removal boxes. They overlapped the grass by about 3 inches....checking my title deeds, I actually owned 20 inches of grass on that side. She has since complained about everything, so thankfully we moved to Oz.
(Scary coincidence- we sat at the next table to her at a winery in Swan Valley, WA!!!! And no we did not share a glass of wine)

Here our neighbours are fine, but further up the street is hoon city. We are 10 metres from a roundabout. By the time boy racers pass our house, they are doing 70kms and doughnuts.
Basically people do seem to be brought up to be more selfish these days (huge generalisation about the world's population)

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

That must have been one of your worst/spookiest moments. Bet you felt like there was a hex on you.

Re: Aussies are selfish
 

Ha Ha, you should try it!:p

About a year ago, the family across the road had the mother of all parties, with a live band playing in the gardens and hundreds of people at it. By about 11:45pm we had had enough.

Mrs JTL was 8 months pregnant, and we had a 1 year old screaming, so we went across to them to explain our situation. We got the usual aussie apology ("get a life granddad", "whats the problem with us having some fun", "it's not midnight yet, by law we can make as much noise as we want until then" etc)

So we actually rang the police in front of them, explained the situation to the police, and handed the phone to them to talk to the police, they took the phone, and hung up. Police never arrived. I tried the council as well, nothing happened.

You're on your own here, nobody will come to help, and they wonder how parties get out of hand :rolleyes:

JTL