Shard

Yes, quite the photo. It looks like hell itself. I wonder if disasters on this scale (in addition to the oft cited heat) will persuade many Brits to return to the UK?

spouse of scouse

I don't think I've ever read of a Brit returning to UK due to bushfires etc, on BE at least. Ditto the heat, some love it, some don't like it but live with it, others hate it, but again I don't remember anyone here saying they're going home solely due to the weather. Most often cited reasons for returning seem to be homesickness/missing family/feeling that they will never feel at home in Oz.

Dreamy

It certainly doesn't influence us - but many of the town-dwelling Australians that Mr Dreamy works with can't understand why anyone would want to live out near the bush.

Perhaps if we weren't happy here, it could be a tipping factor, but it doesn't even feature in our thinking most of the time. Yes, you hear a siren anytime from September to March, you check the fire app - but we're not in a permanent state of fear or anything. And I'm not a heat lover - but again, it really doesn't feature that much as a "thing". I think I moan more about the cold in the winter than I do about the heat in the summer!

Shard

I suppose I was thinking of it as a 'tipping factor'. I recall reading an Australian thread some years back where everyone was complaining crazy about the heat and some planning to leave because of it. Perhaps that was just a one off or exaggeration.

Dreamy

If you're not happy somewhere, everything is a pain in the arse.

spouse of scouse

I love the bush and have had many happy holidays, picnics etc in the bush areas around Perth and down south. But I have to hold my hand up to being one of those townies who are too scared of bush fires to live there. I'll camp for a few weeks at a time in a coastal area north of Perth that's surrounded by bush, but only because the Indian ocean is a quick sprint away!

I don't know if it's just me being a chicken, or because after spending my life in Oz I've just seen and heard about too many fires and the devastation they leave behind. Thank god for people with a pioneering spirit like you Dreamy, otherwise everyone would be crammed into big cities!

spouse of scouse

Never was a truer word spoken

BEVS

That is true enough.

Gordon Barlow

I grew up in the bush in Australia (the Darling Downs, Queensland), and we pretty much took the risk of bushfires in our stride. It (the risk) was just part of life. If we'd been faced with anything as bad as the present ones, of course, we might have taken that risk a bit more seriously!

Amazulu

Spot f**king on

And there's half of BE explained in that sentence right there!

DeadVim

I’d rather roll my eyes out with rusty spoons.

Clacfart

Hope everyone is staying safe! Been following on the news. No fires here but we have a catastrophic warning for tomorrow

Shard

What did you dislike in the UK?

DeadVim

Different lifestyle to here, less elbow room mainly.

Unless you want to spend stupid money.

I’ll stick to my 3 acres and keep an eye on the disaster alerts thank you kindly.

Shard

Certainly less elbow room in the UK.

General Australia question to the thread: why did Sydney and the East Coast become the first developed region? When Britain was 'colonising' Oz, surely it would be faster for ships to dock in Perth or somewhere on the West Coast (particularly considering the 'cargo')?