First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
Jun 19th 2007, 1:49 pm
#1
High in the Dandenongs
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Listening to Puffing Billy
Posts: 9,183
First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
We returned home for 3 weeks, these are observations that I made along the way 
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to
AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..
DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to
AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
Jun 19th 2007, 1:53 pm
#2
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: at the bottom of a wine glass
Posts: 28,176
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
Welcome home Hevs Sounds like you had a good trip all in all, bet it was nice to catch up with family and friends.
Sounds like you had a good trip all in all, bet it was nice to catch up with family and friends.
Jun 19th 2007, 1:53 pm
#3
Happy migrant
Joined: Oct 2006
Location: Newcastle , NSW
Posts: 6,756
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
Good post H.
I'd better stock up on petite jeans and trousers before I get to Melbourne
I'd better stock up on petite jeans and trousers before I get to Melbourne
Jun 19th 2007, 1:55 pm
#4
High in the Dandenongs
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Listening to Puffing Billy
Posts: 9,183
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
AND OMG! The Chavs. Anti social scum more like. Even my 9 year old picked up on it!
Last edited by hevs; Jun 19th 2007 at 1:58 pm.
Jun 19th 2007, 2:08 pm
#5
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: at the bottom of a wine glass
Posts: 28,176
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
I can relate to that. Where I come from it's full of them, even in the 'posh' areas (in fact they are worse
)
Jun 19th 2007, 2:10 pm
#6
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 407
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
We returned home for 3 weeks, these are observations that I made along the way
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..
DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to
AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
Jun 19th 2007, 2:11 pm
#7
Joined: May 2006
Location: in the Sydney asylum
Posts: 20,690
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
We returned home for 3 weeks, these are observations that I made along the way
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..
DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to
AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
thats a brilliant post as it shows the differences in real terms and gives us an idea of Oz
thanks
glad its made you realise where your real home is
Jun 19th 2007, 2:36 pm
#8
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,352
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
We returned home for 3 weeks, these are observations that I made along the way
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..
DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to
AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
Jun 19th 2007, 3:09 pm
#9
If all else fails...smile
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Northern Territory
Posts: 1,365
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
We returned home for 3 weeks, these are observations that I made along the way
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..
DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to
AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
great post thanks Ems x
Jun 19th 2007, 6:01 pm
#10
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 11,322
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
We returned home for 3 weeks, these are observations that I made along the way
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..
DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to
AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
Jun 19th 2007, 10:49 pm
#11
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 7,834
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
Welcome home hunni, glad you had a great holiday
Jun 19th 2007, 11:02 pm
#12
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jun 2004
Location: The Gold Coast
Posts: 3,069
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
Lovely post. Glad you had a good time
Tracey.
Tracey.
Jun 20th 2007, 1:27 am
#13
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Kenmore, Brisbane
Posts: 733
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
What a fantastic post - made me smile all the way through it!!
Jun 20th 2007, 1:43 am
#14
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Hill overlooking the SE Melbourne suburbs
Posts: 16,622
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
Great post mate
lol.
This is something I've been saying for a while-it's the 'we're all in the same boat' mentality. There is yet no need for this ''selfless'' act on straight, cruisy Australian roads. I rarely let people in, I enjoy 5th gear and 80k too much...(!)
As for Chavs, maybe people who have been out for a while will probably get a surprise - Chavs hadn't really taken off where I was back in 2002/3. But they were two a penny where my wife lived.
As for shopping, agree there. Until Australia wakes up, I'll take cheap Amazon and wait 2-3 weeks for the shipping...
As for Chavs, maybe people who have been out for a while will probably get a surprise - Chavs hadn't really taken off where I was back in 2002/3. But they were two a penny where my wife lived.
As for shopping, agree there. Until Australia wakes up, I'll take cheap Amazon and wait 2-3 weeks for the shipping...
Jun 20th 2007, 2:02 am
#15
Oiiii.. You slaggg!
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: Brisbaneshire
Posts: 5,209
Re: First trip back to blighty in 3 1/2 years...
We returned home for 3 weeks, these are observations that I made along the way
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..
DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
OUR TRIP…….
The flights with Malaysian were great, highly recommended over BA Qantas and even Singapore. Kids were great!
“HOME”
That’s how it felt, to back I mean, and for the first week I was so glad to be back that I didn’t want to go back to Aus. Everything was familiar, where it should be, how it should be, I felt home. It gradually wore off, as my rose tints grew thinner and I began to see the grime…
WHERE WE LIVED
The kids said it looked like a model town; it seemed so hemmed in and so crowded. Our house looked like a matchbox and the irony was that we couldn’t afford to buy it back and had no desire to either! (I loved that house and had raised two of my kids there, but, nope, no desire…)
THE WEATHER
Crap crap crap. It was the bank holiday weekend when we arrived to rain and it was bank holiday when we left, 9 degs and rain. For those who think Melbourne’s weathers like England’s, ITS NOT!! Out of 22 days we had 4 where it didn’t rain and 2 of those the sun shone for the majority of the day.
THE TRAFFIC
Jesus Mary and Joseph how the hell people don’t get out of their cars and kill each other in frustration I really don’t know! It took (on more than one occasion) 40 mins to drive from the small village into town and get to our destination. Its 5 miles!!
The motorway was a nightmare. I have been bagging Aussie driving to the max but I actually found driving on UK motorways far more stressful due to having to move out from the inside lane to pass the grunder doing 69mph sat hogging the middle lane, then cross back over to the inside lane. I think the way of staying in our lanes and undertaking far less dangerous (now I’m used to it). It just seemed far more stressful to maneuver. People don’t indicate and tail gate just as much as here. The only difference is they do let you out into traffic more easily (possibly cos they know that they too will be stuck in the same traffic all over again tomorrow and that hopefully someone will show them the same courtesy)
The parked cars EVERYWHERE did my head in! There are simply to many cars in to smaller space. Getting down a street safely was hard, also cos the cars park facing every different direction and could come out from anywhere was disconcerting to say the least!
THE SHOPPING
It was fantastic. Anyone who says that Aus is better than UK for shops is simply delusional. The choice is phenomenal, the quality excellent and Dorothy Perkins still make petite jeans that fit me perfectly and only cost ten quid in the sale!!
I was in food heaven and had some long awaited delights washed down with dandelion and burdock, bliss.
It also seemed really cheap! You could get a chicken (a proper size on that feeds 4 people) for under four quid (I saw an economy one in sainsburys for £2!) Tescos BOGOF’s are a treat to behold for example a 12 pk of hula hoops was £1.72 get one free! For 12 poxy packs of crisps here its over $5!! Just one example, tones more. Cd’s and DVD’s were very cheap as were white goods! $15 for a “value” DVD player in Tesco.
BUT the real treat for me was books! Again in Tesco you could get best sellers from £3! I got “Scar Tissue” (any Chili peppers fans must read!) for under £6 and have seen here for over $30. In Ottikas they were doing lots of buy two’s get one frees so the kids are well stocked up now!
TV.
What a pile of shite. I bag Aussie telly but UK tv is totally crap to
AND they are behind on a lot of the series we have here to..DAYS OUT.
Expensive, but lots of fun and lots of choice. All we really have in Melbourne is crappy Luna Park, Healsville and the zoo. We went to Alton Towers, West midland Safari park, Thorpe Park, a day in Stratford, a day in the Cotswold’s and others. It rained for most of the days, but we still had fun.
Eating out was cheaper than I remembered. Petrol was around a quid, which doesn’t seem bad when ours has been up to a dollar 40 recently. Every ones houses seemed tiny. We don’t have a massive house, but compared to UK houses it seems enormous. Bathroom carpet, yukky! I loved the village churches and hearing the bells peal on a Sunday morning. I loved the cow parsley bobbing in the hedgerows and I loved the greenness. I loved catching up with friends but I do feel a bit different to them now, in a way I can’t explain, just different. All of this said I missed my home and was so glad to get back to my house here in Aus, its home. It’s where my heart is.
At this moment in time I really needed to read something like this.
Cheers.