Originally Posted by hevs (Post 4936751)

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:thumbsup: 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.

Originally Posted by hevs (Post 4936751)

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:thumbsup: 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.

Originally Posted by ozzieeagle (Post 5024567)

I've got to go back next year alone, I'm wondering how I will feel next time around, as I've had such contrasting trips.

Hope everything is going well Hevs :)

Originally Posted by Mrs Jackaroo (Post 5025893)

Now I'm homesick :(

Originally Posted by hevs (Post 5028359)

ooops, sorry:( That wasn't my intention:o