MY observations.
 

All I can share are my own personal observations, it really doesnt matter to me if others dont agree as it is what WE are seeing with our own eyes.
Stuff is cheap, groceries are VERY cheap. Fresh fruit and veg seems amazingly just as fresh and as tasty as in Brisbane, of course there is no real real reason why that shouldnt be the case.
Driving is a joy, the drivers generally are courteous and appear to know what they are doing.
Petrol is expensive, we have a Prius so together with 20 quid road tax against rego we are paying roughly the same here overall to run a car.
We arent seeing the rubbish on the streets that others have mentioned (in other areas maybe ?)
People are friendly and helpful and dont appear to be obsessed and scared for their jobs and futures.
Get off the main roads and there are literally thousands of wonderful little villages and hamlets.
Even our born and bred Brisbane kids are having a ball and are only missing their friends and permanent broadband :)
The weather has been crap with a few really nice days inbetween but we didnt come here for the weather.
So far so good, we are all having a ball.

Re: MY observations.
 

Pleased it's working out for you

Re: MY observations.
 

Ah Chris, you are lucky you are in the equivalent of godzone country, being in the west country. Lots to enjoy and a slower pace of life than frantic surburbia in London.

I still get my nature notes from the Berks Bucks and Oxon wildlife people, and I still miss the British countryside spring, though from what I hear it has been fairly miserable after a mild winter. It is so beautiful when the leaves first come on the trees, followed by the huge candlesticks of the chestnut trees- we don't have that out here,although there are other compensations like the amazing purples of the jacarandas and currently Tibouchinas.

Enjoy- hope the honeymoon period lasts for you.:thumbup:

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Is that all? Food, weather ...do tell us there is more!

Re: MY observations.
 

I woud agree with most of this and add that utilities and BB are very cheap compared to Sydney. I'm from Somt originally but now live in Surrey. The driving is much more courteous and safer for me as a cyclist, but I find the attitude to parking grossly inconsiderate in the sth east a lot of the time. It's the only thing that really disappoints me with being back in the UK. (well that and those freakin Wonga ads;) )

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As you moved from a city of 1 million people I presume you have moved to a similar sized city so that your comparisons are valid? Oh wait, there's no cities that big in Somerset.....

BB

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I'm off for a stint on Guernsey in a few weeks,i'll report back on the difficulties of island life and the dog shit;)

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I hear packs of dogs run wild over there, tis a shocking place, best take yer wellies :D

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Cool, I lived there for a year.

I used to drink in the Wellington in St Peter Port. Don't know if it is still there but it was/is an Irish pub, rough as hell. I was told the IRA used to send blokes to the Channel Islands to lay low when the authorities were on to them in NI. Don't know how true that was but there was quite a turnover of hard Irish blokes that I made sure I didn't get into a fight with.

Also the Jamaica Inn in St Sampson, used to hang out with Oliver Reed there - true story.

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We went to Guernsey on holiday twice when I was a kid. We used to wander along St Peter Port and watch the lads fishing for garfish off of the breakwall (might have been a lighthouse, I can't remember).

Guernsey is famous for tomatoes and one day we went to see the fishermen and they all had boxes of soft tomatoes ready to throw at boats from the annual sailing regatta if they got too close.:lol:

I remember going to an underground hospital museum, I don't think I liked it as I was very young and a bit freaked out. Took a day trip to Sark as well, that was nice. Can't comment on the pubs as I was only about 8yrs old:rofl:

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I once had a pint of Guernsey Gold Top. Other than that, I know foo kall about the place. :)

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2 million now thank you ;)

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-1 .....yeeeehaah :)

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Brisbane suburbia would not be anything like Somerset...nowhere in the UK really can be.....to me it's as clear as mud....

you can of course make literal comparisons : I compare rural counties and London with semi rural Melbourne and Melbourne itself and I like what I see...

Re: MY observations.
 

Aha!!!! the biggest difference between rural UK and rural australia... Is that most people can't afford to live in the rural bits of the uk....where as rural australia can be dead cheap...

I think I have the answer!!!!!!!!