I think afew of us have said we were back in January. I know I was....and December.

I missed it all. I was in bed with a bloody hangover most of the day

We were home in January last year - The Bloke encountered frosted windscreens for the first time and was given lessons in clearing them by my youngest niece! I'm back there in three weeks time and I hope it stays cold for that

You wanna look a little closer - that link isn't for the UK...

I live in one of the coldest, greyest parts of the UK, but January has been fantastic - lots of blue skies, mild weather and hardly any frost. The best winter I can remember here. I've currently got my window wide open and can see nothing but blue sky.

I apologise, my mistake for not looking properly. I like the way the weather reporter referred to the night as being 'frigid'. Made me laugh.

Hope it lasts - I'll be home for good in two weeks time

But whatever the weather, I'm going to have fun.

Let me think...Choice is stay here and risk giving my 18 month old skin cancer and damaged eyes, rubbing chemicals in to his delicate skin to protect from sun and mozzies. OR Keep him inside and put a bit of effort in to entertain him in the safety of an AC home.

Back home you can always go outside with the right clothes on for 99% of the year. There is plenty to go and do by leaving the house and finding something indoors somewhere. All this Australia is better for kids and to be able to spend more time with them is just plain and simple nonesense. Just a load of excuses, you could easily do as much if not more back home with kids than here anyday. Safer and more healthy too.

I agree, I totally agree. I read recently that here in WA we have the biggest whole in the ozone layer. Now whether that is true or not I don't know, but what I do know is, that melanomas are common here and the sun is a major health hazard. End of story.

When I see my little boy outside here and his hat is missing it makes me cringe, followed by a mad dash to find the hat and try and get him to keep it on. Today it was 38 here and the idea of running around with him in the garden was just too much. Not to mention last time he was outside he found a poisonous hairy grub and tried to eat it, or the time before when he found a frog with a mild toxic skin and was busy stroking it. Give me slugs and worms and overcast and rain anyday.

To be fair, I am from Perth and people socialise all the time, I would go out or entertain 3/4 times a week. It takes a long time to build up a social network when you are new in a place.

I have put on 7 kgs while I have been in the UK because I simply do not want to be outside due to the weather - there were only about 7 days or so where I found it too hot to go walking in Perth. You can always go after 8pm anyway.

Just a note on this which people seem to miss-

How many days could you do these things without getting skint or being bored.

Its just that i have read how "boring" beaches and sunsets can be in oz as after it wears off then its dull from alot of people.

How many times when you move back to the uk are you all going to do these things before they become boring and dull.

Thats all.

al

Having brought up 3 kids in the UK, I can honestly say that we were rarely bored. And we did not spend a lot of money. Never, ever went to theme parks. In those days (Thatcher!) you had to pay to go to museums (now they are FREE!!!); we used to have a season ticket for the Kensington museums - others we visited on days when they were free after 5 pm.

Children's Sunday afternoon concerts at the Barbican were about 4 or 5 pounds. Sports activities were cheap also. Lots of things - parks, playgrounds, exploring the city - were and are free.

As for indoors, there was Blue Peter, playdough, finger-painting, lego, puzzles, clay modelling, drawing, word games, computer games...

If only people focused on what they have instead of forever running after what they think they want...

It was still sunny here at 8pm last night and very, very hot all through the night. It's been between 38C's & 40C's for 3 days now and hotter today they reckon. We have the easterleys, which I'm sure you will be aware of. Anyone who goes walking in that is either crazy or plain stupid.

As for socialising here, my guess is that you are in a younger age bracket where you and your friends would want to be out and about, or getting together in your own homes for dinners and drinks etc..I suspect Beryl is talking about the over 30's, people with children. I don't see many of my neighbours socialising and hubby and I have commented on this over the years we've lived here. We rarely see any cars on neighbours drives, or hear chatting or music coming from gardens. The only neighbours around here who we do hear socialising are the Irish people next door who moved in last October and neighbours on the opposite side of our road who are Brit's.

It was worse in the last place we lived. We were there 3 years and I was climbing up the wall to get out before I went mad. The only time we heard our immediate neighbours was when the man was in the toilet! We could hear him farting and clearing his throat! Yuk!

Almost every weekend we went somewhere, even if it was just for a long walk, a picnic, taking the bikes over to Ashdown Forest (in the winter), visiting all the museums and castles we could find. We used to buy a book each year called, 'Where to go with the children', it was brilliant. Now our son and our nieces and nephews back home are nearly all young adults, my family do other things together, like w/e's away to France, the Lake District, Spain, Cotswolds, Dorset etc. etc. We don't want to just sit on a beach, we'd go nuts.