Originally Posted by Pollyana

Thats about right! Small town Australia at its most stagnant :eek:
I remember one trip there - MIl took us to the "town market day" as there would be "lots to see and buy".
It turned out to be a dozen wooden tables with misshapen vegetables, stodgy cakes, and homemade toys, set up on a bit of grass by the little supermarket. She went round comparing the prices of everyones veg, told us we should buy up the mangos or something that were really cheap (and looked it!) and then suggested I buy some of the toys for my nieces and nephew. Bless her, she meant well, but I had this image of a 12 yr old play station addict and a 10 yr old into trendy hair stuff.......somehow this misshapen stuffed woolly dolls didn't QUITE fit in..........Even the 5 year old wouldn't have been impressed - not quite Helicopter-using Animal Hospital!

Its a different world, and I'm afraid its not a world for me :confused: I should've known I was in for trouble when she gave us a mattress protector as a wedding present! :eek:

Originally Posted by Pollyana

Thats about right! Small town Australia at its most stagnant :eek:
I remember one trip there - MIl took us to the "town market day" as there would be "lots to see and buy".
It turned out to be a dozen wooden tables with misshapen vegetables, stodgy cakes, and homemade toys, set up on a bit of grass by the little supermarket. She went round comparing the prices of everyones veg, told us we should buy up the mangos or something that were really cheap (and looked it!) and then suggested I buy some of the toys for my nieces and nephew. Bless her, she meant well, but I had this image of a 12 yr old play station addict and a 10 yr old into trendy hair stuff.......somehow this misshapen stuffed woolly dolls didn't QUITE fit in..........Even the 5 year old wouldn't have been impressed - not quite Helicopter-using Animal Hospital!

Its a different world, and I'm afraid its not a world for me :confused: I should've known I was in for trouble when she gave us a mattress protector as a wedding present! :eek:

Originally Posted by Pants

Like you say Polly small town Australia....nice wedding pressie..!!!

I suppose what people don't know they won't miss. I know one BE member whose MIL has never seen the sea...!!!

Originally Posted by Pollyana

Little things that stick in my mind include
"oh, is that what a MUSHROOM looks like? Now what do I do with it?" (she is in her 70s - where has she BEEN!)
"how do you get milk in the UK when the clocks change" (groan)
"close the curtains or your fridge will fade" (Urrrr????)
and last weekend -
"Do you manage to get hold of eggs down here in Brisbane without any problems?" (that one even had The Bloke floored!)
:confused:

Originally Posted by Pollyana

Little things that stick in my mind include
"oh, is that what a MUSHROOM looks like? Now what do I do with it?" (she is in her 70s - where has she BEEN!)
"how do you get milk in the UK when the clocks change" (groan)
"close the curtains or your fridge will fade" (Urrrr????)
and last weekend -
"Do you manage to get hold of eggs down here in Brisbane without any problems?" (that one even had The Bloke floored!)
:confused:

Originally Posted by rightmove

Oh Pollyana,do I identify with your comments ! Living between Toowoomba and Brisbane has been a real eye opener for us.We never would have thought for a minute before we came that people actually lived this way but it,s proved to be so totally hick with an air of depression in the air that you could cut with a knife. We,ve even been in one house here that had a padlock on the fridge !You,re so right, its a different world and one which we are very keen to escape and get back to civilisation !

Originally Posted by arkon

It's the same here in my neck of the woods I'm afraid.

Originally Posted by mumomonty

How did you end up where you are Arkon?
And how long have you been there?

Originally Posted by kendodd

Not quite sure where Toowoomba is, but recently we visited Tin Can Bay and fed the dolphins. It was all so beautiful and idyllic, and yet when I went to pay for something in the coffee shop, there was just one pile of flyers on the counter - all about where to go and get help for DEPRESSION!?!

Originally Posted by arkon

Here on the farm about 16 months. As for how we ended up here, it ticked all of our badly misconceived boxes I’m afraid. Sometimes things you think you want should really stay just that, in your head as a dream. I’d always wanted to plant trees, shed loads of them, I love trees. Well after I got the farm I planted a few and then realized that I think I’d rather get a house in an existing forest! Far too much like hard work otherwise.

Originally Posted by mumomonty

Well you have done something a lot of people dream of doing.
I can identify with what you say. Thinking back, I had an idea of how it would be and it wasn't and it should have stayed a dream really.
I LOVE trees too. I even love gum trees! What trees did you plant?
I love th ebirds in Oz too.
it took us a very very long while to get into Australia and I only recently got used to being way from the UK (5 years).
Is there anything you like about it where you are?

Originally Posted by arkon

I planted a few native rainforest trees, not sure of the name as I used the seeds from ones on the land. Also planted a load of things like maple but not sure of the name.

As for is there anything I do like, I like my alpacas, but I could have had them back home. And thats it, I genuinly don't like any aspect of living in Australia. None that I can think of.