HiddenPaw

Hey all!

How are you all? What's been happening since the end of November? Last I heard Dotty was on a fact-finding mission to the UK and Jirrupin was about to embark on a big drive round Oz.

I've been back approx 5 weeks now and must say am happy to be here - you just can't beat the clean air and lush greenery of England (there's a lot to be said for rain)!

It has been a bit hectic trying to re-organise life in the UK but thankfully we had a house to come back to (what a relief to get it out of the hands of the rental agency!). Dealing with BT has been an absolute dream compared to Telstra!

Life in a NW village is certainly more up my street than the big smoke of Melbourne. It's wonderful not to hear 24-hour traffic and have hoons drag racing up and down the streets and waking me at 2am. I can walk to my local shops without feeling I'm doing more harm than good to my lungs. Drivers are far more courteous here - the aggression on the roads in Oz is phenomenal (so far my husband hasn't had a single beer can or fag butt thrown at him whilst he's out training on his bike in the UK!!!) I believe life in the great outdoors is far nicer here than in Oz ( I know many will disagree).

Of course there's things I miss about Oz and I could spend forever making comparisons about this and that. I've got some great memories and some not so great memories, and I've seen a lot of a beautiful country. However, I'm glad to be back and I really do appreciate what the Uk has to offer.

Of course 5 weeks isn't that long but so far so good........

HP

Moonstar

May I ask where in Melbourne did you stay, was it really that bad?

wilko_1984

Glad to hear you're enjoying life back in the UK, hiddenpaw.

It's nice to know that im not the only person who thinks England is a nice country!

Take care,

Wilko

dunroving

Thanks for posting your experiences. Where in the NW are you? And I have to ask, b/c I saw it used in another Ozzie post - what is a "hoon"? Is that like a "ned"?

Congrats on settling back happily, sounds like it was the right move for you. Wish you further happiness back home!

[I'm going to PM you with a house question]

wilko_1984

A hoon is one of those arseholes who burns up and down roads in his V8 (he wishes), wheel spinning, buning-out and being a general COCK!

dotty

Hi again


I thought of you the other day reading these 'gone back threads' and so glad its gone well for you.

Our research trip was well worthwhile, apart from having a absolutely brilliant time, we had a few shocks! One that the gap in prices between OZ and UK has closed a great deal and all up I think our cost of living in the UK will be pretty similar to OZ. (Nice shock then Second shock was that you can get big 'ouses with plenty of space around you, Worcs and surrounds for a start.

Weather was just a relief, its hot fetid and humid here, even sleeping is difficult.

We are selling up now, and hope to be back in the UK mid way through 2004.

Send us another update when that little piece of news arrives

Merlot

Thanks HiddenPaw for the update, keep them coming.

Take care
Merlot

HiddenPaw

I lived in a lovely suburb called Kew (about 9kms from CBD). The hoons are a problem all over Melbourne (and the rest of Oz). With petrol being so cheap it's not a problem for an 18 year old to own a guzzling v8. The air pollution was unbearable at times (we had 'stay indoors and don't do exercise outside' warnings in the daily papers). The brown smog over the city was vile (Between us we cycled about 700km a week so clean air was on our wish list!!).

Was it that bad? For the most part, we had a fab time (18 months) although like any move abroad, we had ups and downs. We weren't planning on coming back so soon but that other 'little' piece of news Dotty is referring to is a rather large bump!!! We didn't go in search of a better life, and we didn't necessarily intend to stay forever. The move was really to experience travelling, living and working in another country before we have kids. We had choices - we could have stayed in Oz (we have PR) but we realised that the things that make up our quality of life are in the UK, hence returning. If we weren't expecting a baby we would have stayed in Oz for longer - but could not have endured Melbourne and would have moved elsewhere. Great city, so much to do, but not suitable for us as we aren't really big city people.

Driving from Liverpool to home the other day (40kms, M62/M6 all the way bar the last 2 miles) I was struck by how much greenery there was, and the number of fields around me - it occurred to me that had I lived the equivalent distance from Melbourne (e.g Mt Dandenong) I would have spent the entire journey driving through a huge urban sprawl, without seeing any countryside.

I can't say I found life any better in Oz, just different. For everything that was 'better in Oz', there was something else that was 'worse'.The same social problems exist there as in the UK (hoons, drugs, crime); the public health system is going the same way as the NHS (hospitals being closed, severe shortage of staff, lack of funding); issues exist in local and state govt there as they do here. Cost of living was not cheaper. Being in the city, house prices were extortionate. The average Melbourne house price was 7x my husband's salary. Where we are (north Cheshire/SW Manchester) we could get a nicer than average house for about 4x his salary.

I'm happy to be back on the fringes of continental Europe -holidaying and travel will be easier (and cheaper) for us - not just abroad but within the UK. (There's a limited number of day trips/weekend breaks you can make from melbourne before you have to hop on a plane and head interstate, and that can be expensive). And of course working hours are less in the Uk than Oz and UK holiday allowance is generally more so we should have more leisure time.

Definately no regrets about moving (there or back), and very thankful we didn't put any pressure on ourselves back then to make it a permanent move. Keeping the house in the Uk was definately a wise decision.

Dotty, I'm glad you had a succesful trip and are looking forwards to a return to UK. So you've decided on Worcs then? That's a nice part of the world. Isn't the UK just the best

Herman

A lot of people complain about how overcrowded and congested England is, particularly the south east. With this in mind my expectations were very low when yesterday morning we set off in glorious winter sunshine on a 15 mile drive south from our home in Wimbledon in search of some countryside. So as I sped along the A3, one of London's main feeder roads it was a pleasant surprise to find hardly any traffic on the road at 11am. So far so good, a completely stress free and easy 25 minutes later we arrive at a village to start a walk recommended to us by a friend. As we approach the village I think to myself, 'OK, we're in a pretty village about an hour from Central London, get ready for the parking nightmare'. But whats this I see, a completely free and half empty car park at the small train station. Wow, for such a congested and gridlocked part of the UK that was unexpected! So we set off on our walk, following the directions my friend has carefully written down for us. 'OK', I think to myself, 'get ready for the hoards of people escaping the city for the day, the mad mountain bikers, the armies of keen hikers'. Hello, what's going on I think 30 minutes later, a deserted footpath, just us and the birds, must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in NZ? So we walked for 4 hours through stunning countryside, across crystal clear streams, through pretty woodland, past magnificant manor houses, through gorgeous chocolate box villages and up hills with expansive views of rolling green countryside. We encountered maybe 20 to 30 other people in those 4 hours. The sun shone, my wife and I were deliriously happy and we returned on relatively traffic free roads feeling fully restored. All this in the gridlocked and congested county of Surrey? Surely not? Ignore the doomsters I say. England is a beautiful beautiful country and even on a sunny Sunday, in supposedly the most congested of south east counties, there are thousands of acres of unspoilt, uncrowded green countryside. The expats can keep Australia and I'll keep England!

anglophile

Herman no one wants to read such effusive and accurate descriptions of England and its simple beauty. Despite the fact that it is exactly why we are returning to the South East from boring NZ. What you have said is totally true and reminds me of my last visit when I took an early evening walk in the middle of winter around a local village and its pastures. The sun was setting over the local church that is custodian to Ollie Cromwell's helmet and all I could hear was the barking of a dog. The views were enough to inspire poetry tho' not in me! People on other forums seem to have lost the plot in many ways, not least about the pleasures to be had from English country walks. these can't be replicated anywhere else.

DaisyNZ

I am so pleased to have read these posts. Since finding this website I have at times been really depressed about the awful country I still call home. We have our plan for a working holiday in the UK in 2006 and I have days when I read this site and go away feeling awful. Trapped because I want to go home and enjoy being there, but scared and apprehensive about it all because I am told on here what a horrible place it is. I get so confused. Why are my friends over there so happy. Does it mean I have changed so much that I can't be that way anymore, or does it mean that the UK has changed so much since my last visit.

Reading this has brought back some hope that what I remember is real, and what I am hoping to find on our return is those things you describe.

Thanks for posting, I'm feeling more positive again.

Hiddenpaw, when is your due date??? I was thinking about you the other day, I bet your family are pleased to have you there.

dunroving

Country walking is perhaps the number one thing I miss. I get the magazine sent out now and again (Country Walking - great articles and pictures). For anyone who is into country walks, I think it's not hard to like the UK.

But if you're really into other things like cheap petrol, big cars, outdoor barbecues, hot weather, high standard of living on a middle-class salary, low cost housing for first-time buyers, I can see why you'd be less convinced of the merits of the UK. For me, I'd give up all of these to be able to get out on the hills with the dog every day.

bondipom

I remember going for an ordinary walk on a warm day in May along the Thames with the Aussie Mrs. She was overwhelmed by the sudden burst in nature with the butterflies, flowers, squirrels, green grass and huge trees. It was something that I had always taken for granted but that I now know is special about the British spring. Of course other countries have fantastic springs but it was a memorable moment for both of us.

I shall put the rose tinted specs away now.

Merlot

We love you Herman!

Thanks for an uplifting post - yep parts of the UK & and its lifestyle are lousy, like here in Oz but you can't beat being positive about things.

I have my Rose Tinted Spec's and Contact Lenses on today, I know at some point they will fall off whilst in England, but until then I am going to enjoy it.

anglophile

We are off back to Sussex where there are more walks than you could throw a stick at! Walking here in NZ usually involves a route march up an escarpment carrying 20 Kilos......in each hand, in preparation for a coming Triathlon/Duathlon/Anyathlon. That explains why so many Kiwis are in the SAS. Walking for the sheer pleasure of communing with nature is unheard of here, quite ironic really.
Sussex has so many nooks and crannies, villages and historic sites and finding somewhere unspoilt and accessible is easy. The swinish multitude that wannabe expats seem to want to escape from will be just as hard to avoid in NZ or Australia. I'll stop 'rambling' now .