pommybird

So it's Sunday evening, OH has insisted on watching 'Top Gear' which I hate so thought I'd flick through some old photos, well came across all our Perth photos, flicking through and then suddenly was reminded of the best 2 weeks we had there during the 2 years we spent in Perth.

Now I am aware that all I've done since I found this forum is harp on about how great the UK is, and that is still my honest opinion, but although my overriding feeling while we lived in Perth was one of sadness and longing to be home, looking through my photos I have been reminded of this great 2 weeks we spent in Oz and thought I'd share one of my happy Oz times with you all for a change.

Well it was June last year, we had already made the decision to come home and flights were booked for July - atmosphere between me and OH was decidedly frosty to say the least, as he was not best pleased about returning to the UK!! Anyway we thought we'd spend a couple of weeks 'down south' before we left Oz - we'd previously had a few weekends at Margaret River and really enjoyed it.

Well we spent our first few days back in Margaret River in a lovely B&B and then decided to spend the rest of our 2 weeks poodling slowly down to Albany - well what a great time we had, the Karri trees, climbing the Gloucester tree, seeing wild roos - in my opinion the best part of Australia, anyway we eventually decide to make our way to Albany and spend a few days there.

We 'rock up' (ahh I remember the Oz lingo) at this B&B, run by a lovely English woman who immediately welcomes us in and makes us tea with home made chocolate cake, we immediately feel at home and the kids love it, well to cut a long story shortish we spend a glorious few days exploring Albany and although the weather was a bit crap we loved it. Don't know why but it reminded me a bit of Bath.

Anyway by the final night atmosphere between me and OH is still a bit 'tetchy' but the lady who runs the B&B recommends this 'English' pub - yeah right we say an English pub in Oz, bound to be like all the other Aussie bars trying to imitate an English pub - anyway we get there and it was exactly like being in a real English pub in England - we had tea with the kids, some home made steak and ale pie and it was just like being at home - and OH finds real ale at the right temperature ie warm(!) - something he had missed the entire time we had been in Oz, anyway we finish our pies my hubby downs his pint, looks over the top of his glass and says, 'yeah maybe you're right there are some things in England that are still great and that I miss,' and I knew then and there that everything was going be OK on our return.

Anyway drunk too much wine tonight and just thought I'd share one of the happy times I had in Perth and looking through these photos has made me remember it wasn't all bad!! (still very glad to be home though!).

Jaycee1

Hey, what a fantastic read!
Is there a slight tinge of regret there Or is it the beer talking?
Thanks for sharing anyway
J x

Issie

Great post PB......i am glad you found some happiness in a place that brought you much sadness also .

Good luck in the future wherever it may take

pommybird

Hi Jaycee - no definitely no regrets - not about going to Perth and not about coming home again, Perth taught me a lot about myself and now I know my heart will always be in good ol' Blighty!

mike&jo

We 'rock up' (ahh I remember the Oz lingo) at this B&B, run by a lovely English woman who immediately welcomes us in and makes us tea with home made chocolate cake, we immediately feel at home and the kids love it, well to cut a long story shortish we spend a glorious few days exploring Albany and although the weather was a bit crap we loved it. Don't know why but it reminded me a bit of Bath.

Oh lovely! Can you remember the name of the B & B at all?

TraceyW

I'm glad you can think back with some fondness for this place. It must make it all seem a little more 'worth it all' somehow?

I think I too will have some happy memories; the friends we've made and the laughs we've had with them, sitting on the beach watching the kids play in the ocean, the smell of eucalyptus in the air........erm, I'm struggling now....!!

PLANTS

Struggling is my dilemma right now too. Yesterday I tried to find somewhere on line that had the London Marathon as my son was running in it for the very first time, after a years training. I had to settle with logging onto the London Marathon page, typing in his number and getting his times after 10km, 20 km and so. Would have loved to see it live! Oh well. He did finish by the way 5hrs 14mins YESSS!http://britishexpats.com/forum/image...s/thumbsup.gif



Pommybird: lovely reading your story and so glad you are settled bk in the uk. It was meant to be that you went down south and found that B & B and the pub, things happen for a reason!

Sorry didn't mean to take over thread just felt I was struggling like TraceyW to think of anything positive here.


Plants

pommybird

No was trying to remember the name of the B&B and the pub last night but couldn't - might still have a brochure for the B&b tucked away somewhere will try and dig it out

pommybird

Hi Plants/Tracey - no I must admit when living there I found it very hard to find anything to feel positive about but now nearly a year after arriving back in the UK, it has now become clear to me why it all happened like it did, and I can now reflect positively on the whole experience, as you say everything happens for a reason and Perth was a very important, formative chapter in my life for so many reasons....

LouiseD

Great post Pommybird!! It's really good that you can look back and think fondly of some good times in Oz. Just because you don't like living in a place doesn't mean that it's all bad. In fact we have many happy memories too so I know where you are coming from. Our year there on the whole wasn't good but we did have some really good times too and visited some truly wonderful places that make us smile when we think back to them.

Like you too though, no regrets returning here either

Keep enjoying

TraceyW

Isn't it odd that? I am 40 years old, left home at 18, moved around a lot in the UK, been married and divorced and re-married and you know what? It's taken me to move to Australia to discover just what is really important to me and what sort of person I really am. Go figure!!

It would've been so much simpler to have some sort of revelation at 18!

wafc

Great post Pommybird,

I know that we will feel exactly the same when we get back "home" to the UK. We will always look fondly on the good times which we've had here, maybe with some regrets but I know that we'll be far happier in the UK.

Glad that you're settled back in blighty anyway!

pommybird

Just in case anyone was interested I remembered the name of the pub - the Earl of Spencer and here is their website - http://www.earlofspencer.com.au/pub_albany.asp

If you are looking for a fix of 'Englishness' in WA then look no further - in fact I found the whole of south west just lovely (Albany, Pemberton, Walpole) with a lot more character and sole than Perth - deffo worth a visit IMO (just realised should have entitled this thread 'our best time in WA' - we weren't in Perth when we had this great 2 weeks!).

Still can't remember the name of the B&B but it was walking distance to the pub and was owned by a lovely English lady with a black and white cat!!

Nomore

When i have mentioned that i have found a good English pub, or a good English curry, you get those ignorant sods who say "why come to OZ to be English"
But it just goes to show that English things are still better than the Ozzy things

PLANTS

I dont think its a question of them being better, just that the English Pubs have more character about them dont they, the fires (or most of the ones in UK anyway), the decor and the homeliness of them is just lovely to walk into. Its like walking into the home of an old friend it surrounds you with something.


Plants