Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Thank you all for your responses, it helps that my BE "family" shows concern.

I don't really know what to do, apart from the stress of selling my flat and needing a visa to enter Oz (I have a Permanent Resident Visa), a GP has said I would need someone to accompany me on the long journey. I've travelled a lot in my life and enjoyed being at airports (Singapore is my favourite), but at the present time even shopping can be difficult.

This afternoon I walked to my surgery for an INR blood test (I take Warfarin), and finally took a taxi and ended up at our British Home Stores looking for shoes. The assistant said they could normally place an order for the size and colour I wanted, but as the old established group went into administration to-day, she didn't think it would be a good idea. I feel sad that yet another British icon could disappear and put a lot of people out of work, the assistant seemed totally lost. I'm sure if I had discussed it more she would have been in tears. At least I bought a pair of shoes at the nearby Clarks.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

British Home Stores and Austin Reeds I think.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

arias thank you for being so very honest about your experiences of moving back to UK, I think that everyone should always say exactly how it is for them,
there have been quite a few expats from this thread of ours over the years that have come home and tried to live here in UK and have really tried hard to make it work cause this is what they wanted, but they returned to there expat life, and each with a different reason or reasons for not being able to make it work here, not everyone can do it!!!

but your story I think is the most sad and heartbreaking I have heard from anyone,
aries I really do wish you the best of everything, and I hope your life and circumstances change to the better quickly,
but one thing I would like to say to you is continue with your posts to us your B.E. family, a lot of people on here will support you, and that is important!!!
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!
take good care of yourself,
Rodney.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Something which upset me a year ago, a woman aged 81 in a big penthouse here, went to her garage at the back, attached a hose to her car's exhaust pipe, closed the windows and switched on the engine. It was too far from the building for anyone to hear. Her husband had died on holiday in Spain, so for several years on her own she couldn't cope.

At her funeral I talked with her daughter and granddaughters, and found that they had all lived near me in South Australia, and I would have been in their fruit and vegetable shop. Sadly on the day she died, a neighbour had suggested to her that she came down to visit me (I was debilitated at the time), but she had already chosen what she wanted to do. Such a shame, we would have had so much to talk about.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

I am so very sorry Aries we have such great expectations when we finally get to go home we have reservations about how it might not turn out as we want but we put that in the back of our minds. Listening to you and others who returned and found it not all they expected it to be does help.
I am so sorry about your sister that must have been a great blow to you that one link that kept you going. But I am sure she is close by watching over you.
When ever I speak to my family member they all seem to have a difficult time with doctors in one way or another. Getting a complete picture of what is exactly wrong seems to be a problem my niece is going through that she goes from one doctor to another gets pill after pill thrown at her but never does she get better. My sister went to the doctors last week she had a nurse taking care of her who could not speak English she told my sister to sit down and she would be back she never returned my sister left and went home...
I think you need to work on your health and hopefully get it sorted out and then you can decided if you would like to go back to Australia.
I thought I was having a bad time feeling sorry for myself but I see others much worse off than me. We are all caught in some sort of a trap that prevents us from doing what we want to do. You are not alone. You have been brave enough to tell it as it is. I have learnt to take one day at a time and not look to far into the future.
I will be thinking about you I dont post very often but I do wish you the best.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

trottytrue . . . the story of a nurse failing to come back to your sister reminds me some decades ago of a nurse in South Australia who put a thermometer in my mouth, and said she would be back in a minute. Time went on, and after a quarter of an hour I rang the bell. Another nurse eventually came and said the other one had gone to tea, I had been forgotten!

In those days nurses would give back rubs, but when several nurses kept coming to do it, I realised that it was just an excuse to get away from other ward duties. One nurse gave me her life story. Another young trainee nurse told me she had a friend who could help me to get better, and the next day she came with this man and a couple of friends. Apparently he was a bricklayer who liked to dabble in hypnosis. It was a crazy and heavy situation and I asked them to leave. I then told the senior nurse on the ward what happened, she was shocked, and I didn't see the young nurse again.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Aries, your story saddened me. I hope you can feel better soon as feeling unwell is so depressing and clouds how we see the rest of our life. My experience returning has been great but I still have stress about my husband's extension of his visa later this year. I have started having some medical issues and, although I cannot complain I still feel worried about getting a quick diagnosis if appropriate. I hope things work out for you.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

I rarely come on here any more but try to catch up with the posts. Nice to see you posting again Trotty.


Aries - you certainly have had a lot of bad luck since you moved back and suffered some health issues. My mother always said "your health is your wealth" and in many ways that is true. Hope you get your health issues sorted out.


On the subject of nurses - sure there are bad apples in every barrel. However, I believe that the majority of nurses work hard and are dedicated to their jobs and their jobs are not easy. I know I couldn't do it. My youngest daughter is an Emergency Room nurse. She works 12 hours shifts finishing at 3.30 am and often drives home in snowstorms, thunderstorms, whatever the weather. She has a 7 month old baby and an almost 3 year old toddler. I'm sure that she doesn't get enough sleep. Yet she never complains - she is one of the hardest working people I know. This Friday May 6th is National Nurses Day here in the US - then the following week May 12th is International Nurses Day. I want to give a big "thank you" to all the hard working nurses out there. You do an amazing job and you deserve our thanks and recognition!

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Derrygal I Join you in your admiration and respect for all nurses, my Niece is in her early 40's and has been a registered nurse for over 20 years, she worked for years on the wards of of the largest hospital here in portsmouth and she said that it was very hard work, but rewarding too, then she got the opportunity to work in a smaller hospital here, in the Dermatology department, she likes that so much more, she gets weekends off and she works with a nice team of nurses and doctors,

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

When I had my big operation the nurses were so caring I only had one who was not very nice and she was a nurses aid.....My friend has been a nurse since the 70's and just retired...she dealt with premature babies...hard work....

Your health is the most important thing nothing else seems possible without good health. Sadly sometimes it takes doctors a while to decide what is actually wrong with patients...here in the US and the UK. They want you to have endless tests. My 96 year old half sister in the Uk has not been well so they want her to go into hospital to have an exploratory operation, she said no at her age that could kill her....its not as if they found anything on her cat scan..

A friend of mine who was due to return to the UK same time as me
was also was diagnosed with an illness so had to put off her return. She just this week went back home, I do hope it all turns out well for her. She is going to post once she gets settled....

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Derrygal.....Nice to see you on the Forum again....we pop in and out....but its always a special place.those early years on this forum were always so much fun and so helpful. I often wonder what happened to many of the old ones.. I hope they are happy.....

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

You've prompted me to check when I joined BE, and it was 10 years ago. Time seems to pass so quickly. However I haven't posted a lot.

This morning quite early I switched on the TV, and there was a Wanted Down Under programme featuring a family visiting Adelaide. I've always felt it is wrong to show a video of family and friends in England, often it causes too much distress for everyone concerned.

I had no thoughts of leaving family and friends behind when I sailed to Adelaide in 1960, it was a big adventure. I returned to England after 2 years and found none of my friends, they had all moved on like me. It is therefore important not to dwell too much on leaving people behind, they get with their own lives.

I was quickly back in Adelaide, and two years later my parents and a sister with her family emigrated to join us. They never regretted their move, but another sister who with her husband lived in many parts of the world, all work related, told me that our brother had been upset. He is still bitter all these years later, but he wasn't inclined to join us in Oz.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Hi trotty,
nice to see you on here again, on the subject of health care, and trying to compare my health care experiences in America to the ones I have had here in UK, I would say in my opinion the UK is better, but having said that, sometimes we have to wait a while for specialists and operations, but it soon comes around and the treatment is done and normally done well, but it does depend hugely on where in the UK you live, some places are fantastic where others apparently are not,
In the U.S. I always got good treatment from doctors and hospitals ---- but even with health insurance did cost me a lot in deductibles and co-pays, and of course there was always the problem of finding out a particular prescription that was prescribed was not covered by my insurance, not even in generic form, so had to pay on many occasions the full pharmacy price for a particular drug which was in some cases hundreds of dollars,
So at least over here in UK it is so refreshing to have all this taken away from your everyday health care, its so simple here, and care free!!! and the best thing is you never get asked for your health insurance card for any treatment you get for anything.
Take care.
you are an inspiration to us all trotty!!!
Rodney.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

I've spent a fair amount of my time in the care of Doctors and Nurses, I cant remember the last time one was nasty with me, They are always so nice but I'm always nice with them, I know they don't have an easy job, dealing with people is hard sometimes and the hours are long.

They are Good People helping those of us in need and I always appreciate them.

I for one will be thinking about the Nurses tomorrow and on the 12th of May.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Well just finished watching the eurovision song contest and now the votes are coming in, as predicted the Russian performance was fab!! and in my mind hard to beat, but the two lads from the UK were not bad either,
The whole show was really great this year, and the graphic effects were out of this world in some of the performances, really enjoyable show indeed, and this year its being televised in the United States for the first time,
It would be very interesting to hear everyones thoughts on the show this year,
apparently any country can enter the contest now, Australia had a song this year too!!! ---- I think soon they will have to drop the eurovision name and call it something like the international song contest or something like that :eek:
well now I'm getting back to the voting ---- and so far guess what the U.K. ARE LEADING WITH 34 VOTES, but long way to go yet!!!

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

I hadn't seen any ads for it but figured Id look n see, its on the Logo channel as I post.

Huhhh Typical, some reason I cant get reception right now, we have an error code saying it will be available shortly, Right!!!... American TV has got worse over the years in my opinion...

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

News is was the winner...I didn't watch.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Hi all. We didn' t watch Eurovision, the music doesn't appeal, but we are watching ITV tonight, Queens Birthday Celebration, some impressive horse shows, and Dame Shirley Bassey to come.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

In preparation for our moving back, we made the painful decision to re-home our dog. We trained her to be a therapy dog for nursing homes and other medical centers, and then found the perfect family. The woman who is taking her is an occupational therapist, and her office is allowing her to bring the dog to work. She took to her new family immediately, and although it was heartbreaking to say goodbye to her after almost 8 years together, we knew we were making the right decision. Nevertheless, the only thing that calmed the tears today (for me, hubby was OK) was a nice cup of tea. You can't say I am not British.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Oh Perth it is so heartbreaking and my heart goes out to you. Glad she has settled with such a nice lady and she has a purpose which you gave her. You will be able to move much easier in the knowledge you do not have to search a home to take pets which can tie you down. When I moved in 1998 the first time I rehomed one of my dogs and gave the other to my folks to look after and I cried for days. The one I rehomed did very well with a gentleman who was retired and had just lost his dog. Sending you lots of hugs. You will find as you get closer to your goal you will have moments of major stress and self doubt but the excitement of coming home will get you through plus your friends on here.

We are very happy back home despite the odd moments of realising what we left behind was special too in its own way and we look back now with fond memories of another life on another continent. Being here in Britain even with its problems is where my soul belongs and after a little trip to the coast for a holiday, I have come to realise that I love our town and our house even though it is half the size of our Canadian one and was happy to be home.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Thank you fb. It was a difficult post to write as it seems most people decide to take their pets with them, and some can be so judgmental. It's comforting to know someone on here who made a similar decision and understands what I had to go through to make it.

I am throwing myself headlong into the sorting stage, and have already donated or thrown out multitudes of bags of stuff. We are at bare bones furniture, nothing on the walls as we are painting, and the lawn outside looks like a fire came through as we are having to re-sod and the process is quite ugly AND expensive. Always wished we could have lived in a development that would have allowed us to use the front lawn to grow veggies. What a nice gift that would have been to pass on to the new owners!

Thanks again :starsmile: :heart:

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Hugs to you.. glad your dog has found a loving home and I wish you all the best with your move.. xx

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Thank you xx

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Perth, I am so pleased you have found a good home for your dog, I don't think I would have had the strength to do this.

In the mid 1960's when my parents emigrated to Oz they left their big poodle and a cocker spaniel with a family friend, and when she in turn joined us in Adelaide, other friends took the two dogs.

However when my eldest sister and her family joined us in the same year, her beloved mongrel also travelled to Adelaide. Unfortunately at that time animals were kept in quarantine on an island in Adelaide's Port River for 6 months, so it was a long time before my sister's pet could be taken home. At least there were frequent visits, and the dog lived a long and loving life.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Thank you :) It took me the better part of 6 months to make the decision. But once I set my mind to doing what was going to be best for her, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Taking her to training classes to be a therapy dog was just something I thought would be a fun way to spend time together. But when a friend said her daughter was looking for a therapy pet for her occupational therapy office, it felt like all the stars had aligned.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

aries
I also emigrated to Ozz in 1965, I was 19, Melbourne Tramways sponsored me, I was a £10 Pom, I loved my time in Ozz even though I only lived there 4 years, one thing I remember is at first it took me a long time to make friends, I think Ozz was a lot different in those days, it was a long time ago,
It was hard not being able to keep in frequent ccommunication with my family so far away, just letters which took around 10 days to get to England ---- oh how did we all survive without computers and skype? (: ---- phone calls were £1 per minute so that was out of the question as my wage was only £21 per week in Ozz Pounds, (before decimal)
I remember when Prime Minister Holt got eaten by a shark!!! :eek:
do they still call the sizes of beer glasses in pubs midi and scooner? ---- I ended up in Sydney working for the NSW railways, they say that these days Sydney is the most expensive city in the world to live in, is this true?

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Was that ever proved?...I recall there was N' amount of speculation on his 'missing in action'. The one that springs to mind is he was picked-up by a Chinese submarine as he was a spy that was about to be 'outed'...Another is he was murdered by the CIA...

I remember this well because I was crew on the RAF VC10 aircraft that brought Prince Charles, PM Harold Wilson and Edward Heath to Harold Holt's memorial.
I believe we were the first A/C to land at the new Tullamarine Airport which didn't look quite finished.
President Johnson landed soon after and they parked his B707 next to us...out came so many armed guards I thought they were going to attack Australia.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

I arrived by ship at Adelaide's Outer Harbour in 1960 with only big metal huts for us to be processed in, the area then looked very desolate. Within 3 weeks I was working, playing competition tennis and table tennis in different clubs, so this very quickly enabled me to meet a lot of people.

As you say communication was much more difficult than it is now, and to phone my parents who were still in England, I had to book a call at the GPO for a certain time, be allocated a booth, and then wait to be put through.

We've never known what happened to Harold Holt, though I did find it strange that his security officers supposedly had no idea what happened to him.

My first pay in 1960 with ICI was just under £20 per week, but it was a massive increase from the £4.50 I received in England with a firm of chartered accountants. A much bigger accounting firm in London had wanted me to PAY THEM for the first year, there would be no pay for the second year, and for the third year I would receive 10 shillings (50p now!) per week during the third year. Thus almost £20 in Oz was like winning the lottery!! Nevertheless after 13 months I was encouraged to work for Encyclopaedia Britannica, and was earning up to £200 per week, a huge sum in those days.

Now back in my home town in England, it is as if I've time travelled back to the Middle Ages!!

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Watch this video and the interaction between the horse and the baby.

Horse Rocks Baby To Keep Him From Crying Again


Cheers

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

The beer does still come in Midi or Schooner size glasses here in Oz. I remember when we used to order a jug of beer if there were a few of us drinking. It is now expensive & most of us buy alcohol in the bottle shop & take home with us.
We arrived in Adelaide in 1973. Most of us arrived by plane & the £10 Pom was coming to an end. My husband had many jobs during the first year but eventually worked for MTT as a bus driver. We stayed 4yrs, then retuned to the UK.
However, we came back to Oz a second time & eventually settled in Perth, WA.
We visit Adelaide twice a year to see our daughter as she decided to stay there.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Oh goodness, I remember the jugs of beer, though I drank very little. I also remember that the front bars in pubs looked like public toilets, very unfriendly looking places.

As for you arriving in Adelaide in 1973, that was when I moved to Melbourne for about 6 years. However I made frequent trips back to Adelaide to see my parents, the worst being to arrange my dad's funeral. I flew Ansett if you remember that airline, and in the flight back to Tullamarine at night, the aircrew arranged for my car to be brought to the airport's main entrance for me before the vehicle storage facility was closed.

But a more amusing/worrying story in 1965 flying from Adelaide to Woomera, I recognised the pilot from meeting him 3 years before, and a stewardess came to me and said that if the captain catches me before I get off, he will slit my throat!" However I didn't see him again.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Aries, I wonder what you did to upset the pilot so much! I don't think that you would get such personnel service with your car delivered to the main entrance these days.
Flights between each State are a lot cheaper now than they were in those days.
I arrived back from Adelaide last week. At last they are building a lot of freeways because the population has risen so much & the amount of cars on the road is causing delays.
A jug of beer used to cost $5. I was shocked to see that it now costs $35. It's no wonder that people drink at home these days. The hotels have improved a lot with all of them having a gaming room where people play the 'pokies'. I believe it's causing social problems.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Hi aries,
Well I was earning £7 a week in England at the Portsmouth Dockyard before I arrived in Melbourne in 1965 and making £21 per week as a tram conductor, yes they still had conductors in those days!! and I also thought that felt like a fortune in those days, my digs cost £5 per week and that was in a rooming house including full board and all utilities ---- not bad huh!!!

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

I watch every episode of E.T.T.Country it helps me escape to another world 😀😀☘☘

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

I totally agree with you having meals and a few drinks cost a fortune and they wonder why people are not eating out,they can no longer afford it.

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

So in 1955 I was making £3.17.6d a week as an customs clerk in Liverpool and then moved to New Jersey and I literally walked the streets looking for work to no avail. I was fortunate to join the U.S. Air Force after a few months.
I did work briefly for a small Italian market but I think I was fired after about 5 days? I then worked for Safeway for two weeks and I was let go.
I Stayed in the Air Force for about 4 years. They were good to me.
Life is an interesting experience, what!

Cheers

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

cheers,
Has the property market recovered yet in the U.S.? I know how bad it got from 2008 on after the crash, well I was amazed to hear the other day on TV that house prices in certain parts of England like the south have increased by 20% more then they were in the hight of the housing bubble in 2007 before the crash, but they said that the north of England is still not doing so well!!!

Did you know
Its national FISH & CHIPS DAY TODAY Friday over this side of the pond!!!

were you able to save anything from that £3.17.6d a week? ;)

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

My parents asked me to kick in £1 per week and I was able to save for my trip to the US. I had more pocket money then than since.
My down fall was and is owning a car but you have to have one in this country.
Housing is doing really good here. Lots of new homes are being built in my area.
I was just reading in the Daily Telegraph that Devon (or is it Cornwall?)is a depressed area and receiving aid from the EU.
I'm very interested in the referendum and I was sure that it is going to pass but now I'm not sure. What are people thinking?
What do you think? Or more to the point, what are people saying in your area?
Cheers

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Michael Gove had his turn for an hour last night on sky news 8pm, question & answers from the audiance, the program followed Cameron's hour same time the night before, both men are in the conservitive party, but one is an IN campainer who is the prime minister, the other campaining for OUT, last night
Gove really shined, he was calm,confident, and explained everything so well and gave the facts!!!
Unlike the blundering
(IN) Cameron the night before,
Before Goves hour on TV last night in and outers were about even, now today its around 40% in and 60% of voters want OUT!!! :thumbsup:

Re: Over 40's Moving Back and Catching Up
 

Hello Cheers . . . I haven't heard about Devon or Cornwall receiving aid from the EU, but perhaps farmers do as a matter of course. Do you have a link to this?

I haven't asked anybody what they will vote in the referendum, but both sides say a lot. There is a very heated debate raging in British Expats, scroll down the menu to "To take it outside" where it gives a warning about entering!!