Yes well after 20 years here we did (only recently infact ) find the time to get citizenship

Cheers

Dave

Maybe because there is heaps to do there, great shopping, fantastic food, awesome beaches, lots of parks and open space, wildlife, and heaps of pubs and clubs???????? God I miss Perth!!!

Things to do in Perth/WA:

Go shopping - in Subi/Freo
Freo markets
eat/shop/drink Hillarys Marina
Rottnest island
Swim, surf or read a book at some awesome Beaches
See an Aussie Rules game at Subi
See a movie under the stars at various locations
Go to a Sunday Session
Go on a winery tour Swan Valley
Have a kick of the footy in your local park
Have a picnic at Kings Park
Go down south and visit Margaret River/Busselton
Have a meal or go clubbing in Northbridge
Visit Freo prison at night
Play tennis in beautiful weather
Ten pin bowling/ice skating/lawn bowls
Do a TAFE course
fish and chips on Cott beach in summer
Camping at Nanga bush camp
Go up to Kalbarri (quaint fishing village) and see the dolphins at Monkey Mia
Go to the Perth Royal Show
Skyworks on Australia Day
Lancelin Ocean Classic in January
Have a pint at Little Creatures in Freo
See penguins and Sea Lions on Pengiun Island
Hopman Cup in Jan
Lavender Hill Cricket match

Yes you have to leave your house and your suburb to do most of these things, but parking is free in most places!

well as happy as I am here I haven't found the great shopping or good pubs yet, not that I like pubs but sometimes friends fancy going out.

Exactly...thats why most go home

I happen to agree with you and have done most of those things, apart from shopping which I hate with a passion. However if some of the folk on this board are like some of my friends and family back home their lives will go something like this:

Monday - Friday
Work, come home, watch fab UK tv show whilst eating dinner off lap or go to pub
Saturday, Sunday
Stay in bed, go shopping or catch up with family, spend ages getting ready, go out to pub/club, get takeway of some variety and stagger home pissed. May have a drive out somewhere Sunday, probably which involves a pub meal.

That what I noticed. I stayed with a family in Cardiff (family friends of my best friend) and the whole family were completely negative about Australia - not that they had ever been there. I stayed there for a week and everyone just stayed indoors watching TV. When some of the younger family members took us to a bar it was just the same kind of bar you get anywhere. Now, they love Wales and were happy there and I have no problems with that, but I fail to see the evidence of exciting lives being led by normal people in the UK. Maybe if you are an A lister and go to The Ivy for dinner or live in a beautiful house in the country and have lavish dinner parties. No-one on this forum has told me about all these amazing activities that make life in the UK so exciting - must be a state secret.

I don't know Perth maybe I should I understand what you are saying about the parking.The problem were I live that there isn't enough. It's no good I can't live where I live after being in the UK no way.

You also have to remember Denver that despite Australia having all these things it isn't "home". For most on this board they just want to go home and fit in again. You can't argue with that mate.

I know Cardiff really well ,I always loved the place, must say I was surprised that you said they were negative when they hadn't been here because they always had oz rugby shirts in the windows and seemed to embrace Australia.

I wonder if it's just people being people if you say you liked so so here even if it's NZ/America/UK people that haven't been anywhere else and probably never would seem to be negative that you like something in another country other than their own?

I do think that's a shame though, it can only broaden your out look.

[Maybe because there is heaps to do there, great shopping, fantastic food, awesome beaches, lots of parks and open space, wildlife, and heaps of pubs and clubs???????? God I miss Perth!!!]by Denver
Things to do in Perth/WA:

Go shopping - in Subi/Freo ...Almost anywhere you shop in UK has more choice and better quality

Freo markets...Thousands of markets in UK

eat/shop/drink Hillarys Marina...eat/shop/drink almost anywhere in UK

Rottnest island...Expensive to get there and for what? Nothing!

Swim, surf or read a book at some awesome Beaches...You can read on any beach/surf down in Newquay and swim too

See an Aussie Rules game at Subi...Not quite got the atmosphere a football match has IMO

See a movie under the stars at various locations...Only in summer

Go to a Sunday Session...Ever been to Camden?

Go on a winery tour Swan Valley...Expensive and most don't open during the week and kids aren't allowed in

Have a kick of the footy in your local park...Do that anywhere in the world

Have a picnic at Kings Park...As does everyman and his dog on summer w/e's.)Parks everywhere with picnic and bbq areas in UK if you look

Go down south and visit Margaret River/Busselton...Drive less distance to Devon/Cornwall/New Forest/Northumberland/Lake District etc. with more to do and see

Have a meal or go clubbing in Northbridge...Take the risk of getting your drink spiked/mugged.Seedy area.Yuk!

Visit Freo prison at night...Once done why would you want to go again?

Play tennis in beautiful weather...Can do that without sweat pooring off you in heaps of places in UK

Ten pin bowling/ice skating/lawn bowls...Much more choice of where you play/skate/bowl in UK

Do a TAFE course...Go to college for free in UK if just left school/Alot more choice of colleges for further education too

fish and chips on Cott beach in summer...Yeh,nice,but can do that in UK too

Camping at Nanga bush camp...Go camping in UK too.+ closer proximity to go camping in Europe

Go up to Kalbarri (quaint fishing village) and see the dolphins at Monkey Mia...A very long way to go for nothing

Go to the Perth Royal Show...The most antiquated,expensive rides and the biggest rip-off in Perth

Skyworks on Australia Day...Fireworks in and around London on NYE without the fights and muggings

Lancelin Ocean Classic in January...Again,every man and his dog up there 'cos there's little else to do except sun/sea & beaches

Have a pint at Little Creatures in Freo...and dinner too,but you can do that in UK as well

See penguins and Sea Lions on Pengiun Island...Again,once seen,why go again?

Hopman Cup in Jan...Wimbledon in June

Lavender Hill Cricket match...Cricket matches everywhere

Yes you have to leave your house and your suburb to do most of these things, but parking is free in most places!...Parking is free in most parks/ theme parks/picnic areas/movies/pubs/clubs etc etc in UK too

Thanks for that. I couldn't reply because I don't know Perth

Of your list, I think I will miss the above, and also
very blue skies
watching the sky after the sun has just set
stars and moon (hoping to see the comet tonight)
warm evenings with a slight breeze after a very hot day
friendly welcome for our kids at schools and kids' activities
ease of getting around

Perth is nice, but it's not home and these things are not enough for most of us who live here and post on this part of the site. You grew up here, so you are bound to feel different. For many of those that didn't, there will always be something missing. A lot missing, in fact.

Didn't you once say "Perth is soo boring", lacking in culture and vibrancy? (can't be bothered to dig up the post just to embarrass you yet again). You know exactly why people leave Perth. I suspect that you are now pretending otherwise to justify your decision to return, and because you have been offended by people's frank views of your homeland and you feel the need to strike back. But you forget that for people leaving Perth, the UK doesn't have to prove itself as better. For many of us, it's just where we feel we belong. We tried it here. We didn't really like it. Or, in my case, we did like it, but perhaps not enough. We should be able to explain our reasons on this site without insecure and overly sensitive people like you feeling the need to endlessly defend your place of origin.

You also forgot to mention that most days if you are on the beach in Perth after 11am you will be sand-blasted. There is no way you can read a book in comfort.

I too can understand why Denver feels the way she does. She is maybe experiencing homesickness, as some of us do from time to time. Perth is her home and she obviously feels the need to 'belong' and I for one fully understand that. But most, if not all, of the things she has listed are things that make her feel comfortable because she was brought up here and no doubt has happy memories of going to some of these places. To me, most of those are either 'one offs' or totally unexciting and can be done most anywhere in this world.

I will miss the blue skys, but none of the above. Perth is very isolated and costly to get out of once you are here.

Who could ever get tired of penguins Could watch them for hours.

They weren't to be seen when we went....twice! We did stay to watch the ones inside being fed though.