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Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Old Jan 17th 2011, 12:05 am
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Default Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Flew Melbourne/Heathrow via Singapore, arrived 20th December. Heathrow had just reopened after snow – quietest we’ve ever seen it. Minus 7 degrees on landing (white Christmas – just what we came for…). Roads clear of snow all the way to the Cotswolds. Got stuck in snow in my in-laws’s village (at only 100 people with no shop, pub or school its too small to bother sending the gritters in…). Other than bubs refusing to sleep at all on the Singapore-UK leg it was one of our easiest journeys back – quite unexpected really… The Cotswolds was every bit as pretty under snow as you could imagine it. Also had a look around Surrey, Oxfordshire and Sussex before going to France.

My main observation was that, with the notable exception of car fuel and train fares (both of which ARE expensive), everything else is cheaper in the UK… and I mean everything – houses, cars, clothes, food…

Regarding food - I couldn’t believe the prices (low) and variety (high) that we found in the UK supermarkets as compared with Coles and Safeway here. I was walking around Waitrose salivating… how we’d missed the variety of French cheese on offer. Even ‘local’ goods were cheaper in the UK than here where they’re produced. Example: half a leg of NZ lamb costs around $17-$19 dollars in Melbourne at Coles. In Waitrose the same joint of NZ lamb was 6 pounds. In NZ, lamb is so expensive my family members who live there can’t afford to buy it – it’s just for special occasions. Here’s another example: Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2010 – around $35 in Melbourne and only 17 pounds in Waitrose.

Regarding pre-made? A sandwich a M&S costing around 1.50 to 2.50 costs me around 8 dollars in Melbourne.

Eating out seems to have moved forward in the last few years as well. You’ve got the traditional stuff if you want it and now you’ve also got the modern stuff (outside the major cities) as well. I think its helped by the exodus of good chefs from London looking for the village lifestyle. Had a great meal in a new place in Cirencester (‘Made By Bob’ in the new development off the high street) – including a good coffee (something I wouldn’t have said was possible in the UK a few years ago).

My other main observation was that, compared to 18 months ago when we were there last, the attitude is quite different (i.e. better…). What seems to be happening is that after the crash there was a lot of uncertainty about what it all would mean and people stopped doing anything. Now people understand it more, the world didn't stop turning, they seem to be accepting the changes and are getting on with it.

However, even though they’re getting on, they still love complaining about anything and everything - it seems to be becoming the UK’s national sport. People who haven’t been out and seen the world love to complain about how good it used to be whereas what they need to do is accept that change is inevitable, is mostly for the good and compare what Britain is like now as compared with other countries. I’m convinced the Brits really have nothing of any consequence to complain about…

Observations on being back in Aus again: compared with the UK, France and Singapore, Australians generally appear fat, dowdy and depressed, but smoke a lot less. Melbourne airport struggled to cope with a few planes landing at the same time – queues to get out via customs were around 2 hrs wait time – there were a lot of unhappy people - I took it as an indication that Aus is starting to struggle with the volume of people that live here. Aussie TV is worse than I remember - Aussie as a whole appears more parochial, insular and isolated having been away for a month. That's just a personal view of course but being back in the UK made us feel like we were back in the world again.

Interestingly, unprompted by us, all our friends back in the UK that were considering moving to Aus or NZ have recently either changed their minds completely or put plans on hold indefinitely. Our visit has reconfirmed our view that we will be better off moving back, in an orderly fashion, over the next year or so.

Best of British to you all… :-)
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Old Jan 17th 2011, 12:16 am
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Thanks for that

You have confirmed all my suspicions and thoughts!

Only 12 weeks left for me in Australia
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Old Jan 17th 2011, 12:49 am
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Sounds like a good time was had by all Are you starting on the move back plans already?
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Old Jan 17th 2011, 1:13 am
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Originally Posted by Mummy in the foothills
Sounds like a good time was had by all Are you starting on the move back plans already?
I think my wife is on the plane already...

Realistically, we have a house, business, dog here etc so it will take some time to wrap up. I'm not sure I'd rush back to the UK for 2011 but would like to get there before too far into 2012 as would like to take advantage of the favourable exchange rate and buyer's market for UK housing before things improve there too much....
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Old Jan 17th 2011, 10:38 am
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Thank you so much for this! I can now convince my family that I need to go back! I will be there by March 2012 at the VERY latest.
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Old Jan 17th 2011, 11:28 am
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Glad to hear you had a good time! My trips tend to be along the same lines as yours - not nearly the doom and gloom that the Daily Fail would wish upon us all. Good luck with your escape plan!
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Old Jan 18th 2011, 12:32 am
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Great trip report !

Us Brits just love a bloody good moan though dont we ?? I'll bang on for ages 'till missus tells me to poke it.
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Old Jan 18th 2011, 9:19 pm
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

We must have been on the same flight into Heathrow! We were so lucky to get in.

Terminal 3 looking very old and filled with travellers without flights looked like something from the third world.

I would concur with much of what you've said. My daughter, who hasn't lived in the UK since she was a toddler, had a great time and is really looking forward to returning for uni studies in 2012.

A few other observations: High alcohol consumption appears to be the norm, more so than here in Sydney (although there's a lot of it here as well).

You can't beat the good old British pub. We made a good few visits with friends and relations and I realised how much I have missed the pub over the years. Cask conditioned beer quality better than I remember.

Eating out has certainly got better and there is a lot more variety: sushi, tapas, better pub grub, and the range of take home meals in the likes of Marks & Spencer is very good. Better value for money, although of course the Aus dollar is unnaturally high and I will probably not even earn half of what I am earning here when we do return.

The overall vibe is OK, but it's the same old story: those who have got a bit are doing OK, but those at the bottom are really struggling and for the likes of ourselves and George Osbourne who can afford international holidays it can't be too bad really, can it?
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Old Jan 20th 2011, 3:09 am
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Love reading the trip reports.

And the variety of feedback

Many of your findings were similar to my trip 09/10.

Off again myself in 2 weeks, One thing is for sure, any cold will be most welcome after the months of wet humid mess here.
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Old Jan 20th 2011, 4:57 am
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

There does seem to be some consistency in the responses yes. Anyone checked out UK-yankee discussion boards yet? Those guys rave about the place…

Ok, here are some more observations for you...

Speaking to various people there, commutes DO seem a bit longer than here in Aus – no getting away from that fact - I guess it goes hand in hand with living in or near bigger cities rather than being country specific. These days, I would trade off an hour commute to a pretty english village over a half hour commute to a melbourne suburb. I must be getting older...

We were surprised to see how much people wanted to be outdoors. Even in such cold temperatures. Our friends are making a much bigger thing of getting out to the parks and the nat trust properties. Their older kids talked mainly about football (playing and watching). One friend has a bbq bigger than mine and uses it more often than I do - there's no denying global warming ;-)

At Versailles on NY's day it was probably a top of -1 degrees but the place was crawling with French families walking the gardens and taking advantage of their day off. Kids were riding bikes and scooters in the streets - they were just pretty well rugged up.

Even the motorway services are being upgraded. The one on the M40 close to Beaconsfield is as good as any we saw in Europe. Wouldn't mind betting its now owned by the French...

Yes, the village store is gradually being replaced by the village M&S or tesco express. I reckon the old village store will just become the new village coffee shop/restaurant as did all the old banks and post offices. The high street will still be the high street, its just its function will change from shopping point to meeting point.

The class system seems alive and well in the UK but also saw this in france and singapore. I suspect this is more a feature of older economies rather than of specific countries.

On the subject of complaining (or not complaining...), I think surviving the darker winter months just needs 3 things:
- increase the lighting levels inside your house so its always consistently bright year round - then it doesn't matter what its doing outside (a bit like working in an office – you can control your environment to some extent...)
- have something to look forward to in Feb. The gap between Christmas and the spring is just that little bit too long... Could be a new TV, go skiing, holiday in the sun whatever, just something to look forward to.
- have a project/set a goal. Anything that breaks the routine of going to the pub after work or going home and switching on the telly. Anything that gets you out and about - learn a language, get a personal trainer, whatever, but use the time wisely.

I find Melbourne winters pretty dreary too – winter is winter in any country. Other friends of ours plan to use the money they would have spent relocating to Australia for a bit more sun to get into a holiday place in Antigua. I've never been there so wouldn't comment on that decision but it sounds good in theory.

I get the feeling both the UK and Aus have changed a lot since we left. It was definitely the right decision to come to Australia 7 years ago when we did - its the right decision for us to make our way back now.
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Old Jan 20th 2011, 9:12 pm
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Thanks for the great updates, I am back off home, 5 weeks from tomorrow!! Will not be coming back except for visits to my family. I have been living in Australia for 30 years and after my one year "gap year/mid life crisis" from April 2009 to April 2010 I just cannot settle down again.

Scared as hell but I will survive!!
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Old Jan 22nd 2011, 7:45 pm
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Regarding food - I couldn’t believe the prices (low) and variety (high) that we found in the UK supermarkets as compared with Coles and Safeway here. I was walking around Waitrose salivating… how we’d missed the variety of French cheese on offer. Even ‘local’ goods were cheaper in the UK than here where they’re produced. Example: half a leg of NZ lamb costs around $17-$19 dollars in Melbourne at Coles. In Waitrose the same joint of NZ lamb was 6 pounds. In NZ, lamb is so expensive my family members who live there can’t afford to buy it – it’s just for special occasions. Here’s another example: Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2010 – around $35 in Melbourne and only 17 pounds in Waitrose.
Aussie retailers have enjoyed virtual monopolies in almost every sector for years. The end result is less choice for consumers and higher prices. If there was some way for online food retailers to do what the online electrical retailers have been doing to the likes of Harvey Norman, you would maybe get some improvement, but unfortunately Ausiie quarantine laws are just too strict (protectionist?). Shopping in Coles and Woolworths was the low point of our week - simply because we remembered how good supermarkets could be in UK, France, Spain, Holland etc but weren't in Oz
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Old Jan 22nd 2011, 8:05 pm
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

After spending 3 weeks in the UK at the end of last year I agree with most of the comments. I found most things cheaper in the UK, not because of the exchange rate but in real terms. Food was especially cheap but also clothes and books etc. Petrol was expensive but my hire car ran on the smell of an oily rag. I didn't encounter the rude, miserable Brits that new migrants here often mention and in fact almost everyone was polite, cheery and helpful.
I spent my time around Somerset, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire and they seem to have missed out on the recession pretty much. I couldn't believe just how beautiful the little villages are, makes me even more determined to find one to live in
I didn't encounter much of the Daily Mail doom and gloom except up north, I spent 2 days in Doncaster and found it quite depressing.
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Old Jan 23rd 2011, 4:48 am
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Originally Posted by sjz
.....On the subject of complaining (or not complaining...), I think surviving the darker winter months just needs 3 things...
This is one area that does concern me about moving back. Here in Oz I notice that even on gloomy days it feels much lighter than I perceived it in the UK, here is not so grey and oppressive. Whilst I would welcome the larger variation in the time it gets dark in the evenings, I am concerned about those days in deepest winter when it seems to get dark at 3pm! I think I will make our house feel very light-filled - in our last UK house we had one of those tubes in the roof to bring natural light down into the hall. I see them advertised here & think wtf??

On the other hand, I do find the constant glare here when outside really annoying. When I first got here it felt really weird to me chatting with people wearing sunglasses as it felt like a barrier cos I couldn't see their eyes. Now of course I have a pair of sunnies more or less permanently welded on my face!

Your ideas about coping with the winter are good & it's very encouraging to hear people are out & about when cold. Personally I would much rather get wrapped up for a brisk walk with the promise of a sit down by the fire in the pub at the end than struggle on a bush walk dripping with sweat, not seeing anything other than bloody gum trees & being eaten alive by bugs!
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Old Jan 23rd 2011, 5:40 am
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Default Re: Trip report – UK Christmas hols

Originally Posted by JustBecause
This is one area that does concern me about moving back. Here in Oz I notice that even on gloomy days it feels much lighter than I perceived it in the UK, here is not so grey and oppressive. Whilst I would welcome the larger variation in the time it gets dark in the evenings, I am concerned about those days in deepest winter when it seems to get dark at 3pm! I think I will make our house feel very light-filled - in our last UK house we had one of those tubes in the roof to bring natural light down into the hall. I see them advertised here & think wtf??

On the other hand, I do find the constant glare here when outside really annoying. When I first got here it felt really weird to me chatting with people wearing sunglasses as it felt like a barrier cos I couldn't see their eyes. Now of course I have a pair of sunnies more or less permanently welded on my face!

Your ideas about coping with the winter are good & it's very encouraging to hear people are out & about when cold. Personally I would much rather get wrapped up for a brisk walk with the promise of a sit down by the fire in the pub at the end than struggle on a bush walk dripping with sweat, not seeing anything other than bloody gum trees & being eaten alive by bugs!
You could always get one of those "light boxes" I think they were made for people who get S.A.D. My daughter reckons she gets that in Australia, Gawd help her if she went to live in England!!

LOL about gum trees.......endless vista's of them..........
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