manc1

[QUOTE=brits1;5684529]
Hehehe dont listen to rumours.

St.Georges Girl

The 'Fighting Cocks' was where my OH took me on our first date. I know it well. We used to walk around the lakes quite often on a Sunday afternoon in the winter and feed all the wildfowl down there, then pop down to the Waffle House for a coffee and waffles. Aaahhhh, wish to God I was there now. I've been very teary the past few days. Is The Beehive the pub at the bottom of Holywell Hill and The Goat the one off London Road? Whereabouts did you live in St.Albans?

Little Ms Naughty

I have just ping-pong back to Perth after just 3 months back in UK. Here is my take on what I saw:

Schools
I really don’t see much difference between the school my kids where at in Perth and the one in UK (They went back to their old school in UK)

Kids/anti social behaviour
There where plenty for kids/young people hanging around, some of them looked a bit intimidating in hoodies, but never saw any trouble.

Shopping
Tesco and Asda are great – everything under one roof from sprouts to knickers! But I found I was missing the fresh fruit and veggie markets and the butchers in the shopping centres and Lenards!

Towns
Crowded, very strange and felt claustrophobic (sp) at first but got use to it. Parking was hard in the town centre and expensive but there are plenty of park and rides with free buses.

Driving
No change!! Still busy.

Family and Friends
It was soooo good to see everyone, got a major dressing down for leaving eldest in Oz! Got feed up of say ‘She is 17 and old enough to make her own discussions and YES I am happy for her and NO I wont be making her come home!!’
After the first few weeks though everyone disappear back in to the woodwork, Grandparent/family to busy to baby-sit or pop round, friends working or doing something with other friends. After 2 years everyone had moved on, I think I had very naively thought they would all be just waiting for me to return.

Housing
Renting – Oh god the was so expensive we paid 800GBP for a 3 bed in a good area and it was tiny – well compared to the 4x2 with pool we had been renting in Perth it was.
Buying – again not cheap, if you what a house in a good area with very little to do to it then you have to pay for it, but there are bargains out there, if you are into DIY or have spare cash for renovations.

Immigrates (sp)
Didn’t seem to be anymore than before we left – but everyone is moaning about the increase.

Overall there has been very little change in the 2 years we have been away, we never left because we hated the UK,we did it because an opportunity came our way. So why are we back in Perth? Everything we thought we missed wasn’t there anymore if you can understand that, we realised that we had out grown the UK. I think that’s something that you have to think about when returning after a long time away, we found it every difficult to slot back in to peoples lives, they had moved on and we are different people.

Tracy – good luck with your decision, its not easy and ping ponging is very expensive.




Please note that there are my observations.

cabaj

Little Ms N - did you actually move back to the UK, or was it just an extended visit? We have been in Perth for 4 years and are planning a 2 month trip back next year for a look-see. After plenty of discussion, this seems to us the most sensible (and cheaper!) option rather than taking the plunge and moving back.

Some interesting comments from you, particularly the one about outgrowing the UK. Can you expand on that?

Little Ms Naughty

We moved back, shipped everything, we thought it would be permanent. I wish we had gone back for a holiday first, but you do tend to see thing differently when on holiday.

I dont if I can explain myself properly - I always thoughtof the UK as home, I suppose in some way i had a rose tinted view of our old lives and thought it was better than the life we had build in Perth. However once back and the novelty had worn off I realised that I no long felt at home, i am a different person to the one that left and i now want different things.

Only been back in 2 weeks, but i am back working in my old job, we are buying a house this time. We have loads of invites to parties, bbq and days out over the Christmas holidays and i feel at home, contented, peaceful and oh so happy for the first time in such a long time.

We have mucked our kids about with all the ups and down and moving and they have been great, I couldnt wish for better kids

N

cabaj

Well, welcome back and thanks for responding! At least this time you should feel more settled, and will have a clearer picture of the pro's and con's of both countries - a good position to be in. We were on the verge of doing the same as you - moving back. But as I mentioned we will now probably do a 2-month stint in the first half of 08. It should be interesting as we still feel that we 'belong' in the UK.

Have a great, warm Christmas with your wonderful kids!!

northernbird

Wishing you all the very best for the future.

brits1

Good luck with everything......we are going home next year after nearly 9 years here in Aus.....we did the 3 month trip this year to see how we felt...we went back for our first visit after 7 years here in Aus (that was so we wanted to feel like we knew Aus longer...we did want to go back much earlier for a visit but wanted to give Perth more of a chance....) our first visit we went home for 7 weeks.....it had changed in 7 years but we liked it...a lot...then our second visit we really felt like we were home and just rreally loved being there rather than Perth.....so the opposite to you.....but that is how life is....people see things differently....I wish you well in your life here in Perth....good luck....

guest5234

That phrase "we have out-grown the UK" is so irratating....what the hell does it mean, how can you out-grow a Country

misterjingo

The same way you can outgrow anything else? Things change, people move on. Exactly like how quite a few returnee's become quite fanatical in their Patriotism compared to before they left.

pommybird

The Beehive is the one just off London Road at the back of the main car park, The Goat is on Sopwell Lane - every Saturday night a crowd of us would meet in the Fighting Cocks then onto the Goat and the Beehive and invariably finish the evening off with a good curry in 'The Gulshan' (not sure if that is still there?)........happy days! We lived right in the City Centre just 2 minutes from the main high street.

As for you, well no wonder you feel teary, you have had a bereavement this year, you want to be back in the UK and it's Christmas....all those things together must be very emotionally draining for you. But I think some of us are just destined to live out our days in the UK and I think you are one of those people - what's for you won't go past you and I just know you will be back here for good one day and I just hope that 2008 is your year to return..........

manc1

St Albans is a lovely place. I have a friend who lives there and I have spent some good nights out there when I've been back. He was talking of coming over to oz to live and I told him he would be mad to leave St Albans to move to oz. He seems settled now and just comes out to oz for a holiday.

St.Georges Girl

I don't understand it either G. I wish someone could explain it, because I don't see how a person can 'outgrow' a country.

Maybe some people become more patriotic once they have lived aborad because they have realise just how good their own country is. It sometimes takes moving away to make you appreciate what you actually had.

Aaww thanks P. I must admit I have been worrying about my mum alot. It would have been their Diamond wedding anniversary today and my dads 80th birthday this Sunday, so emotions are running high at the moment. I just can't get my head around Xmas, yet we've got about 16-20 friends coming over on Xmas day! I thought it was a good idea at the time. I haven't been shopping for food yet and you know what the opening hours are like here, so I really do have to get myself sorted today. Still getting over a bad bout of Bronchitis hasn't helped much either. They shoot horses don't they?

St.Albans is lovely, most of it anyway. It's steeped in history. Have you ever been in 'The Boot' or 'The Fleur de Lys' in the centre of the City?

manc1

Yes, excellent.

MikeStanton

You've gotta laugh when the reference point is Perth. Totally ludicrous.

Perhaps they mean they've put on a huge amount of weight. I still have nightmares having seen the large number of lard-arses in shorts waddling through Perth.

Brrrr....