MissBetty

Lol! Ok rosé wine it is then I can't wait to be able to buy alcohol in the supermarket again - every little helps!

Lorry1

Yes me too, it's just so much more convenient!

I have a feeling I'm going to put on a lot of weight when I get back though, I have lots to catch up on.
Week 1 - Chinese, Indian, Fish n Chips smothered in salt n vinegar, chinese, Indian, Fish n chips....
Plus all the snacks inbetween, ooh plus sausage rolls from Greggs!

jemima55

It's tough, Lorry, but someone's got to do it!

Lorry1

That's what I'm thinking!

Pollyana

Isn't it strange how those odd things get to you. There's a small bottle shop right outside our local supermarket, but its the hassle of paying separately etc. And last week Coles wanted me to get the receipt out for the wine bottles in my trolley to prove they were already paid for!! The checkout bloke looked very sheepish when I pointed out they were alcohol and therefore "contraband"!!

kampaicharger

Tell me about it... 2 months to go and all I think about is food and drink over there.

I sat down last night in front of the telly and a program on english food came on showing how to make rare roast with yorkshire pudding, proper english sausages and summer pudding.....

I swear that after about six months I will be soooo fat I will need my own post code...

carolandpete

ooohhhh, I forgot about Gregg's cheese and onion pasty, have one for me and tell me how it tastes please.

MissBetty

Ooooh you evil woman - I'm SO hungry now lol! The annoying thing is I've put on two bloody stone since I've been in Oz. I was always a fairly slim size 10 in the UK, even though I ate like a horse, think I just did a lot more exercise there! The thought of returning home as the porker I am now has spurred me into action recently. I've cut out all the crap and have been plodding away on my step machine every day, I've managed to lose 9 lbs so far and I feel a bit better about myself. I need to prepare myself for May cos I can't resist my local chippy lol! A few bracing walks along the seafront should help once I am home also I love to get up early and ride my bike down to to the old pier and back!

MissBetty

Ha ha ha!!! That cracked me up!

MissBetty

You little smuggler you lol! Yep I find it a hassle but not as much as a hassle as Mt Isa ...........................

I worked there for a few months FIFO (fly in fly out) and I loved it - crazy place but they only had two bottle-o's in town and they were both drive thrus. I walked in to buy a bottle of wine one day and the guy said he was very sorry but he couldn't serve me unless I physically drove through!

I thought it was a joke at first but he explained it was a law in the town to stop the Aboriginals having easy access to grog as most of them don't have cars. I pointed out that I was a) British b) had ID and c) Didn't have a car out there as I was only a relief staff member for a few months but he said it was the law so no go! I had to walk back to station, borrow my boss's car and drive back lol!

I get so sick of the high prices for a lot of things here such as alcohol. Admittedly if you live in a fair sized town you have access to Dan Murphy's etc which is a bit cheaper, we do have to pay more being remote. My local bottle-o has bottles of Moet (not even my fav!) that you can pick up at my local Tescos for £26.99 atm. Here? Its $102.00. Crikey!!!!!

pomikev

I always laugh at the "imported wines" selection.

2 bottles of italian vinegar, NOTHING french, a couple of german sweet whites and one of those matuse (spelling) fizzy things.

I saw a bottle of blue nun once in a bottlo in Aubrey for 25 bucks lol.

And from the look on his face when I asked about it the bloke in the bottle shop in dubbo thinks Beaujolais was one of the three musketeers.

kampaicharger

Pomfritts = someone with an english father and a german mother

Camembert = the two gay blokes on the corner (Cam & Bert)

Coq a Vin = don't ask

Crikey, I could go on but I need a lie down

MissBetty

Ha ha ha!!! I'm not a wine buff, I don't mind Aussie wine but I do love my French wines and I am always amazed they're so hard to find and/or hideously expensive! Its not like I'm after anything fancy, maybe a cheeky little cote du rhone or chateauneuf du pape - always as favourite lol!

Once I asked the guy in the BWS bottle-o (Beer, Wines, Spirits - remember, it is what it is!) if he had any French wines as I wanted something nice for a friend's birthday. He looked at me in horror then asked me why I wanted to buy that 'French crap' for when there were so many great St'ralian wines I could buy instead. I was, just for once, speechless!

Naishy

Hi MissBetty, I'm new to this forum thing so please excuse me! Anyway, I have read through your thread & it seems we have the same desire. To leave the places we have called "Home," for, in my case the last 15years, & return to the "Mother Land," & our true HOME. I truly sympathise with your desire to want to "go," right now. It was when I went back to England & France for the Christmas period that it truly dawned upon me the things I had taken for granted in England before hold so much importance now, the culture & charisma from every angle. Living out in the Backwoods of Georgia has had it's fantastic moments but now it's time to turn my back & start anew. It seems that you are in exactly the same boat. I wish the time would move faster for you & your time to depart would be here tomorrow. Once the decision has been made, it feels like a weight has been lifted from our shoulders & the moment cannot happen soon enough. Stay strong & your day will be here sooner than you think.

MissBetty

Hi Naishy and welcome to BE! I honestly think finding BE was was of the best things to happen to me, I would have totally cracked up without it lol! I'm sure you will find a lot of support on here so good luck with your plans to return!

I really do appreciate now what I had before in the UK. I just breezed through life quite happily, nice family, great friends, cozy flat, awesome job, fab holidays and I just took it all for granted. Continually wishing on a star and thinking of Oz as a magical land where my life would be so fantastic - pity I couldn't see what was right under my nose the whole time!!! These days I don't think about going down to the beach or spending the day in the pool, my sister is getting a puppy and I'm more excited about that to be honest!

When I think of how much I railed at my parents for leaving Australia, how every Xmas I would up and go with my backpack to some far flung land without a backwards glance - I feel ashamed to think how selfish and unreasonable I've been I totally understand now WHY my parents left Australia for the UK after 12 years there, they wanted to fit in, they missed their families, they wanted to go home!

I don't regret coming back to Australia one little bit, it has been a great experience and a learning one too, there will be some changes once I get back to the UK though I swear! This year I'm going to have Xmas at my house so my Mum can put her feet up for a change! I'm going to go round to theirs more often and help my Dad chop wood for the fire, he's got terrible arthritis and he does struggle a bit these days. I'm going to take them out a bit more too, treat them to meals and some nice days out, God knows they have earned it putting up with me and all my shenanigans all these years!

Like you I do appreciate my own country so much more now, my experience here has changed me and I'm not the same person I was before. I've learnt that it doesn't matter where you go you have to take yourself with you lol! I'm not looking at my return through rose tinted glasses, I know I will have my days when I think 'what have I done?' but deep down it just feels like the right thing to do.

After experiencing true independence, loneliness, depression, good times and bad I have finally, finally stopped being such a selfish, thoughtless brat, I have grown up - its a good feeling!