Might it not be the case though that just living in one's own paradise is enough and that he will be happy with his lot with all that it brings?

Yes, and I hope it works out but all his posts paint this rosey picture. I'm not the only one on here to try to open his eyes. And I'm one of the "I love being in Oz" mob. But one has to be realistic. It can get cold in Perth. You get colds in Perth, after 3 months, heat can get boring. But there we are.

You know this of course, having lived here for so long........colds, coughs, flu symptoms, full-blown flu, all just as common here, all year round, even in the lovely stinking hot paradise of Queensland. But of course I'm just making this up, I've been living with my head in a bucket for the last 10 years and not been working in more germ-ridden offices than I could ever have imagined.

If i could be bothered I could find two dozen old threads about it at least but i don't think you are worth the effort.

Things are good for me in the UK, I'm sure it will be the same in Australia, i see the positives of being able to live in two of the best countries in the world, the UK as you know has been struggling for a few years now, whereas Australia has been booming, but i expect to carry on having a great life, if not i will come back, but I won't moan about it incessantly like some.

Indeed, I am aware it gets cold in Perth, Never been there myself but several friends live there so I get to share via skype/email.

Except when you are in Wales.........cross the border from England and suddenly you have a choice of two languages to guide you on your way...even the signs painted on the roads and on display in supermarkets are bilingual but less than a fifth of the locals are conversant with both languages and in some areas hardly any at all.

True in most cases but the stamps certainly don't come cheap and the Post Office is seeking permission to raise the postage rates yet again......

Our kids were forever coming down with colds and bugs in Brisbane, as you say it is a FACT that warmer weather actually prolongs a cold. I cant believe that in this day and age some still believe that cold weather causes colds

You might need to nip down to Bunnings and get some extra strength crowbars.

YKYITUKW

A pub landlord sighs when you walk into his bar to give him some money.

... while in other areas the majority speak Welsh, while the proportion of the overall population that is Welsh-speaking has risen continuously over the last 3 decades.

And yet how amazing is it that you can drop a letter in a box anywhere - even the most remote village - and know it will reach its destination the next day? Just because something has traditionally been ridiculously cheap doesn't mean it will -or should - continue that way. See America for what happens when the post office isn't allowed to raise rates. All the post boxes near my house were taken away over the course of a year and we had to walk at least a mile to post a letter despite living just a few miles from one of the world's biggest cities. And the service was notoriously unreliable with mail constantly going missing. I'm happy to pay a reasonable fee for the service that's provided here.

I never fail to be amazed at how quickly we receive things through the post, I can order something late one day and get it the next morning and the cost seems very reasonable indeed.

The pavements are covered in dogshit !