HiddenPaw

I do like Adelaide and we did reccie it but job propspects were not good. It is a lot smaller than Mel and would still meet the criteria of being close to my sister (she lives 500km east of Ade/500km north of Mel). My husband loved all the cycling that went on there and I love the hills (yep, if I was a millionaire!). So yes, it would be a possibility.

HiddenPaw

Are you referring to me? I didn't go to Australia to find anything!! I went to Australia with the objective of travelling/working overseas with my husband before we settled down to have a family. The plan was to go for 2 years. I had a great time, but came back (pregnant) not feeling as if I wanted to live there forever. All I'm saying is that looking back, I know what kind of lifestyle I want and don't want.

Like you, my favourite place in Oz is Darwin and the NT.

Lord Pom Percy

Did'nt think the house prices in Adelaide hills were that expensive.

HiddenPaw

really? when I cycled up Norton Summit and surrounds it was full of beuatiful houses with masses of land and awesome views. I thought they were megabucks? Maybe I need to look at the ones without the views and masses of land .

Wendy

It depends on which suburb you want. There are some cheaper properties up there but some are a bit of a sight

You get more for your money further South, but most of the work is up North (well industry work anyway).

Mercedes

No I wasn't HP, it was more of a general comment. I just can't understand why someone would want to go the other side of the world to try and live their lives somewhere that reminded them of the UK. I see people in Spain, also who live in little Britain and wonder why. The whole idea for me is to live a different lifestyle to the one I left. So I wasn't picking on you.

HiddenPaw

Good! I haven't got the strength to get thru another BE argument.

Mercedes

Maybe they should bring out a BE war computer game.

arnie2oz

LOL - Could be a good moneyspinner reading through this forum!!

FPM

I answered this before but it did occur to me that without ppl wanting 'a bit of home', Australia wouldn't have winewakers, vineyards, the nice churches and some of the more attractive city housing, a lot of the ethnic based foods, eateries and markets, temples etc. It's not just the English that like to be reminded of home, but somehow we seem to be the only ones that are maligned for it

HiddenPaw

Good point although I do think you can separate the people who want "England with sun" from those who have taken what they know from their homeland in order to carve out a living (those who were brought into build the economy - e.g.fruit growers from southern Europe given incentives to come and set up fruit farms in Australia).

LouiseD

Excellent point - I never thought of it that way

kaylee

I do still think if you want to live in another country you have to live by their culture too. How many of us Brits get fed up of other cultures talking in their language etc and not intergrating into our society

HiddenPaw

Yes, this can be frustrating although I do not think the UK is unique in this respect. Social policies have contributed to the development of migrant communities, which in turn can lead to "them and us" situations. (I'm not just referring to the UK but France, Australia, and many more.) It's easy to blame the migrants, when there are a lot of other external factors to consider.

Lack of integration is something that we can readily complain about but many Brits do the same. I guess Spain and Cyprus are good examples of places where thousands of Brits migrate and only a tiny minority will endeavour to learn the language. Many will choose to live in Brit communities, use Brit labour, eat in Brit restaurants, etc.

Mercedes

Taking abit of home with you is one thing, expecting the adopted country to change is another. The one thing I like about Australia is the diversity of cultures etc. There are people from over 200 countries in Australia with different cultures and religions who consider themselves also Australians. Yet even on these boards we see British people slag off the Australian people and put them all into the same box of being uncultured, no class, thick, blah blah blah. That to me is wrong, because it shows ignorance and a blinkered outlook.

Ghettos where people only live their own culture/religion/language to me is wrong, regardless whether it is in Spain, Australia, UK etc or whether the people are British, Indian, Chinese, Lebanese, Vietmese etc who do't want to intergrate into their adopted country, leads to problems of prejudice etc. I see here in Spain, British and other Northern Europeans who do live in Ghettos of only going to their nationality pub, etc, won't learn the language, are rude about their hosts and to me it is just plain ignorance. Taking abit of home is fine as long as you also intergrate with the natives and don't expect them to change or adopt your ways. One thing that really pisses me off in history that indigenous people had our ways enforced on them as they were thought to be better. Who is to say their lives weren't better.