Why do you want to move to Australia?

[ZR1cliff]

SimonV8ster said:

Better quality of life ?

More laid back, less stressful, could buy a better house for the same money, live in a nicer area, people are more friendly.

I found this when I went out there, the housing for the money is far better due to the amount of land at their disposal. Great place with loads of sunshine, but, it just didn't feel like home to me.

[Eric Mc]

tim the pool man said:

R4PID said:

They're not as far behind when it comes to watching Neighbours?

I like Fosters.

Boomerangs are fun.

Kangaroo's make me giggle.

They drive on the same side of the road as us.

They're the nation that gave the world the great Dame Edna.

I like Fosters.

Fosters is the worst kind of piss. Don't understand the English fascination for it. Beers like that are drunk here by thugs and trash.
Boomerangs, well yes but I'm sure you could get one without coming here.
Kangaroo's what exactly?
No, Aussies "drive" or rather sit behind a steering wheel, wherever they feel like. As long as you're not speeding you can be as bad a driver as you like. Worst drivers in the world.
Dame Edna... what an embarresment! Unfunny and pathetic. I cringe and reach for the off switch if it comes on TV.

I like Fosters too

Tim, you do sound rather bitter. Are you allowing your personal circumstances to colour your opinion of an entire nation?

[trumpet600]

I wouldn't want to live there.

Rumour has it there are more aussies live there than Earls Court, but only just.

Good enough reason not to move there

[Don]

Tim - you are being harsh on your wonderful country. Sure - it isn't perfect. Nowhere is. But it really DOES have a LOT going for it.

Weather. Fabulous.
Sydney - architecture, history, the CBD (and the GIRLS!), vibrant culture, Coopers beer, Toohey's Dry, the Opera house and the parks, the public transport, the food. What's not to like?
Superb winemaking culture - Hunter, Barossa and more.
Fantastic coastline - everything from "nine-mile-beach" to bays and inlets. Sure - you've got jellyfish and sharks that ain't so good but the fishing's marvellous.
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Port Douglas.

But the best of all? When you actually go and work in an Aussie office you find out that they're naturally friendly (as with many countries, I admit) and a good bunch of Aussie mates of a weekend is hard to beat. Beer, BBQ, sunshine.

One downside I do remember from my all too brief time as a Sydneysider was that it may be a play hard culture - but it's certainly a work hard culture IIRC. I'm sure it varies widely around Aus - but that was what it was like in the back in the early nineties.

On balance - I loved it. I seriously considered wandering off into the bush when it came time to leave.

[trumpet600]

Don said:

- but it's certainly a work hard culture IIRC. I'm sure it varies widely around Aus - but that was what it was like in the back in the early nineties.

Very different from the Sydney I remember 11 years ago. I thought the locals were a bunch of lazy sod's.

Perhaps thats why my aussie views are a bit tainted

[Fiddlemesticks]

hmm, i visit these threads a lot and generally come across like a whinging pom. Hopefully wont, but its hard not to.

I'm with Tim.

Look, Australia looks fantastic and on holiday shows and Home and Away, yes, lovely. But in reality its not that great. Like the UK it has good and bad things. Its not the 'golden egg' of a place and the list of whats wrong with it could go on a bit.

If you live in the UK, dont like the traffic, dont like your job, want a change and feel fed up:

Move to a different area.
Change Job.
Dont listen to the news as much.
Ditch Sky.
Spend more time with the family.
Watch less TV.
See more motorsport.
Change your car regularly.
Save some cash so you dont feel skint. Even 20 quid a week.
Take up a hobby.
Travel abroad more so you can always look forward to coming home.


If you think Australia is great, from my point of view its

Got worse healthcare
Worse education
Weather sometimes to0 hot to go out with your kids between 10 & 5 (think Dec-Feb)
Terrible TV
Awful driving
Nil car related benefits
Expensive cars and poor choice thereof
Expensive mortgages
Limited travel opportunities
Expensive Air Travel
High Taxes
Busier than you would think in the places you are most likely to live
Narrow minded inhabitants that are friendly as long as you agree with them
Nazi police with absolutely zero tolerance for speeding.


On the plus side it does have nice weather more of the time, a can-do attitude, its easy being an immigrant here and you feel safe from world events.

[jesta1865]

gordon brown and his darling aren't there so i would move out there.

not fair actually, i would anyway, have wanted to for years.

[trumpet600]

jesta1865 said:

gordon brown and his darling aren't there so i would move out there.

And you think their government is any different?

[anonymous-user]

Fiddlemesticks said:

If you live in the UK, dont like the traffic, dont like your job, want a change and feel fed up:

Move to a different area.
Change Job.
Dont listen to the news as much.
Ditch Sky.
Spend more time with the family.
Watch less TV.
See more motorsport.
Change your car regularly.
Save some cash so you dont feel skint. Even 20 quid a week.
Take up a hobby.
Travel abroad more so you can always look forward to coming home.

Spot on. If you are unhappy do something and improve your lot.

I bet most of these people complaining about the U.K. will still be dissatisfied elsewhere.

The worse thing about having these forums is that even when or if they bugger off to somewhere 'better' , they're still on here complaining about the U.K. They don't really appear to have moved on.

[Paul R]

R4PID said:

They're not as far behind when it comes to watching Neighbours?

I like Fosters.

Boomerangs are fun.

Kangaroo's make me giggle.

They drive on the same side of the road as us.

They're the nation that gave the world the great Dame Edna.

I like Fosters.

You would be hard pushed to find anyone who drinks Fosters over there. They do have drive-through bottle shops (Off-license) though which I never got bored of!

[V8mate]

tim the pool man said:

SimonV8ster said:

Better quality of life ?

More laid back, less stressful, could buy a better house for the same money, live in a nicer area, people are more friendly.

Define "quality of life?" It means different things to different people I guess...

Laid back: translates to "I don't give a st. What? you expect me to do it properly??!!"

Better house for less money than where? Property prices have skyrocketed here lately. Average house in very ordinary suburb = 10 times average wage.

Nicer area? where do you live now? To live in an area as nice as where my brother lives in Surrey (OK, such an area doesn't even exist here, but something as nice) I would have to be a multi millionare.

I guess at least part of my bitterness stems from the fact that I did once have a nice house (ex wife now has a nice house) and now I'm renting a st box for the first time in my life. Short of winning the lottery the chances of me ever owning another house in Australia are slim...

Sounds dreadful. High Court judges do that round Piccadily Circus over here. Better to rent, than rent out your own, I guess.

[BungalowBill]

Fiddlemesticks said:

...you feel safe from world events.

That was at the heart of the problem when I did my year in Australia.

It just feels so cut off from where things are really happening in the world.

Quite nice initially, but then you start to feel a bit of a global spectator - it just feels such a long way from anywhere.

Living in the UK, it is a fairly short flight to a mass of vastly different cultures / experiences.

A fairly short flight in Australia would get you to...Australia.

Pretty good for a holiday...that's about it.

[thehawk]

Fiddlemesticks said:

Got worse healthcare

In what way?

Fiddlemesticks said:

Worse education

No, it's ranked higher up the tables in OECD studies. You may disagree with what they teach, but when it comes to important things like maths and science it easily outranks the UK - NZ beats Australia.

Fiddlemesticks said:

Weather sometimes to0 hot to go out with your kids between 10 & 5 (think Dec-Feb)

If you're a wuss. It's not that bad, although that could depend on where you live. I suppose.

Fiddlemesticks said:

Terrible TV

Agreed, quite possibly the worst in the Western world, and worse than a few third world countries I imagine.

Fiddlemesticks said:

Awful driving

Generally agree

Fiddlemesticks said:

Nil car related benefits

Not sure what you mean - tax breaks?

Fiddlemesticks said:

Expensive cars and poor choice thereof

I think there is a reasonably choice and while some are more expensive finance is easy to get. Anything exotic is obviously priced only for the very rich, but in general I wouldn't be losing any sleep over the fact Audis, BMWs, Mercs etc cost a lot over here. Get over the badge snobbery and it opens a lot more avenues.

Fiddlemesticks said:

Expensive mortgages

Unless you live in a stty town in the NW it's the same in the UK.

Fiddlemesticks said:

Limited travel opportunities

I love Asia, the Pacific and Australia/NZ - no shortage of places to go.

Fiddlemesticks said:

Expensive Air Travel

I just paid £70 for a 4 hour flight on Emirates from Auckland to Melbourne. On Jetstar I can fly my family of 3 from Melbourne to Bangkok return for £300. The only expensive thing about air travel here is getting to the States or Europe.

Fiddlemesticks said:

High Taxes

As an IT contractor I've paid minimal tax here and in the UK, so couldn't really comment.

Fiddlemesticks said:

Busier than you would think in the places you are most likely to live

But still nothing like the UK

Fiddlemesticks said:

Narrow minded inhabitants that are friendly as long as you agree with them

Isn't everywhere like that? Admittedly the Australians have to be one of the worst races for giving it out, but being completely unable to take it.

Fiddlemesticks said:

Nazi police with absolutely zero tolerance for speeding.

Can you ever drive fast in an Aussie city with the slow dimwits behind the wheels?

[Mc Lovin]

My father was born in Darwin, so my brother and i have Austrailian Passports, my bother has been for 6months, i've never been.

I'd like to, but my wife doesn't want to, plus i fking hate spiders and other critters, some of the stories my brother has told me doesn't make me want to go anymore than i did!

I could get used to the stubbies, the swearing and the heat, shame the wife doesnt see it like that

[thehawk]

If you live in the major cities bugs, insects, snakes etc are not a problem really.

[Highway Star]

Eric Mc said:

DaveL485 said:

Cabada for us.

Because it's not a wrecked country run by muppets that rob every penny they can out of our pockets.

Really?

What to Canadians say?

I know someone who lived there for over 40 years and un-emigrated back to her native Scotland.

Having just spent two weeks in British Columbia, the general public opinion certainly seemed to be that their government, and their politicians of all parties in general, were pretty useless.

Vancouver and the Gulf Islands were lovely though.

[onomatopoeia]

Only reason to move to Australia that I can see is Mount Panorama.

[Rebuker]

Highway Star said:

Eric Mc said:

DaveL485 said:

Cabada for us.

Because it's not a wrecked country run by muppets that rob every penny they can out of our pockets.

Really?

What to Canadians say?

I know someone who lived there for over 40 years and un-emigrated back to her native Scotland.

Having just spent two weeks in British Columbia, the general public opinion certainly seemed to be that their government, and their politicians of all parties in general, were pretty useless.

Vancouver and the Gulf Islands were lovely though.

There is a far lesser rate of return from people emigrating to Canada than to any other country.

The govt is useless but not malignant.
The weather sucks sometimes but you know where you stand: it WILL be hot when it is meant to be hot, or cold when ought to, and you can back on that. (ontario and quebec at least).

Immigration: There is much less of a sense of being resisted or having to adjust to the locals.
Unfortunately most Australians are under the illusion that they are in Europe, when in fact they are surrounded, and unnaturally settled in, an area full of brown people. Itb is not surprising they panic and get all uppety about immigration.

How fortunate that the Aboriginals were not able to be quite so militant or able to be as intolerant when the white settlers first arrived, who, until the 1970s went out shooting them for sport.

[BigLepton]

Fiddlemesticks said:

.


If you think Australia is great, from my point of view its

Got worse healthcare
Worse education
Weather sometimes to0 hot to go out with your kids between 10 & 5 (think Dec-Feb)
Terrible TV
Awful driving
Nil car related benefits
Expensive cars and poor choice thereof
Expensive mortgages
Limited travel opportunities
Expensive Air Travel
High Taxes
Busier than you would think in the places you are most likely to live
Narrow minded inhabitants that are friendly as long as you agree with them
Nazi police with absolutely zero tolerance for speeding.

Having lived there for a couple of years I fully agree with your assessment except nowadays it's full of slightly disillusioned naive Brits wandering round who had convinced themselves it was utopia, only to arrive and find out it's just another country with decent weather. Most of them have been there a few months before the penny drops and they realise work is no easier, there is less money and really they have ended up swapping their extended family for better weather.

[Sicob]

Really for the weather, outdoor life, better standard of living, more laid back lifestyle. Definitely going to look at going next year.