General Chat

My brother did 16 years ago to Australia Brisbane and loves it and i have been over there once and loved it and would love to live over there if i could take my whole family because i can't stand this country doom and gloom.

Thanks Max

Jo xx

Margaret

Have you children out in Australia? If so you can apply for a Contributory Parents Visa which costs about Aus $36000 per couple, or a Parents Visa which unfortunatly has a very long waiting list.

To be eligable for these visas you must have 50% or more of your children living out there.

Hope this helps

Jo xx

Living in another country can be a wonderful experience, but there is one other important thing to remember - the grass isn't always greener and though you may enjoy the lifestyle better, you still may find just as many sources of frustration.

It's swings and roundabouts and you pays your money and takes your choice.

Speaking as a grandparent, though, I do think it's unfair if grandparents put pressure in their children to live their lives in a certain way or in a certain place. Your lives are your on to lead as you think fit. There are many ways these days to keep in touch with each other and be a part of each others lives. You don't have to live on the same continent and I know this from experience.

Thanks felicity x

I live in regional Australia.
Some cost comparisons-

Council rates - $1000 a year
Electricity - about $160 a quarter
Phone bill - about $30 a month
Water rates - $ 25 a year (I catch my own)
Diesel - $1.50 a litre
Petrol - $ 1.45 a litre.
Dog licence - $25 a year

No TV licences - thank god


xxxxx mick

No TV licences here either Mick, but they have brought in a dog licence it is not enforced, but probably would be on foreigners, who are the only one;s who bother.

Rosalind

My aunt emigrated to Sidney after she had retired, they had money from the sale of their house, they did have to wait quite a while to be accepted, so you can go after retirement but have to prove you have finances to keep yourself.

She has bought a large 4 bed house which she says is a lot cheaper than uk, but wages are a lot lower.

We are supposed to have cat licences too,

but nobody bothers with those - lol

Sorry this is so long.

We immigrated from South Africa to the north of Portugal.

I had a three month old babe in my arms...

It was like going back in time... I did not speak one word of the language and nobody understood me.

The bread was delivered to your door...around about four to five a.m.

You would leave a bread bag on the door knob with a piece of paper pinned to the bag saying how many breads you wanted. ( round rolls)

At the end of the month the baker would send out accounts with the delivery man...

I came from a civilized country, where you had all ethnic restaurants, that included every nationality.

Bacon was non existent, Pizzas, Chinese foods and a whole lot of other things.

So with the help of recipe books I learned to make my own...

The whole concept of a different culture was foreign to me.

Back home it was normal for men and woman to chat to each at a dinner party and you never sat next to your husband/wife as the whole idea was to converse with others...

So, the first dinner party I gave in Portugal was a disaster as the men huddled together and discussed football and politics.,

The women on the other side of the room discussings kids and husbands who were playing around.

As far as the seating arrangements were concerned the women all complained as they wanted to sit next to their spouses.

I felt real "shitty "in a long evening gown as was the only one that was over dressed...

I suppose you learn by your mistakes...

This is just one of many humiliations I had to face in the early eighties but times have changed so I am sure that those that do immigrate will get on just fine...

After four years of horrible grey, damp weather we immigrated to
Toronto, Canada.

A whole new ball game, I had people to speak to in English and most important went back to work again.

Except for the extreme cold weather I was happy again and regained my independance.

The boys adapted like ducks to water.

Unfortunately, OH was unhappy so after four years we left and went back to Portugal.

This time I insisted that we went to the Algarve as the climate is so very similiar to that of back home...

We have been here for seventeen years and finally I have found my corner in life..

Hope I did not bore you all too much with my long winded story.

Lindy;)

Thanks for the lovely story Lindy - I wish I had fresh bread delivered to my door daily - my OH works for a bakery and I still have to suffer with stale bread!!!- Glad to hear you are now settled in the Algarve enjoy the weather and you life!!!
max x

Lindy, glad you are happy with your little corner now, you did your best for sure.

Margaret, well, you did ask lol

Max, I wish you luck whatever you decide.
Lizx

NO

I was b and bred in NZ. My OH in England. His parents and sister came out here in 1948 and he followed 2 yrs later after doing his Nat. Service. He has no wish to return to England.
I get grouchy about the state of NZ, I believe it could be so much better, but people dont open their eyes. I would love to be able to visit Enland more again to meet all the relatives and friends I have found on this website, and see some of the historical things I didnt see on my other visit, plus the scenery, and a white Christmas, and bluebell woods, etc, but I think I will stay in NZ for all its faults.
Huia.

If your hubbie is a tradesman, you also stand a very good chance in Aus. Australia needs tradesman ( el pronto ) Plumbers Water/Gas are as scarce as hens teeth here, and are more valuable than gold...lol

Lots of work available in the Hospitality area on Island resorts.
My wife and i often holiday up through the Whitsunday Island off the coast of Queensland. We talk to many your girls and lads who were born and live in the U.K who are working on the hundreds of Island resorts around the coast line of Aus. They move from resort to resort as Waitresses, Waiters, Cleaners, Swimming Pool maintence men, Gardeners, etc... Most big Island Resorts have live in Accomodation for Staff.

These young girls and boys hire themselves out also as baby sitters ( after hrs ) to Family ( Mums and Dads ) staying on these Islansd who have little children, so Mum and Dad can go off and do there own thing. A great way to earn an extra $$ in their pockets. When they get sick of one resort, they apply to another resort.....and once you have your foot in the door ( so to speak ) you have a great working holiday. One young English girl looked after our children, and sat down by the pool dangling her legs and sipping on a Pina colada. What a great life.!!!!!!.....lol

I was talking with a lady on here who immigrated out to Aus......... many years ago from England. She worked most of here life in England and now living and retired in Aus. She worked out here when she arrived ( i think ) until she retired with her hubbie and is now receiving the English pension out here as well for the work she did back home in the U.K.
I dont know the full details, and i dont know what her English pension pays, but a quid is a quid, and better in her pocket than theres.

Tony...:>)) ( Tradesman )

Hi Tony, our local plumber back in England emigrated to Aus about 18 months ago, he stuck it for 6 months. He was well qualified, not just as a plumber, but an an engineer as well, but found he was very much back to basics, digging holes etc to get his equivalent qualifications. He was 40, he said had he been 10 years younger and without children, it might have been different. He couldn't earn the sort of money that he earned in the UK. Plumbers can earn good money in the UK these days.

Rosalind

I was born in N.Z. Have three lots of g.g.gparents buried in Auckland but came to Australia in 1963 for three years and am still here.
My parents weren't too keen on me being so far away but believed that everyone has to live their own life their own way and they wouldn't be around forever and then I would be on my own anyway. Couldn't go back even if I wanted too as my children think N.Z. is only good for having a holiday in.
I sometimes wish I had a garden there as everything grows so easily and the gardens are beautiful. We wouldn't have a fraction of the things we have here ,or our farm if we had stayed in N.Z. as well as overseas holidays.
In the West where I live we have a mining boom and a huge labour shortage for just about every sort of job.
I believe that Perth has more British migrants than the rest of Aust.
Margaret.