Australia

[Bealman]

As I was sitting at the bus stop the other night going home after a few beers, a comment made by member Marcus Amison on a thread last week came into my mind. He had posted that whenever he saw something about Australia he became envious. I posted back saying it's not all great.

Anyway, sitting there at the bus stop (with a few beers in me), it got me thinking that, well, yes, it is different to the UK for sure. In fact sitting there (with a few beers in me) and looking around, I was thinking that my suburb is looking more like California than the UK. Here's the view from the bus stop...
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Palm trees, MacDonalds, flat roofs and supermarket trolleys. Not exactly the glamorous Bondi beach view of the place, is it. The beer's ok though.

Having spent two thirds of me life here, I still get a laugh or two, though - like this sign in a pub not far from me:
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Or good stories about this bloke who just took out the World Heavyweight title in Chechnya - he still has an old Nissan hardly worth $4000.
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Anyway, Marcus, thanks for your post - it made me look around at where I live a bit.

And the beer's still good. 

[Komata]

Mind you. if you go another 1200 miles or so to the east , there IS a country where:

(a) The locals DO speak 'English' in a manner that you actually can understand....

(b) There actually ARE beaches that are readily accessible (and no more than 75 miles from anywhere; you can drive to one in a couple of hours at most)

(c) While there are 'Palm trees, MacDonalds, flat roofs and supermarket trolleys', there are also local corner stores (complete with Indian owners) and most of the comforts of home (although the 'English' style of 'family' pub is almost non-existent)

(d) You'll probably find someone you knew back 'ome, no matter if you come from Leeds or London, Edinburgh or Penzance.

(E) The beer's even better than you'll find in Oz... (and cheaper too)

And the climate is rarely too hot or too cold - just like home (they even have 'soft summer rain'; for nostalgia's sake)

As I said, it's only another 1200 miles (and 4 hours by plane).


PS: There aren't any creepy-crawly bitey or slithery things either (the Australians stay on the other side of the ditch...)

(Sorry, B'man, too good a chance to pass up. Seriously though, great pics and thanks for the thoughts.)

[Ditape]

 

Sitting here in "sunny" but cold Swindon.

[austinbob]

We all yearn for something better - the grass is greener etc. BUT if you really look around your local environment, even what we think are the bad environments, we can all see good things around us. I sometimes look enviously at all the lovely warm places that some of our members live in but I know these places all have their problems just like my locality.
We should make the best of what we have. This afternoon/evening, temperature 11 deg C in the UK, I was in my deck chair in the garden, positioned in the best place to get the last little bit of the late afternoon sun. I was in my overcoat and a woolly jumper sipping a cool beer (all beer is cool outside in the UK this time of year) and felt very content.
Just contemplating my recent N gauge purchase and the next steps in working on my layout - brilliant!!
Make the best of what you have - that's what I think

[JasonBz]

I have often thought when seeing something like "wanted down under" on the TV that quite a few of the people have something missing from their lives that moving to Oz won't solve.
I seen the same on a smaller scale with people who move to Cornwall for a "different pace of life" etc (Course its slower when ya see it from a holiday perspective!! )

[Webbo]

I was transported to the colonies at age 3 from Scotland and spent the larger part of the rest of my life in Australia with the balance in Canada. In Canada, I spent 4 years living on the east coast (Newfoundland) and 21 years on the west coast (Vancouver and Victoria); in Australia I've lived in Perth, Cooma, and am now living in Canberra where I've been for the better part of the last 3 decades. I can honestly say that everywhere I've lived has its individual pluses and minuses and I've always endeavoured to take advantage of the positives of a place rather than worry about what it is missing or where else I might be. Though, I probably wouldn't think this way if I was living in Syria or Afghanistan in modern times. 

I'm pretty certain that living in the UK or in New Zealand would suit me 100% as does living here in Oz. From my perspective, the UK has the big pluses that it has loads of history, proximity to Europe, and the members of the forum are all just down the road from one another to name just three benefits. NZ has the best rugby teams in the world and is a beautiful country, but I'm not certain about Komata's claim that its beer is better than OZ beer, generally. To be sure, there are some pretty atrocious examples on both sides of the ditch. I like it here in Australia mainly because it is home and have adjusted my outlook and activities to what this country has to offer - big open spaces, interesting wildlife, egalitarian & relaxed attitudes. A downside for me is that I have the dubious distinction of being the first member of my family tree to have incipient skin cancers cut out.

Webbo 

[Bealman]

Thanks Webbo - you've pretty much summed up how I feel too. I'm perfectly happy here and always have been - my wife and daughters are all Aussies, my job (which I still occasionally do), is here, so it's home.

The isolation sometimes annoys me - as you say, the UK is close to everything and the number of model railway exhibitions put on there always astounds me. It is expensive to go there, but it is not so much the cost that bugs me as the distance. I can't afford business class, and the older I get, sitting for that amount of time in cattle class is becoming increasingly intolerable.

I also am a great fan of NZ and go there reasonably frequently as an old school mate and neighbour moved there at about the same time I arrived here. And by the way, Komata - it's a three hour flight, not four 

And Tasmania is probably my favourite place on Earth.

And the beer's good there, too. 

[Dorsetmike]

A lot of your ancestors got there for free, not quite a special offer though, I doubt they appreciated it at the time! (George IV, 1820s)

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[railsquid]

They'd be well and truly fooksed.

Must get Down Under sometime, my brother lives there. No ambition myself to move countries again, on my third now and it would be sad to depart from this cornucopia of cheap quality N gauge. It'd be nice to have some space for a small shed or workshop though.