Emigrate to Australia.

[Nix]

Ah gotcha!

I never experienced pranking over there, but did experience "rudeness". But I think it is more the fact they are blunt and don't beat around the bush - so are more direct and less tactful. There is also a bit of a racism issue over there from my experience. That's the problem with a very small insular nation (it's got 1/3rd of the population of the UK and over 30x larger).

It's not so much bluntness as it is a complete disregard for tact or feelings. It comes from a very self-centred place in my opinion.

I wouldn't go as far to give them credit of being experts in sarcasm either. On the contrary, I found that most Australians simply didn't get subtle sarcasm. The best way I can describe their culture is to imagine being 15 years old again and how immature and arrogant you were. That's Australia. They are permanent teenagers.

 

[Freefaller]

It is a little bit like America from that point of view.

It's still a young nation - and still finding an identity.

That aside, and I think you could get used to it, forge yourself around it, it's a great place. But not a place I'd want to live.

 

[Uther]

My friends brother emigrated, his sister emigrated, then my friend emigrated. None of them regret it, they have a much nicer lifestyle that they would in the UK.

 

[Nix]

It may be worth considering the economic trouble Australia is very likely to be facing soon due to a contracting Chinese economy and their current farcical government thinking coal will solve all their ills.

If you're considering moving for work, I'd only do so if your skills are undeniably in demand or you may find yourself struggling. Additionally, health care isn't free there.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Healthcare is pretty much free at point of care, actually.

 

[Nix]

Healthcare is pretty much free at point of care, actually.

My mistake.

When I was there, many Australians told me they have to pay a lot for their health care and I saw there was a strong health-care insurance industry. Likewise, I had to pay around £80 just to see a GP.

Google does suggest that Medicare is universal though.

 

[Outcast]

Never been but a friend emigrated in 2002 to Perth and said he will never come back to England. He is an electrician out there.

I would love to emigrate there, the spiders and snakes put me off though lol. Them Funnel Web spiders are little gits.

They're "Over East"

All Perthians have to fear (apart from the Knuckle Draggers) are the Red-Backs (Nowhere near as dangerous as Trapdoor or Funnel webs), Tiger & Dugite snakes and...

S-S-S-S-SHAAAAARRRRRRRRRKS !!

 

[ThundyCat]

2 sisters? You only just found out? That must be fantastic news. Are you planning a visit soon?

Next July for 3 weeks.

What if you don't like your family? Perhaps...you know...visit a few times?

My younger sister is staying with us over Christmas.

My friends brother emigrated, his sister emigrated, then my friend emigrated. None of them regret it, they have a much nicer lifestyle that they would in the UK.

Music to my ears.

 

[DirtyJester]

I have family that emigrated, some from Bermuda and rest from N.Ireland. As in all cases they are all settled with their own families, some retired and others doing rather well working for themselves. Older family members seem to miss home more but having said that, they never plan or even talk about returning.

You're doing the right thing, get yourself out there for as long as possible, meet the family, enjoy yourself and see as much as possible. Try and research job prospects before the holiday and if possible check any out while there.

It's a big decision and I don't envy you having to make it mate, good luck

 

[Kreeeee]

.

 

[Jimbeam3678]

Hi chaps.

I'm fortunate enough to be in the lucky position of having duel nationality - UK and Australian citizenship, and am seriously considering moving to Australia within the next 2 - 3 years. Why you ask? I've recently discovered I have a large amount of family who I never knew existed including two sisters!

Has anyone done this and if so are you still there? Any regrets? Or have you realised it was not for you and you've returned to the UK?

Before anyone can really answer you need to tell us where abouts in Australia you are planning to live, as from a very basic level the Sydney is massively different to say Perth. Also what job would you plan to do over there?

Also as people have said Australians as a rule are racist , a bar for the blacks from 11am till 4 pm then 1 hour to clean up after the black ******** then reopen for whites only and full strength beer. I kid you not that was in Katherine in 2009

But as others have said the weather is cracking , great sense of humour and good fresh food.

If you need any other advice I spent 3 months in Perth 9 in Darwin and 3 months in Sydney

 

[Irish_Tom]

I've just come back from a month over there with my fiancé. I have family dotted around Sydney and we have friends in Melbourne.

We road tripped from Sydney to the Blue Mountains to Canberra, down to Melbourne and the great ocean road then back up to Sydney along the south coast.

Finally we flew to Cairns and dived the reef before flying home.

It's an odd mix of the UK and US and not always in a good way.

Sydney was the best city of the lot. Canberra is a waste of space and Melbourne is too European (in a dirty hectic way). Cairns was a typical tourist resort like you find in Spain.

The smaller 'normal' towns are typical American style. Single-story, spread out without any personality.

We found everything really cheap with the current exchange rate. From what we were told, salaries are equivalent to the UK but that doesn't seem to match what people have said above…

The lifestyle is incredible if you're an outdoors sort and like the sun. The only downside is how early it gets dark. No long summer evenings like we enjoy here.

We both agreed that there was nowhere we would want to move to, as much as we enjoyed holidaying there. Sydney came close but we're not city people.

Definitely go out there for as long as you can to get a feel for it and try to stay in real houses doing real shopping etc. Staying in a hotel the whole time won't give you a real sense of living there.

 

[D.P.]

I'd suggest you take an extended holiday there and get a feel for the place first.

I genuinely didn't like Australia as much as people made out I should. The UK for all its faults has a lot going for it. Australia isn't simply the UK in the sun; they are a very different and often unrefined culture, often blunt to the point of rudeness, self-centred and simplistic in the outlook amongst other things.

I found for example, that most Australians simply do not get or understand dead-pan humour; they just think that you're moaning. And whilst moaning is a British tradition, the Australians don't really seem to have time for it.

The sunshine can be a lot of fun, but the weird concrete-cum-wild-west architecture and lack of substantial history is something I found tedious and boring. Everything is a very long way apart and every other animal there can seemingly kill you.

It's a big, big, big place and you end up aware of just how far away from the UK you are. At times, it may as well seem that Blighty is on another planet.

Australia is essentially an unrefined, bland, isolated albeit sunny and expensive imitation of the UK and US. I often felt that Australia was trapped 20 years behind the rest of the Western word.

That said, I met some incredibly friendly, kind, and spirited people and the landscape can be breathtakingly beautiful at times. It does have a lot going for it.

It seems to me that people never really seem to mention the drawbacks. I think it would be very wise for you to try and spend a substantial period of time there and see if it works for you before committing to anything long-term. It's a great place to visit, but I don't think I'd personally want to live there.

I hear a lot of the same from most people I know who have spent any real time there.

Never understood why some people idolize Australia. For the most part it is an empty desert, with the main interest and literally 99% of the population on a thin coastal strip. The problem is it is so big that even visiting one of the other major cities is a big undertaking an a long flight, like going from London to NYC.

There is some great stuff to see, my aunt travelled a lot and is an artist and photographer so I saw the highlights. But she would explain that she would drive 3 days across boring desert to get to this little oasis, or that a certain area you just can't go to for 9 months of the year in the wet season. Then there were real issues with dangerous wildlife, some of the most amazing beaches in the world but they literally don't allow swimming on some of them due to box jelly fish, salt water crocs etc.
Things like Tasmania are fascinating but it's like living in England and flying to Iceland or morocco so it's hardly like you are living there and just pop over for a long weekend.

 

[Lopéz]

They're common in the UK now, particularly in southern cities such as Bristol. I saw 2 in my home while studying there.

Atrax robustus is NOT common in the UK, it does not live in the UK and you didn't see any in Bristol unless they were in a zoo.

 

[Bear]

My auntie, uncle and cousins all live in Brisbane. They love the weather and lifestyle, keep banging on about how rubbish England is every time they come back. My mum has been out to visit a few times and, like the discussions about living in the US, there are pros and cons.

They might love it out there but they are talking out of their backsides. If the UK was so crap, there wouldn't be any Aussies here and that is obviously not the case.

That aside, my sister in law lives in Brisbane and has done for 10 years. Every time she comes back she wants to move back. We've been to visit them and going again this Christmas, personally I wouldn't live in Brisbane and don't understand the appeal at all. Sydney is a far more interesting place but then I really don't understand what people see in Australia with respect to wanting to move there.

 

[V F]

If the UK was so crap, there wouldn't be any Aussies here and that is obviously not the case.

To a degree it is. More so Scotland as it is mostly issing it down. At least England usually gets spring quicker than Scotland.

 

[Bear]

To a degree it is. More so Scotland as it is mostly issing it down. At least England usually gets spring quicker than Scotland.

My bad, I read the post as not talking about the weather but that England was rubbish in comparison in general

 

[V F]

Just about everyone moans endlessly about the weather in the UK. Its too cold, too wet, too hot and bring on the winter!

 

[Nix]

They might love it out there but they are talking out of their backsides. If the UK was so crap, there wouldn't be any Aussies here and that is obviously not the case.

That aside, my sister in law lives in Brisbane and has done for 10 years. Every time she comes back she wants to move back. We've been to visit them and going again this Christmas, personally I wouldn't live in Brisbane and don't understand the appeal at all. Sydney is a far more interesting place but then I really don't understand what people see in Australia with respect to wanting to move there.

From my experience, Sydney is more interesting but Brisbane is friendlier. Sydney to me, often felt like a city that thought it was bigger than it was and Brisbane just felt boring.

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

I love Australia and would seriously consider living there if we were not so settled here. I'd certainly do it it if I still lived in the UK. However, there are a load of pros and cons so you probably need to work out what works for you rather than get second hand advice which will typically be binary in nature (YAY GREAT! / NAH SUCKS!)

Spend some time there, meet the family (that's exciting!), and see how it feels.