Would you rather stay in U.K. or aus

[whytesnow]

And what's your reasons? Just had a crazy idea to move over as I don't have any commitments here and life is getting boring for me here

@whytesnow I live in Australia. If I were you I'd come on the work visa and see if you like it here. Enjoy an adventure, do something different in your life. You can even take a year or so to make up your mind if you stay or not. You could always go back to UK if you don't like it here.

Weather is very different city to city. If you want always sunny then move to Brisbane, Gold Coast or Sidney. Melbourne weather changes 4 times a day but it's rarely hot on summer or really cold on winter. There are other places but I think the weather is more extreme there.

Quality of life is amazing. If you want to rent in the main city of course the price is too high but if you move a bit further away is affordable. There are a lot of articles about Housing Affordability but there are affordable places if you have an average salary and don't live in the city. Since you're young and single you could even share an apartment in the city with its own included gym, sauna and pool. A single friend lives like this and loves it. She rents a 2 bedroom apartment and rents the other bedroom.

Food and groceries are according to your budget but have to shop around. If I go buy everything in the main supermarket I'd spend a small fortune, but I buy meat at the butchers and veggies at farmer's markets so haven't felt much the inflation (last year I'd only buy in big supermarkets). Buy the veggies and fruit that are in season, etc.

Plenty of places to go for day trips and sightseeing. Excellent public transportation in larger cities. Depending where you live (suburbs) you can get free GP's (not near CBD city) with your Medicare card.

I wondered how long it would take before someone came up with this stupid stereotypical reason, yeah people in Australia duck and run from snakes and spiders all day long with no respite lol.

And the UK was nice to its colonies? Still trying to control them through the so called commonwealth, yeah pot calling kettle black.

We Brits struggle to accept we are no longer the global force we used to be and use insulting other countries to cope. We’re losing relevance everyday and things are falling apart, and one way to cope is to make ourselves feel
better by bashing other countries. If it’s not the US then it’s Australia lol using lazy stereotypes.

There was a recent post where a woman was jealous of her friends excitement to move to Australia that she opened a thread asking people to tell her how the UK is better aka help her bash Australia to help her feel better. That’s how bad it is.

@marvellousmaple

We lived on Sydney’s northern beaches during our time in Australia too. Very happy days. And I saw no more spiders there than in the UK.

I’m an Aussie and can’t help but laugh at this! Have you been to Australia?

Also, who isn’t nice to the indigenous people? Because I would argue it was the British 😆

I usually try not to comment on these threads because the Australia-bashing makes me sad. OP, just be aware that we are not exactly like the UK - the culture is quite different in ways that are difficult for a visitor to spot at first, and this means that some people from the UK find us unexpectedly prickly.

On the spider front, they are real - I have some new funnel web holes in my garden right now! - but unlikely to bother you unless you make a habit of sticking your hand under rocks or down hollow logs.

Come to Australia, OP.

We will honestly welcome you with open arms. People here are so friendly and non judgemental. They don’t care what car you drive, what you do for work, how you look or what you own. They will just like you and welcome you if you’re a decent person.

Some of the replies on here are comical. “The weather is disgusting” - pretty ignorant considering Aus is the size of Europe and the weather vastly varies across the country. Some places have snow and some places have sun, some in between. But okayyyyy.

“Insects/wildlife/spiders/snakes will kill you” - literally only ever said by people who’ve never been here. We don’t spend our days trying to survive the native wildlife. In fact, we barely ever see any of those. It’s the bloody magpies you need to watch.

Healthcare - far, far, far superior here. I can get a doctors appointment anywhere in the country within an hour. Free. In England I had to wait six weeks once for an appointment. There are a lot of British GPs in the area I live and we’re close to a lot of the world’s leading health related research universities, so I feel here that medical professionals are more up to date in their knowledge and just seem to take their patients seriously. We also live longer here on average too.

The air is cleaner here. It feels and smells
different. I can’t explain it and I forget about it until I come back to Australia from America or Europe, and then smell that fresh fresh fresh air for a few days. The scenery is just stunning. I still pinch myself everyday seeing how beautiful this country is.

Someone will come along later, if they haven’t already and tell you that Aus has no culture. That’s ignorant and borderline racist. There is a rich indigenous culture in this country, going back thousands and thousands of years. We have galleries and theatres and concerts too, shocking!

The fucking coffee here is like liquid gold. It’s indescribable. Australian’s take their coffee so seriously and, just wow. Never in my life, in all the countries I’ve travelled, have I tasted better coffee. And Melbourne coffee is the best, FYI. I’m in Qld, but can definitely appreciate that beautiful Melbourne coffee!

We swear. Lots. Sometimes as a sign of endearment. This was the most difficult thing for me to get used to, as well as people being just so nice (it appeared fake nice when I first got here).

Lifestyle is outdoors, relaxed and happy. We eat better here. Fruits and veggies in season and just taste better. Less hormones in Aussie meats. Seafood is divine. I catch my own most weeks; oysters, fish, mud crabs.

Cost of living is higher, but bingo, so are the wages. Leisure activities are cheaper.

“TV is shit”. We don’t watch it as we’re living our best lives! In England, when we go back we really notice the obsession with celebrities and sports stars and how a lot of people’s lives are centred around the TV or the local pub. So you can keep your TV channels. Though, shh, we can actually stream UK tv here. Even the BBC. Without a license fee. But we’re usually too busy having fun to bother. In fact, I think we last watched anything on the TV properly about 5 years ago.

Houses here are bigger. My wardrobe here is bigger than my bedroom in England and my laundry room is bigger than our old uk kitchen. We don’t even have a large house by Aussie standards.

Anyway give it a go, you can always go back if you don’t like it. :-)

I know right?

Great Britain sends its colonists to Australia to murder, rape and enslave the indigenous population. Steals indigenous land without treaty or recompense. Sets up a system of government entirely based on their own, with their monarch as the head of state and a constitution that doesn't recognise indigenous people as actual human beings.

Slow progress is being made at unpicking this system and repairing the damage caused. This in spite of pushback from those people and entities who owe their power and wealth to British colonialism and continue to wield political/media influence to this day.

And right here we have British people saying 'you Aussies have a terrible human rights record, we're soooooo much better at this stuff'. Unbelievable.

I've lived in Oz for 30+ years and I've never encountered any spider more scary than a daddy long legs. I've only seen snakes in the zoo.

Re the health system, I can see my doctor any time I like , it costs me nothing. I've never had to be quizzed by his office staff ,I'm horrified that you have to beg the reception staff for an appointment.

I think both countries have pros and cons, but I'd never go back to the UK except for holidays.

I would make the change, if you don’t have any permanent ties here then you can always come back. You could always see it as an ‘extended break’, and put a limit on it if say 18 months, then see how you feel at the end of that.

The only thing that puts me off is the spiders - the thought of it terrifies me and makes me start itching all over!

I was a bit loathe to comment about the more, let’s call it, exotic wildlife since I got bashed on the last thread that I commented on about the downsides but here goes.

Of course there are spiders and snakes and anti venom. And yes, shark attacks are a thing but not in places like Bondi, where there are nets. And yes, jellyfish but you can always take vinegar to the beach if you’re that worried. Just make sure it’s enough to last for 30 seconds. (Okay, this last bit was tongue in cheek, I couldn’t help myself but the nets should keep jelly fish out too!)

As for the racists, if you’re white, then you should be fine. If you’re not, then yes, white people can be casually racist but I am a WOC and if you were to ask my (white, English) DH, he’ll tell you that’s there’s no racism. It’s all about perspective. And there are racists in the UK, they just aren’t as blatant or casual about it! And let’s not forget, it was the English who colonised Australia, the English who had a policy of trying to breed out the indigenous people by making the women have half white babies, the English who didn’t allow the indigenous people to be counted as Australian until 1975, because ultimately, unless you’re a POC/indigenous, the laws were made by the English ancestors of the (majority of) current (white) Australians! (There are other white nationalities in Australia, such as Dutch, etc.)

I think as an adult I’ve seen maybe 3 red back spiders in my whole adulthood and one was scurrying away. As a child, I saw much more but was outside much more, enjoying myself. Also, in urban areas, I don’t think you would see as many. I always lived on properties rather than in suburbs/urban areas as well.

I would be more concerned about the mozzie bites because they can be painful and numerous when you first arrive and they scent your fresh blood but you can also just use a spray deterrent to keep them away, burn citronella in the garden etc.

Can I ask, about the spiders, is it safe for dogs? Do you not worry about them rummaging about in the garden and being bitten? Which is the least spidery part of the country? I think there’s a lot of Australian posters here laughing at Brits without realising just how scared dangerous wildlife/weather actually makes us, it literally isn’t something we ever give a second thought in the U.K. - a bit like school shootings in the US, you know they don’t affect the vast majority of people there but it still seems scary!

A big plus is that there is no class system in Oz. Literally nobody cares what school you went to . It's very freeing.

And actually as OTT as it may seem, as well as the piss poor public services in the U.K., the thing that makes me want to move is the damp. I can’t stand it, currently lying in bed listening to yet more fucking rain. I feel like all I do for 4 months a year is wipe condensation off the windows, mould spray the walls and everyone constantly has bad chests/coughs. It’s so depressing having plans ‘rained off’ constantly, I just want to be able to plan a walk/picnic/trip to the zoo or whatever without it pissing down and disappointing DD when we end up staying in yet again.

Sorry me again with more questions 😂 what are the seasonal illnesses like over there? It’s quite routine here to spend most of the winter with a cough or cold, particularly the little ones. Is it the same in Oz?

With dogs we give them monthly medication which covers most insect issues. I've had dogs and cats forever and have never had a problem. I do live in the suburbs though. Maybe if you were living in more remote areas, you'd have to check your pets for bites.

Generally speaking, spiders and snakes are very timid here. We bush walk a lot and we just make sure to make some noise as we walk and the snakes will slither away into the bushes. The only time they could be a ‘risk’ is when they are cornered or are unable to get away.
My experience of spiders is the same (though noting I’m in the south so no experience of Sydney Funnel Webs). We have redbacks and white tails etc around the yard (very rarely I’ll come across the latter inside) and they scuttle away very quickly.
I understand the fear though. I’m terrified of the jellies in the Far North!

All of this...especially the best coffee in the world...plus Australian wine, OMG so good! AND you can visit the wineries which makes for amazing holiday experiences. The chocolate is better too.

We get a flu shot every year and rarely get very sick over winter (I'm a teacher and we have three DC in school, so exposed to lots of viruses). Even if you're sick in winter, you can go outside and sit in the sun, always makes me feel better.

My mum emigrated about 20 years ago but returned after 5 years as it wasn't like she thought it would be. She found that they didn't like immigrants and found it hard to fit in. She worked at a hospital, that's how she managed to get in as is a nurse.

I can’t lie that is extremely appealing. Seasonal illness basically dominates parents lives over here or those with impaired immune systems, it would almost be worth moving just for that. Totally hideous going out in the pissing rain with a chest infection or heavy cold.

As for the spiders, good news, I suppose it’s know they’re ‘out there’ as well as being an actual risk if you see what I mean 😂 I saw a massive spider in Thailand and was literally frozen in fear for a few seconds 😬 it’s ridiculous but like a primal thing, they just scare the willies out of me.

Also sounds great about the health care system and lack of class system.

UK.

Australia is full of racists and poisonous insects/arachnids.

It honestly depends what you would move.
I live in Western Australia and also spend 6 months in the UK (London) when I was younger. I loved the hustle and bustle of London life but I hated the UK weather.
I am from the country so missed the grass and open spaces.
The cost of living is relative to increased income here.
There are many many people from the UK in our community and non would go back - the lifestyle, upbringing for children, being by the ocean, outdoor living.

Currently for me, it would be UK. However, if I was in your shoes, I would seriously look into getting a working visa for Oz and going. I spent 7 years in Oz in my 30’s and loved it. But there came a time, when I knew I wanted to return to UK/Europe. Good luck