Packing their bags

First things first, my back is on the mend, (thanks Alison I will have to download Real Player before I can listen. ) It kind of feels like a weight is lifting from me and I got my first good nights sleep last night for over 3 weeks.
To the thread. I was standing in the post office queue the other day (I can do this without being scowled at Ref: Marrissa) and this young girl in her 20's was organising things ready for her departure to Australia that very afternoon. The bloke standing next to her made the comment "yes you and 5,000 others each week". I thought about this and from my personal observations you definitely become aware that there does seem to be a bit of an exodus, especially among the 20 somethings. A few of our customers have recently said goodbye as they go off to OZ and Georgia's good friend at school is on her way in November. So why? The answer is not hard to find really. As a young person it is near impossible to get ahead in NZ. Living costs eat up more than 70% of the average wage round here, so there is no extra for cars, holidays or house deposits. Go to OZ for a few months and your money worries can be over, and that is what people are doing. If you are young enough it seems to be a straight forward proposition. It does open your eyes to possibilities, work 6 months in the Mining Towns in WA and you could live for 6 months in NZ without having to work. (I am too old though, It seems if you are over 45 you are incapable of finding a job). Makes you think though, graft for 6 months then chill for 6 months. Talking of OZ I hope to pop over in May next year with my good friend Norman (he of famed curries). Norman is an expert in the field of treasure hunting with metal detectors, and has been helping with the development of a new gold finding version. This needs testing and calibrating for the Australian goldfields, so it could be a giggle. He has a contact out there with a prospecting lease and a dynamite certificate. So it will be interesting to see if a nugget or two comes our way, or I may just come back minus a couple of body parts. I have seen what to when you have been bitten by a snake (keep your trousers tucked in your wellies, stand still, if it still bites you, you have to wrap a bandage round the bite area, don't run around screaming and there is no need to catch the snake and take it to the hospital with you).
Onto another thread that has just popped into my head. With the big break from the robotic society and way of life in the UK, your eyes are open to a new world of possibilities, and there lies some dangerous ground. It is all to easy to imagine ones self doing all sorts of things, after all you have made that break and it it is relatively easy to do it again. Give me a routine for too long and some thing inside says "so is this it for the rest of my life? no it isn't because I can do what I want" another part of me says "don't be an arse , you have a great life" the man in the white coat says "take this Thorazine and have a lie down".