Australia anyone?

Firstly I would like to apologize to anyone who has been to the website and found that some of the articles end abruptly. When I gave the site a new look, the page sizes changed, anyway I have applied first aid and it seems fine now.
Since I got back from holiday I have been asked what I thought about Australia and would I consider moving there. I thought this would be a good thread to explore, so here are my thoughts. The thing with Australia is it is a continent masquerading as a country, it is simply vast and I have seen but a small part of it. Take Western Australia for example, the whole of Europe would fit into it, and it has only one major city, Perth. But what I have seen of it I can honestly say I would rather be in New Zealand. Australia is a busy place, it is affluent and materialistic, it reminds me too much of the UK. The reason I like New Zealand is the relaxed pace of life, I have mentioned in other articles about the Pacific Island influence, of "does it really matter?" A journey on the Train from Brisbane Airport to the Goldcoast and back again, tells a story if you look for it. Graffiti everywhere, roller shutter doors on the shops, people going to work with laptops on their knees, pressing buttons on their PDA's, taking calls on their mobiles (the whole carriage now knows about one blokes latest business deal). If I stayed in Australia for too long I feel there is a subconscious pull to drag you back to the world of materialism. It is the things that you notice after having been away from them for a while, like the expensive clothes people are wearing, the abundance of goods in the shops, the smarter cars. There is also a growing campaign to try and frighten people into thinking that they are at risk from Terrorism. There is a TV ad that more or less says that if you think someone looks a bit shifty (Shifty being middle eastern) then he might be a terrorist and you had better report him, can you believe that! Australia is unfortunately becoming controlled by the same group of people who control the USA and UK. It was most convenient that Australia joined the "War on Terror" (ie the illegal occupation of a sovereign nation) just as it was negotiating a free trade agreement with the USA, and then of course the Bali bomb happened which killed 200 Australians (if you want to know the truth about the Bali Bomb, go to www.vialls.com). So I think I prefer my world. The wages are around twice that of NZ, and I was talking to a woman from Perth who was saying that the local shops were really struggling to find staff, as everyone was moving to the mining towns where the money was really good, she said cleaners were getting $45 hour. At the Goldcoast the streets are very clean and the Public Transport system is superb, there is a bus to wherever you might want to go every 10mins or so and they run 24/7, the drivers are friendly and very helpful. The food is great, especially if you go to the small family run Thai or Korean restaurants. Surfers Paradise is trying to gain a classier image, it has had a bit of a "Benidorm" reputation. Some of the older buildings are getting re-vamped, but there does not seem to be a coherent plan that I can see. I felt most relaxed out of town and in the Rain forest and I think that says a lot about where I want to be, I enjoyed mixing with large numbers of people again, but my heart is with the laid back NZ lifestyle. Strangely, when settling back into my routines, I felt more on holiday than I did when I was on holiday.

Back From Holiday

We are back from Australia and a good holiday it was. When we got to Brisbane our arrival coincided with a 300mm day of rain (much needed by Australia, but not by us), but it soon cleared to sunny skies. The temperature was a lot chillier than last time we were here but still a bit warmer than NZ at around 20C, not bad for the middle of winter I suppose. We spent a couple of days of big city life in Brisbane before moving down to Surfers Paradise. It was Queensland week while we were there, so there were quite a few events going on, including a free performance on the beach by Bjorn Again (I know, but it was free) and some impressive fireworks. We decided that because the Australian wildlife is so wonderful, we would do more in that department. The highlights were Currumbin wildlife sanctuary where the Kangaroos were true stars, closely followed by the Lorikeets. We also had a trip to the Rain forest at Reillys plateau where a walk in the forest included a tree top walk in the canopy.

The good thing about the holiday was that everything went according to plan, we booked everything via the Internet, and there were no problems at all. The interesting thing is that it is cheaper to fly to Brisbane (around 250 pounds return for the 3 of us) than it is to fly to the South Island. I still have to pinch myself sometimes, Australia or Fiji (last year) these are destinations that were once just dreams. A bit of hard work, determination and a positive attitude and here we are, and I am loving it.

The nights are well and truly drawing in now, getting dark about 5pm. It is getting pretty chilly in the mornings and of a night time, but when the sun comes up it heats the place up and it is still t-shirts and shorts weather, which is pretty good for the start of winter. Winter time means business is a lot quieter now and we take the opportunity to have a holiday. So next week we close the cafe for a week or so and head to the warmer northern climate of the Gold Coast and Brisbane. I quite like Brisbane as a City, it is full of life, bustling with people, exotic birds in the trees, large Ibis birds in the parks begging for chips (they are great to watch), lots of shops and a bit of nightlife. After a couple of days it is off down to Surfers. If you haven't been, it is a bit like the Costa's of Spain only a bit classier. We will go to a couple of the theme parks we missed last time we were there. There is a good beach there but if I wanted a beach I would just stay at the Mount, so we try to do all the things that you can't do round here. We booked everything via the Internet so lets hope it all goes according to plan. So I wont be blogging for a week or so (will you miss me).

On a sad note our pet rat died last week, he was a great friend and companion and will be missed, he died peacefully in his sleep, aged 3, RIP Ratty.

Education

I want to talk about education this week. We have real mixed feelings about how things are going at Georgia's school. It has come to a head this week because Georgia has been in contact with an old friend back in the UK who has just taken her SATS. As a matter of interest we had a look on the Internet to see if we could find some year 6 past papers, we did. Now looking at what questions were being asked and the subjects being covered we quickly realised that Georgia's education is miles behind. Now Georgia is very bright and is becoming bored at school, the work is too easy and it just does not challenge her. She gets disappointed when she does extra work which never gets looked at. Maths is a rare subject and although no one likes maths, the theory behind numbers is a must for everyday life. We keep teaching her but she gets no practise at school, and forgets. When she looked at the SATS maths papers, she panicked and thought she must be thick because she couldn't do them, a couple of lessons on how to work them out, and she has answered the advanced questions. I just wonder, should I be worried? she is as happy as can be, there is no pressure at school, does it all really matter? you try to think back to what you were learning at Junior school (but it was a long time ago) one thing is for sure, I was never as happy as Georgia.

Going Back To England

Our good friends Norman and Linda are going back to England for a 9 week holiday. They have at last allowed themselves to be excited about the trip having had some real mixed emotions about the prospect, I will explain. Although they do love it here, their Son and Daughter both live in England and earlier this year their son had a child of his own, thus making Norman and Linda grandparents and I think that they both fear that once they lay eyes on that child, the old parental instincts will grab hold, and they will stay in England. They have made plans which mean they have to return to New Zealand, but I think you will understand their dilemma.
I am often asked the question by new English immigrants if I would go home, I reply that I always go home after work! There has been a real change in the way I feel now that I have permanent Residency in New Zealand, I am, and feel at home here. I have no desire to return to England. I am asked if I miss friends and family, and yes I do, but my closest family is here with me and to have the time to watch my daughter grow and be incredibly happy, I would trade for nothing. When the time comes for her to fly the nest, what then? If she went abroad, what would I do? let her go? follow? I can see a dilemma coming on.

Drunk Driving

A crash happened last week that has affected me quite badly. It involved 2 Motorcycles and a car. The two bikes were out for an afternoon ride, a drunk driver crossed the centre line and killed 3 motorcyclists and himself. What made this really hit home was that both Joyce and myself rode bikes for years before coming to New Zealand, we had a few close scrapes over the years but in a situation like the one last week you have no chance. We also knew the woman pillion passenger on one of the bikes. She was the tenant of the house we now rent and kindly showed us around. She has two girls aged 13 and 9, both nice kids, their mum is now dead and so is her partner, what are they going to do? This crash has been big news in NZ, the driver of the car had 4 previous convictions for drink driving and had no license, but it gets worse, he had his son and two grandchildren in the car with him! can you believe it? I just struggle to understand the mentality. The kids were injured but survived. The thing is, there just is not the social attitude here that drink driving is abhorrent. It seems that so many think that if they have been drinking and can still stand, then they are fit to drive! The Police do their best, we have random breath tests where you are pulled over into a checkpoint and asked to give your name and address into a device that detects alcohol on your breath, it is quick and simple, we have been stopped 3 times now (no problems for us as we NEVER drink and drive). On the last occasion as we approached the checkpoint, the two cars in front of us did manic U-Turns and disappeared in the opposite direction at high speed, does that mean out of the three cars in our group 66% were over the limit? I am sad and angry, so I will leave it here.

Flimsy Houses?

I am going to talk about houses this week. If you have looked on my website you will have read my thoughts on New Zealand houses but this article is more about English attitudes surrounding NZ housing. Early on during our night out last week, when you could still make pleasant conversation without dribbling, a few of us were discussing local house construction methods. Joyce mentioned the "Blue Peter" method, where the houses seemed to built out of cardboard and sticky tape and then sprayed with cement. (Do they still make things out of cardboard and sticky tape on Blue Peter, come to think of it do they still make Blue Peter, perhaps someone will let me know.) A lot of the new houses are made in this fashion. The house we rent at the moment is such an example, if you push really hard on the outside wall you can feel it give. Now Andy has bought his house and has the attitude that, if that is how the houses are built, then what can you do? Vaughn is a builder and his answer was to build his own house made of stone. While listening to this it kind of put me in mind of the story of the "Three Pigs" and if I could have found a barrel chested wolf with the right "Huffing and Puffing" credentials, it would have been interesting to test the various houses.


If you come to NZ with a large bag of money, you may be tempted to buy a house, there are a lot of "lovely looking " ones out there. They do perhaps seem a fair price for the space that you get if you have just converted your Pounds to $NZ. It is just that if you have to buy a house with Kiwi Dollars that you have earned here, and have to take on another life time of debt, that you really do think twice and become critical of the construction methods.


While talking about attitudes, there is a perception amongst some Kiwis that all the Brits that have moved here have sold up in the Surrey "Stockbroker Belt" and have come here with a shed load of money and that is the reason house prices have doubled in the last 4 years. What I can tell you is that the group of Brits that I was with, were all grafters from Durham, Liverpool and Halifax all doing our very best to get by. No large bags of money, just a great attitude.