I can only claim 50%. Mum was Australian :D Left England @ 2years old. Arrived in Oz at 4 years old after a couple of years in Singapore.
Cheers
Steve
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I can only claim 50%. Mum was Australian :D Left England @ 2years old. Arrived in Oz at 4 years old after a couple of years in Singapore.
Cheers
Steve
Lived in Stafford for about 12 years in total, with a 3 year stint in London in the middle. Father in the RAF, so moved around a lot for the previous 18 years.
Stafford Rangers. I never thought I would ever hear anyone mention Stafford Rangers for the rest of my life.
Came over here May 2007, wow time flys when you live in a wonderful place.
Wish we had done it 20 years ago. What I miss from my past life, I get back here in other ways. But theres times when I see stuff on TV etc, and it brings back memories of those places, I do miss the Pub, my local was a 300 year Inn, it was a great place to go, everyone knew each other in the village, you just dont get that kind of social life here.
And the laid back atmosphere of going behind the bar and pulling your own pints was always good fun..
Maybe theres alot of people on here from the UK, because the Land Rover is just whats about back there, and its valued as a proper 4wd.
Manchester..
Moved over in 95
I don't exactly qualify for this thread as I don't live in Australia, but I'm a Yorkshire lass who loves Australia! (I consider myself to be firstly Yorkshire, then English, then British!)
We live in North Yorkshire, which has some awesome countryside, National Parks and coast. My home town is considered 'posh' and the quality of life here is considered to be one of the best in the whole country. Can't see me ever wanting to leave for good.....but.....
Since being a kid in the 70s (watching Skippie, Chopper Squad, etc) I always wanted to visit Australia - never really thought about living there, but wanted to experience it, if you see what I mean.
Never got around to that visit though until the late 2000s, when the opportunity arose first my other half in 2005 and then me with him in 2008, to compete in the Outback Challenge at Broken Hill in our 100inch Defender (shipped over on temp import). Australia was everything I ever imagined and more but we only had 3 weeks, which had to include getting the Land Rover out of the port, through customs and quarantine, out to Broken Hill (driving, not on a trailer), then doing the comp for 8 days, then back to Sydney and sorting out the re-export. It was a bit of a whirlwind experience and we really needed and wanted more time!
Although we would both like to experience living in Australia, we left it too late and are now too old and lack necessary qualifications/jobs to qualify for a working visa. We don't have the multi millions required to be independent investment migrants/retirees. So the only way would be to find sponsored job but they are incredibly difficult to get - especially with age not on our side - and then you have the ever present risk of if the job goes wrong having get out of Oz within a month and your visa become invalid! Not a stress free option, certainly!
So to cut a long story short, we therefore have a massive itch to scratch, and so have decided to take a sabbatical from work, for a return trip to Australia for about 4 months in 2014. Not really as long as we'd want, but that's all we can really afford! Maybe if we win the lottery we'll do it all again in a few years!
Anyway, hope to meet some of you next year! :)
Bury, Lancashire.
Moved here as a 10 pound POM in 1974 as a seven year old but returned to UK in 1986 to join the Army. Came home in the 90's and although have lived overseas for a few years since then, on postings, I am here to stay.
Bury Football Club and Manchester United. As well as Lancashire County Cricket Club.
Moved here 15 months ago, got our permanent residency a week ago and love living in Perth (best city in Australia).
We moved from Oxfordshire and if you're a pom and whinge about being here there's something wrong with you!
Only thing I miss is the Royal Mail and a decent delivery service - now who'd have thought I'd ever say that??
We made it to Australia as £10 Poms way back in 1963. It was minus 20 odd degrees when we left Tilbury Dock on January 26th and 37 degrees when we landed in Port Melbourne on February 27th 1963. I don't follow any football or cricket teams in the UK because I figured when we landed here my chances of going back were slim to none. This country has been my home for fifty odd years and I am a naturalised Aussie. So for all intents and purposes the fact I own a D2 has nothing to do with being an expat I just love it for what it is!