Blog Archives

Portsmouth V Southampton!

27/7/2024

Wonderful painting of Clarence Pier, by Portsmouth artist Hannah Marsh, now sitting proudly on my lounge wall. This picture evokes many happy memories. When you move abroad, it's important to surround yourself with items that make you feel comfortable and secure. Moving to the other side of the World is pretty anxiety inducing, so it's paintings like this, that keep me grounded and happy to be in my new home. I suppose if you came to my Aussie home today, you would find it a homage to my life in The UK. For me, that's no bad thing; it has allowed me to settle and adjust to me life down under!

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Australia - Not a place to be in the winter!

20/7/2024

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Checking In - Last week down under, and the cost of living!

14/7/2024

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The cold weather is biting hard at the moment, and it is certainly taking its toll on me; my arthritis is playing up something chronic. This is the worst time of year; I absolutely hate living in Perth during the winter. Heating is the biggest problem — trying to keep houses, designed for the Australian climate, warm, is an almost impossible task. We did purchase the biggest electric heater we could find, but even that only takes the edge off the cold. Thankfully the West Australian Government will be paying our electricity bill for a while, as they are for everyone here, so we don't have to worry about the cost.

I have been impressed by just how much the state pays towards our bills. I pay a direct debit of $130.00 a month, which under normal circumstances is more than enough to cover our costs, so we have built up quite a surplus in our utility account. Watching the news from the UK, it seems you are paying a fortune for your gas and electricity; in Western Australia, things are very different. Costs are very low and the Government subsidises essential utilities to a huge extent. After substantial tax cuts, from the federal government at the beginning of July, and a pay rise for both of us, we are actually starting to feel the benefits.

It is true to say that the cost of living in Australia is high. Today we did our weekly shopping in Coles and spent another $400.00; that's how much we spend each week, and it goes up all the time. There are only two million people living in Western Australia, so the choice of supermarkets is far more limited than in the UK. However, wages are particularly high; I earn four times more than I earned in Britain, and life is good financially.

There are many aspects of my life in Australia that I would like to change; however, to be financially secure, saving for the future, going on holiday when you want, and not scrimping and scraping to make ends meet, is everything to me. Western Australia is the place to make money, but this is just a stepping stone for us, a ten-year plan, before we decide what to do next. For now, we are happy enough, and thankful for the chance to rebuild our lives in Australia, one of the most beautiful places on Earth!

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A Labour Win — Thank God for That!

6/7/2024

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When the exit poll came through at 5 am on Friday morning (Australia time), I couldn't quite believe it. The polls showing Labour twenty points ahead, throughout the election campaign, appeared to be correct, judging by this final, most accurate poll. I for one, took it with a pinch of salt; I still didn't believe it was accurate, sceptical about information collated before a single vote was counted.

It wasn't until the actual results started to filter through, that the penny dropped. Labour was indeed on course for a landslide victory, akin to that of Tony Blair in 1997.

I was up at 3.45 am to watch the British election results counted throughout the United Kingdom; sitting in my lounge in front of an electric fire, in the middle of a cold (well relatively chilly) Australian winter, I was ready to watch the results tally up. With a cup of tea and a warm hot water bottle, I anxiously awaited confirmation of this projected Labour Landslide.

Usually I would be at work on a Friday, but I had taken a personal day, because of a pre-planned hospital visit. At 9 am I had to make my way to Midland hospital, mobile phone in hand, watching the results while I walked to my appointment. Later that afternoon, I was back home, glued to the box once again. It was clear there was indeed going to be a new Labour government, and I was delighted.

As the afternoon progressed here in Australia, the scale of the losses, from one of the worst UK governments in my lifetime, was unlike anything I had ever seen before, and I couldn't have been happier. Watching the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg and Liz Truss lose their seats, as a political wave of change engulfed Britain, was satisfying, after everything they had done to bring Britain to its knees. These were the people that had lied repeatedly, partied during the pandemic, paid millions of taxpayers money to their mates for unusable PPE, and destroyed the hopes and dreams of a nation with their Brexit lies. This was karma coming back to bite those who had spent so long, taking their positions for granted, and disrespecting the British public.

Despite this great Labour victory, there are some warning signs on the horizon. Reform will now have a voice in Parliament; this extremist, homophobic, racist party will now be voting on the future of the UK — that is scary. Then there are the one-trick pony 'Gaza Activists,' who high jacked some local constituencies, because of their extremist views on the war in the Middle East. Of course this only happened in areas with a high Muslim population, but the appalling, confrontational campaigns they fought, against good, trusted MP's, was a disgrace. MP, Jess Phillips, spoke up against the treatment she received from these awful groups, organised to cause maximum disruption, hurt, and pain to her, just because she was a woman — that was shocking to see. The UK is not a fascist country, and that kind of behaviour should not be tolerated. Those responsible should be bought to justice!

I am not a political activist, and have voted for most political parties during my lifetime. This time, however, I was sadly unable to vote, but my support for this new Government is unequivocal. The Tories had to go; they had caused so much damage to my home country that it would have been impossible for them to continue. They have a lot of expectations to live up too, and I hope they will succeed in their endeavours to change Britain for the better.

It is true they won a landslide with a small percentage of the vote, but that is the British electoral system, so they can't do anything about that, unless they feel the need to in Government. Nevertheless, they are now the party in charge, and all of us should give them our full support. If they don't live up to expectations, then I, like everyone else, will vote them out. The hope is, however, they will achieve great things in the UK and the Tories will remain out of power for a very long time; after the catastrophe of the last 14 years, do they really deserve to govern again?

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From a new life in spain, to an old life in britain, 'roaming brit' documents uncertain times!

Portsmouth V Southampton!

Australia - Not a place to be in the winter!

Checking In - Last week down under, and the cost of living!

A Labour Win — Thank God for That!

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