Australia

[snaw]

yeah Sydney has been tres $$ for a long time.

In 98 I saw a detached house, villa kinda of thing style in Manly about 5 mins from beach for £350K and almost went for it but thought nah, too expensive. How much am I kicking myself now ...

[Moscow Mule]

In 98 I saw a detached house, villa kinda of thing style in Manly about 5 mins from beach for £350K and almost went for it but thought nah, too expensive. How much am I kicking myself now ...

Gutted. That would be retire-able equity by now

[rootsnall]

In 98 I saw a detached house, villa kinda of thing style in Manly about 5 mins from beach for £350K and almost went for it but thought nah, too expensive. How much am I kicking myself now ...

Similar stories here ! Ah well !

[barely_pointless]

went for a bike ride up the pittwater river to arkuna bay a few weeks ago which started and finished in Manly, up the hills towards back of Manly (forget the burb name) there are still houses going for about 600/700+, which is pretty good given location, but it;s not walkable to the beach.

Brisie vegas has houses 10 mins from the beach for circa 450K, which is damn good value for banana land.

[brownie74]

you cant earn money in oz

no point grafting here. the tax system clobbers you. you can earn decent money here but you lose half (45%) of it in tax. you cant do the UK contractor loop holes, they have been closed up here.

i'm in balmain in sydney. its amazing to get the ferry to work - sit outside on the deck and have the sun on your face mid-winter. better than the tube- someones armpits in my chops.

[rootsnall]

no point grafting here. the tax system clobbers you. you can earn decent money here but you lose half (45%) of it in tax. you cant do the UK contractor loop holes, they have been closed up here.

i'm in balmain in sydney. its amazing to get the ferry to work - sit outside on the deck and have the sun on your face mid-winter. better than the tube- someones armpits in my chops.

It's not as bad as the headline tax rates suggest when you factor in the NI situation here in blighty. A few years out of date but my accountant was doing OK for me in terms of total tax bill via a Ltd. Rates are rubbish though !

I lived in Balmain for a year, right near the ferry wharf, I can't remember the name of the long road now or the boozers !? It was getting a bit over gentrified as I left, cafes and shops were getting priced out and turned back into housing.

[brownie74]

boozers

Darling Street. The Commericial and The London would have been your locals

Rates aren't too bad here. I'm getting 350 quid a day, which aint far off London rates is it, for noddy Java coding

[LGDT]

After 4 fruitless Ashes visits in the last 13 years I'd rate the cities for liveability as follows (all my personal opinions of course!)

1. Adelaide. Some Aussies think it's a country town but for someone like me in their 40's it's got all I need. Mediterreanean climate, lots of space, clean, great restaurants and bars, easy to get around, affordable housing. Wine regions on your doorstep and only a short tram ride to the beach.

2. Melbourne. OK climate a bit less reliable but still better than UK. Great sporting town. Brilliant for restaurants, nightlife and entertainment. One of the best and cheapest public transport systems in the world.

3. Perth. Sizzlingly hot and sometimes feels like the arse-end of the country but has a nice laid back feel to it. Because it's miles from anywhere it's effectively a little country in it's own right with everything you could need. Beautiful beaches at Scarborough.

4. Brisbane. Find it a bit soulless and lacking in character but like the outdoor lifestyle there.

5. Sydney. Maybe because I'm from a provincial town but I think of Sydney as London with beaches. Nice location but hot, humid, overcrowded, expensive and up it's own arse with it's own self-importance.

[brownie74]

London with Beaches

naa, its not like london. its more like cardiff, or leeds. the dirty underbelly that you can easily find in parts of london does not really exist here - small pockets but nothing really

sydney is tame compared to london. its a lot safer.

the pubs are worse here - not much atmosphere. if i was in my 20's (im 33) i would prefer london for the nightlife - its pretty tame here and much more posed

there are no characters in sydney - aussies are generally boring - thats what i miss about the UK - it comes from the years of hangovers/comedowns and the poor weather - its character building

[barely_pointless]

naa, its not like london. its more like cardiff, or leeds. the dirty underbelly that you can easily find in parts of london does not really exist here - small pockets but nothing really

sydney is tame compared to london. its a lot safer.

the pubs are worse here - not much atmosphere. if i was in my 20's (im 33) i would prefer london for the nightlife - its pretty tame here and much more posed

there are no characters in sydney - aussies are generally boring - thats what i miss about the UK - it comes from the years of hangovers/comedowns and the poor weather - its character building

Don't know how you'd not compare the cross to soho, I think soho is actually cleaner ? The cross is filthy - been a few years since I went out up there.

I totally agree that city Aussies are generally boring, they're under the kosh to try and conform and earn more, it's actually a myth that Australians are laid back and easy going, that is entirely untrue when the fact of the matter that the Aussies you are likely to meet in the City are 2nd generation Italian, Greek, Serbian, Lebanese, etc etc less than 50% I met in the city are dinky die.

The country aussies (and especially QLD'ers) are a complete different story, they are very laid back , great fun and remind me alot of the Irish (not the celtic tiger wa^kers, before that).

The simple fact is that Sydney is a large city, and it's going to have all the benefits and drawbacks of a large city, and what most people don't realise that whilst there is a concerted effort by the federal/state governments to portray sydney as an aussie laid back beach culture kind of place, that's actually a lie. However, If you are young , fit and like the outdoor life, ie swimming, sports, etc , you'll have a ball it really is good.

Caveat Emptor is what Devlin was trying to say, read the small print.

The pubs are crap, the London is ok, the monkey bar is full of divorcee's with boob jobs, the Unity Hall is full of blokes who talk like the crabs from nemo (ferry deckhands) and the town hall is full of kids, The willie wallace is ok but smelly, and the riverside is always full of off duty plain clothes from balmain station (which is kind of good, and kind of bad at the same time).

Lived in Ad-dull-ade for a year and would have gladly nuked the place after 3 months, it's all wrong.