Hello from Australia

[Zemma]

Hi everyone, I was trying to remember when I first started in with the old forum - a long time ago and was mostly a reader and only a tiny bit of a poster.

Like someone else here mentioned, the new forum is a chance to take on a slightly less revealing name, so really a fresh start for me. I do remember when I first read about Your Money or Your Life in a newspaper and I rushed straight in to town to buy it - that was in the mid-90s and it changed my life by giving me both good structure and a more philoshical understanding of what I had been wanting to do.

I am very lucky financially at least to be in Australia - we have terrific retirement funds, pretty well free medical and great employment opportunities all of which have helped make my search for a simple, independent life possible.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a land of milk and honey - I know so many people crippled by debt, depression and/or horrible jobs. But Australia has been lucky in terms of not going under with the GFC and I have benefitted from the freedom to make a lot of wonderful choices and feel very lucky.

I've got a bit more time available now in my life and am looking forward to joining in the conversation. Thanks a bunch to the administrator/s who persisted with trying to help me register!

[Greg44]

Welcome Zemma! Or should I say, G'day! I have many friends in Adelaide and fond memories of my time in South Australia and the Northern Territory. I remember many stops at the local deli's and buying "Lemingtons and a Mr. Juicy Orange/Mango Drink"
Funny the things we remember.

Again, welcome and we look forward to your posts.

[Selah]

Welcome (back), Zemma! We're looking forward to hearing from you and your take on things.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Hi and welcome! I have read that there are many Europeans who are trying to immigrate to Australia now as your country is doing quite well. I'm glad that somewhere out there there is a place that has not been hit so hard by the downturn - and I really look forward to your posts! Rob

[lhamo]

Yay -- it worked! Glad you finally got in. Look forward to hearing more from you. Were you the person who had the farm?

lhamo

[IshbelRobertson]

G'day from the UK!

I visit Australia every couple of years or so - my family and I try to 'turn and turn about' - us to them, them to us, so the time between visits is as short as we can make it! I love Australia - and even my husband (who always said he wouldn't want to go there) fell in love with the place when we visited a couple of years ago.

Your economy seems to be avoiding the worst of the recession, and that augurs well for the future.

[HumboldtGurl]

Welcome back Zemma! I just recently re-joined too. It's good to be 'home'!

I've got total location envy! Not that I've ever actually been to Australia (oh how I want to!) but it looks lovely and I have heard about how much better off Aussies are in so many aspects. Lucky gal

[Zemma]

Thanks for the welcome (back) everyone! It does feel very feet up, have a chat-ish - yeah, like 'home'.

It is amazing how many people make it out to Australia nowadays. We are used to going out to see the world - most Australians take overseas travel for granted (even if only to a '7 Days of Luxury in Fiji Tour'), but with cheaper air travel, lots and lots more people are making it out to see us now. And the situation Ishbel mentions (visiting rellies in Australia) is so common because of continuing high immigration levels. There is great attraction coming out during Northern Hemisphere winters. Must be something about the sunshine!

Yes, we do have a farm Lhamo, lovely little place growing fruit for jams that we sell. It doesn't make a lot of money, but that's not quite the point. It's more about being productive and also really helps us to fit into the community.

The sad thing about how comparatively free of financial stresses Australia is (at least on the country level) is how darn ungrateful and downright whingey people can still be!! Look around you peops I think, bit of perspective needed here!

[IshbelRobertson]

Oh... I do understand about the 'whinging' natives.... During my last visit (18 months ago) - so many Aussie natives spent all their time telling me how badly off they were.... They want to try living in Europe at the present time!

[KayLR]

Hi Zemma---welcome! In the past year I've become a "follower"/reader of Rhonda Hetzel's blog "Down--To---Earth" and have enjoyed learning more about life in Australia. She's also just published a book about simple living on her homestead. Do you know of her?
http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/