It’s been two years since my family and I moved from the UK to Australia.
In many ways, it seems like no time at all. It feels like yesterday that we were packing up our lives into cardboard boxes and waving goodbye to England’s leafy suburbs. But the Southern Highlands of New South Wales also now feel like home and a place where we’ve put down roots and created a new life.
Australia has an awful lot going for it as a country and as a place to live. It has a decent, left-leaning government, an economy that didn’t dip quite as badly during the post-pandemic fall-out as the UK, better employment prospects, a welcoming and humorous people, a positive, go-getting attitude to life, and coastline and countryside that’s a sight for sore eyes.
In short, Australia is an excellent place to be right now. But as a dyed-in-the-wool Brit, there are still a few things I miss about the United Kingdom.
1. Countryside that doesn’t contain dangerous wildlife
I grew up in a pretty idyllic English country town. I spent a lot of my childhood wandering through the fields, exploring the woods and splashing in the rivers that surrounded my home. Nature has always played a big part in my life and I take great solace in being close to the ‘great outdoors’.
There’s no denying that there’s plenty of amazing countryside in Australia, that’s for sure. Acres of bushland, beautiful mountain views and creeks bubbling with life. But, as a non-native Australian, I still can’t get used to the idea that there could be a highly venomous snake lurking in the long grass, or an unfriendly spider ready to drop from a height with poisonous fangs at the ready.
In Australia, you appreciate nature, but you also have to be mindful of its dangers. In the UK, I never thought twice about tramping through woodland, or running across a summer meadow. An adder is probably the most dangerous thing you might encounter, and I never saw one in 50 years of spending time in the British countryside.
So, yes, I miss being able to leave the track to take my own route through the trees, rather than sticking to the path and admiring nature from a slight distance.
2. Ham, Scotch eggs and pork pies
I don’t know exactly why, but Australia really cannot make good ham.
Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the delights of dry-cured British ham, but since arriving in Oz two years ago, I’ve yet to find a really top-notch ham for my sandwiches. The supermarket ham from Coles and Woolworths is heavily processed, full of water and has the slippery, insipid texture of a dead frog. Some of the more high-end delis do have ham that’s pretty decent, but it’s expensive and still doesn’t quite match up to my rose-tinted memories of thick-sliced English ham at Christmas time.
I also miss a couple of other pork-based snack items that are a rare feature of Aussie menus: Scotch eggs and pork pies. Scotch eggs (for those who haven’t had the pleasure), are hard-boiled eggs, wrapped in pork sausage meat and breadcrumbs and then deep-fried. Yes, it’s as British and unhealthy as that sounds. But they taste delicious and were a firm favourite when we lived in the UK. Similarly, pork pies are a luscious combination of hot water crust pastry and pork, served cold as either slices from a large pie, or as bite-size mini pies.
I have seen pork pies lurking in a few Oz delis, but they don’t quite measure up to the British original. In short, if you’re a pork pie aficionado then you need to stock up when you’re next in the UK.
3. London, despite all its failings
For most of my life, I lived near London – one of the most famous capital cities in the world. But because it was always just *there*, I didn’t really appreciate the benefits of living so close to the ‘old smoke’.
If a band was playing, or a show was being toured, or an exhibition was taking place, you could bet your arse it would be happening in London – just 45 minutes or so by train from the suburbs where I lived and grew up. Entertainment, culture, history and the hustle and bustle of business were always just a few minutes away.
Now, I live in a rural part of New South Wales, about a 3-hour train ride away from the nearest major city. Sydney is a brilliant city, and one that’s vibrant and full of the same cultural highlights as London. When your favourite singer tours Australasia, you can be sure that Sydney will be on the touring agenda. And Sydney is (for the most part) cleaner, more affluent and more beautiful than London. But I still miss being able to hop on a train to find myself so quickly in the centre of one of Europe’s major capital cities.
4. My friends and family (naturally)
It goes without saying that the biggest thing I miss about the UK is the friends and family I left behind. Moving my life to the other side of the world was a massive step and a change that I knew would have a huge impact on my family life and my social life.
Family is very important to me, so being on different sides of the planet is hard. Thankfully, tech like WhatsApp, Facebook and Zoom allow me to keep in touch with my family – something that’s been invaluable over the past two years when dealing with ill health, accidents and family emergencies that were taking place thousands of miles away from me.
Being away from my friends has also been difficult. I know a few people in Australia, but the vast majority of my friendship group live in the UK. Once you get into your fifties (as I am), you tend to have a fairly solid base of good friends – the people you enjoyed your wild years with and who you’re maturing alongside as you gradually realise that you’re a bunch of middle-aged farts.
I still have regular phone conversations and WhatsApp calls with my mates, and social media helps to keep you in the loop with what’s going on in their lives back in the UK. But it’s not quite the same as being able to meet for a coffee or a pint face to face.
Pork pies I can live without. But I definitely miss family and friends a lot. That’s probably the hardest thing about emigrating to another country, in my opinion.
Australia still wins, hands down
There are plenty of other things that I miss about the UK. It was my cultural home for so many years and habits tend to die hard, as they say. But, I have to be honest with you, at the present moment in time, Australia is where I want to be.
In a few years, the UK may (hopefully) retain the allure and shine it’s lost under the current government. But Australia is the better place to live when you compare the two countries side by side.
Australia has:
- A healthier economy than the UK
- More job opportunities, on the whole
- A better outlook on education (putting the fun into learning)
- A greater chance of sunshine and good weather
- A less rigid class divide and more opportunity for all
- The potential for a higher quality of life, all round.
So, I’ll be staying here for a while longer…probably while daydreaming about pork pies.
CHeck out my Books and Music
While you’re here, why not check out my books and music. I’m a freelancer, so any support is always very gratefully received.
My most recent book is an eco-fantasy story for younger readers, called ‘Meet The Guttafawlk’. I’ve also written three non-fiction business titles, including ‘HELP! I’ve Started A Business’ and ‘Going Freelance: Building Work Around Your Life’.
When I’m not writing, I’ll be making music – usually a mix of electronica, techno, drum & bass, downtempo grooves, house and ambient tunes.
You can find my albums on my CommsBreakdown Bandcamp page.
www.commsbreakdown.bandcamp.com
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