help about Australia.

[Doug Clark]

Paolo,

Firstly its not the weather, if you're giving the weather as the main reason to move then you need to re-examine yourself, I know I've been there and done that.

I emigrated to Australia (Perth) in 1995 from London, this was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
In 2000 I moved to the USA for reasons to complicated to go into here, we lived in San Diego, the San Fransisco bay area and lastly Houston.
The USA is a big and diverse country which I love (married my California girl epper but to live there successfully you need to be able to do the kind of work you want to do in the area you want to live, I couldn't find that so we moved back to Perth in 2005 and are once again happy as can be.

In general moving to the USA is hard, the INS is complex, slow and stupid to deal with and there's no real organized plan to take skilled migrants into the USA that I know of, so unless you find a job ahead of time or are going to marry a girl from the USA it is very hard.

Australia's system is much more straightforward and even if you do get a job offer beforehand I'd recommend going through the points system as it will mean much less issues in time.

Western Australia Guide - Videos - WesternAustralia.tv

 

[kiwi ka]

This is where we spend our weekends, when not playing with cars. You could even drive your GT40 right to the ramp, and its less than 1 hour from downtown Auckland NZ.
Cheers
Russell

 

[Dalton Veitch]

Sheep? We need some good looking sheep in the picture.

Dalton

 

[Doug Clark]

Sheep? We need some good looking sheep in the picture.

Dalton

NZ Beauty Pageant...

 

[Jac Mac]

Paulo,
Since the Aussies have 'that' weird fascination with sheep you might be better off in NZ, wouldnt want you picking up their bad habits! The Title of Nino Calottas ( hope I spelt that correctly ) book was " They are a Weird Mob" & was in reference to the Aussies.

Plenty happening down South, here are some random pics for you to feast your eyes on from "Warbirds over Wanaka'' Air Show & others. As you can see we get a few 'grey days' as well.

Jac Mac

 

[John Fitzpatrick]

Paulo-
I've been to quite a few countries thanks to the USAF, but never lived anywhere for long except the USA-- so you can take my observation with a grain of salt. That said, I spent two weeks traveling about in Australia with my wife about seven years ago, and I have never encountered a more welcoming, non-judgmental, and genuinely decent people in my life.
I love it here in the East Texas piney woods, but if I had to live somewhere outside the USA it would be certainly be Australia, probably somewhere near Port Douglas. Unbelievable beaches, tropical weather not too different from Hawaii, and people who see nothing unusual about a old fart in a wheel chair who wants to go diving on the Great Barrier Reef. The only downside I saw was crocodiles that occasionally eat people who ignore the warning signs. And depending on your view of Darwinism, even that may be a good thing. I'm sure there are knaves and louts there somewhere, as there are anywhere, but the closest I came to finding one was a rude cab driver in Sydney!
By all means, go there first and see for yourself, but I doubt you'll be disappointed--governments may change, people don't.

 

[Russ]

But John, was that cabby Australian?. ...somehow i doubt it having been to Sydney myself!!. . .Must agree with you about Port Douglas though, will be up there March next year for the 5th year in a row . .for that two weeks i'm out of mobile range, my laptop has no connection, the beers are colder than usual and the deep sea fishing is awesome!!!

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

If the cabbie was Australian he must be the last one in existence. Don't tell the Greenies or they'll declare him an endangered specie and no one will be allowed to live in Sydney in case they disturb his habitat.

 

[Malcolm]

JacMac, is that red motorbike the Worlds Fastest Indian? A movie I have been told to watch as it is very good.

My uncle and his family moved to Perth in the 80's (from Yorkshire). They love it.

 

[Jac Mac]

JacMac, is that red motorbike the Worlds Fastest Indian? A movie I have been told to watch as it is very good.

My uncle and his family moved to Perth in the 80's (from Yorkshire). They love it.

Yes, was on display along with a few other bikes & pieces of them that Burt had built etc. The movie is very good & Sir Anthony Hopkins played the part of Burt very well.
I remember our local car club had invited Burt to be a guest speaker at a club evening & on the night in question the Chief Traffic Officer had also been invited to give a talk on how the 'Law' felt it might be able to work with us to the benefit of young drivers etc with a view to conducting driver training along the lines of gymkana type events where they could learn to control slides etc. Burt had advised he would be a bit late and Mr Plod was winding up his discussion when there was a screech of tyres outside- Mr Plod grinned & said 'sounds like your guest speaker has arrived, would you mind if I stay & listen to what he has got to say etc'. We couldnt see why not!!

Anyway Burt strolls in , is introduced to the members & starts straight into why he was a bit late. It went something like this-'' I was comin down the Edendale hill & pulled out to pass these two cars , was up to about 70mph when the one in front of me pulled out to pass the other fellow- ended up in the gravel and grass, spun round & gave me'self a hell of a fright, had to sit there for a couple of minutes and collect me thoughts [ and about now he spys Mr Plod ] and what the Hell are you doin here Mr Policeman?''
The whole room erupted with laughter including Mr Plod [what else could he do].

He would spend days making stuff like con rods out of old axles etc, would ask total strangers to help him push start his bikes & when they fired up just open up the throttle and drag them along if they forgot to let go. Many of the 'old hands' knew better & stood back to watch the fun.

Jac Mac

 

[John Fitzpatrick]

If the cabbie was Australian he must be the last one in existence. Don't tell the Greenies or they'll declare him an endangered specie and no one will be allowed to live in Sydney in case they disturb his habitat.

Nope, he was Pakistani. After we got in, he asked where we wanted to go and I said "Doyles restaurant"--those American Express commercials featuring Doyles were running back then, and I thought it was pretty much a landmark everyone in Sydney knew about. Nope. "Where is that?" "I have no idea." I said. "Why don't you just ask your dispatcher if you don't know?" "Why are you getting in my cab if you are not knowing where you are going? This is a very bad thing to do!" "I do know where I am going" I explained, "and it is Doyles seafood restaurant. I just don't know where it is, but if you can't take us there, just let us out and we'll call another cab."
There followed a stream of profanity (Funny how you can tell when some one is swearing in a foreign language, even though you don't know exactly what they're saying) and we drove around Sydney for 30 minutes finally arriving at a restaurant, which was, we discovered after I had paid, not Doyles.
I don't remember the name of the restaurant where we ended up--it was tucked under the bridge--but it was very good, and we got to Doyles next evening. Well worth the wait, and we got to know most of the wait-staff who all hung around until we could get a cab that was willing to load a wheel chair. The other guy must have ratted us out to his buds.

 

[Keith]

What Paulo would be leaving behind.......

Video of Berlusconi - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

 

[Paolo-LoveGT40 Modelworks]

ahahah..LOOL Keith, thats the sosia

Italy is a very nice country but..the nice places arent really where I live (think I am dramatically sufferent for bad weather.,YES!This was the real reason i didnt move to UK some years ago. Never know was so easy to find a good work there,never know the existance of job centers..and never seen a govern so really helpful for foreigners wanting live honestly and work there.Spent 3 months up there with a brother-friend living now in London, a fellow I think will never come back here,if not for vacations,going to marry there soon.).
Here reality is quite different...politically Italy is completely gone (I dunno if in your news out there Italy is ever mentioned if not for 4f's : Ferrari,Fashion,Food and Football..)

FYI,u all wellknow I love our cars,and owning a cool modelling shop here I love to "educate" italians to american muscles and cool brit racecars,so I import model kits and die cast from all around the world.
Today I've beat my personal record in waiting items. A package with all american muscles from revell Monogram sent from California oct 1st,arrived here just today,nov 27(actually it needs only 4 days from San Diego to Milan..the rest was napoli dogana waiting list.I use to search 2strange" items in Uk..but my shopmate Hannant's in Uk doesnt carry ANY american muscle..)
Thanks god the people I am "educating" simply eats-at-once those american kits.

Many things arent going well down here,first of all economy,cause we lost the "middle-class"....a reason more to seriously think at another place (maybe doing the same job..why not?)

...there's any Gt40 or Cobra manifacturer in Australia or NZ with factory near the beach?
The pictures u have post are too nice...

 

[Paolo-LoveGT40 Modelworks]

JAC I love u!
Breda 44 and Nieuport 17 there?????

Doug,
thank u for all those precious infos,really.
U said exactly what I think of american system.
For me it is a great place, really want to go there and look as much as i can,but its really a too big country,and I am sure the real America is small city one,surely the one I like more.
I can never forget if I am in a free place today..its even due to all the guys coming here 60 yrs ago,and is all people as u forum mates..same countries.
My dad always reminds me this....so I can never think bad at USA.

Asking around to all the people I know, also theme confirm the great living of Australia and NZ.Hope I can find a period of vacation and test it over my skin...but for now remains a dream.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

...there's any Gt40 or Cobra manifacturer in Australia or NZ with factory near the beach?
The pictures u have post are too nice...

Paolo, the DRB factory which makes both GT40 and Cobras is at Yatala, about a 30 minute drive from the beaches of the Gold Coast in Queensland.

 

[Dalton Veitch]

Paolo, the Gold Coast beckons. I think you could run a successful model shop there too, although Pete would have more local knowledge of the tourist trade and so on.

Best wishes,

Dalton

 

[Paolo-LoveGT40 Modelworks]

Pete,
after previous link about queensland...with this other news u have definitely killed me:dead:

From a modelling point of view Australia is one of the very very best places where to be,...consider the best world source for news in AFV models is from Perth:Perth Military Modelling Site

When possible will go to Milano Australian and NZ council and ask for the commercial infos to work there (about one thing I am sure..it is CHEAPER than here..)

Thanks again a lot guys!

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Hey Paolo, wait until you have got the Christmas present profits in, then shut the store for a couple of weeks, grab the credit card and come on over.
Bite the bullet son.rockonsmile

 

[Paolo-LoveGT40 Modelworks]

thinking of u guys, really..

Italy now is on knees,cause we have a big strike done by private truck drivers (a small cathegory stopped all the country,illegally).
In all Milano area there is not a drop of fuel.
The few fuel stations still having it,place illegally the price at 3 euros/liter.This is not the first time they do this..

I am working for xmas period without any stop since 15 days (12 hours,no sundays). Think I am getting really crazy this time.
Probably tomorrow I cant reach my workplace (I live 25 kmts from shop),cause no fuel around me,and tonight they were fighting in the streets for the last expensive one left.
Supermarlets are empty too (those fellows stopped all the highways system,so no way to reload shops).
Venezia is impossible to reach by roads.
I've also seen on my way home 2 ambulances in emergency stopped cause no fuel.

Seems a war bulletin,it is incredible....we are third world.
Italy is not a good place to live and work right now.

Thinking at sunny xmas in my Australia....

..a sad italian..

 

[Bill Hara]

That's crazy Paolo. You need to get out of there.
You know it is time to leave a place when people struggle to obtain the basics, regardless of how much money you have. People in these situations are not likely to buy luxury goods, sporting goods or toys(models) when they can't buy food, fuel or even be sure of getting to a hospital in an emergency...
Australia is waiting for you Paolo, if you want a nice warm Christmas.