Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
20 Reasons
Why YOU
Should Move to
Australia.
www.BobinOz.com
Contact information:
Author: BobinOz
Bob@BobinOz.com
Legal Disclaimer.
The opinions given here in are those of the author who is acting
under good faith. These opinions are based on the experiences of
the author and, in some cases, the research undertaken by him.
Users are therefore urged to seek legal advice and alternative
opinions before entering into any contract or making any personal
decisions regarding their future.
My Disclaimer:
I hope anyone reading this book who doesn’t come from England
can find a way to make my comparisons relevant to the country in
which you do live. In any event, I do hope it does not spoil your
enjoyment of this book.
Thank you.
Foreword.
I have now made Australia my home after having lived in the UK for
almost half a century. Yes, aged 49½ I quit Britain for good. But
what's it really like to live in Australia? Does it live up to the
dream?
It's a countdown programme, pure and simple. You know the sort of
thing, “Most Embarrassing Moments”, “Great Aussie Songs”, “Best
Australian Commercials” – in 8 seasons and around 50 episodes
Bert's covered it all!
Making it into the top 20 by the skin of its teeth, we have "No More
Double Glazing Salesman".
This is powerful stuff isn't it? You’ve only read one line of the first
reason and still have 19 more reasons to go, yet you are already
scrambling to find the application forms. I just need you to slow
down for a moment, so I can explain.
Windows in Australia
Salesmen in Australia
No!
We found a company on the Internet not too far away from us who
specialised in replacement doors direct. We provided them with all
of our measurements and they came back with a quote of around
$3,000 which they said included rebuilding the drawer unit.
No!
No!
Maurice’s business card said "we supply and fit replacement kitchen
doors". Amazing!
In the end, I straightened out all the cabinets, replaced all the door
handles, repaired the drawer unit and resurfaced it all myself. I
saved about $3200 in the process and, if I have to say so myself, it
didn't look too bad.
Estate Agents
We went house hunting for a brief period, just to see what else was
available on the market. We viewed houses being sold from about
four or five different estate agents and we told each of them we
were considering putting our home on the market.
Just one of them did, we've heard nothing from any of the others.
"I am from a company called Smart on Top and we sell solar power
systems" he said.
Well, I was a little taken aback. This was the first ever door to door
salesman I had seen in Australia. He quickly told me that the
government were offering a grant to anyone who installed solar
power. The normal cost of installation is $11,000. But if I signed up
for the work with his company, they would arrange the rebate
directly with the government. The rebate is 80%.
Yeah, sure I was! I already have solar panels that provide all of my
hot water, and it works great.
No!
Telephone Sales
What you will get are lots of telephone calls from canvassers, but
you will see it coming a mile off. You’ll pick up the phone and say
"hello" and there will be a long silence followed by a clunk before
someone says "hello, how are you today?" Followed by ….
Me: “Look, can you just tell me exactly what you want?”
----------------------------------------------
It's all very frustrating and can only end by putting the phone down.
These telephone sales people never actually get to the point. I think
they are trained to establish a relationship first. The calls are
obviously coming from offshore call centres, hence the clunking
noise before the connection. Having witnessed the skills of
Australian salespeople firsthand, I can understand why companies
try to employ foreigners to do the sales job for them. But it doesn't
work.
The good news is you can register your telephone number here, at
donotcall to get these calls stopped. Believe me, you will want to do
that.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
• Don't buy a house near the main road, it's not much fun when
you leave windows open.
• Australia is a land of opportunity, especially if you can sell.
• Get your phone number registered with do not call.
Everybody enjoys a good holiday every now and again. When I lived
in the UK I did travel quite extensively around Europe. As much as I
love Australia, Europe is surely the world's most diverse continent.
So I wanted to see as much of it as I could.
But the one downside of every holiday was that it began and ended
with the sometimes lengthy process of getting through border
control and, more often than not, boarding an aeroplane.
With that, of course, would come with the almost obligatory delays,
threats of strikes, the usual baggage reclamation nightmares and all
the stresses associated with that.
Whilst you won't want to holiday in Australia for the rest of your life
if you come here to live, you won't be able to resist it for the first
few years. For how many years that will last, I don't yet know. But I
do know we have plenty to see here.
No, your holiday starts the second you start your car. No worries
about whether you'll get to the airport on time, not running out of
petrol is about as stressful as it gets.
It's difficult to know how long it would take to run out of ideas. If
you visit the Australian Traveller website and take a look at their list
of the top 100 towns or their 100 things to do in Australia before
you die, that will probably keep you going for many years.
Or simply click on their destinations tab on the menu and check out
their top recommendations countrywide or by searching each state
separately.
Airport security is still high, but you won't need to arrive two hours
or so before the flight, as you often do with international
departures.
For our next holiday, I fancy driving north towards Cairns, perhaps
even past Cairns and all the way to Cape York. We shall see.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
Australians love their sports and they are passionate about them.
For a country with such a small population, they have had some
remarkable successes.
My daughter, who is only five years old, took part in her first sports
day about a month ago. About two weeks before that, she went on
her first cross country run.
What struck me about it was how excited she was to take part in
both of these events. She particularly loved the long jump and was
very proud of what she had done. Pride in sporting performance is
something Australians seem to possess naturally.
Schools in Australia take their sport quite seriously and most of the
ones I have seen have large attached playing fields to prove it.
When I was still going to school in England, (which I assure you was
a very long time ago) part of our school field was sold to property
developers.
I know that trend has continued, but what I don't know is how
many schools in the UK still have significant sports fields attached.
Not many, I would guess.
When the weekend arrives, for many families it is the cue to attach
the boat to the towbar, put the bikes and the surfboards on the
roof, put the kids in the back and head off to have some fun.
Horse riding is also hugely popular over here and you won't need to
travel far to get to the nearest stables. Of course, if you live on
acreage, you can build your own stables out the back.
They have even started to dabble in proper football, the one with a
round ball, which they unfortunately call soccer.
Australia is Actionland!
But despite all of that, Australia still gets thumped regularly by New
Zealand (population 4 million) at Rugby. Can’t win ‘em all!
Bob’s Oz Tips:
Outdoor Cinema
The first time I noticed this was with Tropfest, which I blogged
about at the time. Basically it is a short film festival which is
simultaneously broadcast at seven outdoor cinemas throughout
Australia.
It turns out that outdoor cinemas are quite big here in Australia.
The biggest ones are at Sydney where they have them at Bondi
Beach, Centennial Park, the Botanic Gardens with stunning views
overlooking the harbour and over at Sydney Olympic Park.
Music Festivals
I knew music festivals were really big here and I also knew music
featured quite prominently at most outdoor events. Greenfest was
all about saving the planet but they still had room for three music
stages.
Here are just a few major festivals that take place in and around
Brisbane…….
And that's just a very small sample. On top of that there are a huge
number of venues to go and see live bands in and around Brisbane
City.
Now take that national. Check this out if live music is your thing.
There is a list of I believe almost 100 different venues of live music
events taking part across Australia on a regular basis. And I'm sure
they still don't have it all covered.
If you love festivals but hate sliding around in the mud or standing
in the rain, then Australia is the place for you.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
So, who has the best health service? Is it Australia or is it the UK? I
realised to answer that question would take the wisdom of a
"Kinsey" or the authority of a "Lord Stevens" to write a full report,
and not the dabblings of a BobinOz.
I had the same doctor for probably 25 years and never really had a
problem with him. When I went, waiting time could vary between
15 minutes and an hour and a half. But when I did get to see him,
he was usually very fast to make his "diagnosis", write out a
prescription and say "next!"
Waiting times to see my local doctor seem much shorter and when I
do see him, he has more time to chat. The visit itself is far more
sociable.
As he said "it may take a month before you get to see him, by
which time my medication may have worked. If it does, just cancel
your appointment with the specialist. But if it doesn't, you don't
want to be wasting time waiting."
Many people in
Australia have
private health
insurance. A friend
of mine put a
circular saw through
his hand a while
back but received
excellent healthcare
thanks to his $200 a
month contribution
to private health
insurance, which
covers his family of
five.
But my best guess is, if you don't have private health insurance you
will still get treatment. And it might just possibly be quicker than
the treatment you'd get in the UK under the National Health
Service.
I’ll leave the last word on that to these statistics: Australians are
now the second longest living people on earth. A baby born in
Australia today can expect to live to 81.4 years of age. That’s 79 for
boys and 84 for girls. If you want to live longer, go to Japan.
Parking
When I considered ditching the health service entry, this was what I
was going to replace it with. But I decided to talk about the health
service all the same and keep parking in too. So here we have it, in
joint place at the 16th.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
November 2007
Just a few days later we were christening our new swimming pool…
Bob’s Oz Tips:
Here is one that is over the road, just a few minutes walk:
Here's one that is just around the corner, about five minutes walk.
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Page 35
What It’s Really Like To Live In Australia.
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Here's one that's at the top of our hill, which is about seven or eight
minutes walk.
And here’s the one where my wife will take our daughter along with
our dog, Baggy.
It’s got the Brisbane River behind it, which we now call……..
They come to this park because it is a lovely children's park. It's got
a flying fox, swings, slides, a sand pit and some climbing frames.
Children have birthday parties here on a regular basis. There are
barbecue facilities, free of course, the river in the background and….
Dog Parks are an absolutely fantastic idea. Not just for the dogs,
but for the children too. Here's why. A Dog Park is the only place a
dog is allowed to run around off the leash.
So we have parks for children and we have parks for dogs. That
means it is illegal for a dog to run around off the lead in a children's
park. How wonderful is that?
If you've ever been in a park like that with a young child, and seen
a Rottweiler charging towards him or her whilst the dogs owner is
attempting to call it back, you'll appreciate just how good this is.
And Dog Parks are excellent for the dogs too. Because instead of
having a couple of dogs walking in any one of the 10 surrounding
parks, you all get 20 dogs all turning up at the same park.
Do you have any idea how exciting this is for a dog? Instead of just
one other bottom to smell, your dog now has a choice of 19 other
bottoms. This is dog Heaven!
I'm not sure about every Dog Park, but our one has a community
noticeboard and every now and again they put on an event for the
dogs. Last year, the dogs had a Christmas party! Each dog owner
had to bring a doggy present, wrapped of course, and put it in the
lucky dip box.
Of course Baggy went, he got a squeaky rag doll, and he still plays
with it now.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
When I lived in England, going to the pub was quite simply part of
the tradition. Nobody in the world does pubs better than the UK.
On the other hand, Australia are pretty bad at the whole pub thing.
There is no such thing as a traditional Australian pub. Well, if there
is, it's like a Beefeater pub or a JD Wetherspoon's pub. Except
instead of the teak or oak tables with solid wooden chairs, you can
substitute the kind of table and chairs you used to sit on when you
ate your school dinners.
I am probably not being fair here, because I get the impression the
pubs in the Brisbane suburbs do not accurately reflect the average
Australian pub countrywide. Brisbane is comparatively new
compared to the other cities. The pubs I saw in Melbourne were
much better.
We mustn't forget also that Australia is much more than five or six
cities. There are thousands of small communities with populations
of between 500 and a few thousand people, and central to most of
those communities is the pub.
If you really want to make the pub a central part of your life, I'd go
and live in one of those rural locations.
But let's face it, pubs in England aren't what they used to be,
thanks largely to see the big pub chains who are taking over the
Of the city…….
And if ever I do find myself pining for the pub environment again,
there is always the local Sports and Recreational Centre.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
Australia has bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, silver, uranium,
nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas
and petroleum.
I was having dinner once with an older (and wiser) Australian bloke
a while back and he said …..
"Yes, Australia has lots of resources, but do you know the one
resource they don't have enough of?"
"I dunno.”
“People” he said.
That's all just off the top of my head. I know there are more
examples.
None of these people are lazy, they just all have more work than
they can handle. So they just pick and choose their jobs.
I asked one of the locals here why so many adverts include that
sentence. And the answer was simple. Because so many tradies
really don't turn up.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
1. Put on pants.
2. Put on shorts.
3. Put on T-shirt.
And it's not just me, take a look at some of these pictures taken of
complete strangers, slap bang in the middle of winter. 12th of
August 2009 to be precise……
So those were from winter, but this next photograph was taken
during the summer, back in February.
A suit and tie is a real rarity out here. I have seen them, but I am
hard pressed to think where. I haven't seen them much in the
business world, that's for sure. Chinos and a short-sleeved shirt
being more common there.
There are exceptions though and some places put up a dress code.
I've seen it in a few places and it normally goes like this.
Dress Code
Tops must be worn at all times.
No thongs allowed!
Let me explain all that to you. You can't enter without some kind of
vest or T-shirt. And thongs, out here, are flip-flops. So, put a top on
and don't wear flip-flops. And you're in!
I just remembered the last time I saw somebody wearing a suit and
tie.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
Taipan: RUN!
I know a lot of people are concerned, no, very worried, about what
they might bump into here in Australia. But again, please don't
It's difficult not to, everything is so lush and so green for much of
the time and then becomes so brown and so dry for the rest of it.
It's fascinating.
We also get triffids but they were out of season at the time of writing.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
The worst I have ever seen, and I have been looking out for it, is a
waived fist or a raised middle finger. About three times I have heard
somebody honk their horn, but I've never really seen who honked
or why they honked or who they honked at.
Back in the UK, it was much easier to trace the source of the
honking. Just look for the red-faced driver whose temple was about
to explode, he'd be the one driving the car with plumes of tyre
smoke behind him.
If you're still having difficulty tracking him down, just look in the
direction from where the noisy wheel screeching is almost, but not
quite, drowning the sound of foul language which is filling the air.
And behind that car was slowly building up a long line of cars. I
watched this situation with some fascination. Lisa took fully five
minutes, possibly more, before she finally got in the car and fired it
up. By this time the line of cars behind her was about 30 to 40 long.
Open Roads.
But from what I can see, these kinds of situation are pretty much
restricted to the major cities and their immediate surroundings
during rush hour only.
Here in Australia you may find traffic if you are in Sydney, Brisbane,
Melbourne, Adelaide (possibly), Perth or Canberra. Other than that,
the roads are clear.
Part of the fun of road rage is that you need a really bad traffic jam
with very long delays to wind you up first. You just can't beat sitting
nose to tail for more than an hour in cold, rainy and grey conditions
to put you into the perfect mood for punching somebody's lights
out.
And the petrol is cheaper! What more could you ask for?
So compared with how it used to be, perhaps traffic is "bad". But I'd
say you don't know when you have it so good.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
• Leave your road rage, if you have it, back in England, you
won’t be needing it here.
• Prepare for a major change in the way you feel about driving.
• Try not to laugh when Australians complain about traffic.
Number 8: Schools
In the picture of the school above, you can just about make out the
school building, top left. Behind the tennis courts are the large
green playing fields. This school is 20 minutes from the city centre.
Playing fields, some climbing frames at the back and the school to the left.
That sort of chaos doesn't happen here. Most of the schools have
plenty of room around them and those that don't have large car
parks in their own grounds.
But again, as with traffic jams, schools in the centre of cities may
be different.
Schools are also far more communal here, in as much as they are
often asking for volunteers to help around the school. Parents are
also encouraged to sit in the classroom for an afternoon and help
out.
They don't have school dinners like they do in the UK, but some
schools do run a canteen known as a "tuck shop". Again, these tuck
shops are run by volunteers.
Bullying.
Bullying does happen in schools and often if it does, the local police
are called in to lecture the guilty child. In fact, such an incident hit
the national news the other week.
The incident was described like this "An older girl bullied a
classmate in the toilets, while the younger girl took photos on a
mobile phone.”
The State School Teachers Union's David Kelly said bullying should
not be taken lightly.
WOW!
"Ah yes, good afternoon. It's the school here, there's been some
bullying in the toilets, we'd like you to come down and talk to one
of the older girls. Oh, and bring “The Sun” with you, this is a big
story, I'm sure they'll be interested in the scoop ".
Bob’s Oz Tips:
I have given “Australia – It’s The Great Outdoors” its own position
here at number seven in my countdown, simply because it deserves
a mention all on its own. It is so influential in how much I love
Australia.
But if you look at all the entries so far, and you will also see in
entries yet to come, there is a theme of outdoor life in almost all of
them.
The outdoors of England would more often than not be either cold,
wet, windy or grey. More often than not, for the people who do not
know England, means around 75% of the time. (Source: I'm
guessing!) England does have a summer, they had one in 1976. But
since then, the summers have tended to be more like brief sunny
spells.
And because it is so hilly around here, you will often find yourself
driving past stunning views like this…….
Bob’s Oz Tips:
But in a world league table showing rapes per capita for 65 different
nations, Australia comes third (UK 13th), only South Africa and the
Seychelles are worse.
That source also has a category called “total crime victims”, here's
what they say about that category.
#1 Australia: 30.1%
#2 New Zealand: 29.4%
#3 United Kingdom: 26.4%
Source: www.nationmaster.com/
So now it no longer looks like there's "not much in it" and more like
Australia has a worse crime rate than England. So why do I have it
in here as reason number six?
First off, I've never been a great fan of statistics and crime statistics
are probably more dodgy than most. If I want to collect statistics on
rainfall, I stick a bucket out into the open and I buy myself a ruler.
What can possibly go wrong?
“I am in New Zealand and while we don't consider crime to be a big issue the low
crime rate means the police spend more time looking for it. You are far more likely
here to be brought before a court for a minor issue than in say UK (where I am also
familiar) where you will just be let off with a warning. I also know that a minor
assault in UK is not a 'recordable' offence whereas in NZ it is.”
Secondly, it's easy for me to say "it feels safer", but what do others
think? What better place to go to find out than at a forum full of
people who used to live in the UK and now live in Australia.
A woman who was a police officer in Birmingham for eight years when she lived in
the UK, she said that she found Australia to have less crime than the UK and that she
felt safer here.
Another woman who acknowledged that Australia wasn't crime free but said that she
felt much safer here than in the UK. She was happy to walk her dog in the dark here
because she would meet people happy to say hello, instead of yobs getting drunk.
A man who said he had never felt unsafe here in Australia. He also pointed out that
the distance between pubs and houses meant you didn't see drunken louts walking
home, unless you lived right in the city or inner suburbs.
And probably most interesting of all was a comment from a woman who asked her
14-year-old daughter what she liked best about living in Australia. On the very top of
this girls list of things was "I feel safe here going out". And these people didn't live in
a "bad" area in England before they moved to Australia.
So it's not just me, other people feel safer here too. Including the
14-year-old girl of that last quote - and it is her statement that I
think is the most encouraging in regards to the state of law and
order in Australia.
You may think a 50 year old man like myself clearly doesn't get into
the kind of areas where trouble is likely to happen. So what do I
know? Well, I have been to the city many times to uphold that great
British tradition of going on a pub crawl.
I've been in the bars until 3 am in the morning; I've got the last bus
home at 12:15 am with all the other drunks; I've eaten kebabs in
the streets at 2 am; I've watched the FA Cup final live in the early
hours with 600 other chanting football fans; but I have still never
seen a hint of trouble.
But that’s not to say that there isn’t trouble, because in certain
notorious hotspots, there certainly is. For example, on the Gold
Coast, at Surfers Paradise, you won't want to be mixing it with the
But these are all in major city centres and known for their high
concentration of drinking venues. Kids go there to have fun but end
up drinking too much and sometimes it goes pair shaped.
Why?
Because just like the others have said above, whatever the
statistics say about Australia and despite those city trouble spots,
generally speaking "it feels safer" here.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
• You can stare at stats all day long about crime in Australia,
but only by living here will you see how much safer it feels.
• Avoid those city trouble spots.
• Gang culture is not in evidence on the streets.
As we head into the top five, we are entering areas that have been
well discussed on my blog, for obvious reasons; we are now looking
at the five things I like the most about Australia.
After deciding it was checkout number five, you would make your
way there with great speed only to see two other shoppers appear
from separate aisles just nanoseconds before you secured your spot
at the end of that queue.
So you would choose a different queue, yes the one where the till
roll will run out.
I'm not saying we don’t have queues here at the supermarket, but
they are shorter that's for sure.
‘Nuff said.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
I am, of course, aware that the same thing could be said about
England. It is actually a fact that you are never more than 70 miles
away from the beach in England.
Or this……..
Or this…..
Bob’s Oz Tips:
Like this….
Example 1
• Detached.
• Three bedrooms.
• One bathroom.
• Garage.
• On 1012 square metres of land.
• 46 km from Brisbane.
Example 2
• Detached.
• Four bedrooms.
• Three living areas.
• Outdoor spa and barbecue area.
• No neighbours in sight.
• Minutes from M1 and schools.
• Beautiful gardens.
• Secluded.
• On over seven acres of land.
• 44 km from Brisbane.
Example 3
• Detached.
• Five bedrooms.
• Two living areas.
• Close to shops and beach.
• On 556 square metres.
• 108 km from Canberra.
The house I bought here in Australia cost two thirds of the price I
sold the one in England for, is on land at leased six times bigger
and the house itself is twice as big inside compared to my old one.
There, I will leave it for you to decide, based on where you live, if
houses are cheaper here or not.
Bob’s Oz Tips:
I just love the weather here. The sky (nearly) always looks like
this……..
Well, not for me. After almost 5 decades of English weather, which
comprises of course of mainly grey, dull skies, drizzle, (Australia
doesn't do drizzle), wind, cold and out and out rain when it's not
drizzly, the continuous sunshine is a real treat.
I have said it before, but it is worth saying again. Dull and grey
equals depressing. Sunny with clear blue skies equals happy.
This……….
When I think about what it's really like to live in Australia, and
especially when I try to compare it with how my life used to be in
England, I can think of only one thing.
But far more than all that, and most important of all, it's spending
much more time with my family.
There is always something on, we've been to the Ekka, we've been
to Greenfest, we've been to the Brookfield Show, we've been to the
local school fete, we've been to Queensland Day in the park.
We've been to a
classic car show in
Cleveland, we've
been to a regatta
on Bribie Island,
we've been to
beaches
everywhere, we've
been to theme
parks, we've been
to the zoo, we
have been to so
many places.
Bob
www.BobinOz.com
Contact information:
Bob@BobinOz.com