Howdy. I've been thinking lately about trying to move to Australia (seems like the best choiche for me). For a few years atleast, maybe for the rest of my life if everything goes well.
I've got a lot of questions to ask and I need to do more research myself, but I'd apperciate if some of you immigrants/locals could answer some of my questions.
Oh, and I'm from Finland, if it makes any difference.
1. Job market
Do Australian companies hire foreign truck drivers easily (is it easy to get work visa that way?)? Is it easy to get adjusted to driving on the "wrong" side of the road? How much work experience I need to get in Finland before they even consider me? Do I need to drive my truck driver's license again in Aussieland? If I manage to get some kind of visa that allows me to work and stay in the country for a while with out getting employed first, are local companies willing to hire me if I have no experience what-so-ever and I just got my license (in Australia)?
I know that getting an university education would increase my chances of immigrating, but at the moment I just want to find a job with out much of stress nor social interaction and preferably a chance to work outside big cities as much as possible. Driving trough deserts etc.
Are the mining industry jobs completely out of question if you're not an engineer or something similiar? I read that atleast "back in the day" you could make a fortune by driving a mining truck even if you didnt have any kind of formal education. Does that still apply today?
Are there any other similiar jobs in Australia where a young guy can make a decent salary with out any education? Oil industry? Logging?
Anything where you work in nature and alone, driving a truck or something. I know that the area where mining companies operate isnt the most scenic area, that's the reason why they pay so much for it, right? The scenery is dull, the climate is hot and it can be mentally tough to work long days in those conditions in the middle of nowhere. Or atleast that's what I've read...
Anyways, I'd rather work in a place like that (atleast aslong as I can listen to my mp3 player while working
) than in a crowded mall working at the customer service.
Are there any sites where you can contact Australian mining, trucking etc companies?
I might try to become a forest/park ranger later. But I need to collect some cash before that.
Is there any need for that kind of professionals down there?
2. Climate and geography
I can live anywhere in Australia if I have to, but once I've got some savings for myself, I'd prefer moving to the north.
I'm looking for a place with a tropical climate. Lush vegetation and loads of annual precipitation.
Which area is better: Areas near Darwin or areas near Cairns? Darwin seems to have a more distinct dry season.
Innisfail, Queensland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia this looks pretty nice.
One of the reasons why espescially northern Australia seems appealing to me, is that atleast on paper it seems good for survivalism. Tropical climate, low population density, fairly isolated.
I know that I probably cant find my dream climate from there, but this would be my ideal:
-A lot of annual rainfall. A lot of rainy days. I'd rather have "it rains often for 2-3 hours" than "it rains once a month for 15 minutes" for 3 reasons (I'm no climate expert so correct me If I'm wrong, but this seems logical to me)
-More rainy days, longer and less intense rainshowers-> Less flooding -> Less damage to my property, better for self-sufficiency
-More rainy days in a year, no dry season -> Less drought -> Less damage to my property, better for self-sufficiency
-More cloudy -> Less UV radiation ->Smaller chance of skin cancer, no need for expensive sunscreen
- Not so swelteringly hot. I know it's tropical and all so I gotta get used to heat and humidity and that's fine with me, but the less there is need for airconditioning, the better.
So if there is a sea breeze or something like that, it would be great.
Also it would be great to live near to a lake or the sea. Maybe it's the inner Finn in me, but I just need that. Being able to go fishing, swimming etc.
I've watched quite a lot of documentaries about the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean, and it seems to me like there isnt as much annual sunshine on those islands as one might think. I like that, cloudy but yet not that dark, while it's still warm enough to be completely naked outside (not that I'd like to do that :P) and still not feel cold at all. I personally actually prefer a bit gloomy weather over super bright skies and sunshine 12 hours a day. Not that there would be something wrong with that kind of weather, but I just dont want it 365 days a year.
How much the room temperature is usually there in the North, if you dont use airconditioning? My bedroom temp. has been 27-28C most of the time for the past month or so with also quite a bit of humidity. I find it uncomfortable at times, not that I sweat that much, but I cant fall asleep for some reason. My PC room's temperature is usually at around 30-31C during the summer (even though there's usually just a few days above 30C during the summer in Finland, our houses tend to heat up). Is it worse than that in northern Australia, if I save electricity by not using AC? Is building underground common in the North? According to Wikipedia, it's common in Coober pedy.
Despite the fact that I'm looking for isolation, peace and quiet, I still want to be able to work when I need cash and I want a decent internet connection, not that it should be a problem in a 1st world country like Australia.
3. Culture and politics
Like I said, I'm willing to work anywhere when I'm collecting money, but I'd like to settle in a rural community up North if I feel like Australia is the better country for me.
Is it easy for me to assimilate to a small rural town? I'm not coming there to make friends (I don't meant to sound like a self-centered douchebag when I say that, believe me), but I want that the local community accepts me.
I'd like to buy a fairly large piece of land from a remote area and aim for high level of self-sufficiency. Try to get most of the electricity that I use from solar panels, grow and hunt my own food and so on.
How about political views? Would I fit in? I'm personally socially conservative but I consider myself mostly as a minarchist(ish), although I don't oppose all government safety nets nor minimal public healthcare if most people support it.
But I personally dont want that tax money is used to subsidize culture, government bailouts to corporations etc. I'm against NATO (and EU) and I think that governments/nations should mind their own business. Despite my social conservatism, I feel that if consenting adults want to do something stupid/immoral with their own money (like using drugs), it's their problem, and the state shouldnt interfere with that aslong as they dont hurt other innocent people/children/animals/other people's property in the process.
The gun poltics seem to be pretty strict in Australia. Are Australians generally anti-gun? I personally think that in a free country, people who don't have a criminal record or severe mental health problems should be allowed to own firearms pretty freely. I don't feel like fighting about the subject on this forum, although I could link various statistics that indicate that there is no correlation between high gun ownership and gun violence if socioeconomic conditions are good, so let's not get into that.
So I'll just ask: if I live a fairly rural lifestyle, can I get guns for hunting and protection against feral animals without expensive and tedious bureaucracy?
Wikipedia says:
"Category C: Semi-automatic rimfire rifles holding 10 or fewer rounds and pump-action or semi-automatic shotguns holding 5 or fewer rounds. "
Does that mean that I can buy a semi-automatic AR15 and buy a 30 round magazine to it?
I personally think that the UK is becoming one big police/nanny state. Do Australians generally agree with this notion? Do people see increasing governmental power and supervision as a threat to freedom?
There seems to be a lot of censorship going on in Australia these days. Can I bring games from this list
List of banned video games - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia with me to Australia? I happen to own Silent Hill homecoming, Mortal Kombat and L4D2... so would they confiscate all of those games from me at the border? If so, is it possible to get a fine or something if I try to bring those games secretly with me? I paid good money for them and they're a part of my video game collection so I'd rather not sell them.
According to wikipedia you can get a $110,000 fine for bringing a copy of Mortal Kombat with you to Australia. No offence but that sounds kinda...schizophrenic? It reminds me of those "man got a 126 year sentence for stealing a bike"-type of stories you hear from the USA.
Anyways, that's all the questions that I have in my mind at the moment.
Thanks in advance for people who'll answer to my questions, and I'm sorry if the text is filled with typos, I'm very tired at the moment.
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