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As far as short distance culture changes are concerned, even though places like Norfolk Island, Alice Springs, Darwin or Broome are in Aus, they are a world away from Sydney or Melbourne.
I've also been to most of these places...
Alice Springs - yes, it's different and interesting. You can see Uluru (Ayers Rock) and a few other interesting geographical features. But other than that it's a desert version of Nome, Alaska or Iqaluit, Nunavut. Not much to do for a stay beyond a few days.
Darwin again is different from the big Aussie capital cities but beyond that the interest is limited aside from being the jumping-off-point for Kakadu which is admittedly fantastic.
Broome doesn't offer that much more than what you can get in some locales up the coast of Queensland. Plus a plane ticket from Sydney to Broome is often about the same as a ticket from NYC to Paris or London.
Alice Springs - yes, it's different and interesting. You can see Uluru (Ayers Rock) and a few other interesting geographical features. But other than that it's a desert version of Nome, Alaska or Iqaluit, Nunavut. Not much to do for a stay beyond a few days.
Darwin again is different from the big Aussie capital cities but beyond that the interest is limited aside from being the jumping-off-point for Kakadu which is admittedly fantastic.
Broome doesn't offer that much more than what you can get in some locales up the coast of Queensland. Plus a plane ticket from Sydney to Broome is often about the same as a ticket from NYC to Paris or London.
You didn't notice the high indigenous population in those locations, or that within a very short distance of each there are people living a lifestyle very much anchored in traditional Aboriginal culture. And you didn't notice or take advantage of the opportunity to immerse yourself in those cultures, perhaps by spending a few days on the land of one of the local peoples......
You didn't notice the high indigenous population in those locations, or that within a very short distance of each there are people living a lifestyle very much anchored in traditional Aboriginal culture. And you didn't notice or take advantage of the opportunity to immerse yourself in those cultures, perhaps by spending a few days on the land of one of the local peoples......
In my mind that's part of the allure of a place like Kakadu, which I already acknowledged in my post.
North America has a greater variety of different and interesting stuff that's accessible within shorter distances. I don't really think that can be disputed, even if yes there's lots of cool stuff in and (somewhat) near Australia too.
Yes I read it. Looked like an anecdote about a single girl. Not sure that describes the national culture with regard to drink driving.
My experience is that there are strict laws that are heavily enforced and the one is almost a social pariah if you drink and drive. Might just be my age group though.
Well, certainly I can only comment on the people I’ve actually met, and not on the whole country or culture as such. I’m sure that there are tough laws and that things used to be even worse. But looking at statistics still indicates that Australia has more to do regarding getting the number of people killed in road accidents down (which I guess has something to do with drink and driving). For example, according to Wikipedia, fatal road accidents per 100 000 inhabitants per year number 5.4 in Australia, while numbering 2.2 in Norway, 2.8 in Sweden, 2.9 in UK, 3.7 in Spain and 3.4 in the Netherlands. In fact, I only found a handful of western countries (including NZ, Canada and the US) that has higher numbers than Australia.
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Originally Posted by Bakery Hill
Australia and Canada offer one thing that the UK can never match: climate and geographic diversity, and the lifestyle options that flow from that.
Yes, both Canada and Australia seem outdo the UK and seems to have lot in common. Vast countries with few major cities, epic nature, strong economies and so on. Both comparing Canada to Australia, do we find any differences (besides the obvious: climate and geographical location)? I’ve gotten the impression that salaries are slightly higher in Canada, that Canada is cheaper, and that housing is better. On the other hand, Australia does seem to have more social security like parental leave and paid vacation days. What do you think, which one is better?
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Originally Posted by MarisaMay
Just out of curiosity, what would Europeans spend their money on that we do not?
I know that in Italy a lot more emphasis is on clothes and grooming. In Spain, on buying high quality food ingredients.
I am not sure who you mix with and I have to say that when my own kids were your age, they were living in Europe and deciding whether to try for permanent residency and an EU passport. What pulled them back here was the desire to raise their children with family around. To them that outweighed the pros and cons of Europe vs here. They found it very difficult to make friends with the locals in London despite trying hard. I think locals see you as transitory and that could be a factor with you.
You would not be in a position to know just how little drinking and driving there is now compared to forty years ago. There may be remnants of that culture but in NSW there is an amazing difference to years gone by. My nephew is your age and at his 21st, they did not get anywhere near the bar tab. So many of his friends are Asian and very light or non drinkers. Forty years ago we used to drink and drive, drink when pregnant, drink at sixteen as there was no check of IDs.
Well first of all, most of Europe is far from as wealthy as the area in Australia I live in right now. The closest suburbs to where I’m located has average house prices around 1 million AUD. So, the shear wealth gives people around here different opportunities than most Europeans. Comparing to Sweden, many Swedish people have to houses (one they live in and one they use during summer), goes abroad (to Europe) a few times a year and such. But we have much less of the boats, wind surfing, going out sort of culture. Even compared to Sweden, we have lower salaries and higher taxes, so much less money to spend. But we do not pay for education or healthcare.
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Originally Posted by ilovelondon
That geographic proximity is one of the best things about living in the UK as it is a major hub for budget airlines. Plus with strict competition, airlines like BA and Norwegian offer cheap fares. And also rail services to the continent. You can have weekend trips with the lads to Amsterdam or a romantic weekend getaway to Paris, or a weeklong trip to Morocco or Turkey without feeling jet-lagged. Because London is a major hub, there are direct flights to Tokyo, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, Rio, Mexico City, Cape Town, Nairobi, etc.
Yes, as a fellow European I know that it is nice to be able to have a get-away to some European country for vacation. But how often do you do that in reality? Does that really cover for the fact that the economy is not as strong, the climate is not as good, housing is terrible and so on?
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Originally Posted by saibot
I have to question whether someone who says "guns" are the #1 reason not to consider the US as a place to live really knows enough about the US to decide they don't want to live there.
Well, crime is in fact the number one thing that throws me off the States. But, guns are co-related to that. Just look at the statistics of it, most European countries have murder rates per 100 000 inhabitants that are between 0.5 -2.5. In fact, almost all European countries lie below 1.5. There are only a handful of states within the US that can match that, and all of them are northern states. Some other examples are Florida 5.0, Illinois 7.8, Alaska 8.4, Nevada 9.1 and worst of all Louisiana 12.4. Countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba, Gambia and Sudan have lower numbers than that. So, yes I want to survive hence I do not wish to live in US.
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Originally Posted by Greysholic
The UK is a league below Canada and Australia in pretty much every front. It's just not doing well. According to almost every single metric you can find out there Australia and Canada are both quite far ahead and the trend is not reversing. Especially Australia.
How does Canada and Australia do when compared to each other?
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Originally Posted by Acajack
In my mind that's part of the allure of a place like Kakadu, which I already acknowledged in my post.
North America has a greater variety of different and interesting stuff that's accessible within shorter distances. I don't really think that can be disputed, even if yes there's lots of cool stuff in and (somewhat) near Australia too.
Would you say that the shear greatness and variation of stuff to do in North America would make Canada a better place to live than Australia?
You are in Perth, where immense wealth was created during the mining boom. A lot of wealth came to people from non-professional backgrounds, especially tradies. My hairdresser's son, at 19, was earning a fortune as a FIFO worker. A lot of these people would have splurged on "toys" such as boats, because they could. Often they were too young and not sufficiently financially experienced to invest in longer term things.
The boom has finished and things are back more to a normal level. The house prices in Perth overall are much cheaper than Sydney and Melbourne and the unemployment level is higher.
I think anyone I know who has considered Canada versus Australia really looks at the preferred weather. I personally loathe the hot humid weather we are baking in here in Sydney right at the moment. We had a few days in Norway a while ago and it was stunning. However the people we met were so excited by the fine sunny weather that we could only assume it was quite unusual. Here it gets very hot in summer almost everywhere.
Really, if you want an outdoor, daytime type of life, stick with Oz. If you like skiing, Canada. If you want more of a night culture, the UK. I just love London. I have travelled a lot and it is the only place I wished I could have lived at least for a while.
I don't really get why some view a 10 or 13 hour flight (eg Sydney to Honolulu or San Francisco) as some sort of ordeal. It can actually be pretty pleasant way to relax, get into your vacation mindset by watching a few movies, reading and eating a few reasonable meals.
It is an ordeal. If you're used to flights of 5 to 7 hours tops (Toronto-LA and Toronto-Vancouver are each about 5 hours, Toronto-London is 7 hours, meanwhile Toronto-Calgary and Calgary-Las Vegas are each about 3.5 hours), then 10 to 13 hours is an ordeal. I'd like to visit Australia again, but what is stopping me is the 14-hour nonstop flight from Vancouver to Sydney--not even a "have a walk around the terminal" break in Honolulu.
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If you spend 24 hours in the air with a couple of layovers of 6 or 8 hours each added, that is when it gets exhausting.
Been there, done that. I flew a few times between Toronto, Canada and Perth, Australia--about halfway around the world. Three-hour (or so) layovers in Honolulu and Sydney, for a total of 30 hours in transit. Then I did it back again a few weeks later. Then I did it all over again a year or so later, and another year or so later. I will agree; such trips are indeed exhausting, though the two layovers did allow me to take a break and walk more than fifty feet in one direction.
It is an ordeal. If you're used to flights of 5 to 7 hours tops (Toronto-LA and Toronto-Vancouver are each about 5 hours, Toronto-London is 7 hours, meanwhile Toronto-Calgary and Calgary-Las Vegas are each about 3.5 hours), then 10 to 13 hours is an ordeal. I'd like to visit Australia again, but what is stopping me is the 14-hour nonstop flight from Vancouver to Sydney--not even a "have a walk around the terminal" break in Honolulu.
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I am exactly the same as you. 10-12 hour flights are horrible. I am fairly tall and since I don't have money to throw out the window for business or first class, it's always economy for me unless I guess lucky.
It's perfectly OK to sit up straight but extending my legs or getting more comfortable in any way on a long-haul flight (which is really what you need in order for it to be pleasant) is a big challenge.
And BTW I've done a number of these long haul flights to southern parts of South America and Oceania including Australia.
Well, all the Aussie's I've come into contact with are outrageous and friendly.
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