20 Reasons Why

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia.
20 Reasons Why YOU Should Move to Australia.
www.BobinOz.com
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What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com
First Edition August 2009
Contact information:
Author: BobinOz You can contact BobinOz at: Bob@BobinOz.com BobinOz.com is owned by:
Web Products Pty Ltd PO Box 1042 Kenmore QLD 4069 Australia
This ebook is available free to anyone who enters their name and email address over at www.BobinOz.com/blog If you're serious about moving to Australia, where are you going to live? Get ideas from www.BobinOz.com Find out more about BobinOz over at www.bobinoz.com/blog/about-me/ If you find anything in this book to be incorrect, misleading or upsetting, or even if you just find a typo, I'd be really pleased to hear your feedback. Contact me at Bob@BobinOz.com
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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.
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My Disclaimer:
Don't blame me! There, that's covered everything. Although I would like to mention just a couple more points.
Firstly, before I moved to Australia, I did live in England for almost 50 years; it's the only other country I have ever lived in. So throughout this book you will see many comparisons with England and references back to England.
I hope anyone reading this book who doesnt 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. Secondly, I would like to point out that in spite of the impression I may give, England was (and still is) a fine country in which to live. It is just vastly different from Australia, and rains a lot.
Thank you.
On with the book.
Foreword.
Is Australia The Lucky Country?

On the 12th November I boarded a plane at Heathrow that was bound for Brisbane International Airport. It was a one-way ticket. I have now made Australia my home after having lived in the UK for almost half a century. Yes, aged 49 I quit Britain for good. But what's it really like to live in Australia? Does it live up to the dream? Is Australia really The Lucky Country? When the Australian author and former editor of Newsweek International, Professor Donald Horne, coined the phrase (and wrote the book of the same title) back in 1964, he was being ironic. The full context was 'Australia is a lucky country, run by secondrate people who share its luck.' But Australia's nickname of The Lucky Country stuck, with most people using it to describe the wonderful weather, the beautiful beaches, the nation's good fortune with gold mines, its remoteness from world trouble spots and its general laid-back lifestyle. Even Kylie Minogue, one of Australia's greatest exports, sang I Should Be So Lucky, Lucky, Lucky, Lucky!
So, what's it really like?
Some may argue, and successfully, that I can't possibly know enough about Australia yet to answer that question. But few can disagree that I am not well placed to compare Australia with the UK. Cmon almost half a century! I am very familiar with England. But in Australia, I am undoubtedly still in the honeymoon period. That's why I have decided to call this the first edition. If, or when my opinions change, so will this e-book. That way I hope to keep the information fresh, relevant and completely up-to-date. Given my age, I am apparently soon to enter The Grumpy Period. My wife tells me I already have, she even bought me a cup to prove it.
But am I grumpy here? No, well not as grumpy as I was in England. But I am sure, given time, my grumpiness will increase. Expect later editions to be grumpier. But let's not worry about that now, this is edition one. They have a TV programme here in Australia, which I have a feeling has been running for many years. It's called 20 To 1 and is hosted by a rather surreal looking Bert Newton......
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! But he hasn't covered 20 Reasons Why YOU Should Move to Australia. So I will. Let the countdown begin!
Number 20: No More Double Glazing Salesmen

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? Youve 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. Double glazing in Australia is quite rare, certainly in Queensland, although I understand some houses do have it installed. There are double glazing companies here in Australia. So I suspect there are some double glazing salesmen. But I have never met one. Windows in Australia As a general rule windows are single glazed, but an essential addition to all opening windows would be the insect screens, which are a fixed mesh netting, to prevent mosquitoes, flies, cicadas, cockroaches and all other airborne enemies from entering your home.
But guess what? I never met an insect screen salesman either!
Salesmen in Australia Salesmen, or generally salespeople I should say, are a lot less in your face here than they are in other countries, particularly England and the United States. I am sure the following would not have happened in either of those two countries. When we first arrived here we needed a new kitchen fitted and we found a store over at a retail park in Jindalee that sold kitchens. It only had two on display. But we were told the salesman could show us more designs but we would need to leave our name and telephone number so he could contact us. So we did just that. Did we ever hear from him? No! We went to a store in Rocklea who also had some kitchen cabinets on display and said they could also make replacement doors to order. Again we needed to leave our name and telephone number. Again nobody called.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com 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. We decided to go ahead and telephoned to place the order. About an hour later somebody called us back and said "sorry, we got our quote wrong. We haven't included the cost of rebuilding the drawer unit, so it's now $3,700. Is that okay?" We didn't think so. So we cancelled the order and I kind of expected a salesperson to call us back at a later point to try and do a deal. Did anybody ever call us back? No! We found someone called Maurice who specialised in replacement kitchen doors and his advert said that he would come around and measure up for free. And he did. He was around our house for more than two hours with his tape measure. "I'll get back to you with a quote he said. Did he? No! We began to realise that things work slightly different down here. Back in England, we would be pestered by salespeople. Here, if you want something done, you have to pester the salesman. So we did. We pestered Maurice for his quote until eventually he admitted "I can't find anyone to cut the doors for your kitchen". Maurices business card said "we supply and fit replacement kitchen doors". Amazing!
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com 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. Did any of them phone us back to ask what we thought of the houses they had shown us, or if we wanted to put ours on the market? Just one of them did, we've heard nothing from any of the others. What's This? A Door to Door Salesman? More popular than double glazing is solar heating. About a month ago, a guy holding a clipboard walked up our drive. I happened to be in the garage at the time so I went out to greet him. "Hey, how are you doing?" I asked. We don't get many visitors. "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%.
Only when the rebate was secured would this company ask me for the balance, which would be $2200. They would then fit the solar panels and I would save, not should save, not possibly save, but WOULD save 675kw per quarter, which is $200. He then asked if I was interested.
Yeah, sure I was! I already have solar panels that provide all of my hot water, and it works great. I expressed a good deal of interest but as I was in the middle of doing something, I asked him if he had any brochures. "I will email you the information" he said. Sure enough, he did the very next day. Have I ever heard from him since? No! Telephone Sales What you will get are lots of telephone calls from canvassers, but you will see it coming a mile off. Youll 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 . "Can I speak to the owner"? Originally, my response would be to ask exactly what the call was about but that seemed to just make them repeat "hello, how are you today?" Again I would ask what the call is about. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 12
"Hello, I am calling from mumble mumble how are you? Me: "Calling from where?" "Hello, I am calling from incomprehensible mumble again how are you? Me: Look, can you just tell me exactly what you want? "Yes, hello, how are you today?" Me: "please just tell me what you want" "Yes, how are you today?" ---------------------------------------------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.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com Bobs 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.
Number 19: Hot Holiday Destinations Without Grabbing Your Passport

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. Do you know how much fun it is to just load up the car, jump in the driver's seat and hit the open road? No passports to grab, no tickets to check, no foreign currency to exchange, no queuing at airports, no interrogation by Customs and no delays.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com 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. We discovered the joys of this kind of holiday on our first ever Australian road trip which I'm sure many of you have read about on my blog. We covered 4774 km but we have a lot more yet to do to cover this great country. 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. I do love road trips but depending on where in Australia you live and where you want to go, sometimes it does make sense to catch an airplane. I am in Brisbane, so if I want to see Perth, unless I have a couple of months to spare, I'm going to need to get on a plane. But catching a plane here is like getting on a bus, just a lot more expensive. 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. Some Australian holiday destination suggestions are: The Great Barrier Reef pretty fish and corals. The Kimberleys stunning scenery, wilderness and gorges. Broome NorthWest Australia coastal town where bush meets the sea. The Great Ocean Road more bush meets the sea plus a stunning drive. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 16
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com The Whitsundays sailing and access to The Great Barrier Reef. The Hunter Valley - wine region and Wollemi National Park Blue Mountains - glass bottomed sky car and caves. Phillip Island - Penguin Parade, koalas and surf. Kangaroo Island - unique wilderness and kangaroos? Tasmania - just in case you want to be cold again.
This is just a small snapshot of things to do in Australia. I think it may be a few years yet before I jump on an international flight. It may be two or three years before I get a domestic flight. For our next holiday, I fancy driving north towards Cairns, perhaps even past Cairns and all the way to Cape York. We shall see. Only when I have exhausted the possibilities that are in Queensland and New South Wales will I consider getting a domestic flight further west. And if I got on a flight, I might go to
Mount Wellington Hobart
Perth Western Australia
Adelaide Although I might prefer to drive.
Darwin sounds nice!
. And wherever this is.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com Bobs Oz Tips: Rediscover driving holidays, the open roads of Australia really are that open. Plan ahead. There are some fantastic holiday lets available right there on the beach if you book in advance. Before you come to Australia, see as much of Europe or America, depending where you live, as you can before you leave.
Number 18: Australia Loves Sport.

Australians love their sports and they are passionate about them. For a country with such a small population, they have had some remarkable successes. That passion for sport seems to be a significant part of Australian culture. 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. Australia's results in the Olympic Games, for example, prove that they can punch way above their weight. Since the Olympics started, Australia has won 131 gold, 137 silver and 167 bronze medals.
The United Kingdom, with a population three times greater than that of Australia, has won 219 gold, 268 silver and 255 bronze medals. I make that a moral victory to Australia. In terms of world achievement, I believe Australia is the 13th most successful country in the Olympics. The whole Australian way of life seems geared for sport. 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.
NOT my back garden.
Australia's favourite sports include swimming, tennis, cricket, rugby, Australian rules football, golf, the Grand Prix, (with Australia Mark Webber notching up his first Grand Prix win in Germany in July 2009) horse racing, basketball and netball. Surfing, no not the one you do on the Internet, is also hugely popular and the Rip Curl Pro held at Bells Beach in Victoria is one of the top professional surfing events on the calendar.
Not the Rip Curl Pro
They have even started to dabble in proper football, the one with a round ball, which they unfortunately call soccer. Since the formation of the Hyundai A-League in 2005, the Australian national football team has qualified for both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. They catch on fast! Yes, sport plays a major part in the lives of most Australians. So forget your WIIs, your DSs, forget Nintendo, forget Play Station, when your kids get here you can introduce them to something called "the great outdoors" and get them to participate in some real sports. Australia is Actionland! But despite all of that, Australia still gets thumped regularly by New Zealand (population 4 million) at Rugby. Cant win em all! Bobs Oz Tips: If you're a football nut, like me, you may want to consider getting into rugby or AFL. Otherwise you won't have much to talk about with the Aussies. Draw the line at cricket though. Youll want to keep your selfrespect. Brush up on "State of Origin" and "The Bledisloe Cup"
Number 17: Outdoor Festivals and Entertainment.

Outdoor music festivals aren't anything new. I went to my first festival over at Reading way back in 1975. Top of the bill were Wishbone Ash. I remember it rained and I had to take shelter in a Hare Krishna tent. The last festival I went to in England was Glastonbury. We can all remember the scenes of revellers sliding around in the mud can't we? Fortunately for me I went in 1992 when the weather was absolutely stunning. It was about. I cant remember but it was hot, sunny with clear blue skies. Would it surprise you to learn that in Australia they have a lot of outdoor festivals and entertainment? And that 90% or more of the time it's hot and sunny with clear blues skies. 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. In Melbourne they have the Rooftop Cinema on top of Curtin House, another at St Kilda and they also have one in the Botanical All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 24
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com Gardens. Brisbane has a couple and there's one in Adelaide and another one in Darwin. 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.
One of the stages at Greenfest
Here are just a few major festivals that take place in and around Brisbane. Buddha Birthday Festival - South Bank Parklands, it has performers, fun for kids, workshops and riverfront fireworks. Noosa Long Weekend Festival this 10 day festival has live performances, food from Noosa's local restaurants, music, dance and film. Queensland Music Festival a celebration of world music, this is Australia's largest biennial music festival.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com Valley Fiesta is Brisbane's biggest street party and is a showcase for musical acts both local and national. Woodford Folk Festival - is the biggest folk festival in Australia. More than 2000 performers and 400 events over six days. Don't forget to your tent.
Smaller festivals from this year include Soundwave 09 - about 40 different bands including Nine Inch Nails, Alice in Chains, Bloodhound Gang and more. V festival 09 - featuring Killers, Snow Patrol, Kaiser Chiefs, and also including, would you believe, Madness and The Human League. Future Music Festival with Basement Jaxx, Paul Oakenfold and Richie Hawtin as well as Grand Master Flash. 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. Bobs Oz Tips: Forget what many years of programming tell you about outdoor festivals, here in Australia they are fun. Look in your local free paper (you will get one) for news of local outdoor festivals. Ignore the two previous tips if you're thinking of moving to Tasmania. (Brrrrr). All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 26
Number 16: The Health Service, Hospitals and Parking. Parking?

I nearly dropped this entry and replaced it with something else. You'll see why as you read it. 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. But dabble I will. First, my experience of the health service in the UK. 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!" As for accident and emergency, somewhere I used to go on a more regular basis than I would have wished thanks to participating in five aside football twice a week, it's difficult to find anything positive to say about it. I once went there at about 8:30 p.m. on a Sunday with a suspected (confirmed) broken leg and got home at ten to six in the following morning. I don't think I ever got in and out of A & E in under four hours.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com I once had an operation on my knee to repair my cruciate ligament and, not having private medical insurance I waited 13 months for the operation. Again, that's too long to wait. I also had a fair bit of experience of being referred to "specialists on account of strange goings on with my sense of smell. Or rather, the lack of it. I found that system excruciatingly slow too. My doctor would write a letter to the specialist and a couple of months later I'd get one back telling me that my appointment had been set for another four to 10 months in the future. If that specialist then thought I should see a different specialist, they would write back to my doctor and recommend that he writes to the new specialists and there goes another six months. Now my experiences in Australia. 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. Whilst my English doctor seemed to have a system of One Appointment = One Medical Problem my Australian doctor seems to be keen to see if there is anything else he can help me with whilst I am there. I no longer play five aside football here in Australia, so fortunately I have not yet experienced an accident and emergency ward. But it is slightly different here in so much as they also have emergency doctor surgeries open from 7am to 11pm as well as hospitals with emergency departments.
So if you come out in a rash on a Sunday morning, for example, then the emergency doctor will probably be able to help you. You will need to pay, but if you are entitled, you'll get a rebate. If you break a leg, then you will need to go to the hospital's emergency ward. But here they still talk in terms of waiting three or four hours. I used to dream of such short waits in England. They also deal with the "referred to a specialist" scenario differently here. I've been suffering from dry cracked skin on my hands since arriving here in Australia, it never happened in England. But then England is not an overly dry place. Anyway, my doctor prescribed me some medication but at the same time said he would write out a letter of referral for a specialist. He told me this referral letter would be ready the next day for collection but in the meantime I should call the specialist to make my appointment. 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." Now that's different!
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 he tells me that if he hadn't got the insurance, he would have still been fixed up. It would have just taken longer. So which health service is better? I don't know, ask "Kinsey" or "Lord Stevens" for a proper answer but BobinOz says there's nothing much wrong with the health service here. 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. Ill 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. Thats 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. This is something that BobinOz can answer. Parking is definitely cheaper here and much easier. In fact, parking is pretty much free everywhere except the major city centres and outside McDonald's at Surfers Paradise. The parking report: Australia versus the UK by BobinOz. Australia wins! There, I have found my level. Bobs Oz Tips: If you move here to Australia and want private health insurance, sign up within 12 months of arrival. You will get a better rate for doing that: Otherwise your premium is loaded by a percentage for every year you are above 30. Include dentistry too, because youll be smiling more out here. Throw your parking meter key ring timer in the bin.
Number 15: Swimming Pools That Are FUN To Swim In.

When I was a young child I went to school in Southend on Sea. There was a little Infants/Junior School in the Southchurch area that I attended until aged 11. Lucky me! It had a swimming pool. I can't remember my teachers name, I can't remember any of my friends names, I can't remember which class I was in, I can't remember the colour of our school uniform and I can't remember what my classroom looked like. But I can remember that bloody swimming pool! I can remember it was an above the ground pool, I can remember it was situated in the far back left corner of the playing grounds, I can remember that the walls were painted light blue and the steps were on the right-hand side of its rectangular shape. But more than anything, I can remember it was freezing! Outdoor swimming pools and England don't really mix. But an outdoor swimming pool in Australia, now that's fun! Here, swimming pools couldn't be more different. Here, you jump into a swimming pool to cool down, not to make your lips turn blue.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com Boxing Day 2005 This was our third holiday to Australia and we were round my brother-in-laws house
November 2007 Fact: on Monday 12th November at 10 o'clock in the evening we got on a flight from Heathrow bound for Brisbane, via Singapore. Fact: around 26 hours later, at 9 a.m. on the morning of Wednesday the 14th of November (Australian time) we arrived at my brother in law's new house, which also had a pool. Fact: at around 10 o'clock in the morning, after my three-year-old daughter had flown over 11,000 miles, the lure of the pool became too much for her and she went in for a swim with her cousins... err, and a couple of chocolate Labs!
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com Our New House. Just a few days later we were christening our new swimming pool
And in less than four months of living in Australia, my daughter, Elizabeth, could swim without armbands for the first time. Yes, swimming pools work well in Australia. Bobs Oz Tips: Swimming pools are not that expensive to run. But swimming pool parts are hugely expensive. Doing regular pool maintenance will help avoid those expensive breakdowns.
Number 14: Childrens Play Areas and Dog Parks

Children's play areas are everywhere. Let me just illustrate that by showing you all the children's play areas close to where I live. 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. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 35
Here's one that's at the top of our hill, which is about seven or eight minutes walk.
And heres the one where my wife will take our daughter along with our dog, Baggy. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 36
Its got the Brisbane River behind it, which we now call..
The Chocolate River
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com 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. The Dog Park. 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? Back where I used to live in England, a park was a park. Children played and dogs walked, very often off the leash. 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.
The Dogs Christmas Dinner and Sniff.
Of course Baggy went, he got a squeaky rag doll, and he still plays with it now.
Another park at Cleveland
This park got into a fight with a tree!
Bobs Oz Tips: Kids love birthday parties in the park, and so do adults. The house doesn't get wrecked! Unlike in the UK, teenagers here have not yet started drinking booze in the parks and smashing bottles. If you are a dog owner and you like to let your dog cr*p anywhere, Australia is not for you. Try France!
Number 13: Forget Pubs; Barbecues Are In!

It took me a while to get into this one. 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. Yes, most Australian pubs are that bad. 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 All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 42
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com industry. The traditional English pub is now a dying breed. Enter the Australian barbecue. Barbecues for breakfast.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com Barbecues for lunch
Barbecues on the beach
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com Barbecues in the park..
And barbecues in the mountains.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com With a mountain view.
Of the city.
Even though it was a grey day, we still had a good barbie!
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com I no longer miss pubs because we seem to be going to a party about every three or four weeks. It's what people do when there aren't pubs to go to, and it is much more fun. And if ever I do find myself pining for the pub environment again, there is always the local Sports and Recreational Centre. Bobs Oz Tips: Buy a great big gas barbecue, charcoal is fun, but not practical. If you really think you cant live without a pub, choose your house based on it being near one. But check the pub out first! Prepare to take your turn hosting some parties.
Number 12: Australia is a Land of Opportunity

This is quite a difficult one for me to substantiate. But of course, I will try. It seems to me that Australia rode through this worldwide recession better than most countries. The Australian recession was a bit like the Australian winter. It came and then whoosh! It was gone again, all in a flash. As I write this, unemployment in Britain stands at 7.8%, having risen by another 220,000 in the quarter up to the end of June 2009. The "official" figures for unemployment say 2.435 million people are out of work. Here in Australia, unemployment stands at 5.8% as at July 2009. Official figures here talk in terms of numbers of people employed, (currently 10.8 million) rather than the number of people out of work. But if my maths is correct, Australia currently has around 650,000 people unemployed. One of the unusual things about Australia is that there is no cheap labour. Britain has cheap labour from Eastern Europe and America has its own back garden, with cheap labour coming predominantly from Mexico. Australia just doesn't have an equivalent. I don't want to get political here, but I'm just trying to underline the situation.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com Australia Has Resources. 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?" Putting on my most serious intellectual face I replied "I dunno. People he said. Just to underline all of this, here are some of my experiences since arriving in Australia. Gardeners (not landscapers or designers) charging a minimum of $40 an hour. It took us eight months to get somebody round to fix our exterior blinds. As already mentioned, we couldn't get anybody to supply and fit replacement kitchen doors. We couldn't find a plasterer to do any work at all. Salesmen do not sell. (See Number 20 above). Five months to get someone to fix an exterior roof supporting post. A swimming pool company refused a $10,000 renovation job because they were too busy. Eight phone calls to get somebody to come and look at our air-conditioning.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com 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. Add to that the Australian tradesman's (tradies) penchant for not turning up and you can see what it's like trying to get things done around here. When I first arrived and I was looking through the classified ads for people to do some of the work I needed, the sales slogan of many of the adverts was . "We really do turn up!" 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. So if you don't mind working and you do turn up and especially if you have a skill, Australia really is a land of opportunity. Bobs Oz Tips: Turn up and youd already have the edge on the average Aussie tradie. Follow up and youd already be ahead of the average Aussie salesman. Get ready to do some DIY.
Number 11: Clothing One Minute and Youre Dressed

Getting dressed in Australia is an extraordinary quick affair. Here's how it works for me. 1. Put on pants. 2. Put on shorts. 3. Put on T-shirt. And Im done! If I'm going out, I will need to find my crocs. Mind you, I am a bloke. The fairer sex may need to extend my three step dressing process to a fourth or fifth step. Where I live, in Brisbane, even in winter my dress doesn't change that much. Shorts are always still worn during the day but the only difference with winter (all four weeks of it) is I might put on some jog bottoms in the evenings when the temperature drops a bit. When it gets really cold, I will grab a sweat top. 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.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com You see, hardly any difference. Dress Code: Australian Style. My 3 steps to getting dressed may be a little tongue in cheek but the reality is Australia has one of the most relaxed dress codes I think I have ever come across. 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. One of the beauties of living in Australia is that you can go to a relatively posh restaurant dressed in shorts and a T-shirt and look no more out of place than a guy wearing a tie and shirt. You will also be accepted equally, irrespective of what you wear. 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! Thats it! How hard can that be?
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com I just remembered the last time I saw somebody wearing a suit and tie.
Bobs Oz Tips: Leave your heavy duty coats at the charity shop if you're moving to Australia. Leave your not so heavy duty coats at the charity shop if you're moving to Brisbane. Bring your suits and ties if you fancy doing a Charlie Chaplin impersonation in the city.
Number 10: The Diversity of Wildlife and Plant Life.

I have talked about the diversity of Australian wildlife a great deal over at my blog, primarily in the category "Australia's Bad Things".
Taipan: RUN!
So there is little need to repeat myself here about the snakes, spiders, sharks, crocodiles, kangaroos, geckoes, bees, praying mantis, cockroaches, lizards, frogs, ants, wasps, flies, moths, kookaburras, possums, cicadas, cane toads, giant beetles, mozzies, midges and parrots. Or the stonefish, cone snails, platypuses, echidnas, WHOA!!! Stop it will you! We get it. 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 All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 55
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com worry. I have explained this many times on my blog, you may as well worry all day about being struck by lightning. Instead, embrace the beauty of the wildlife here in Australia. One of the first books I bought when we arrived here in Australia is called "Wildlife of Greater Brisbane". It's published by the Queensland Museum. I hope they don't mind me quoting an extract from the back cover. Residents of the Greater Brisbane Region are privileged to live in one of the richest natural environments in Australia. From high mountain rainforest to the barest cityscape, the region is home to an astonishing variety of wild creatures, large and small, seen and unseen. Worms, snails, spiders, insects, fish, frogs, lizards, snakes, birds and mammals, many of them rare or endangered, survived alongside the region's 2.8 million human inhabitants, sharing their homes, backyards, parks and bushland. Whether biting ants, brilliantly coloured birds, or tiny marsupial mice, our native animals are impossible to avoid. And The Plant Life. Im no Percy Thrower, (he was a famous gardener in the UK from a zillion years ago), but even I appreciate some of the plants out here. 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 inherited a garden that was reminiscent of a small jungle. Just take a look at a few of these plants..
We also get triffids but they were out of season at the time of writing.
Bobs Oz Tips: Respect the wildlife but don't be fearful of it. Learn as much as you can about our creatures so that you know whether to say "Ah, that's cute" or to say "Aaargh! and run like Billyo. The same with our plant life, some of it is poisonous. Brush up on the baddies and wear gloves when gardening.
Number 9: Driving - Less Traffic, Less Road Rage and Cheaper Petrol
I was astonished whilst watching "20 To 1, the TV programme mentioned in the foreword, when in at number 17 or 16 in an edition called "Madness and Meltdowns" was road rage. Road rage? Here in Australia? They have no idea! 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. A Road Rage Opportunity Missed. When we went to Mooloolaba, there was free parking on the beach in a prime location. So, just like in a car park in England (even paying car parks) if someone was about to leave, another car would just stop behind, and wait to fill the soon to be vacant space.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com It was my friend, Lisa, who was preparing to reverse out of this parking space. But with three kids to pack into the car it took her some time. She didn't rush herself either, she seemed oblivious to the fact that a car had stopped behind and was waiting for her parking space. 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. Not one of those cars honked their horn. Not one! And Australia has a road rage problem? Open Roads. To Australians, a traffic hotspot is anywhere where you have to slow down because there are other cars about. Anything that takes more than 10 to 15 minutes to get through is a traffic jam. 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. So here is the major difference. In England expect traffic jams on the M1, the M25, M6, M5, M3, M anything. Expect traffic if you're driving from Chelmsford to Southend. Expect traffic if you're driving from Liverpool to Manchester. Expect traffic if you're driving from Sunderland to Newcastle. Expect traffic. I have watched the sunset from the M25. 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.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com 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. Somehow, driving along an open road, with no traffic, brilliant blue skies and beautiful scenic surrounds just doesn't create the same feelings of aggression.
And the petrol is cheaper! What more could you ask for?
After driving in England for 32 years, driving here in Australia is a sheer delight. I love it! Any Australian reading this will be wondering what cave I live in to think there is no road rage and no traffic jams in Australia. But I suppose everything is relative. I'm sure there is more traffic and trouble on Australian roads today than there was say, 10 years ago. 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. Bobs Oz Tips: Leave your road rage, if you have it, back in England, you wont 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
They They They They They They still have "assembly" - they call them parades. sing the Australian national anthem. instil pride in Australia. nurture a passion for sport. all seemed to have large playing field attached. all look pretty good too.
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.
Most of the schools I know of in England are chaos at around 8.45 in the morning with cars all over the place, struggling to find somewhere to drop off their young children. That same chaos is repeated at around 3 p.m. in the afternoon. 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. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 64
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com 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. "When the police get involved it sends home a message to all concerned that it is indeed serious," he said. WOW! Imagine that in the UK. "Good afternoon Hackney police station, how can I help you?" "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 ".
Brisbane Boys College
Bobs Oz Tips: Get involved, volunteer, be part of your child's school. Get good at making packed lunches. It is mandatory to pack sunscreen and a hat for your child. The motto is no hat no play!
Number 7: Australia Its The Great Outdoors.

Somebody, somewhere along the line, called Australia "The Great Outdoors" - and it is. I have given Australia Its 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. Number 19: Hot Holiday Destinations Without Grabbing Your Passport - all the suggested holiday destinations are of great outdoor places. Number 18: Australia Loves Sport. - All of the sports I talk about are outdoor sports. Number 17: Outdoor Festivals and Entertainment - speaks for itself. Number 15: Swimming Pools That Are FUN To Swim In - I am talking about outdoor swimming pools. Number 14: Childrens Play Areas and Dog Parks - all are outdoors, of course. Number 13: Forget Pubs, Barbecues Are In! - Barbecues may be "in" but they sure take place outdoors. Number 10: The Diversity of Wildlife and Plant Life - that would be outdoor wildlife and plant life, unless something creeps in to your house! Number 9: Driving - Less Traffic, Less Road Rage and Cheaper Petrol - more great outdoors.
But everywhere has an outdoor life. Back in England there was an outdoors too! But here is the big difference. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 67
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. You have heard of "Seasonal Affective Disorder" or S.A.D. haven't you? Well not many people have around these parts. Because out here, every day seems to be hot, sunny with clear blue skies. Gloriously clear blue skies. Like this.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com And because it is so hilly around here, you will often find yourself driving past stunning views like this.
It's really hard to wake up feeling miserable here in Australia, thanks to the great outdoors. Bobs Oz Tips: Buy a house with a good outdoor eating area. Buy a hat that you really like. If you enjoy being miserable, youll need to raise your game to keep it up out here.
Number 6: Australia versus England on Crime.

Crime is everywhere. So are statistics for crimes. Here are some that I found.. There were 664 killings and 575 attempted killings in the UK in the year 2008/09. There were 266 killings and 241 attempted killings in Australia in the year 2006/07. There were 277 fatal stabbings in the UK in 2008/09. There were 90 fatal stabbings in Australia in 2006/07. There were 284,000 domestic burglaries in the UK in 2008/09. There were 74,200 domestic burglaries in Australia in 2006/07.
Not much in it, is there? But the statistics get a lot worse for Australia when you take a look at the figures for rape. According to the figures I've looked at, 12,165 people were raped in the UK in 2008/09. In Australia I believe the figure is somewhere in the region of 16,000, although I don't have the exact numbers.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com 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. According to the same source, Australia is the world leader when it comes to stolen cars per capita. The UK comes third. That source also has a category called total crime victims, here's what they say about that category.
DEFINITION: People victimized by crime (as a % of the total population). Data refer to people victimized by one or more of 11 crimes recorded in the survey: robbery, burglary, attempted burglary, car theft, car vandalism, bicycle theft, sexual assault, theft from car, theft of personal property, assault and threats. Crime statistics are often better indicators of prevalence of law enforcement and willingness to report crime, than actual prevalence.
SOURCE: UNICRI (United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute). 2002. Correspondence on data on crime victims. March. Turin So who tops that chart? Here's the one two three.. #1 #2 #3 Australia: 30.1% New Zealand: 29.4% United Kingdom: 26.4%
Source: www.nationmaster.com/ I have no idea who United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute are but I'm sure the figures are reasonably accurate, albeit based on old data from 2002. 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?
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com Because (drum roll) it feels safer! I am aware how pathetic that sounds so I suspect I need to explain it a little better. 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? If I am collecting statistics on crime, then firstly that crime has to be reported and secondly whoever it was reported to has to record it. As one New Zealander commented about the table which revealed his country second highest in the "total crime victims" list 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. Fair point I say. 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. I found comments from: 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. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 72
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com 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. There is a culture of teenagers hanging around outside of shops in the UK which hasnt yet taken a grip here. And I don't think it will ever take a grip. Housing is so much more spread out here, people do not live on top of each other. So you can't just walk for three or four minutes and join up with the rest of the gang. And if you could, it probably wouldn't be much fun. There wouldn't be enough passing foot traffic to have fun with. Because most people would drive to the shops on account that they'd probably live at least a couple of clicks away. (Thats Aussie speak for 2 kilometres). 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 thats not to say that there isnt 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 All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 73
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com kids on the beach, or around the mall after midnight on a Friday or Saturday night guzzling down the alcopops. Similar trouble spots are at Melbourne, mainly around the central business district and in Sydney you would probably want to avoid a few areas including King's Cross and the back of Surrey Hills late at night. Brisbane's Fortitude Valley can turn a bit ugly at times, as can Canberras Civic, Perths Vincent St and Adelaides Hindley St. 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. It is everybody's choice to avoid those sorts of areas late at night if they wish. I think those choices are reduced in England because there are more city centres they seem to be everywhere. I know this has not been my most convincing chapter. I actually considered pulling it out, but decided it is too important a subject, just like the health issue, to skip. So it stayed in and what's more, it stayed at number six. 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. Bobs 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.
Number 5: People per Square Mile.

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. I have certainly mentioned this before, but nonetheless it is at number five..
Yes, just seven people per square mile. The benefits of that are endless. We've already mentioned less traffic on the roads, parking being easier, but did I tell you the queues at the Kentucky Fried Chicken are much shorter? Sometimes you can go to a park and have it all to yourself. When I go to my local post office, there are never more than two or three people in front of me. Same at the bank. Going to the supermarket in England, for me, used to be a bit of a nightmare. Those places would get so crowded. Then, once you were done with your shopping, it was time to try and "guess" which of the 16 checkouts had the shortest queue. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 75
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com 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 dont have queues here at the supermarket, but they are shorter that's for sure. As I pointed out in my blog post when I talked about the population of Australia and its size compared with the UK.. The UK (population 60 million) would fit into Australia (population 20 million) 31 times. Nuff said. Bobs Oz Tips: None needed here; just enjoy the space.
Number 4: It's All One Big Wraparound Beach!

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. But do they look like this.
Or this.. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2009 Web Products Pty Ltd Page 77
Or this..
Australia has 26,735 kms of coastline with 7,000 beaches. If you include the coastline of Tasmania and some of the larger islands that belong to Australia, it's actually 47,070 kms of coastline. By my calculations if everybody in Australia all went to the beach on the same day, it still wouldn't be as crowded as Southend Beach was when I was a kid.
Southend beach 1964 busy huh?
Without a doubt, Australia is the place to be beside the seaside.
Bobs Oz Tips: Beaches are not as commercial here as they are in the UK, so take an esky (cool box) with some supplies. If there are lifeguards on the beach, swim between the flags. You can drive your car on some beaches..
Number 3: The Price of Houses.

I wrote a post about house prices on my blog and I think it is the only post I have written that gave me a headache! Trying to compare house prices between Australia and the UK is not easy. I got into a right mess trying to prove Australian houses were cheaper. It seemed the more I tried to prove it the deeper the hole I was digging for myself. What makes it even more tricky is the price differential in the UK between some areas, in particular the often talked about at NorthSouth divide. But here in Australia, in many ways, we have the same thing. Houses up north, where the crocodiles are, are much cheaper. Similarly, houses NOT in one of the six major cities are also cheaper. If you want to live in a small inland town, expect to pick up a bargain. So, I decided I didn't want to give myself another headache trying to compare houses, this time I am going to approach it differently.
Like this.
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com Example 1 Detached. Three bedrooms. One bathroom. Garage. On 1012 square metres of land. 46 km from Brisbane.
Price: $305,000 AUD
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com 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.
Price: $879,000 AUD
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com Example 3 Detached. Five bedrooms. Two living areas. Close to shops and beach. On 556 square metres. 108 km from Canberra.
Price: $290,000 AUD
What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com The house I used to live in back in the UK can be seen on my blog in another post I did about house prices. 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. I'm done and no headache this time! Bobs Oz Tips: Research house prices for yourself over at this Australian Real Estate portal. Forget the "south facing garden" syndrome, people here buy houses based on how shaded the outdoor area is. If you need help deciding which area to live in, check out www.BobinOz.com and join the membership area.
Number 2: The Weather.

This won't take long.
I just love the weather here. The sky (nearly) always looks like this..
But is it too hot? 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. Here in Brisbane, the summers seem to average out at temperatures of around 32C. That's certainly not too hot for me. But on a real hot summers day it can reach around 40C. Yes that is hot, but I still love it. In Sydney and Melbourne, summers can be even hotter. But it is certainly more seasonal down that way, they definitely have colder winters. I have also been told that Canberra and a place called Armidale can get really quite cold. You can read about the places that get snow, on my blog. I have said it before, but it is worth saying again. Dull and grey equals depressing. Sunny with clear blue skies equals happy. So for me, the weather is the second best reason to move to Australia.
No time for Bobs Oz Tips.. too excited.
Beaches third, the weather second, what could possibly be number one? This.
Number 1: A Total Lifestyle Change.

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. Total lifestyle change. It's everything that I have discussed here and more. Its. No More Double Glazing Salesmen Having a huge country to explore. Living in a can do country that loves its sport. Outdoor entertainments. Efficient healthcare and no problems parking. Jumping in the swimming pool. Children's play areas everywhere. Barbecues. Living in a land of opportunity. Wearing shorts all the time. Loving the wildlife. Driving on the open roads. Cute looking schools with large playing fields. The outdoor life. Feeling safer. Not being overcrowded. The beautiful beaches. The big spacious houses. The glorious weather.
But far more than all that, and most important of all, it's spending much more time with my family. Australia is a country that is just perfect for families. When we were in England it was always a struggle to think of things we can do as a family. But here, we never run out of ideas. Every weekend we do something as a family and it's not going to the shops! We'd go to the beach, or wed go to the mountains, wed have a picnic, or wed have a barbecue, or we'd go for a drive in the countryside or wed go to an outdoor event. 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.
The regatta on Bribie Island
In England the problem seemed to be finding something to do, here the problem is deciding what to do from all the options. Six months after arriving in Australia, I celebrated my 50th birthday over at Surfers Paradise. But I don't feel like I'm 50, I feel like I have just been born! I expected a lot of things moving to Australia, but I didn't expect that.
Bobs Final Tip: If you get the chance to move to Australia, take it!
Cheers and thanks for reading. Bob
www.BobinOz.com
What It's Really like to Live in Australia.
Contact information:
You can contact BobinOz at: Bob@BobinOz.com
This ebook is available free to anyone who enters their name and email address over at www.BobinOz.com/blog
If you're serious about moving to Australia, where are you going to live? Get ideas from www.BobinOz.com
Find out more about BobinOz over at www.bobinoz.com/blog/about-me/
If you find anything in this book to be incorrect, misleading or upsetting, or even if you just find a typo, I'd be really pleased to hear your feedback. Contact me at Bob@BobinOz.com

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What Its Really Like To Live In Australia.

20 Reasons Why YOU Should Move to Australia.

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

First Edition August 2009

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

This ebook is distributed free of charge and should not be sold.

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

On with the book.

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Is Australia The Lucky Country?

So, what's it really like?

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Number 20: No More Double Glazing Salesmen

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

But guess what? I never met an insect screen salesman either!

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Number 19: Hot Holiday Destinations Without Grabbing Your Passport

Mount Wellington Hobart

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Perth Western Australia

Adelaide Although I might prefer to drive.

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Darwin sounds nice!

. And wherever this is.

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Number 18: Australia Loves Sport.

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

NOT my back garden.

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Not the Rip Curl Pro

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Number 17: Outdoor Festivals and Entertainment.

One of the stages at Greenfest

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Number 16: The Health Service, Hospitals and Parking. Parking?

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Number 15: Swimming Pools That Are FUN To Swim In.

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Number 14: Childrens Play Areas and Dog Parks

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

The Chocolate River

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

The Dogs Christmas Dinner and Sniff.

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Another park at Cleveland

This park got into a fight with a tree!

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Number 13: Forget Pubs; Barbecues Are In!

Barbecues on the beach

And barbecues in the mountains.

Even though it was a grey day, we still had a good barbie!

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com

Number 12: Australia is a Land of Opportunity

What Its Really Like To Live In Australia. www.BobinOz.com