The Aussie are so hardcore at Customs, they even attempted to capture the drama in a reality TV show called “Border Control“.
Why the Drama?
You see, Australia’s had a bad run of importing foreign material. In the past, it was thought ‘harmless’ to bring in certain comforts from ‘home shores’.
Anyone who’s been up North to Cairns [...]
Continue reading about Coming through Customs: Into Australia
The leaves that once strewn the sidewalks have now been kicked to the gutter! Or have they?
That’s the Melbourne winter difference–the leaves get to stick around.
After Autumn, the weather doesn’t change that much. The roses will still be in bloom and lemons will be growing on backyard trees.
It is dark now around 5 pm, light [...]
When I moved to Australia with my partner we had no one on the other side to help us. Even though we had each lived abroad internationally previously—and
even though we were moving to an English-Speaking country—it was extremely intimidating. (But that’s another story you can read about in About the Teach’N’Traveller Blog!) We wanted to [...]
Continue reading about How Much Money do you need to Move to Australia?
The CBD explained:
CBD: Central Business District.
The CBD is a neatly grafted square of streets. Most of the hills have been levelled. The city was once very muddy as it slid down into the banks of the Yarra River/swap. There were the Yarra Falls (which can’t really be seen anymore) and the Docklands made the area [...]
Continue reading about What is the “CBD”? (Part 10: 10 Things to Know Before Moving to Melbourne)
The Internet works totally different in Australia compared to the rest of the world.
In Singapore and Vietnam, you get free internet in the airports and hotels—which best articulates of how prolific our dependence, and expectations, are of the internet.
However, in Australia, they have managed to make people pay per/download. It is ludicrous I assure you.
How [...]
The Australian Dollar vs. The Canadian Dollar
The market keeps fluctuating with the Australian dollar recently decreasing significantly below the Canadian dollar. Previously the two were quite even. Canada has always had a bit of an upper edge on the Australian dollar, but for 2006-2008, this has been less than a 10 cent difference on average.
If [...]
Eating Out vs. Buying Groceries:
The tricky thing about Melbourne is that everyone eats out! Sure, this doesn’t seem so tricky, except when you see the prices and the frequency and your bank account…and you start to wonder, how the heck does everyone afford it?!
However, the trickiness doesn’t end there. Groceries will seem expensive to the [...]
Considering there is a water-shortage in Australia, and the Australian press has made citizens very worried about water usage, the prices of water hasn’t really increased. I would think that if they really wanted people to cut down on their water use, they would start charging more for it…but that’s for another discussion.
You Want to [...]
Although it’s sometimes hard for us to face it (myself included) teachers are more than their job. If you don’t think teachers struggle with this, go out for dinner with a bunch—what do we talk about?? Teaching!)
RULE #1:
The good news about using a mobile phone in Melbourne is that you don’t have to pay for receiving calls—somebody with a brain (not just a wallet) developed that one. However, the drawback is that there isn’t free calling after weeknights and on weekends.
Similar to Canada, you can get a “pay-as-you-go” phone (Aussie for “pre-paid”) [...]
This post marks the start of a 10-post series that Leading Out has asked me to write for you. These posts will appear once a week, over the Australian summer months, to give you time to get ready for 2009.
Part 1: Public Transportation in Melbourne
More good news on public transport in Melbourne—
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