Moving to Australia
Thinking of moving to Australia? Wondering what it’s really like to live there? Here’s the gen from our local expert.
Sydney Sue, who has lived in Australia for over 25 years, writes:
Here’s a few things that come to mind about general life in Aus. First you will have to get used to seeing a lot of sunshine, palm trees, pretty blue water, golden beaches, tanned bodies (sometimes all of them ) and cloudless skies….it’s just awful!
Then there’s the monopoly money we use here. All very pretty colours, and so easily recognisable. $100 notes (and the best of the bunch by far, I love these ones) are green. Then we have the $50 note which is a mucky mustard colour, don’t mind these either. Next comes the $20 note, which is red, $10 note is blue, and lastly the little purple $5 note.
You don’t have to worry too much about any of them, ‘cos they all have the same nasty little habit of disappearing rapidly, before you can get too attached to them.
The coins are very similar to the UK ones, the $2 coin is small and gold in colour, then comes the larger $1 coin, also gold. The fifty cents is the largest coin and has corners on, then the twenty cents, ten cents and five cents pieces.
As you will no doubt have heard, as we don’t keep secrets very well here, the Aussie bbq is an everyday occurence, and I know that they are now quite popular in UK too. When I first came here, we ate barbecued steak (a luxury to us fresh from UK) until we were sick of seeing it, then the trend changed and red meat was no longer so popular.
Chicken and seafood took its place on the barbie. We have a glut of the best seafood anywhere in the world, and we export it all over the world daily. So if lobster, oysters and giant (I mean seriously big) prawns are your cuppa, you’ll be well satisfied. We don’t mention scampi here.
Aussies are also very partial to their meat pies, and tend to eat as many as they can at every opportuniy, and especially at the footy and every other outdoor sports event, etc.
Another favourite treat is the lamington. It’s a small individual square sponge cake, sometimes with a creme filling (not to be confused with real cream, you understand) which has been dipped into a thin chocolate coating, and then dipped again, this time in coconut. Very often served for afternoon teas etc, and found in lunch boxes. Baked in umpteen kitchens and sold as money raisers for schools and churches etc.
Then comes the biggest and the best…..the pavlova. It’s a very grand affair, and found on the very best dessert menus, Australia wide. It has a deep base of meringue which is topped with the best cream, and then tradition says passion fruit, but often a mixture of any fresh fruit which looks pretty, say strawberries and kiwi fruit, is its crowning glory. I must confess I never refuse a serve, but just accept it for the fruit and cream. The meringue (even the mention of the name makes my teeth curl) is soft inside and very very sweet!
You should not be shocked to see people walking anywhere with bare feet, it’s a normal sight, and doesn’t mean they don’t own a pair of shoes. Thongs are the most popular footwear, and come in a range of styles, from the humble rubber straps and flat soles to the more expensive decorative, heeled going out type. The strap fits between the biggest two toes, and anyone that can keep them on is much cleverer than I am.
Well that’s all I can think of for now, will be back with more when they spring to mind. Keep smilin’!
2 Responses to “Moving to Australia”
My husband in a fully qualified heating engineer but we cannot see any skills tests for his trade, his trade is on the oz emigration website but not on veetasess or any others that we can find. Please help. we are looking to move to Perth, Oz
Hi
Why not try asking on our Australia forum – specifically, the Working in Oz board? There may be someone who’s gone through the process who can help you.
Good luck, anyway. 🙂