Uprooting your entire life and moving to a new continent, even if it’s just on a working holiday visa, is no easy feat. It’s especially hard if you never really travelled abroad growing up, and making the move of a lifetime is your first real foray into the world. But that’s exactly what I did in September. I’m back in Vancouver now and growing accustomed to the idea that it’s going to be a long time before I can go back to my second home because that’s what Australia is to me now. It really grew on me in the time I spent there. These are 15 things I learned about Aussie culture during my time down under.
1. Not everything is venomous.
This was my primary takeaway from tromping around the Burleigh Heads rainforest circuit so many times. Whenever I heard something scratching in the dirt, I’d whirl around, expecting a spider of legendary proportions. Nine times out of ten it was just a bush turkey. The odds of crossing paths with something venomous are actually pretty small. Nevertheless, it doesn’t hurt to shake your shoes out before putting them on in the morning if you’re spending any length of time in the outback.
2. The cost of living is high.
I was warned and I scoffed because I come from Vancouver. But it really is high, especially in Sydney where you can literally feel cash burning a hole through your purse. I was home for Christmas and getting dinner with a couple of girlfriends when I sent a picture of the wine list at the restaurant to a friend in Sydney who responded with an “Oof! That hit Sydney where it hurts.”
3. Aussies are incredibly blunt, but they’re also hospitable.
Before I begin, let me clarify that this is not a generalization about all Australians, just my own observations. We’re an awful bunch of flakes in Vancouver, and I personally blame the weather. I mean, who wants to go out when it’s dark at 4 pm and it’s been raining for so long that the cold has seeped all the way into your bones. If you make plans to meet up with an Aussie later (at least in my experience) they will be there. They’re warm and friendly to strangers, and they also say exactly what they think. Don’t expect anyone to take it easy on you.
4. The beaches are worth writing home about.
There’s no such thing as a bad beach, but not all beaches are created equal. On any given day you’ll find half of Sydney at Bondi Beach—which is probably why the lifeguards have to zip around in dune buggies to yell at tourists to swim between the flags. It’s so popular because it looks just like a Gold Coast beach, and there are a hundred of them on the Gold Coast.
5. Aussies go barefoot everywhere.
Including at the grocery store. If you’re going to try to blend in, this is the place to do it. Don’t follow suit until you’ve developed a nice leathery patch on your soles.
6. They’ve got slang for everything.
Australian is a whole other language. Try going out with an Aussie and have them tell you they’ll wait while you get your thongs on without blushing from the roots of your hair right down to the tips of your toes.
7. If you’re after a good cup of drip coffee, go home (or maybe to Melbourne).
What we call a drip coffee or a black coffee is probably $8 and not even on the menu if you do find a café. The only place you’ll find people who take their coffee seriously is in Melbourne. Wander up and down Flinders Street and you’ll smell the roasting coffee beans. And don’t mention a certain Seattle coffee chain, not even in hushed tones.
8. They have a lighthearted rivalry with the Kiwis that the Kiwis take far more seriously.
Honestly, it’s a lot like the sibling nation rivalry you’ll find between Canadians and Americans. Back-and-forth banter, mostly. You can mistake an American for a Canadian and they’ll consider no harm done. Mistake a Canadian for an American and you’ll get an earful. It’s the same down under. Don’t ask who has the better rugby team or who invented the pavlova, you will never hear the end of it.
9. The birds are assholes.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Ibises are majestic birds if you’re from North America. I did. But these feathered friends are called bin chickens for a reason. Don’t pull out a sandwich unless you plan to share. Cockatoos and Parakeets—while delightful to admire from the window—are a pain in the ass when they start screeching at the crack of dawn.
10. When it rains, it really rains.
You can get hit with a monsoon in the time it takes to blink and have clear skies again in half an hour.
11. Driving on the left hand side of the road will be incredibly disorienting at first.
The locals will never hesitate to remind you that it’s the correct way to drive and that the rest of the world is doing it wrong.
12. Aussies actually travel domestically, and it’s incredibly cheap to do so.
Canadians always ditch the motherland at the first opportunity to go abroad. But you’ll bump into plenty of Aussies exploring their own country, and why wouldn’t you? It’s gorgeous! From having a Crocodile Dundee adventure in the outback to lazing on white sandy beaches, getting acquainted with Australia is a true pleasure. (It also helps that flying from Brisbane to Darwin is half the price of getting from Vancouver to Calgary despite being more than three times the distance.)
13. Below 20° is considered cold.
But wind chill is a real thing. Don’t think you’re made of sturdier stuff until you’ve encountered the full force of the elements.
14. The cops checking your ticket on public transit happens waaay more often than it does back at home.
To cut a long story short, expect to be pulled over several times while you’re visiting Aus. It’s fairly routine.
15. What you see is what you pay.
And I love it that way. Tax is included in the listed price of everything, and there’s no tipping culture on account of the fact that service workers actually earn a decent wage.