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Originally Posted by imafuckingaussie
Hi Venus,
Just put my 2cents in too.
Public transport in Aus is some of the best in the world. However, she could just rent a car or whatever from the airport, and drive wherever she wants.
LMK if you want some rental links for cars or anything. A American licence is fine for driving here I'm pretty sure (is for us driving over in US), however, she will need to get used to driving on the LHS of the road though.
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Ok, I wouldn't go as so far as to say that Australia has the best in the world.
Australia's public transport is nowhere near as good as that in Europe (which incidently, is nowhere near as good as that in HongKong / Singapore etc), but you have to bear in mind - Australia a very, very large place.
For example, you can walk from one side of brisbane city to the other, and as such, we have only 2 train stations for the city- however - the trains extend over 150-200 kilometers on the LOCAL line.
Buses, trains and ferries, in Brisbane, cost about $1,50 - $2,00 Australian for a single way transfer, or about #3-5 US for an all day ticket.
Getting from state to state, or major city to major city is, as mentioned, also easy, with out discount air lines. They're not as cheap as the easy* or Maersk in the EU, but again - the distances are much greater.
Compare the cost of rail travel in the UK to Australia - to go from London > Manchester return, it will cost you over 100Pounds.
In france, for a 6 hour train journey (Paris > Figeac) - you're looking at about 80Euro.
In australia, a similar train cost will be less than an airfare, at around 90$ Australian (30Pounds, or 45 or so Euro)
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and why would you?
- Australia's cost of living is twice as much.
- Everything is more expensive, except pizza.
- High AUD$ = bad for US travelers coming over.
- Our country closes down at 5pm. Nothing is open except 7 eleven after this time.
- Tightasses everywhere.. nobody can relax and girls are super stuckup
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1) The cost of living is reliative. If you've living in Sydney, it's going to be a Sydney cost of living, but you will be earning a Sydney wage. Ditto for Brisbane, etc.
In general - compared to London - at least 1/3 the cost of living, compared to Paris, perhaps 1/2, and compared to HongKong - about the same (HK's cheap food + clothes balances out the insane cost of land)
2) I think you're totally wrong. Without sounding condascending, I'd love to know where else you've travelled.
3) Yes, the US$ is getting stronger for Australians at the moment. Sure, it used to be .54 3 years ago, and is now .79 - but this is a Weaker US dollar, not a stronger Australian dollar. The Euro and Pound remain unchanged - so it's hard for Americans wherever they go.
4) Closing at 5PM? You're out of your mind. Supermarkets here close at 9 - 10PM in the evening. Cafe and restraunts at 12AM on weeknights, later on weekdays.
Bars, pubs and clubs close up to 5AM - compare this to ALL bars closing at 10PM in the UK. I've walked around Paris at 11PM on a Saturday night, and found only 1 convenience store open, and practically everything is dead in Virborg after 10PM.
5) Please, if you're visiting Australia, ignore this guy. Australians are acknowledged internationally as being friendly, forward and helpful. The women are generally lovely, and if you come up to Brisbane, you'll be shocked at how little they actually wear.
Again- if you've got a problem with an entire country of people, perhaps it's not the country.
That all aside, it's a great place to travel to, and I can say that having travelled quite a bit throughout Asia, the UK and the middle East.
If your friend loves to drive or seeing the countryside, she MUST do the "Great Ocean Road" -
http://www.greatoceanrd.org.au/ - which will show some of the loveliest, lushest side of Australia, and take you through Melbourne, the 'cultural captial' of Australia.
If she's a wine fan, she'll know that Australian wines are internationally acclaimed, and Queensland has many, many boutique vineyards that can be visited.
Anyhow - if you need more info, ask some of the friendlier GFY members ;)