I'm Australian. AMA

[TwistTwoo]

I live in Australia and would be happy to answer any questions you have about it. Things like:

• The weather
• Housing
• Schooling
• Healthcare
• Politics
• Dangerous animals - are they that dangerous and do you come across them often?
• Jobs
• etc.

I've lived in Australia for 40 years and I've never seen either of these creatures except at the zoo. Honestly it's a huge country , crocodiles are only seen in the far north and sharks are never seen by the average person.

That's a relief! I have been to Kuranda, Sydney, and Perth as well as to touristy places. And I didn't see any of these creatures either.

I guess it's when you hear about them more, you freak out. But glad to hear that most Aussies have a natural wariness about them anyway.

I didn't know, and I researched, that you have freshwater crocs in Aus, which apparently people have said they're fine to swim with .

Hi OP, sorry to bother you again. what time of year would you say is best to visit? I was thinking july/August so it's a bit cooler? or would it be too cold then?

Depends where you’re going - the climate varies enormously as it’s such a huge country. Personally my favourite time overall to go is March / April as the weather tends to be more settled, it’s still cold in the UK and not excessively hot in Australia. I don’t like missing out on the UK summer.

Where in the country are you going? People don't seem to realise that Australia is as big as Europe, so you could be skiing in 1 part and surfing in another on the same day. What things do you want to do whilst there?

I would like to go around a fair bit tbh. probably fly to Perth or Sydney and drive around the south. maybe do a few days in taz. then fly up to Darwin for a week in Queens land. then out west to see the quokkas and bit of diving if I feel upto it. would love to see uluru, if I have enough time. given OP's advice, will probably spend 3-4 weeks in total. I doubt I will be able to do that journey often (my health is not in the best state), so would like to make the most of it.

Are lots of goods imported? I mean more foods tbh.

Food is about 10%. Much more than that is exported.

Darwin isn't anywhere near Queensland.

July/August could be quite bleak in the southern states. And freezing at night in Uluru. But it's the perfect time to visit the tropics. If you want to cover both you should probably aim for spring or autumn.

What I love about shopping here (and again I'm Sydney so not representative of all of Aus) is that we shop seasonally. Grapes are $4 a kilo at the moment so the kids have lots of them in lunchboxes, but in winter they are upwards of $20 a kilo so we don't even consider them. You get used to what is in season when, and most of it is Australian grown.

I think July and August is fine and the best times to see Northern Australia such as Darwin as it will be the dry season. You have a good chance of sunshine in Sydney and low 20s daytime temperatures. Victoria will be colder but still visitable. Take lots of layers of clothing so you can adapt to the different climates. A good quality lightweight polar fleece jacket will work well and perhaps a sleeveless puffer jacket to go over that if you feel the cold more than average. You wouldn’t need a heavy coat. If you go to the snow fields you can hire snow clothes there.

Apparently, Australia makes 3 times more food than is needed for its population and a lot of it is exported to China and the Middle East.

Aah thank you for your reply. I was chatting to my bestie in NZ last night and her son is in Melbourne and loving it there . Am hoping my son enjoys Melbourne but not too much .Shall tell him to check out ecology jobs but I think he just wants to bum around,not doing much,but he will need to earn money!!
Shall go back to the thread now.Xx

Yep... and it's almost mandarin season! I look forward to it every year.
But always sad to see mango season go.

She will absolutely need more than a light fleece and a sleeveless puffer for Tassie! And probably Victoria, especially if doing touristy things like Phillip Island and the Great Ocean Road.

My daughter came back from Australia with a tattoo on her ankle…spotted it straight away 😉

I was in Western Sydney. We had police helicopters flying overhead and road checkpoints to stop us from going to other parts of Sydney. I managed to escape once because my son needed a developmental assessment at a university to the north of the city and we had permission to leave. It felt surreal! We were allowed a walk for 1 hour a day and then eventually we were allowed outdoor picnics.

I think it was hardest on young people and even today, we have issues in our schools with school refusals and mental health. Older people seemed to have fared better.
If we were to do lockdown again, I think schools should be kept open and they close nightclubs and other unnecessary high risk venues. Perhaps be more like Taiwan and South Korea who didn’t lock down but did all wear face masks to reduce risks. Not sure that we have the conformity in Australian culture for that.
I do think overall Australia handled it OK and we saw a lot less deaths than other countries.

Probably reading too much of the Australian DM 🙄Definitely the case in the UK !!

Perhaps Tassie yes but I have done Philip Island and Wilson’s Prom in polar fleece jackets in July / August a few times and that was good for me. I am an active walker type so it very much depends on the individual. I would sweat in a heavy coat but others would not. I used to own leather coats for UK winters but never got one for Australia in the 20 + years I have been here.

I think it is happy on balance and I definitely think the sunshine affects my mood. Also the fact that there aren’t quite so many people here gives you a sense of space.

But I think UK people in large cities are friendlier than people in Sydney. You are more likely to get chatting to people on the train for example. I thought it was just me but apparently Sydney is known for being difficult to make friends and social networks are based on family, partner and the people you grew up with.

Tell me about the spiders please, I’m fascinated by spiders and yes I’m a bit of a geek, is the giant Huntsman common? I’ve read conflicting reports on them. Please indulge my weirdness.

Spiders in and around houses are pretty common unfortunately.

I don't get many huntmans, possibly because I'm in a very built up area, people just have small courtyards front and back. Maybe one every few years. They are certainly an almost everyday occurrence in some parts.

We do get black house spiders making webs on the exterior of the house (around gutters, windowsills etc) and occasionally making their way in. Redbacks hiding under things outside, fortunately not inside as they're venomous. White Tails inside - they are buggers and hide in things. I've been bitten twice.

@therealcookiemonster

July/August could be quite bleak in the southern states. And freezing at night in Uluru. But it's the perfect time to visit the tropics. If you want to cover both you should probably aim for spring or autumn.

This is the best answer for you, @therealcookiemonster. Thank you, @SuperstarDeejay.

That would depend on the landscape around your house. If it's bushy, you might get huntsmans inside. A friend of mine had a huntsman in her toilet (a seperate toilet from the bathroom) that she named Geoffrey. That meant if we needed to go for a wee or whatever whenever visiting her, we had to confront Geoffrey as well. I learned to hold my bladder when there. Luckily, a Macca's was nearby.

I've never seen a Funnel Web in the wild. We do have plenty of Redbacks though; my DH's shed is decorated with them.

thank you @TwistTwoo @SuperstarDeejay @WalkingaroundJardine for the great advice.

I will come prepared with lots of layers. thank you :-) fingers crossed in 2025.