What do non-Aussies think of Australia?

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vallekas

Spaniard living in NYC for 20 years.
1) Perth, Sydney, Darwin (4 times), Brisbane and Melbourne.
(will visit Alice Springs, Canberra and Hobart soon).
2) 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004.
3) 1 week min., 4 weeks max.
4) Spectacular thunderstorms and New Year's Day 2001 in Darwin.
Seeing the Sydney Opera House.
Taking some spectacular pictures from the Rialto Tower in Melbourne.
Swimming in the beautiful beaches around Brisbane.
5) Overall, very friendly and warm.
6) After an average 27 hr. flight (each way), I had to leave after 4 short weeks.

Sven B

Fantastic!!!
I went to Sydney in March 2006 and loved it!!!!
It's like the United States - without the crime, political correctness, double standards, wars, bull **** etc........
Seriously.... - I loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Only one thing to all you Sydney people..... - stop being so stingy with your air conditioning!!!! If it's hot outside.... - turn the damn thing on cold!!!! - That's it..... - loved the Opera House, the zoo, the boat ride in the harbour, the bridge, Botany Bay, The Blue Mountains, The Rocks, and especially that restaurant where you can BBQ your own steaks!!!!!! I will definitely go back!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vi.

Aha, what a perfect question. I'm Canadian but I did have to live there for 8 months (truthfully...it was an okay place, but I guess it's just the huge shift that made me a bit bitter at the time).

(1) Where did you go in Australia?
- We were planning on settling there so not much tourist-like things, so might be a little bland. Lived in Melbourne and visited Sydney a couple times.

(2) When did you come here?
-July '05

(3) How long did you stay?
- 8 months

(4) What were your highlights/ memorable moments?
Man, in 8 moths I guess I had a lot...
- A jaw-dropping boat-tour, about 2 hours in Sydney...saw the opera house and bridge up close.
- A huge spider thing (size of a freaking floor tile) crawled into my house once in the middle of the night...Let me describe the scenario a little:
I'm watching Supernatural (about 9pm) in pitch dark. Little sister opens the bedroom door behind me a crack, light shines, I see some pretty big, pretty fast blur. I tell her "Close the d*MN door! and don't let the thing in!". She does. I tiptoe up to it. I freeze and seem to lose the ability to say "spider"...more like "It's a sp...a sp..a SP!". My aunt walks in, sense comes back, "A BIG SPIDER! KILL IT!". She smashes it with a broom, it does a weird spider-like reflex thing, repeat times 30, it gets mangled in the broom. Broom goes out the door. One single, hairy leg is left stuck to the floor tile. (...not exaggerating).
-a millipede in the washroom, not gonna go into detail, but I didn't have my glasses on and I though it was a rubberband
-For the longest time I had the weird feeling always at the back of my mind that I was going to get run over driving on the wrong side of the road...
-I was watching this one episode of "Home and Away"...LOL, i guess it was the "Australian humour" I wasn't used to
-First day of school, we are taking some notes as the teacher lectures...I spelt the words right, but they were the wrong words (I heard "gorge" not "gauge"...)
-The term "grey lead" threw me off completely...Someone asked to borrow a "grey lead", I hold up everything in my pencil case, I finally get to a pencil...I think i got the weirdest look ever
-a broiling 50 degrees on New Years! Was hanging out laundry on this weird spinny, do-hicky outside and as soon as I put up the last sock, the first towel was completely dry...not to mention my hair absolutely died

(5) What did you think of the locals?
-Overall, the ones that got to know me were pretty good, completely enthrawled by my "Canadian accent" ("No, you have an accent!" "NO, YOU HAVE AN ACCENT!!")
-A bit off-put by the racism I ran into, the Krenala (sp?) Riots in Sydney that summer...scary stuff. Also got some vicious comments about my religion my some people (I'm Hindu, and being from Canada I don't think I ever heard that stuff in my hometown)
-I got the most HILARIOUS questions about Canada. "Can you speak Canadian?" "Are Canadian guys cuter?" "Does it snow in Canada?" "What part of the U.S is that again? (omg)" "What part of Australia is that again? (OMG!)"

(6) Anything negative?
-the racism I encountered (might just be the area I was in)
-The government there (then again, I don't particulary love the goverment there) and, I don't want to make enemies but the feeling I got that Australia was almost trying to bend-over backwards to please the US...yeah we can leave that one alone
-The education was probably the biggest contributing factor to my coming back to Canada

Overall, was definitely a memorable experience but, I hope you won't take offense, but it just wasn't home. Australia is a wonderful place to visit but to live there once you've grown up in Canada is a bit rough.

tigglys

Well, I've never been, but I've always wanted to go.

Australia looks like an interesting place to visit for many reasons - the people, the animals, the geography, and the reef! I admit that I don't know how to scuba dive, but I would HAVE to learn!

Someday, when I do have a chance to go, I'll let you know what I think!!

Wish me luck!!

US born & raised.

ljjahn

I'm from Venezuela, and have never been to Oz, but I'm planning to migrate to Melbourne hopefully during 2007.
Even when I've never been there, I know their economy is booming, the country is beautiful and the people friendly. It's hard to be an immigrant, but fellow venezuelans who have already moved to Australia have all told me about how they've been treated over there. The crime rate is ridiculous when you compare it with Caracas. And most important (for me) is the fact that Civil Engineers are in demand (which is my career).

loki_niflheim

1) Where: I've been to all the states except WA.
2) When: 1996
3) Length of stay: various numbers of months in and out of Australia, now a citizen of Australia :)
4) Memorable moment: The first time I saw the Tasmanian seas, I fell in love.
5) The locals: Extremely friendly, culturally-aware, exuberant and has strong stomaches for beer :P
6) Anything negative: The majority of people are rather unaware of social issues, other than what's being presented on Today Tonight or other current affairs programs. Most are lacking a vision on what they want for the future of Australia.

Kaka

1- Sydney, Wollongong, Whitesundays, Melbourne
2- July 2000, January 2004, November 2004
3- 1st trip: 3 weeks, 2nd trip: 3 weeks, since Nov 2004
4/5- I love Australia. People are very friendly, the weather is fantastic, I enjoy every moment here, I don't want to go back home
6- Uni! I've chosen a tough master and I'm struggling

morning breath

1. Sydney
2. 2004
3. 4 months
4. incoherent english language spoken by locals
5. warm, generous and lively
6. hatred about anything & everything American but continouosly trying to be American.

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