Today marks my 365th day in Australia, over 3500 miles, 6 apartments, countless campsites and a boat load of incredible humans later, here I am, sitting in a treehouse in the rainforest reflecting on what an amazing journey it has been… so far!
We had to go back on ourselves because it was just too cold down south!
So what have I learnt? Too much to put into words that’s for sure. What have I learnt about Australia? Well here is a little snippet!
Breakfast is a social event and you must attend at least once a week.
Breakfast, brunch, whatever! Just go out and eat it. The choice is amazing and I hear the coffee is in a league of it’s own. (Just don’t bother with the bacon!)
British chocolate and crisps will always win. Sorry.
Legend claims Australian chocolate contains anti melting agents, which is probably correct. It tastes like wax. You can buy real dairy milk and galaxy from both Coles and Woolies but it will set you back a fair bit. A little known fact is that The Reject Shop (basically a Home Bargains) often has English chocolate on the shelves. You just need to look for the little white ‘imported from the UK’ sticker. I saw a multi pack of Terry’s Chocolate Orange bars there a few days a go and pretty much sprinted to the check out.
It was a sad day when Matt found out that the red Doritos here are tangy cheese and that they don’t do chilli heatwave. You can get English crisps at the English Stores in big cities but when you’re talking £2.50 a packet it is definitely a treat. So worth it for those Flame Grilled Steak McCoy’s or the Monster Munch or the Discos or the Quavers…
Meal deals don’t exist.
I find myself craving a Tesco £3 meal deal on a weekly basis.
I waved goodbye to good Indian and Chinese takeaways long a go. They have been replaced by thai food and burgers because you can’t beat a good English Chinese.
Chicken salt is life.
Nobody puts shrimp on the barbie
In fact, no one says shrimp, it’s a prawn. But the bbqs are pretty epic. They have public BBQs in nearly every park and people throw parties there. It is the cutest thing ever and I am a little sad to say that if these were back home they would just be constantly vandalised.
You cant buy alcohol in a supermarket…
But you can buy it in a drive through bottle shop?!
Be prepared to pay £6.50 for a pint… (Dad don’t faint)
And then be prepared for it not to even be pint sized when it turns up. I tried to explain alcohol sizes but I still don’t even understand it myself. This video does it better than I ever could – https://www.facebook.com/chrisdrabbleofficial/videos/291167765159177/
Ok enough about food.
Australia is just enormous.
Yet somehow for Australians, everything is ‘just down the road’. Do not trust them. In the UK, driving 3 hours is an absolute mission from which you will need a full weekend to recover from. Here, that’s just your average Tuesday. That is something I will definitely bring back home with me. England is full of beautiful, historical places that I have never seen because it is ‘too far to go just for the day’. Here we drive for hours just for fun! However despite the masses of space, it seems to be the in thing to drive an inch from the car in fronts rear bumper – I still haven’t worked this one out!
Australia vs Europe
There is so much space and barely any people.
To put it into perspective, Aus has 3 people per square km, where as the UK has 58 people per square km. Just digest that for a minute.
Aussies are the most laid back, friendly human beings ever.
Particularly those who live in more regional areas – looking at you Wangaratta and Orange!
There are wild camels here.
Wait what?
They have a language all of their own.
Wanna make a word sound Australian? Chop it in half and stick an O, an A or an IE on the end of it and you are 90% of the way there.
This arvo whilst on smoko from my job as a garbo, I went to the bottleo. Translates to – this afternoon whilst on break from my job as a garbage man I went to the liquor store.
After my maccas brekkie I went to woolies to buy some lollies. Equals – after my macdonalds breakfast I went to Woolworths to buy some sweets (no lolly sticks involved).
Other weird and wonderful words- doona =duvet
ambo = paramedic
sanga = sandwich, usually sausage
chook = chicken,
crook = ill
rello = relative
stubby = short and fat bottle of beer
You never need to leave the country.
In fact, working in recruitment I came across so many older people who have never had a passport. Australia has huge cities, lush rainforest, vast desert, mile long beaches, stunning hiking trails, mountains and even ski resorts. If you visited a new Australian beach every day it would take you 27 years to see them all.
The work life balance is unparalleled.
That is all.
People actually get to commute to work on a ferry.
What could be better?
Online shopping is not convenient
Prepare to wait 5 days for priority shipping (which back home we call next day delivery…) just go to the shop and save yourself the hassle!
Winter really is a thing!
We got a taste for the cold weather in Victoria and promptly fled north to Queensland the land of sunshine and happiness all year round (unless of course it’s wet season)
Two story homes don’t really exist.
There is so much space everyone just has enormous bungalows. Also, their washing machines don’t live in kitchens. Ever. They always have laundry rooms or keep them in the bathroom – which makes so much more sense!
And last but by no means least..
this is one of the most diverse, beautiful nations on the planet and I am so blessed to be able to call it home for the past 12 months and here is to another 12.
Lauren Travels 
Fantastic x x
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