I lived in Australia for the first half of 2014. I worked as an au pair, which is a fancy word for nanny, and on the weekends got to hang out with my friends, explore my city of Melbourne, and occasionally travel to other parts of the country.
During my time in Australia I explored the state of Victoria, lots of Queensland (I miss you Byron Bay!!) and spent three days in Sydney, exploring the city on my own. After I finished my work as an au pair I spent a week in Cairns, and during that time I made loads of friends, spent a day on the Great Barrier Reef, and a few days exploring the Daintree Rainforest and surrounding area.
Needless to say it was A LOT of fun traveling. But there are definitely some things that I wish I knew before moving there. So I thought I would share some tips with you!
- Australia is a big freaking country. It is the 6th largest country in the world.
- Australia’s rain forest, the Daintree, is the oldest in the world at 130 million years! It is located in Queensland, and an easy day trip from Cairns or Port Douglas area.
- The internet is terrible. Find a McDonald’s with free wifi so you don’t pay an arm and a leg for awful internet.
- Credit and debit cards are not accepted everywhere, so please make sure you have a bit of cash on you at all times!
- There are over 800 species in the country and about 300 are native to Australia. You won’t find them elsewhere!
- Looking for the oldest living civilization in the world? Well you’ll find them in Australia!
- When you see a gum tree after leaving the country, you will immediately think of Australia and smile!
- While two thirds of the country is desert, over 80% of the population live within 100 kilometers to the coast.
- Melbourne has the best coffee you will ever drink.
- The giant desert in the middle? It used to be a giant inland sea!
- There are more than 10,000 beaches, so you’ll have loads of selection.
- The top 10 deadliest snakes live in Australia.
- Dial 000 for emergencies.
- Uluru (or the red rock, or Ayers rock) is more than 500 million years old.
- A kangaroo and a wallaby are two totally different creatures. Wallabies are smaller and friendlier.
- Tipping is not expected.
- It does get cold! I lived in Melbourne and in May and June found myself absolutely freezing!
- Flies are everywhere.
- Anna Creek Station, a cattle station in South Australia, is bigger than Israel!
- Australians eat their national animal, kangaroo.
Oh and by the way, you are never going to want to leave!
What tips do you have for Australia?!
34 Responses
Australia is so far up my Bucket list so I loved this post hun, so many things I had no idea about either. Maybe I need to go to Aus for the best coffee alone 😉
Elle
http://www.theellenextdoor.com
xx
Thanks so much Elle!
Seriously, Aus has the best coffee ever, it’s worth the trip just for that!
Lovely post I would love to visit Australia at some point…
Lauren x Huggled
I highly recommend!
Ooh interesting that credit and debit isn’t widely accepted- I had thought it would be!
Great tips 🙂
I thought so also and was really surprised with how often I needed cash!
Thanks Hannah!
All of these were making me excited to visit until I got to #12! No snakes for me 😉 Though the 10,000 beaches miiiight make up for it!
Trust me, the 10,000 beaches DEFINITELY make up for it 😉
Really interesting post! I knew a few things as I have friends and know people living in there, and it was good to learn new things about Australia as well.
🙂
Thanks Tais!
I’m planning a trip to Australia soon so this post was super helpful!! Thank you 🙂
Thanks Felicia, have an amazing time!
Beautiful pictures. True, Australia has so much to do and is gorgeous. I absolutely loved the coffee too. Great post, thanks for sharing!
Thank you! I will forever miss the coffee!
Omg cold in Melbourne…I’m here right now and it’s supposed to be summer but it going down to below 10 at night some nights!
Wow that’s crazy! Everyone thinks Australia is just always so hot but nope!
I totally agree with you on all of these things! So cool that you got to spend such a decent amount of time there too. Great piece.
It was awesome getting to spend so much time there. Thanks Julianna!
Haha Melbourne DOES have the best coffee ever! I lived in Oz for a few years and I miss it tons – thankfully still get to go back every year or so to visit. One more thing I’d add is that EVERYTHING is shortened – “Macca’s” for Mcdonalds, “Havis” for Havaianas etc. It’s hell funny!
I’m drinking coffee now. No matter how good I make it, it will never be as good as the coffee in Melbourne haha.
YES agreed with how everything is shortened!
This is such useful info for me as I’m planning on doing a working holiday in Australia in the next couple of years! How strange they eat their own national animal…
Very strange!
Where do you want to live while working in Aus?!
Ohhh the coffee sounds great!! I never knew that coffee in Australia was good. Noted in case I’m ever here! Thanks for sharing!
The coffee is incredible Danielle! If you ever get the chance to go to Australia, do it 🙂
Australia is my last continent to visit! (besides Antartica) And this just makes me want to go even more! There are so many unique things about Australia – I knew some, but not all! This is a great post!
Thanks Meghan! Wow you are so close to all continents! I have been dreaming about Antarctica lately.
Australia is so unique. Every state you go to is different. I hope you get to go soon!
Great round up! As an Aussie I can definitely agree with you about the wifi – it is very poor, and hotels are happy to charge $30 per day for wifi – that will definitely be a shock when I go home. But I do miss the beautiful beaches. I was in Haleakala National Park in Maui last year and was suddenly overcome with a huge sense I was home – and realised I was driving through an area filled with gum trees, a smell that I’ll never forget!
I love gum trees! That must have felt so nice to drive through them and be reminded of home 🙂
Yeah the wifi is crazy expensive! Although I think overall I paid more in New Zealand, and the wifi there was much worse.
I’m definitely interested in going to Australia! It’s so interesting to hear about the different kinds of wildlife there! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Alice! The wildlife is incredible there 🙂
I’ve never been to Oz, but my sister is planning to live there for a year so I look forward to seeing all the sights! It sounds like a breathtaking country. Loved your post!
The country is amazing. So beautiful!
I hope your sister has a great time!
Thank you Michelle 🙂
Australia is such an amazing country yet so underrated!
I love how everywhere you go in Australia is different from the last place, and you can never get bored.