Life in Melbourne

Over the past 3+ months I have been posting about my time in Melbourne and hopefully offering a glimpse into life down under. I thought I would try and write about it specifically. Initially I was going to call this entry Life in Australia. But I realized that living in different parts of Oz would be a different experience.

A lot of Australians and I think Canadians say that Australia and Canada are alike. But after living here for over a year now, I can say it is not similar. The only similarities are the countries are former colonies of the British and are now Commonwealth countries with ties to England in government and the Queen being the head of state.

Even though Australia is on the other side of the world, it has very close ties to its English heritage. While Canada as created its own unique culture; even though it is closer to England than Australia.

Climate
Some say that Australia is a tropical version of England. That is true in many respects but Melbourne being so south; during the winter months it is quite cool. It does not have a consistent temperature like Caribbean islands or even other parts of Australia. There are seasons in Melbourne like Canada – summer, fall, winter and spring are the seasons in chronological order. So it is the opposite of Canadian or North American weather.

Location
With Australia being so far away from the rest of the world and also being of a smaller population when compared to the US, UK or even Canada it has a more protectionist view about who should be allowed into Australia. It was probably more so under the rule of the Liberal/Collation government under John Howard. Hopefully now under Kevin Rudd and the Labor gov’t it can be better. But the people of Australia are conservative and concerned about their land, so any government or Prime Minster has to be cautionary about how it handles it borders to the rest of the world.

Due to its location many Aussie travelers both young and old have great access to the South Pacific and Asian Countries.

People
Australian’s are considered all over the world to be the friendliest people around. I have experienced this first hand when I first traveled around Australia. People operating hostels and tours by water and land, were most kind and friendly.

But the Australian people are also a hearty and tough bunch of people. They must get this from their English/Irish/Scottish heritage. Unlike Canadian’s who can sometimes be over polite, Australians don’t necessarily have this. They are more straight forward on how they ask or give service/information/help or just their manner. At times they can be tough, mean and/or rude, and when I say this, it is from an outsiders view. To them this is normal behavior and how they should act. But me being from Canada I view this sometimes as being rude or mean. Sometimes it is exactly that. But they don’t see it as that.

Now I want to state that this is not all people, there are many lovely people in Australia. But I would say all Australians have this to some degree. Some on a low, medium or high level. It is a different culture and how they act. It’s not to be a negative, but as an outsider I must comment on it.

Here are some similarities between England and Australia:

Accent
Both countries have their own unique accent.

Personal Note:
There are times when certain Oz accents, make me cringe and I wish I was def. Example Tracy and Tim, thank goodness Tracy and Tim is off the radio airwaves.

Language
Both countries use similar words like Massive and Brilliant and Whilst. As well as shortening words and slang words. Although I think Oz takes it to the next level in shortening of words. Almost anything can be shortened ending in ER or O.

Personal Note: At first I hated the shortening of words, I have come to tolerate it and even like some of it. I can’t be too critical if I am calling my Blog - Navman’s Adventure.

Sport
Australia and England are both into Cricket. Cricket is a national past time during the summer months in Oz.

Personal Note:
Don’t understand it; don’t find it interesting or fun.

Driving
Both countries drive on the left-side of the road and have right-side drive cars.

Drivers here are not as pedestrian friendly as Toronto, the car has right of way here more so than the pedestrian. And drivers are very aggressive and drive too fast.

Personal Note: Driving of the left side is not that big of a deal, once you get used to it. Although if I am riding my bike down an empty street I will sometimes ride on the right side to be rebellious.

As for the aggressive drivers, I have learned to deal/live with it.

That’s it for now; I think I covered a wide rage of topics. I will discuss more as I come across it.