Ocean11 0 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Mrs.11 is talking a crazy line of woman-talk about moving to Australia. I don't really know about the feasibility of making a huge living translating from Oz, but I just wonder about the cost of living and living standards over there. It looks like we could afford to buy a 3-bedroom house with double garage and swimming pool which we couldn't here (obviously). We saw a programme about Japanese living comfortably in Oz on what they said was an average Oz wage of 250,000 yen p/m. Can this really be true? This was in Cairns. What would I have to give up if I moved to Oz, and what would I get instead? What's Cairns like? Any info would be appreciated... Link to post Share on other sites
mikazooki 0 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 lots of japanese! c'mon, ocey, australia is awesome, and it really is cheap. but there isnt much snow. the barrier reef is miles off the coast, cairns opens onto mudflats, u cant swim half the year in the ocean (except beaches with nets) cos of leathal jelly fish, and the crocs eat u if u swim inland. seriously, however, northern queensland is one of the most amazing places around. the fruit is good. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Cairns is hot and for most of teh year you cant swim in teh Ocean on account of crocs and box jelly fish (kill ya dead they will). Stone Fish are also common. I do not know Cairns very well, but living there may not be as enjoyable as taking a holiday there. In terms of cost of living. If you stay out of the cities (mainly Sydney and Melbourne) then it is low. The property you described is quite possible. In rural and coastal small town areas of Australia the standard of living is far better than Japan. I fear you quoted teh avg income as a little high, or is that gross of tax? Average Australian income gross is about aud35k. Pretty tough for a family with kids and single income in Sydney. Not so bad in the country. As for what is it like living in Australia: a huge topic... will take several posts Suffice to say that it depends on where you live. There are parts of the country I would love to live in and others ... no way. Like I said, a big topic. Good to hear though! Sounds like the Ocean household is heading in the right direction. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted May 19, 2003 Author Share Posted May 19, 2003 Keep 'em coming. Long and personal is good. It doesn't have to be Cairns - anywhere that you would recommend, although I'm not much of a big-city person anymore (if that actually makes a difference). Link to post Share on other sites
woywoy 0 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Cairns is really close to the barrier reef and also to some amazing rainforests but I dont know if I could live there. It is super hot most of the year and summer is very similar to a japanese summer with high humidity and temperatures in the low 30s most days. However, it is certainly a lot cheaper alternative to Sydney or Melbourne. By all accounts Melbourne is a bustling little metropolis with lots of cool bars, cafes and restaurants but the weather down there does not reach the standards of Sydney. The winter is colder and wetter and the summers hotter. The lack of quality beaches within reach of the city is also another point that Sydney wins hands down on. The only problem is that property prices are going through the roof and only recently have they seemed to start to plateau off. A 3-bedroom house with a double garage and a pool in a NICE suburb in sydney will set you back over $500K. Living costs in Sydney are probably more comparable to living in the country in Japan. However, things have been becoming more expensive over the last few years. This is an interesting topic Ocean. I dont think that English people have that much problem immigrating, especially if they have skills that are in short supply here. Good luck! Link to post Share on other sites
woywoy 0 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 After reading your latest post Ocean... I could recommend either the Sth Coast of New South Wales or the Mid Nth Coast of New South Wales. Both really beautiful places with plenty on offer and reasonable costs of living. The Snowy Mountains area in Southern New South Wales and Victoria is also really beautiful. This is where our ski fields are located. People also often rave about Perth but I havent made the trek over there yet so I cant really comment. How likely is this to come off Ocean??? Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard_freak 0 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 This could be a big post but i have to go to work soon. Anyway, db has already mentioned some good points. Property in Sydney is expensive. Very expensive. Especially if you are looking to live near the beach. If you don't want to live in a big city it might be worth checking out the Central Coast, and even a bit further north as well. There are some beautiful spots only a couple of hours from Sydney. The property is damn cheap, a fraction of what it is in Sydney. One of my cousins lives in Cairns, i think he's still there at least. Anyway, he really enjoyed his time there except for the previously mentioned animals! Just quickly, living standards are pretty good in general. Wages can range depending on what you do - obviously, but i think db's estimation would be a bout right for the average yearly income. OK, im going to be late if i post any more! Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Around 75 yen to the Aussie dollar. So 35,000.00 AUD = 2,645,299.38 JPY Link to post Share on other sites
mikazooki 0 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 other places with lots of japanese...sydney and the gold coast. perth is fantastic, although somewhat boring. the beaches are the best of an australian capital city, and they face west for the sunsets. the weather is awesome, summer much drier than the other caps. wiv a nice sea breeze to take the edge off the summer heat. and plenty of wind... (so kite surfing would be your sport of choice). property is a bit expensive for a city of its size but still very affordable. lots of cafes. and the nearby southwest is a very special place. outside of the south west corner, WA has heaps of wonderful places to visit, but nowhere i would ever want to live. the east has a lot more action. melbourne is probably the most chilled out city with a population over 3mil anywhere in the world. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 As cities go I love Sydney, but lets drop that for a moment. Cities: - Perth is supposed to be a great big town/small city. The coast sout of Perth in the Margret River area is magic. - Hobart is also a wonderful little city (very little). Not very warm, but very easy, CHEAP (for quality) and pretty. Coastal towns: - Like woywoy mentions, south coast NSW is fantastic. The towns are small (mostly less than 20,000 people). The hills are green and the ocean clean with big long white beachs. - mid north coast NSW is so-so in my opinion. Also getting dragged up in price by Sydney property boom - North coast NSW is just superb. Hinterland Coff Harbour up to Byron Bay (best coastal town in the world). Again, the towns are very small and to be honest the people not so worldly. - Qld is great but (sorry to any QLDers) the people are a little biggotted and thick, not all, but a fair few. The southern reaches of the Gold Coast are great (in parts). Arround Currumbin and Coolangatta are magic. There are also some shitty stretches there. Keep well clear of Surfers Paradise (although very popular with the Japanese). - In victoria I really like the Great Ocean TRoad stretch of coastline. Lorne is not so cheap but very cool. Warnambool is a top little fishing town as well. Besides these few areas, there are 100's of other small towns and stretches of coastline taht are just fantastic. Employment may be a problem in some areas. If you wanted to be near the best city in the world, but in the country then teh Blue Mountains are great. I was a bees hair away from renting a 3 bedroom very big house with all glass for teh front wall and a huge balcony. The house was no where near other properties and was perched on the edge of a massive cliff with a view down a valley that was world class scenery. Really cheap, only AUD350pw... but 2 hours by train from central Sydney. As for house prices: There are plenty of places where you can live in a nice house, 3 bedroom, big garden probably a pool and in a decent area for bugger all. This is not really the case in Sydney any more (although Sydney is still very cheap on world standards). I would not recommend moving there until you visit for a few weeks, rent a car and drive from up north right down to the south and then around the bottom a bit. Then I would fly over to Perth for a squiz. Melbourne is very affordable and livable, but not my thing.... I find it boring (unless you like sport). If you can rule out cooler areas then you will not need to drive as far south. Probably Cairns down to Melbourne, with the last 500km just a redundant stretch (there is some great stuff near Lakes Entrance, but just as good/better to the north in NSW). Stay well clear of Port Headland and Woomera. Not the best towns, but the accom is cheap. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted May 19, 2003 Author Share Posted May 19, 2003 How likely? Hmmm, difficult one that. 20% or so. Seeing how we haven't actually been there ever, it seems a bit odd to be thinking of moving there. But stranger things have happened. It's got to have hills wherever it is. Link to post Share on other sites
r45 4 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Isn't it just like on Neighbours? Link to post Share on other sites
miteyak 0 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 On a reccy trip at christmas, I fell for Adelaide. Laid back, small city, rural area not far (could get from yer rural homestead to the center in a 15 minute drive. Property a lot cheaper than around Melbourne. My girl's a Melbournite, however, and seems to be extremely prejudiced against Adelaide, w/ no logical explanation as to why ... Alice would be a great place to live, less you be into watersports, of course. The Nat parks and wilderness around there are outstanding. As for cheap, try four large rib-eyes for the price of a Japanese chicken breast ... Link to post Share on other sites
miteyak 0 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Another note...on the offchance that Mrs O11 likes her conveniences, dont stray to far from the big cities ... Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Hey Ocean The UK doesn't appeal to your woman then. I wonder why.... Australia people What's the current situation with the ozone hole and skin cancer? Please note that this is NOT intended as a snidey dig at your country. I had a look for recent info, but couldn't find anything really up to date. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted May 20, 2003 Author Share Posted May 20, 2003 NoFakie, it probably wouldn't be lost on my folks that not only is Australia on the other side of the world like Japan, it's also in another hemisphere. The sun issue is also a slight concern of mine too, given my tendency to bubble up a like a squid on a grill when I'm out in the sun for a day. Thanks for all the comments. Reckon the best thing is to go and have a look eh? Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard_freak 0 Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Ocean, if you can head over and have a poke around the place then that would be ideal. I'd steer well clear of Darwin. God aweful place. Apologies to any Darwin people out there! But the weather is just too hot and humid for my liking and i ofund it a very boring town. That was about 10 years ago though. Maybe more. I suppose what it comes down to is what you want. You've said that you don't necesarily want to be in a big city, and that mountains need to be close by. Of they do! thats a given!! So that leaves you with the south east corner of the country. Plenty of places to live around there! If you want to be close to the snow and still live in a city you could try Canberra. Not my cup of tea but it is the home of the three P's - Pot, Porno and Pyrotechnics! Plus its only a couple of hours from the snow. Quite cheap too i think. But you would have to put up with the politicians. It is a pretty quiet place, nice enough though. Or even closer to the snow is Cooma. Very small and you'd probably struggle to find decent work. But as previsouly mentioned i'd try to head down and check the place out. Come in winter, then you can sample our hills as well! Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted May 20, 2003 Author Share Posted May 20, 2003 The 3 P's eh? A good bit of info to tuck away somewhere. Turns out one of my snowboarding mate's from Perth and he rates it highly. Good surfing. The work is not much of an issue as I could just carry on translating. I never meet most of my clients anyway, and as there's only an hour or two time difference, I could still email them in office hours. This is all looking veeeery interesting... Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard_freak 0 Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Well then if work is not an issue all you need is a place that is advanced enough to have a phone line and you'll be right!! The country is your oyster! Now all you need to decide is how close you want to be to the snow. Link to post Share on other sites
nzlegend 1 Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Quote: Originally posted by snowboard_freak: ! Now all you need to decide is how close you want to be to the snow. No doubt Perth is a loooooooooooong way from the snow Link to post Share on other sites
mikazooki 0 Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 where u from miteyak u dont need a reason to be against adelaide! its more of a cultural thing. here allow me to quote a famous song Quote: Travel as often as you can, live in New York City once, live in Northern California once, never live in Adelaide, it's a hole Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 have you lived there mikazooki? Link to post Share on other sites
mikazooki 0 Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 nah, just takin the piss. passed thru driving to melbourne. there r horses in the middle of the city and cheap grapes from the big market before closing, and a caravan park within walking distance from the city centre. i carried a pineapple around adelaide for two days, then when i ate it it gave me a sore tummy. north adelaide looked like a nice burb. never made it to the beach. fairer appraisal? Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Adelaide would have to be one of Oz's most chilled cities. I grew up there, enjoyed it except for the long drives for the good surf. If you want to surf & snowboard Adelaide is definately not the best place! But if its wine, cafes, great restaraunts etc then its the place with out the masses such as NSW & Vicco. And you can grow ya own plants with no trouble from the law too. By the way You can get a nice 3Br house with all the nice stuff for under 200k! Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted May 20, 2003 Author Share Posted May 20, 2003 I don't really understand the Oz housing situation. '3 bedroom house' means what exactly? How many rooms do you get in total with that? And is renting not generally the done thing? I get the impression you pretty much have to buy... Link to post Share on other sites
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