Australia anyone?

Firstly I would like to apologize to anyone who has been to the website and found that some of the articles end abruptly. When I gave the site a new look, the page sizes changed, anyway I have applied first aid and it seems fine now.
Since I got back from holiday I have been asked what I thought about Australia and would I consider moving there. I thought this would be a good thread to explore, so here are my thoughts. The thing with Australia is it is a continent masquerading as a country, it is simply vast and I have seen but a small part of it. Take Western Australia for example, the whole of Europe would fit into it, and it has only one major city, Perth. But what I have seen of it I can honestly say I would rather be in New Zealand. Australia is a busy place, it is affluent and materialistic, it reminds me too much of the UK. The reason I like New Zealand is the relaxed pace of life, I have mentioned in other articles about the Pacific Island influence, of "does it really matter?" A journey on the Train from Brisbane Airport to the Goldcoast and back again, tells a story if you look for it. Graffiti everywhere, roller shutter doors on the shops, people going to work with laptops on their knees, pressing buttons on their PDA's, taking calls on their mobiles (the whole carriage now knows about one blokes latest business deal). If I stayed in Australia for too long I feel there is a subconscious pull to drag you back to the world of materialism. It is the things that you notice after having been away from them for a while, like the expensive clothes people are wearing, the abundance of goods in the shops, the smarter cars. There is also a growing campaign to try and frighten people into thinking that they are at risk from Terrorism. There is a TV ad that more or less says that if you think someone looks a bit shifty (Shifty being middle eastern) then he might be a terrorist and you had better report him, can you believe that! Australia is unfortunately becoming controlled by the same group of people who control the USA and UK. It was most convenient that Australia joined the "War on Terror" (ie the illegal occupation of a sovereign nation) just as it was negotiating a free trade agreement with the USA, and then of course the Bali bomb happened which killed 200 Australians (if you want to know the truth about the Bali Bomb, go to www.vialls.com). So I think I prefer my world. The wages are around twice that of NZ, and I was talking to a woman from Perth who was saying that the local shops were really struggling to find staff, as everyone was moving to the mining towns where the money was really good, she said cleaners were getting $45 hour. At the Goldcoast the streets are very clean and the Public Transport system is superb, there is a bus to wherever you might want to go every 10mins or so and they run 24/7, the drivers are friendly and very helpful. The food is great, especially if you go to the small family run Thai or Korean restaurants. Surfers Paradise is trying to gain a classier image, it has had a bit of a "Benidorm" reputation. Some of the older buildings are getting re-vamped, but there does not seem to be a coherent plan that I can see. I felt most relaxed out of town and in the Rain forest and I think that says a lot about where I want to be, I enjoyed mixing with large numbers of people again, but my heart is with the laid back NZ lifestyle. Strangely, when settling back into my routines, I felt more on holiday than I did when I was on holiday.

Back From Holiday

We are back from Australia and a good holiday it was. When we got to Brisbane our arrival coincided with a 300mm day of rain (much needed by Australia, but not by us), but it soon cleared to sunny skies. The temperature was a lot chillier than last time we were here but still a bit warmer than NZ at around 20C, not bad for the middle of winter I suppose. We spent a couple of days of big city life in Brisbane before moving down to Surfers Paradise. It was Queensland week while we were there, so there were quite a few events going on, including a free performance on the beach by Bjorn Again (I know, but it was free) and some impressive fireworks. We decided that because the Australian wildlife is so wonderful, we would do more in that department. The highlights were Currumbin wildlife sanctuary where the Kangaroos were true stars, closely followed by the Lorikeets. We also had a trip to the Rain forest at Reillys plateau where a walk in the forest included a tree top walk in the canopy.

The good thing about the holiday was that everything went according to plan, we booked everything via the Internet, and there were no problems at all. The interesting thing is that it is cheaper to fly to Brisbane (around 250 pounds return for the 3 of us) than it is to fly to the South Island. I still have to pinch myself sometimes, Australia or Fiji (last year) these are destinations that were once just dreams. A bit of hard work, determination and a positive attitude and here we are, and I am loving it.