- 15 thing to know before you go to Australia.
I'm Chris, this is Yellow Productions.
I do travel guides to help you travel intelligently,
affordably, and comfortably.
And in this video,
I'm gonna tell you everything you need to know
before you come into this amazing country,
including how to get in, how to get around,
what to eat while you're here,
what to see, giving orientation on it, most important,
I'm gonna tell you how to have fun while you're here.
By the way, you should also know
it can be quite windy in Australia,
so hopefully I don't get blown away in this video.
Now, the first thing to know is that Australia is big,
it's real big.
In fact, Australia is the sixth largest country in the world
in terms of landmass, but only 25 million people live here.
To give you an idea of the size,
if you're driving from Brisbane to Perth,
that's gonna take you about three days,
the flight is about five hours.
So similar if you're going from coast to coast
across the United States of America.
The number one mistake that tourists make
coming to Australia,
simply trying to see way too much on their first trip.
You can't do it all, you can't see the whole place.
Pick a region or two, stick to one or two cities.
A great start, if it's your first trip
would be to do Sydney and Melbourne
then leave the rest for next time.
Now, the second thing to know is some information
to help you get oriented on Australia.
I mentioned just to stick to one or two regions,
so let's go ahead and talk about Australia's major regions.
Starting on the east coast is Sydney,
home to 5.3 million people,
it's Australia's biggest city with the famous Opera House.
But Sydney isn't the capital of Australia,
Canberra is the capital.
It's a three hour drive south of Sydney,
it's a planned capital with 400,000 residents
kind of like a mini Washington DC.
Swinging around to the south coast, we've got Melbourne,
it's spelled like Melbourne, but it's pronounced Melbourne.
It's Australia's second largest city
with 5.1 million people,
but it could surpass Sydney in a few years.
Melbourne is more artsy and funky than Sydney.
Continuing around the south Australia we've got Adelaide.
Adelaide's home to 1.3 million people,
it's known as Australia's festival city
with famous wine growing regions.
Perth is the capital of Western Australia.
If you want the most sunshine of Australia's big cities
look no further than Perth.
In the center of it all is the Outback.
Yes, where the steakhouse gets it named.
No, you won't find an Outback Steakhouse
in Australia's Outback.
The Outback is not to be confused with the Bush.
If you hear the term, "The bush,"
that usually refers to the suburbs of the bigger cities.
The Outback is even further out and more even undeveloped,
mostly nature based and indigenous experiences
is what you'll find in the Outback.
Some might say the Outback is the real Australia.
Now back on the West Coast
you'll find the Great Barrier Reef,
a 2,600 kilometer long set of reefs.
Home to an amazing underwater wonderland
of aquatic creatures.
But the Great Barrier Reef also has 300 islands
to explore for land lovers.
This is really paradise for snorkelers and scuba divers.
The third thing to know
is Australia is more than just desert.
Yes, Australia gets all four seasons
including winter and including snow.
Australia actually has 16 ski resorts.
You'll find them mostly in the Southeast,
near Sydney and Melbourne.
And if you're from the Northern hemisphere
remember the seasons here are flipped,
so summer is December to February,
and winter here is June to August.
The fourth thing you'll wanna know
is about the really cool animals you can see
when you come to Australia.
And there was one actually part of Australia
I left off when I went around,
'cause I wanna mention it now,
which is the island of Tasmania.
This island is off the south of the mainland of Australia.
And yes, the Tasmanian devil is real,
not the "Looney Tunes" character,
but there's actually an animal named the Tasmanian devil
that comes from this island.
Now the five animals you'll wanna see in Australia
according to the Sydney Wildlife Zoo are the kangaroo,
the wombat, the platypus, koalas, and of course crocodiles.
Now my favorite of the Australian animals
has to be the quokka and it wasn't one that's on this sign.
It's known as the happiest animal in the world.
You'll find that one on an island, called Rottnest Island.
They are native to there.
And if you wanna take a trip to Rottnest Island
to visit the quokkas,
you'll find it just off the coast of Perth.
If you're looking for these animals
and think you'll find them roaming the streets
of Sydney and Melbourne, I'm sorry, but you won't.
You will find kangaroos roaming the streets
of way out in the suburbs or places like that.
But if you do see kangaroo, please keep your distance.
They can actually kick.
And if they do, they really hurt.
And then of course, koala's,
one of the quintessential experiences is cuddling a koala.
And so most of the zoos that have koalas
often offer for an extra price, cuddle a koala experiences.
Though, if you do cuddle a koala
you will find they're actually not that cuddly.
Their fur is actually kind of prickly.
The fifth thing to know before you go to Australia
is about the money in Australia.
They use the Australian dollar, abbreviated AUD.
At the time I made this video,
one us dollar was about 1.50 Australian dollars.
Australian money is colorful and plasticky.
The coins, there are no pennies,
and there are $1 and $2 coins.
ATMs are plentiful, credit cards and debit cards
are taken almost everywhere.
I will say, on this trip, I have not used cash once,
I've used my credit card for everything.
Some stores may charge a small surcharge
for using your credit card.
And some places may give you a discount for using cash,
but that's not to say that they don't take it.
Now on the costs of traveling to Australia
it's actually kind of expensive.
Australia has one of the highest living costs in the world.
And so you'll find your trip here to be a lot more expensive
than other Southeast Asian countries,
like Thailand or places like that.
One thing to be aware of when it comes to restaurants
is that many restaurants on Sundays
and holidays charge more,
so you might find restaurants charging 10 to 15% more
just for the privilege of eating there on a Sunday
or a holiday, so be aware of that.
But one nice thing restaurants
that will save you a little bit of money is tipping
really Isn't a thing here.
You'll find some of the higher end restaurants
may give you a tipping option, 5%, maybe customary,
but you're not gonna be inundated with tip jars
at every coffee shop and those sorts of things.
So the price you see is the price you pay,
and taxes are included in those prices,
which makes easy to know how much things actually cost.
The eighth thing to know is about visas.
And all visitors to Australia require a visa,
known as the credit card, but a visa
to actually come into the country,
with the exception of New Zealanders.
Residents of many countries, including the USA and Canada,
can obtain visas online, they're like 15 bucks.
They're pretty cheap and they often get approved
in 24 hours or less.
So it's pretty easy, but make sure you do that
before you show up to the airport,
otherwise you won't be able to check in for your flight.
Number seven, let's talk about getting into Australia.
Australia's biggest airport is Sydney International Airport.
If you're flying in,
chances are you'll be flying into Sydney.
You could also be flying into Melbourne.
That is Australia's second largest airport,
but they are both modern, clean, nice airports.
Qantas is the flagship carrier of Australia.
Flagship, it's like their national carrier,
but you should know if you're connecting internal
to Australia, you will have to clear customs
at your first point of entry and then you can reconnect.
So if you are connecting,
coming in internationally and then connecting domestically,
you'll probably want to allow at least three hours
for that domestic connection.
So you can clear passports, and customs,
and then recheck in your bag before your next flight.
The eighth thing to know is about getting around Australia,
and getting around the cities at least,
if you're in the big cities of Sydney and Melbourne,
they've got pretty good public transportation.
The rest of Australia, the public transit isn't so great.
So you'll want to rent a car and drive a car.
Now, if you are renting a car,
beware they drive on the left side of the road here.
So if you're not that familiar with driving
on the left side of the road, well, just be careful.
If you stay outta the big cities, just stay in the country
where there's a few less cars.
Getting between cities, rail can be an option.
There's a decent train network on the East Coast
and the South Coast, but then not so much
for the rest of the country.
The trains are slow, because the country's big.
Buses are an option as well.
Greyhound operates the national bus network.
It's gonna be cheaper than the trains,
but it's also gonna be pretty slow.
Now when you're out and about walking, be careful.
If you're not used to cars driving on the left hand side.
They come in a different direction than you're used to.
Usually you're used to looking right
if you're from some place where the cars drive
on the right side, here, you'll want to look left.
Probably just look in both directions to be extra careful.
Now, if you're going to the Great Barrier Reef,
obviously you'll need to take a boat,
'cause it's in the ocean.
But the only way to get there are by organized tours.
If you're going to Tasmania and you don't wanna fly
you can take a ferry from Melbourne.
It'll take you 10 hours.
And the ninth thing to know before you go
is about the language.
And it's English, kind of based on British English.
Okay, so what's some particularly Australian vocabulary
you might hear while you're here?
Well, probably the most common one
is when they say, "Cheers mate,"
which means like, Thank you, friend."
If you see a sign that says no thongs,
that's not referring to your undergarment.
That means no flip flops, sandals.
Those ones that have the thong
that goes in between your toes.
If you see "Skinny milk,"
that is skim milk, or non fat milk.
If you see "Light milk," that's 2%, or reduced fat milk.
If you see trading hours on store, that's when they're open.
If you see a sign that says, "Mind the gap."
That says, "Hey, don't fall in this hole
before you board the train."
If someone says, they're feeling "Dusty" in the morning
that means they're hungover.
If you see a restaurant that advertises there are "Takeaway"
that means they serve the food to go.
If you see a shop that says they're a "Chemist,"
they don't sell chemicals,
that's a pharmacy or a drug store.
And then if somebody says, "No worries, mate" to you
that means, "No problem, not a big deal."
It could also mean "Thank you," or, "You're welcome."
Number 10, let's talk about the beach.
Australia has some really fantastic beaches,
but the problem with the beach in Australia
is there's lots of things in the water here
that try to kill you.
From jellyfish, to sharks, to even more.
And so if you are at a beach that is lifeguarded,
make sure you swim between the flags where it is safest,
or even maybe try to find a netted beach to swim at.
That's gonna be even safer.
Now, if you're going out surfing,
lots of great surf breaks in Australia,
lots of great surf infrastructure, surf shops,
but whatever you do, if there are posted warnings
at the beach, take those warnings seriously.
Oh, and I'm gonna warn you about these birds right here.
These birds right here are vicious.
They will take all of your food.
Don't let any food nearby these things.
Otherwise you're not gonna have any food left.
The 11th thing to know before we go to Australia,
is about shopping and stores.
They open about 10:00 AM and they close
early in comparison to most other countries,
think five, six or 7:00 PM,
for the stores that stay open the latest.
Now in most cities,
there's one or two days that perhaps they stay open later.
For example, in Sydney stores stay open later on Thursdays,
in that case, they'll be open until nine.
But beware of Sundays, on Sundays,
particularly in the rural areas stores close super early,
or maybe don't even open at all.
And when I say stores,
I don't just mean like clothing stores,
I mean grocery stores, and drug stores.
Like in some cities those might close at 3:00 PM on Sundays,
or might not even open at all.
This also applies to gas stations.
So if you're out in the middle of Australia
you should probably gas up on Saturday,
and not depend on getting gas on Sunday.
The 12th thing to know is about the food in Australia.
And unlike crocodile Dundee said,
it turns out they actually don't put
any shrimps on the barbie,
'cause if they're putting something like that on the barbie
it's actually gonna be prawns.
Now, Australia's British heritage remains
in their classic Aussie foods,
you will find them to be heavy and hearty.
Some classic Australian eats
that you might wanna seek out are sausage rolls,
which is basically sausage embedded in some tasty bread,
meat pies, that is meat wrapped in a bit of a pie dough.
If you're feeling adventuresome,
you can eat some classic Australian animals,
kangaroo, crocodile, emu, and more,
you'll find on offer in Australian restaurants.
On the breakfast buffet,
you might see these little packages of Vegemite,
they are yeast extract and vegetables.
In my opinion, it's a little bit of an acquired taste.
For dessert, it doesn't get any more iconically Australian
than a package of Tim Tams.
These are little biscuits with some chocolate
and a cream filling,
you'll find them in nearly any Australian supermarket,
and they can be quite addictive.
Now my favorite food to eat in Australia
turned out to be Asian food,
because Australia's actually pretty close to Asia,
and that means there's tons of delicious Asian food here.
Chinese, Japanese, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thai, and more.
The 13th thing to know before we go to Australia,
is about the beer and that they love their beer,
and they serve it just about everywhere.
The legal drinking age is 18, and when you get it in sizes,
you can get a schooner and a pint,
this is the schooner,
it's $9 from this plastic cup at the Sydney Seafood Market.
Now you will see some restaurants that advertise "BYO".
What that means is you can bring your own alcohol,
they don't serve alcohol.
And then you'll see restaurants that say "No BYO",
which means you can't bring your alcohol there.
Now you should also know that when you're out drinking beer
many places in Australia have some lockout laws,
which is like a certain time
that you won't be able to get in the bars,
after change depend on cities.
So look that up if you're gonna be doing
your late night beer drinking.
But, someone who's not a huge beer drinker
'cause I also find beer to be bitter
and have this awful aftertaste,
I find this beer actually quite mild and tasty.
I see why they like it here.
The 14th thing you need to know before you go to Australia
is about coffee.
And coffee's really a religion in Australia
so much so that a coffee shop names itself,
the "Ministry of Coffee".
What you need to know about coffee in Australia,
they take it seriously.
It's not wussie drip coffee,
it's pretty much all espresso based drinks here.
But you're gonna find the language at the coffee shops here
different from the language
at many of your coffee shops back home.
Cappuccino is the standard frothy thing,
though they put a chocolate sprinkles on top.
If you get a flat white,
that's gonna be milk that's been heated,
but not made frothy.
If you want a long black,
that's gonna be like an American drip coffee,
they put some espresso and then they add hot water to it.
And if you get a short black,
that's gonna be a standard espresso.
So, if you're a coffee snob,
study up on the Australian coffee terms,
but definitely start your morning with some coffee,
have some midday, have some in the afternoon,
and you'll be buzzed by the time nighttime comes.
15th thing to know is about American brands in Australia.
There are a lot of American brands in Australia
that have no resemblance to their American counterparts.
For example, Woolworths has been long out of business
in the USA.
It used to be like an everything store,
but it is a thriving grocery store chain here in Australia.
The Greyhound buses in Australia,
they have no relation to the Greyhound buses in the USA.
Now you see the sign and this says Hungry Jack's,
this is actually Burger King, the home of the Whopper.
You will find some things that are the same,
for example McDonald's, it's still McDonald's here,
but they call it Macca's, like Big Mac, Macca's,
that's like the nickname for McDonald's.
Now sometimes the Australian based American chains
are distinctly better,
for example, Domino's Pizza in Australia
has been known to serve Peking duck pizza,
American locations Domino's, take that.
And the last thing to know
is I've got more videos on Australia,
particularly on Sydney.
If you wanna see more videos on Sydney,
you can check on my playlist right here.
Or if you're going to Australia's second largest city
Melbourne, you might enjoy my travel series
on Melbourne right here.
Well fellow explorers as usual, I won't say goodbye,
'cause I'm gonna see you in one of those videos.