I WOKE UP IN DOWN UNDER -

Australia / April 28, 2023

COST OF LIVING IN AUSTRALIA

Australia can often be found on the list of countries with the highest salaries in the world, but at the same time, it’s also one of the countries with the highest cost of living. Sydney has been ranked as one of the most expensive cities in the world many times. Last year, it took 10th place, after Copenhagen and Paris.

The standard of living of a certain country doesn’t only depend on the level of income of the citizens but also on their purchasing power. So, how much does life cost in Australia and what’s the living standard in one of the most popular countries for immigration in the world?

LOCATION PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE

The cost of living in Australia greatly differs based on where in Australia you live. Just like in the rest of the world, where the cost of living is different if you live in a big metropolitan city or a small rural town, the cost of living in Sydney is different to the cost of living in small regional towns.

The cost of living in major Australian cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth) is much higher than in other parts of Australia. It’s also different among major cities, with Sydney being the most expensive city to live in. Because the cost of living in Sydney is higher than in other parts of Australia, salaries are also higher compared to other Australian cities.

HOW MUCH DO PEOPLE EARN IN AUSTRALIA?

According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average gross weekly income is 1800 AUD, or 7800 AUD a month. Salaries and wages in Australia are always advertised as gross income. So, in this case, the average net monthly income is 5800 AUD per person. To calculate your take-home pay, you can use one of the many salary calculators, like this one.

It’s important to note that this data only shows the average income and it can significantly vary among different Australian states (for example, salaries are much higher in New South Wales than Northern Territory) and industries. Salaries in some industries are siginifacntly higher than the average, while in others, are much lower than the average. If you’d like to find more information about earnings in Australia, click here.

Now that you know the average Australian salary, you can read more about the cost of living below.

ACCOMMODATION

Accommodation is definitely one of the biggest living expenses in Australia, especially in big cities where property prices and rent are increasing at a rapid rate. For this reason, many young people live with their parents or roommates. It’s not unusual for people to live in a share house with a couple of other people. Many people above 30 still live with roommates because few can afford to live by themselves.

Buying a property is out of reach for many young people as property prices continue to rise on a daily basis. For example, the median house price in Sydney is currently 1 million AUD!

Just like property prices, rents are also on the rise. To rent a studio near Sydney CBD, you’d currently have to pay 2000 AUD a month, while two-bedroom apartment would cost you 4800 AUD.
Be mindful that rent in Australia is advertised weekly, not monthly! So, if you’re searching for a place to live and you see something advertised for $500, that’s the rent price per week.

GROCERIES

The latest research shows that the average Australian spends 600 AUD a month on groceries. Of course, this number largely depends on your eating habits and whether you’re a single person or have a family. Below you can find the average cost of some groceries:

Bread: 4 AUD
Milk (1L): 3 AUD
1kg of apples: 7.50 AUD
1kg of oranges: 6 AUD
A small box of eggs (6 eggs): 5 AUD
Chicken breast (1kg): 15 AUD
Pork (1kg): 20 AUD
Mince (500g): 10 AUD
Beef mince (1kg): 15 AUD
Water (1L): 2.50 AUD
Coca-Cola (1L); 4 AUD
Kinder Bueno: 2 AUD
A box of cigarettes (Marlboro White): 54 AUD
A bottle of wine (1L): 20 AUD
A bottle of whiskey (Jack Daniels – 700 ml): 62 AUD

The above listed prices are indicative, so some groceries can cost more or less, depending on the brand you buy. If you’d like to learn more about the cost of groceries, you can check Woolworths and Coles websites, which are Australia’s biggest supermarkets.

BILLS

When it comes to bills, how much you spend on bills depends on many different factors, but below you can find average household monthly prices in Australia:

Electricity: 120 AUD per month

Gas: 65 AUD per month

Water: 68 AUD per month

Internet: 80 AUD per month

Electricity, water and gas are usually paid quarterly, while internet is usually paid each month.

TRANSPORTATION

Australian cities are very spread out, so unless you live near the city centre, having a car is necessary. The nearest shop might be a 15-minute drive from your house, and your work might be 30 km away. This means you’ll probably have to use your car more than, for example, a person living in Europe. The average fuel price is currently 1.80 AUD per litre.

Public transport could cost you up to 200 AUD per month, depending on the city where you live. Unfortunately, public transport is not as good and efficient as in some other countries. Outside of major cities, it’s often non-existent, so having a car is a must if you want to get anywhere.

HEALTHCARE

Healthcare in Australia is not cheap. Although the government covers some of the costs for Australian citizens, there are many costs you need to pay out of pocket. For example, if you have to go to GP or do a blood test, most of the time, you won’t have to pay anything. But if your GP refers you to see a specialist, it can cost you anywhere between 200-400 AUD. Often the government subsidizes part of the cost for their citizens (mostly between 15-30%).

Each specialist charges different prices for their services, so when you’re making an appointment, ask about the cost and if you have Medicare, ask if there’s any Medicare rebate. If there is, ask how much you’ll get back. This way, you won’t be surprised when you go to the doctor and find out you have to pay more than you expected.

If you need to go to the dentist, it could cost you a lot of money, especially tooth extraction or root canal treatment. I had to pay 2000 AUD for root canal treatment, so imagine how much you’d have to pay for dental implants or prosthesis! Dental care can be really expensive in Australia, so many Australians choose to get their teeth fixed in Thailand. Even with all other costs, such as flight tickets and accommodation, it can still work out to be cheaper than fixing teeth in Australia!

However, the government covers a larger percentage of medical expenses (but not dental care!) for Australian citizens who belong to a lower socio-economic group or if they are a person with disability. For children up to 18 years old, the government covers dental services up to 500 AUD in a year, which is not much, considering one visit to the dentist can cost you that much! If you need to wear braces, this can cost you anywhere between 5000 – 15 000 AUD! Want to have nice teeth? Be ready to pay for that!

Luckily, most prescription drugs are covered by Medicare, and you only have to pay a small fee. I never had to pay more than 10 AUD.

Besides public healthcare, Australian citizens can choose to pay for private healthcare insurance, which then covers most of their medical expenses and some dental services, such as yearly dental check-up. What costs are covered by private healthcare insurance depends on the type of cover you pick. That’s why it’s important to inform yourself about everything to make sure it’s worth paying for private health insurance.

Non-Australian citizens must pay for private health insurance and don’t have access to Medicare. Only a few European countries have a reciprocal health arrangement with Australia and can access Medicare. So, if you’re not an Australian citizen or PR, check private health insurance here.

EDUCATION

Just like healthcare, education in Australia can be expensive. There are public and private schools, but many parents send their children to private schools to get better quality education. Tuition fees per year can range anywhere between 5000 to 35 000 AUD, depending on the school and its prestige.

Attending university can be expensive too, but the Australian government offers student loans to Australian citizens (called HECS). Most students get HECS loans to pay for their degree. They don’t have to start repaying their HECS debt until they start working and earning above the HECS threshold. Once they start earning more than $51 549 per year, the compulsory repayments are taken out of their gross salary.

OTHER LIVING EXPENSES

Other living expenses mostly depend on your lifestyle, but here I’ll list some of the most common living expenses:

Monthly gym membership: 60 AUD

Daily cost of childcare: 118 AUD (yes, daily! Childcare is very expensive!)

Haircut: 30 AUD for men, 60-200 AUD for women, depending on your hair length

Dinner in a low/mid budget restaurant (3 courses): 80 per person

Cinema ticket: 20 AUD

Pint of beer in a pub: 8 AUD

A glass of wine in a bar: 10 AUD

Coffee to go: 4 AUD

MacBook Pro: 3200 AUD

Based on the information above, what do you think about the cost of living in Australia? Do you think the average Australian is enough to cover the costs?

Australia / May 21, 2022

WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS: HEAVEN ON EARTH

Whitsunday islands is a group of 74 islands and a national park located on the northeast coast of the Australian state of Queensland. The islands are famous for its beautiful tropical beaches, turquoise sea and the Great Barrier Reef.

I have been fascinated by the Great Barrier Reef since we learned about it in geography class in elementary school. Unfortunately, due to coronavirus and closed borders between the Australian states, I had to cancel my trip to Whitsundays several times. But the day when I could visit this beautiful part of Australia finally arrived!

Whitsunday island is the most famous and largest of the 74 islands. It is home to the famous Whitehaven beach, which was named the best beach in the world in 2021 by TripAdvisor.

Whitsunday Island is uninhabited, so the best accommodation options are a small coastal town Airlie beach or Hamilton island.

Hamilton island is famous for its luxury resorts and offers the most entertainment and activity options, but we decided to stay at Airlie beach since most tourist tours and day trips depart from there.

Airlie beach is a small touristy coastal town with a population of approximately a thousand inhabitants, but you can find everything you need there – supermarkets, restaurants, bars, souvenir shops and clothing stores.

Since Airlie beach experiences a tropical climate, the average temperature ranges between 24-32 °C degrees all year around. The best time to visit is during winter and spring because summer (from December to March) is the rainy season. We went there in February and were lucky to avoid the rain, but the air was very humid.

As soon as we got off the plane at the local airport, we felt heavy, sultry air. One night I left my beach towel on the balcony to dry, but the next morning the towel was still wet because the air was so humid even though the temperature didn’t go below 26 C degrees all night!

PALM TREES AND SANDY BEACHES

Airlie beach and the Whitsundays are a tropical paradise with beautiful sandy beaches and palm trees. The colour of the ocean is turquoise blue, and the water temperature is very warm. Unfortunately, due to very dangerous jellyfish, it is not advised that you swim in the ocean without a stinger suit, especially during the warmer months, from October to May. The two most dangerous jellyfish in Queensland’s coastal waters are the Box Jellyfish and Irukandji, and they are also one of the most dangerous jellyfish in the world! You won’t feel anything at the moment when you get stung by a jellyfish, but the symptoms start about half an hour after. Some of the symptoms are increased heart rate, sweating, nausea and vomiting, severe pain in the body and muscles, breathing problems, loss of consciousness and death. The tour guide told us that she once got stung by Irukandji jellyfish and ended up in a three-day coma in intensive care. It’s definitely not worth going into the ocean without a stinger suit! There are warning signs on the beaches in Australia, so make sure to always read the signs, and if signs warn against going into the water, do not go!

Because it’s often dangerous to swim in the water, there are swimming pools and lagoons on the beaches in Australia. People in Airlie beach can cool down in the lagoon, which is located right next to the beach.

Airlie beach lagoon — Lagoon in Airlie beach

WHITEHAVEN BEACH

The world-famous Whitehaven beach stretches over 7 km on the south side of the Whitsunday island and with its pure white sand and crystal clear turquoise blue water, it truly looks like heaven on earth! Allegedly, even Oprah Winfrey said that the beach looks better than anything she could ever have imagined from any book or magazine. And I agree! This is one of the places that looks even better in person than in images!

The beach can only be visited with an organised tour or private charter. The journey from Airlie beach to Whitsunday island takes between 1 and 2 hours, depending on the boat speed. Tour prices range from 100-200AUD for one-day and half-day tours, but there are also multi-day sailing tours around Whitsundays. We did a one-day tour which included Hill Inlet lookout, Whitehaven beach and snorkelling.

Hill Inlet lookout is the most famous lookout on Whitsunday Island and offers a breathtaking view of Whitehaven beach. I couldn’t stop looking at that amazing turquoise blue water…

After the lookout, we visited Whitehaven beach, where we spent a couple of hours. Seeing the beach in person made me understand why it was named the best beach in the world! The turquoise water is crystal clear and it almost looks like a swimming pool!

The average sea temperature is around 25-26 C throughout the year, while it can rise to 29 C degrees during summer. The sea water is so warm you’ll never want to leave!

Even though we applied 50+ factor sunscreen because of the strong UV Index (11!), my feet got burnt. This proves how strong the Australian sun is, so if you have sensitive skin, it’s best to wear sun-protective clothes!

RICH UNDERWATER WORLD

We spent the afternoon snorkelling in one of the snorkelling spots around the island. It was fascinating to see the underwater world of the Coral Sea, which I had only seen in documentaries on TV! Everywhere around me, I saw corals and colourful fish, from pink to yellow. What really surprised me was that the fish weren’t afraid of the humans at all and you could almost touch them. Perhaps because fishing is prohibited in that area, so they haven’t had negative experiences with human beings? If you are an experienced fisherman and have the answer to the question, let me know!

It was truly wonderful to see the untouched underwater world, and one moment I won’t forget was when I saw a large swimming turtle swimming in front of me. One thing to note is that it’s forbidden to touch corals at any time because our touch can damage the protective layer of the corals and make them sick. It’s known that the Great Barrier Reef has been significantly damaged in the last three decades, although our guide said that’s not true. She said she’s a marine ecologist who works on the preservation of the Great Barrier Reef for the Australian Government and that sample test analysis show that the Great Barrier Reef is not actually dying, but UNESCO claims this because of some political reasons.

Who to believe?

GREAT BARRIER REEF FROM ABOVE

One of the things you absolutely must do if you have the chance to visit the Whitsundays is to fly over the Great Barrier Reef. The panoramic flight usually lasts about an hour and costs between 250-500AUD per person, but you can find discounted offers for 150 per person. It’s not cheap, but it’s definitely an experience you’ll remember for the rest of your life!

We took off from the airport in Airlie beach and saw Whitsunday islands from above – the aforementioned Hamilton Island, Hayman island, which is the most expensive island where stars like Mariah Carey stay, Daydream island, where you can also find resorts to stay, and Whitsunday island known for Whitehaven beach.

The day before, we visited Whitsunday Island and Whitehaven beach and now we had the chance to see it from above. I can’t decide if it looks better from the air or when you’re on the beach!

The flight to the Great Barrier Reef takes about twenty minutes because it is located further from Whitsunday Island, on the open sea. There are tours that offer snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef or even sleeping in the underwater hotel but be prepared to pay 1000AUD per night!

The Great Barrier Reef consists of groups of smaller coral reefs, and each of them has a different name. Heart Reef is an interesting one as it is naturally formed in the shape of a heart and we had the opportunity to see it during our panoramic flight.

Having seen the Great Barrier Reef reminded me of how fascinating and beautiful nature is in every corner of the world and how small we are compared to nature.

Veliki Koraljni Greben — The Great Barrier Reef from above

Even though I have visited other parts of Australia and each is interesting in its own way, the Whitsundays are definitely something completely different from everything I have seen so far! If you have the opportunity, I’d definitely recommend to everyone to visit this part of Australia!

Australija / February 28, 2022

5 GOOD THINGS ABOUT LIVING IN AUSTRALIA

Australia has a reputation as one of the best countries to live in and one of the most popular countries for immigration. Almost 200 000 migrants move to Australia every year, and obtaining a visa can be a very lengthy and expensive process.

After two years in this country, I miss many things from back home, but in this post, you can find out what makes Australia a good country to live in.

1. WEATHER

Australia is famous for its warm weather, but this largely depends on where in Australia you live. For example, in the capital city, Canberra, temperatures in winter can drop below 0 degrees celsius. However, most of Australia experiences a warm to tropical climate, which I really like as I’m not a big fan of cold weather. I sometimes used to wear a t-shirt during the day in winter in Sydney since the temperatures can reach over 20 degrees! During the warm winter days you can sunbathe in your swimwear on the beach! Since I moved to Australia, I don’t hate winter anymore!

2. HIGH STANDARD OF LIVING

Australia is a land of opportunity. It’s one of the countries with the highest standard of living and salaries in the world. Currently, the minimum hourly wage is 20.33AUD. What I like about Australia are numerous educational, job opportunities, flexible work and study options. For example, if you want to work full-time while studying at the university, you can study part-time and attend lectures in the evening after work. If you don’t like school and you want to choose a trade job, you can leave school at the age of 16 and enroll in a vocational training course or start working. There are also options to enroll in a university as a mature age student and different options for a career change. Various educational and job opportunities provide career progression opportunities and good income.With an average salary, you can afford to buy a car, the latest iPhone and MacBook, eat out once or twice a month and travel once a year. Of course, this depends on your individual lifestyle and spending.

3. REGULATED COUNTRY

Australian public service is efficient compared to many other countries in the world. From strict speed limits and parking rules to laws for selling alcoholic drinks in bars and stores. Australia has clear regulations and laws for almost everything, there are restrictions for almost everything. For example, you can only buy alcoholic drinks in liquor stores and if you want to order shots in a bar after midnight, forget about it because it’s forbidden to sell strong alcoholic drinks after midnight. Although some laws and regulations can seem a bit excessive if you didn’t grow up in Australia, a regulated country means less bureaucracy headache as you can do most things online. Almost everything is digitized and you can pay by card everywhere. If you need to renew your driver’s license or change your home address you can do it online. To transfer my international driver license, I had to go to one of the offices, but the process was very quick. I got my number from the machine at the entrance and when my number was shown on the screen, I went to the counter where I provided all required documents, got my eyes checked and was photographed for the drivers license. I also paid my driver license fee at the counter and the license was sent to my home address within two weeks.

4. MULTICULTURALISM

Australia is a multicultural country with lots of opportunities to meet people from different cultures and parts of the world. Living with people from different cultures opens up your horizons and teaches you to accept people with different views and way of living. Something that’s completely normal for you might be unusual to people around you, but you learn to accept and respect cultural differences. In big cities in Australia, it’s normal to see people from different cultures wearing their traditional clothes, LGBT+couples and generally people with different fashion styles and life beliefs. When you encounter people different from you every day, it reminds you that there are so many different cultures and ways of living and makes you understand there is no reason to judge other people because they look or live differently than you. Unfortunately, people who look different or live differently than the majority are being judged and excluded from society in many parts of the world. In Australia, you can be who you are and no one will judge you for that. Multicultural society also means there are many different restaurants and bars to go out, perfect for those who love trying different cuisines. Mexican, Vietnamese, Japanese, Greek, Italian restaurants…it’s up to you to choose! In big cities, like Sydney and Melbourne, you’ll never run out of new and interesting places to go out.

5. NATURE

Did you know Australia is the country with the most national parks in the world, with as many as 685 national parks? There are more than 10 national parks in the near proximity of Sydney alone! Australia is a perfect country if you like spending time outdoors, are a nature-lover or love hiking. With eight different climates, nature is very diverse, so you can see different flora and fauna, from deserts, Mediterranean vegetation, tropical rainforests to deciduous forests. Here you can find some animals that you can’t find anywhere else in the world, with kangaroos, koalas, dingoes and Tasmanian devils being just one of those. Due to its size and natural diversity, you won’t be short of new options for hiking and exploring nature. People from all over the world come to see nature and travel around Australia in a campervan. Nature is not only beautiful outside of the cities but you can also enjoy nature in many big city parks. Sydney was ranked the third greenest city in the world, behind Moscow and Singapore. Parks cover almost 46% of the urban area, so you don’t have to travel far away if you want to enjoy peace and quiet in nature.

Here I’ve listed some of the most positive aspects of living in Down Under. In one of the next posts, I’ll write about the negative aspects of living in this country. If you’ve ever been to Australia or moved to a different country, are you finding some things better than in the country you were born in? Feel free to write about your experience in the comments!

Australija / September 22, 2021

AUSTRALIAN LIFESTYLE

You often hear that the Australian way of life is laidback and Australians are very friendly. But compared to Croatia, people work a lot and put a big focus on their careers. They will not drink coffee for hours, and dinner is the main meal of the day. If your friend lives in the other part of the city, it’s very likely you won’t see each other for months. But that’s normal because you’re probably very busy anyway.

WORK-LIFE (IM)BALANCE

Business hours in Australia are from 9 am to 5 pm. In bigger cities, like Sydney or Melbourne, it’s not unusual to spend one hour or even longer commuting to work. This means you need to get up very early in the morning and that you come home late in the evening. Since you spend most of your day at work and commuting to work, you don’t have much free time during the weekdays. Most people work during the week and go out only during the weekends. On Fridays, people stay in the city for after-work drinks, and happy hour is mostly from 3 pm until 7 pm. There are a lot of job opportunities in Australia, but be ready to work hard. Australian society is very work and money-oriented, so socializing with friends or going out for drinks during the week is not that common.

On the weekends or when they have free time, Australians love to spend time outdoors (which makes sense since the weather is nice all year round). There are often many people on the beaches and in parks. Fitness and exercise are also an important part of their lifestyle, so you can find outdoor gyms in the parks and see people exercising near the beach at any time of day.

DINNER IS READY

Since evening is part of the day when most people are at home, dinner is the main meal of the day and is usually served between 6 and 7 pm. For lunch, Australians eat something simple and quick, such as sandwiches, frozen meals or salads you can buy in supermarkets (which, in my opinion, are not great quality). Brunch (a meal usually taken late in the morning that combines a late breakfast and an early lunch, usually between 11 am and 2 pm) is popular on weekends and is often served with alcoholic drinks. You can find restaurant and bar packages offering food with unlimited or cheap drinks between 11 am and 2 pm (called bottomless brunch).

AUSTRALIAN DREAM

Australians are obsessed with home ownership. Almost every week, you can hear about rising property prices on the news and everyday conversations are often about property value and buying a property. The Australian dream is a belief that home ownership can lead to a better life and is an expression of success and security. Therefore, the dream of almost every Australian is to buy a house (the bigger the better) so they save for a house deposit when they start working. The irony is that buying a property is becoming more and more unattainable every year as property prices increase at a rapid rate. Just this year, property prices have increased by 15%, while in 2020 the average property price increased for $103,400, which is almost $2000 a week! More and more young Australians can’t afford to buy their own property, especially in Sydney or Melbourne. The average house price in Sydney is currently $1,410,133 (yes, a million!). For comparison, the average annual gross salary in New South Wales (the state where Sydney is located) is $85000 (around $5500 net monthly).

Australia / September 4, 2021

I WOKE UP IN DOWN UNDER

After sixteen hours of travelling on the plane and light sleeping, I woke up. I didn’t feel like sleeping, watching movies or listening to music anymore. I just wanted to stretch my legs or lay on the bed (oh, I wish I was travelling in business class). I looked out the window and saw the desert. Ok, that means we’re finally in Australia, I thought. But then I checked the plane’s location on the map, and I realised we had at least three more hours to fly to Sydney…Ok, I’m going back to sleep…

When the plane finally landed and I felt warm summer air in February, I realised Australia was different from everything I had imagined.

ROWS OF HOUSES

Ulica u Australiji — Typical street in Australia

Australian cities are much more spread out and less densely populated than European cities. Australia is huge and has no problems with a shortage of space, so most Australians live in houses. What surprised me was the size of their homes – Australians have the biggest houses in the world! The average size of the house in 2020 was 235 m2! Sometimes their streets remind me of the American suburbs you see in movies. The first thing I noticed from the plane before landing at Sydney airport were rows of houses. Since I spent a few months in England before moving to Australia, I imagined Sydney to be somewhat similar to London but I was very wrong, haha!

SYDNEY OR HONG KONG?

Walking through Sydney’s city centre, I noticed a big Asian influence. I knew Australia is a multicultural country, but I was quite surprised by the number of Asian restaurants and stores! Besides China Town, which is located in the city centre, there are suburbs with large Asian populations such as Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese. If you go there, you’ll feel like you travelled outside Australia! Mandarin language is important and can be very useful, as there are some jobs that require knowledge of Mandarin.

AUSTRALIAN COCKROACHES

Imagine this situation – you’re enjoying your walk on a warm summer night, but then you look down and see insects crawling on the floor everywhere around you! Those insects are Australian cockroaches, which can grow to the size of a finger and jump (yes, I had that traumatic experience!). You can often find them around houses, especially in the bathrooms, where they probably get through the siphons and water pipes. I once found a cockroach in the shower…Thankfully, you won’t see them in winter because they are only out during the warmer months…You just need to put up with them in summer!

SPIDERS

We all heard stories about Australian spiders. As much as I would love to say it’s just a myth, unfortunately, it’s not. Spiders are everywhere. Even though they look big, most are harmless, but there are also poisonous species. As someone who is terrified of spiders, you can imagine how I cope with them!…If nothing, living in Australia has helped me overcome my fear of small spiders, but I’m not sure I’ll ever overcome my fear of the big ones!

BIG SANDY BEACHES

Australian beaches look as beautiful in person as in photos, if not even more beautiful! You don’t have to worry about stepping on a pebble or wearing water shoes. But these beautiful beaches can also be very dangerous! Sea currents are strong, so it’s advised against going into deep water where you can’t touch the bottom.

The waves are strong, so even if you’re a good swimmer, you can end up far away from the coast. There are lifeguards on main city beaches and if weather conditions are not suitable for swimming, if it’s dangerous to swim because of the jellyfish or if you’re far away from the coast, they’ll warn you about it. So imagine my surprise when I went to the beach and wanted to cool off in the ocean, and the lifeguard on the loudspeaker warned parents to remove their children from the ocean and that if someone wanted to swim, it was at their own risk because of the many jellyfish in the ocean that day. Do I even need to say I didn’t swim?

Apart from jellyfish and sharks, the sun is another dangerous thing on Australian beaches (and generally in Australia). There is no shade on the beaches, while summer temperatures are very high and the sun very dangerous (definitely apply sunscreen SPF 50+ even in winter if you’ll spend a lot of time outdoors). It’s often very hot outside, while the ocean temperature is cool, but as you go up north and closer to the Equator, sea (and air) temperature gets warmer.

Australian beaches are beautiful, but you need to exercise caution, so I prefer smaller bays where sea currents are not that strong and waves are not as big. But for surf lovers and those who love waves, Australian beaches are paradise on Earth!

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LOCATION PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE

HOW MUCH DO PEOPLE EARN IN AUSTRALIA?

ACCOMMODATION

GROCERIES

BILLS

TRANSPORTATION

HEALTHCARE

EDUCATION

OTHER LIVING EXPENSES

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PALM TREES AND SANDY BEACHES

WHITEHAVEN BEACH

RICH UNDERWATER WORLD

GREAT BARRIER REEF FROM ABOVE

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1. WEATHER

2. HIGH STANDARD OF LIVING

3. REGULATED COUNTRY

4. MULTICULTURALISM

5. NATURE

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WORK-LIFE (IM)BALANCE

DINNER IS READY

AUSTRALIAN DREAM

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ROWS OF HOUSES

SYDNEY OR HONG KONG?

AUSTRALIAN COCKROACHES

SPIDERS

BIG SANDY BEACHES

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