First impressions on the Hills - Sydney

[Guest Sunshine Sister]

Hi everyone,

*phew* ok, while I have an hour or two, I thought I would quickly jot down some of my first impressions :

1. Sydney International Airport : If you have traveled anywhere outside of Africa before, you will find the term International in the name a bit overly ambitious, as the only thing that really makes it INTERNATIONAL is the fact that planes from overseas land here… In comparison to some of its bigger cousins like JFK, Frankfurt, Honkers (have to get with the new lingo now, ppl ! ), Amsterdam, Atlanta, etc it feels like a dot on the map. Oh my, what a tiny little airport for the masses of travelers it has to cope with. It took us an hour to clear immigration, waited for our luggage, only to wait in another queue to clear customs. Customs is VERY STRICT !! They scan all of your luggage, something I have never seen anywhere else before. I had some candy with me, which the children were munching on during the flight. I was stopped and asked about it. The fact that one of the items was chocolate with nuts in, resulted in some frowns and closer inspection.. Officials were friendly, polite and professional and let me go on my merry little way with a “Critters have to bite on something I suppose, so get on with it..”

2. Driving around here is not a problem at all. So far I have been impressed by the way ppl consider each other on the road. There’s hardly any hooting, ppl tend to indicate and there is a general tolerance on the road, even for lane -changers and pedestrians, which is nice to see. Ppl generally drive between 10 and 20 km faster than the speed limit, which surprised me a bit. Road names are VERY INTERESTING, I think it is done in a conscious attempt to confuse the daylights out of foreigners and visitors. A road name can change at any time, to anything, without any warning. In fact, it can even change in number… If you are asleep on the road, you are going to be on a permanent scouting mission to try and get back to your hotel/motel/trailer/caravan. The M 16 can become the M30, no explanation given, only to change to the M105… Highways are hard to find, and all big roads seem to be some form of freeways, with speed limits ranging from 60, 70 to 80 or 90.. (???) You will be on what you judge to be a freeway, of reasonable size, with three lanes, to come around a corner and meet with the peculiar site of a traffic light. Right there, slap bang, in the middle of everything/nothing. Thinking you are clever in Syds, is not advised, especially not when you are new and unfamiliar with the innovative system. Watson Road is a freeway, and then so is Old Watson Road, they both run from North to South through the same areas roughly…Hmmmm, Kangaroo logic if you ask me. The M3 – Centenary Drive, becomes Roberts Rd once you are in Greenacres, but not to worry, it changes to Wiley Avenue after the bend, only to be King Georges Road once you drive through the area called Wiley Park. Hehehehehehehe, and I thought Pretoria becoming Tswane was confusing !

3. At most of the shopping centers out here in the almost-bundoes parking is free!! Yeeeeeha, how cool is that, haven’t seen free parking in Yonks !!

4. If you are struggling between a choice of bringing an extra pair of your favourite shoes or your hairbrush, I am about to give you the secret behind being a social butterfly in Syds and fitting in with the local tribes.. Leave them both. Shoes (??) why bother, when you can wear plakkies (careful to get into that part of the lingo, hehehehe) with EVERYTHING, but since you will only need about 4 pairs of faded, stretched out, tracksuit pants, to fit in to the local style arena, don’t worry about any of your other Queens Park outfits either. Ppl will stare at you as if you have something stuck between your teeth, so rather go with the understated – just out of bed look. Hairbrush (???) what on earth for ? Nobody else seems to bother brushing their curly, unwashed mops, so why be the odd geek out ? Nah, ppl will think you are from St. Africa trying to be fancy or something, hehehehehe, rather just be understated and semi-sloppy, it seems to be the general trend.

5. Ppl really love their cars !! Doesn’t matter whether it is fancy or falling apart, do what you can and add what you can afford to make the best impression possible. Mags on a 19-voertsêk Nissan No-No ?? – of course, why not !! A $ 15 000 stereo in a $ 5000 pandok-on-wheels, great idea, sure way to impress your mates. Still on the subject, I have been AMAZED by the fantastic trucks we have seen around here. Not only are they on most major roads and massive, they are also all in fantastic condition, with the wheels and rims (is this the right term) gleaming !! Oh wow, really very impressive !

6. The Aussie I have seen thus far ( not too many of them around as I have mentioned before) have been friendly, helpful and down-to-earth. They don’t seem to kill themselves at work and like to rather pace themselves, by leaving some of the work for a rainy day (might be tomorrow, then again, probably not)… read between the lines.

7. I have started calling all elderly ppl the Anglicans. I tell hubs : Careful for the pedestrian crossing ahead dear, I see 4 Anglicans waiting to cross on over…I think there are about 4 (might be more) Anglican retirement villages/mini-retirement towns in our area. Makes you wonder whether there are any other retired ppl around, and whether there are any Anglicans under 50 to attend the Good ol’ Church of England, Hills style !!

8. I have thought it might be useful to make a little Friends of South Africans list. This will be a list of ppl I have found to really help me by providing friendly and efficient service. This list will grow as I require a greater variety of services while living here. I am doing this in the hope that any other Saffers who will be migrating to the Hills area will benefit by directly contacting these ppl rather than blindly fumbling your way up the food chain for some acceptable service, as I have done.. Please note that these individuals are not necessarily South Africans, but are South African friendly :

For good deals on ready or custom- made furniture you can contact :

Les Prentice

Timberland Furniture

Norwest Homemaker Collection Shop 6

Cnr Celebration Drive & Old Windsor Road

Bella Vista, NSW

Phone 02 9629 2977

http://www.timberlandfurniture.com.au

For great deals on all your appliance needs :

Des

The Good Guys – Discount Warehouses

Hills Homemaker Centre

18 Victoria Ave

Castle Hill NSW

Phone 02 9659 2811

I have also managed to FINALLY find an estate agent interested in helping me… *sigh* what a mission. This guy is rather arrogant and wise, but he has provided the best (only) service with regard to finding a suitable rental place thus far. I am keeping an eye on him and if he comes through for us, I will list him, but prepare yourself, he is good and not shy to tell you all about it !!

That’s it for now I’m afraid, I have to be off to bed. Chat some more very soon.

Love from here

Sunshine Sista

[Guest colton]

Good to hear you are finding your feet. Must say I have heard alot of unfriendly things re the estate agents, not looking forward to dealing with that soon. The thing my hubby found the most fascinating about australia was the way the cars come to a screeching halt once you put your foot on a pedestrian crossing, he loved to do that. We could usually pick the saffers out by the way they are all dollied up and the fact that they are the only ones giving their kid a smack or two.

[chatterbug]

Well done SS on "surviving" the first couple of days - quite nice to read you first impressions, - reminds me of when we arrived and the funny things we observed.

Here in Brisbane (and North) admittedly mostly in the coastal to semi-coastal suburbs, shoes are optional and not necessarily worn (men and women) (wat nog van plakkies!) and then shirts are also not sort of compulsory (ok, only for guys) you often get the double whammy of no shirts and no shoes, whilst people are merrily strolling/walking through shopping malls and the like? I am still not used to this. And then the "opgezefde" V6's and V8's ....laat ek nie eers hiermee begin nie....sal die arrows van parrow skoon skaam laat kry! I guess Sydney would not have much of this though - all excuse I can think of here in Qld is the weather and humidity.

Ek hou darem nog maar van 'n skoen aan die voete maar ek eksperimenteer darem alhoewel kwaai met die plakkie-ding, dink darem nie ek gaan ooit die kaal bolyf ding "embrace" nie.

Keep those observations rolling, Sista!

Lekkerbly

Koene Bug

[Guest Colleen]

Hello Sunshine Sister,

How lovely to read of your adventures and observations on your arrival and stay in Sydney.

All the best for you and your family. Dont forget to visit beautiful Perth, the Cape Town, without the

mountain, if you get the chance.

Kind Regards

Colleen

SOUTH AFRICANS IN PERTH