Verbatim, this is how I see it.

[Jacques Voogt]

Hi Guys

Sorry for taking a month to write this, but it took a month to experience it as well and I thought one should try to be objective and not filled with emotion of the experience at the time of writing.

I'll throw a few pictures on the web somewhere and link to them soon. Just waiting for new months data cap. :-)

[Jacques Voogt]

LSD – I came, I saw, I decided.

Disclaimer: These are the opinions and views of the
writer and are not in any form or way an attack of any sorts on any person or
entity and were written with a good helping of some vino. J The reader is entitled
to the readers own opinions… and preferred beverage for reading posts like
these.

First let’s look at why we went on an LSD trip in the
first place. South Africa is no longer a country I can be proud about. We no
longer lead in technology or any expertise worth mentioning. Our flag no longer
resemble our history and origins. I do not know the meaning of or understand
our anthem. After only 4 generations in RSA it is no longer a land of
opportunity and future for us. I’m not interested in a political or racial
debate. All over the world where people are being oppressed, they move to other
countries where they can get a proper education and build a future. This is
exactly what our current leaders did when they did not have opportunity in
their own country and see what they have reached by doing so. Instead of being
seen as cowards and verraaiers, they should be seen as heroes and
representatives for our future generations. It is not easy as a foreigner in
another country but it seems it may be easier than for a citizen in my own
country. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love being out in nature and my
preferred place to be is in the Kruger. Absolutely nothing can replace the
beauty of the majestic African animals we take for granted.

Initial
impressions

Initially you find everything strange and different and
you end up taking pictures of the weirdest things and sign boards and of course
all the beautiful parks and play areas for kids, clean streets, ATM mounted in
a shop window, etc. But after some time, it’s just another well kept park and
just another clean street. This is the point when other things start to bother
you, “It’s too hot here”, “They have flies here” “The last train or bus is too
early for my liking and not frequent enough, I’ll have to actually buy a car to
go further from the city than 100km. By the look of it, the people seem
healthy. Sure, you’ll find a few obese people here and there, but in general,
the average Aussie looked fairly in shape. Perhaps it is because they use
public transport and walk a lot, perhaps it is because they clean their own
homes and maintain their own gardens, perhaps it is because they jog or cycle
in recreational areas where it is seemingly safe. Either way, reviewing
pictures of myself… I need to change a few things.

Crime and Climate

I can bore you with endless statistics and data, from
crime to finances to number of sunny or rainy days for each of the cities we visited
and compared to our home town of Pretoria. But, like us, you can find that
online already. Now if you are anything like me, you will have you own criteria
of what is important to you and you might want to experience it for yourself.
It is very interesting to see a man hunt for a simple car thief unfolding on
the news with the 40 cops, dogs and chopper not giving up until he is found a
couple of hours later. They do have violent crime. One elderly man held up a
pharmacist with a tiny knife and asked for his prescription for free. In
another incident a man was asleep in his car when robbers smashed his windows
and pepper sprayed him. When they told him they want his wallet, he told them
that he will not give it to them. They ran off. There was also an attempted high
jacking. It truly feels like you are in Hawaii Five O or CSI and the crimes are
dealt with promptly and are resolved by the end of the episode.

Arrogance vs. Friendliness

I have spoken to some people before that also went on an
LSD trip. Some came back and said the Aussies are arrogant. Well then, I am
sure they are. If you go into an area that is fenced off and has a clearly
marked sign to say you are not to enter, expect some arrogant person to tell
you off. You are messing with the rules of this land and the people and rules
will mess with you. So if you have no self discipline and like bending the
rules, especially on the roads and in public places, then perhaps don’t bother
going to Oz. You will not like it and it will not like you. But we found the
Aussies to be a friendly bunch as stated in the beginning of this post.

Heaven or Hell

Australia is not the land of milk and honey, (of maanskyn
en rose soos ons sou sê) you will still have people around you, and people are
the cause of most of our problems. The people in Australia are however, for the
most part, civilized, friendly, respectful and honest with the usual
exceptions. There is a bit of a language barrier as I can currently only speak
Afrikaans and English. Australians speak Australian, it is not English. It may
very well be similar but the mannerisms, accent and “street lingo” (implied
meanings of words or sentences with different meaning) differ a lot and you
will find yourself having to repeat yourself sometimes or having to ask others
to rephrase what they just said. When the customs officer asked me what I had
in my luggage, I answered straight to the point and he responded with “catch ya
later”. I was not sure if he meant he’ll set a trap for me at a later stage or
did he mean we are going to have a few beers and a braai later. Anyways, his
hand gesture seemed to indicate that we may leave, so we did. This not only
causes confusion, but serves to show some small difficulties foreigners such as
us will encounter and eventually get used to.

Public transport

During our trip we explicitly wanted to make use of
public transport and amenities as these would show how well a place is
functioning and maintained and in most cases reflect similar conditions in
other segments of industry such as medical, policing etc. Each city has their
own public transport network. Fairly clean, affordable and surprisingly on time
in most cases. Closer to city centers the trains and busses are of course more
frequent and here will be a shorter distance between each stop (1km for trains
and 100m for busses). Further out (50Km +) of the city you can expect trains to
run every hour or so and stations tend to be up to 10km apart. There were very
few places that you could not reach by using the public transport. So going to
work and back would not be too much of a hassle, however I would recommend at
least 1 car per family to occasionally escape the rat race or do some
groceries. Busses are inherently affected by traffic and are occasionally late,
however for the most part, they are reasonably close to the schedule as
published on the net. The only problem we had was that our navigation was based
on real maps and geographical data, while the bus and train routes are
indicated on schematics often referring to the street name or a nearby
location. So when we want to go from A to B we were not always sure if a bus
would pass there and where exactly the stop would be in relation to where we
wanted to be. However, every time you use the system, you learn the route and
soon it becomes second nature.

Technology

All over it seems like the Aussies tend to use technology
to automate things or reduce the amount of physical labor required and hence
increase productivity or quality of life. In sharp contrast, in RSA it would be
condemned because it would be considered as taking away jobs. Instead in RSA we
would try and see how many people we can get to do the same thing, reducing
productivity but increasing costs. Even the busses run on natural gas, and
exhaust fumes are pointed upwards, not at pedestrians next to the road. I also
saw only 1 diesel spewing vehicle during our month long stay. Presumably their
laws against pollution are being enforced, unlike where we come from.

Prices

As someone on an LSD trip you HAVE TO CONVERT as you are
using Rands at an unimaginable rate. However when you are comparing lifestyles,
you have to CALCULATE PERCENTAGE OF INCOME for everything. That is two totally
different things with only the latter really mattering when you live in Oz. So
based on our occupations and salary surveys for RSA and Oz, I have come to this
simple conclusion. Everything made in Oz (housing, food, clothes, services)
will cost the same to slightly higher percentage of your salary as in RSA.
Everything made in China (Cars, TV, computers) is halve the percentage of
income than in RSA. So you should be able to buy the same food, similar house,
bigger TV, bigger car and have to do a bit of cleaning yourself compared to
RSA. And if you managed to save 10% of your income per month in RSA you should
be able to save the same 10% of income in Oz but that would be worth double in
a world economy compared to your RSA savings. So don’t expect visitors from RSA
that often. Given the ratios of value of money you will be more likely to visit
RSA twice for every visit you receive. They simply cannot afford it.

Deciding on a
city.

We all like certain things. Some love the cosmopolitan
vibe of a big city center while I call it a rat race, others would not want to
set foot on a farm while I’d call it heaven. In my decision criteria I use a simplified
model of life, a relationship between live, work and play and other topics
categorized under these 3 aspects. Since I live for 24 hours a day, work for 8 of
those and play perhaps 2 hours a day. I have arranged them in order of
importance, making climate and the place where we live very important. I play
outdoors, I run and cycle and fish and go hiking and rowing. I do not play xbox
so I need the climate to be good to play. Play time is limited, so conditions
have to be good to fit play time into my schedule at specific times. At home, I
also like gardening and tinkering in a workshop as opposed to simply sitting
inside reading books or watching TV, so again the climate must allow for that.
Travel to work and back must also be tolerable. I still do not understand why
men have to wear closed shoes, socks, trousers and a long sleeve shirt,
sometimes with a tie in the middle of summer while ladies are allowed to wear
sandals and a short light summer dress with open shoulders. It is stupid. (The
male dress code part) Work wise, depending on the type of work, you might have
an air conditioning that helps to control the climate, but you may also have to
do maintenance in a factory or outside where climate will have a much greater
effect. We also did not have the means to visit all the different cities as we
do not earn that much here in RSA. One city I’d love to visit, is Melbourne.

Sydney:

Live

Housing: Oh dear! Absolutely horrendous. We have not been
through each and every suburb and street but most of those we went through
looked terribly old and not maintained with a few decent looking homes here and
there and then the shocker when it comes to the price. Manly looked a bit
better with more decent looking houses than scrappies, but the prices were
unimaginable. What we found was that within the city center you would have more
high-rise apartment buildings and the further out, the newer, more spacious and
affordable it becomes. Still not cheap, just more in an affordable price range.
I understand why it is the most expensive city in the world. So if we were to
live in Sydney we would have to either live in an apartment in the city center
or travel very far every day. The latter is what we are currently doing in RSA.
Traveling from Pretoria to Johannesburg and it consumes a big chunk of our
available time and money in exchange for better living conditions.

Within the city center trains are regular, down to 3 or 5
minutes between each other. At night they run less frequently but until about 2
or something. They also seem to go anywhere you like and fares are not that
expensive. There are some coaches that look really old and some look brand new.
There is also lots of vandalism visible everywhere close to the rail. Ferries
are pretty much like big floating busses. However, if you want to go further
out, to the Blue Mountains for instance, it is better to use a car as you may
have 1 train every hour or 2 depending on the day, time and place you want to
go to. So you want to live close to work during the week and take the car out
further on weekends. At the same time you also do not want to stare into your neighbor's
wall 1 meter from your window. That is firstly very difficult to find closer to
the city center and secondly reserved for the wealthiest of the population. It
is very busy in the streets, even at 11PM you will see people having a picnic
in the park or going to their favorite entertainment spot. We never felt
uneasy or being watched by guys just standing around like we do here at home. Everyone
seemed to be either going somewhere or busy doing something. We never heard
anyone speaking Afrikaans and the receptionist at our hotel was surprised that
we weren’t black, being from South Africa, and all. Score 7

Work

As the biggest city, it goes without saying that there
will be more work opportunities. At the same time, given this lure, we would
also have to face more competition for these opportunities. We both currently
work in the corporate financial services or IT sector, making the city centre
the most probable place of future work. Score 9

Play

There are some really nice parks and gardens within the
city and Bondi Beach is but a few minutes by bus or train depending on where
you live. In addition you have some awesome landscapes within the Blue Mountains,
an hour’s drive away. Other than that, we did not have much time for
recreational activities as we spent a lot of time travelling on public
transport. There is a hell of a lot of entertainment available and museums seem
to change their exhibits often. But you might struggle to find a bit of peace
and quiet. Score 7

Overall score 23/30 (76%)

Brisbane:

Live

I tend to agree with their slogan “Australia’s most liveable
city”. Much less touristy and perhaps a bit boring, but you don’t need to go
far to get some open space and the sense of freedom. Houses seem bigger and
nicer than in Sydney, at a fraction of the cost. The public transport system
does a good job of criss-crossing the city but is much less frequent and if you
wanted to get from the south east to the south west, you would have to go via
the city center. It also seemed a lot more expensive to use the public
transport at first, but then it is capped at charging you for only the first 9
trips of the week. So going to work and back would be plausible, while giving
you free use over the weekend. However, going further out of the city (100k+) requires
a great deal of planning or you will end up waiting at stations longer than the
actual traveling time. But then again, it is still possible. Either way, I
would suggest you get a car. The city centre is a hell of a lot smaller and much
quieter than Sydney. The river is beautiful with recreational pathways on
either side. Not quite meant for your yacht, but still generates a pleasant
atmosphere. Brisbane also seems to offer a good amount of educational
facilities. A proper beach and excellent water conditions are only an hour’s
drive away, so one could go surfing quite easily. It is Hot and it is humid but
it does not burn you. I did see a lot less vandalism. We also heard other
people speaking Afrikaans at least every 3 or 4 days, and making friends was as
simple as greeting them with a “Goeie Middag Oom”. Score 9

Work

As the 3^rd largest city in Australia and
feeling a lot like Pretoria, job opportunities are certainly less than in the
rat race of Sydney and with so many teaching institutions around one can expect
a position to be filled fast. This is where your experience will help give you
the edge. On the other hand, if you start your own business, you will have a
constant supply of fresh brainpower. A smaller city also means less variety of
products and less prospective clients. So if you are looking for something
specific, expect to import it from the bigger port cities or fill the market
gap yourself. Score 7

Play

Awesomeness!!! Brisbane and the region around it
certainly lend itself to a whole lot of recreational activities and beautiful
landscape and there is a lot to choose from. Having less of a commute and
affordable housing, you should be able to experience the outdoors a lot more
than in the typical rat race. It does rain a lot at times, just like Durban and
this may affect your run. Score 9

Overall: 25/30
(83%)

Perth

Live

Due to the mining boom over the last decade the region
has expanded rapidly north and south. You will have beautiful houses to choose
from all round. Properties seem bigger as well, probably because a piece of
sand dune is not worth much. But don’t expect to see much trees or shade. Even
the lawn seems greener and growing better in the shade. People and ducks also
seem to prefer the shade rather than the water of the pond. Now I know we had a
heat wave while we were there and temps were around 40 for most of the week,
but it does hit you. Such searing heat will keep me indoors most of the time.
The train system also seems new and clean and not vandalized yet but a manual
paper ticket system I did not expect. People tend to be fairly friendly here.
Perhaps because there are fewer people and it’s not like you will see people
much further out of the city. There are some farms in the swan valley area, but
space is limited. If you love hot dry dust this is the place to roast. I could
not find much to do in the area either apart from visiting one of the islands.
Beaches are not that great. Nor is their water conditions much good. On the
plus side, you will not need a tumble dryer, or hair dryer or geyser but you do
need to consider a swimming pool and air conditioning as a minimum requirement
when you buy a house. Live here will evolve around air conditioned house, air
conditioned car or train, air conditioned work. Score 6

Work

Unless you are in the mining or a closely related industry,
you will not have many opportunities. For this was the city that brought to
light a large amount of beggars in the streets and sidewalk performers hoping
to cash is on some change. Now I do not deal with heat all that well, so
wearing long pants, hard hat and reflective overcoats in this heat will see me
perish. Finding an office job will not be easy either. As the most isolated
city in the world expect to at times have to wait for special order stuff. It
is also a fairly small city center given the number of houses around it, so
clearly a lot of traveling to the mines and perhaps periods of staying at the
mine working would be expected. Score 6 (If I was in the mining industry, this
would have been a sure 10 purely due to the salaries I’ve seen posted online
for jobs, but I’m not, and money does not buy back lost time with family.)

Play

Walking around at night was ok, but there really is not
much to do other than swim in your pool and drink locally produced wine with
some neighbours at a braai, while you dry out like a raison. Even the so called
mount Isa looks like it was melted down and buildings are frequently taller
than the mountain. So for exercise, you’d be much better off running the
stairways at work in a climate controlled building. According to the IAAF,
races of 42Km or more should be cancelled if the temperature is above 26
degrees due to the life threatening risk of heatstroke. So in the early morning
when it is a nice and cool 28 to 30 degrees you would already be risking it to
go for a run. Score 6

Overall 18/30
(60%)

[Sibella]

You make me glad that Melbourne chose us!!

[wendym]

Love it! Brilliant post. Well done.

[goFly]

Nice post! Very well written. Score 10

[Mel-B]

Thanks for an insightful post!

[BriD]

Thank you for taking the time to write this. Was such a useful post!!

[Robz]

Surely you scored a 9 on the IELTS writing!! Made for some very amusing reading! Thanks!

Edited January 31, 2013 by Robz

[Oosie]

You must come and visit Melbourne, would like to know what score you would give it. Melbourne is the most vibrant city we have visited in Aus, we just love it. We live about 100km from Melbourne but can easily get there with a V-line train and we just love to go there and spend a day or 2.

Feel so blessed to live in this wonderful country.

[Jacques Voogt]

Nee wat, my boere-ingels was net 'n 8 oppi IELTS

I prepared it in word and used spell checker. Then FireFox assisted to go from English to American spelling.

We will definitely visit Melbourne in the future. Statistically it should fall between Sydney and Brisbane. But for now, we take it one day at a time in RSA

If we can get a job from here, we will most likely go to the respective city to start off. But from our experiences, we would want to build a family in Brissie.

[Mara]

Melbourne rocks....

[Kanniewagnie]

Dankie! Ek kan rerig nie meer wag nie...

[Eyebrow]

BAie dankie vir jou moeite. Ons almal waardeer dit!

[Oosie]

Agree Mara, Melbourne rocks!!!!

[elleneo]

We loved Melbourne !..now that we in Sydney I must question what suburbs you looked at? There are plenty of newish houses in the hills district, older but well maintained houses on the north shore, I personally saw more graffiti in Melbourne than in Sydney.

[DanieR]

Excellent post - well done! Your city scoring is also spot on! Doing a quick stop back in South Africa to sell our business and hope to return to Queensland soon.

[Gizmo]

I have to say it, but this post is a perfect example of how dangerous LSD trips are (and I don't mean the medicated type)!

Although I have travelled to Melbourne, Sydney, Brissie and Gold coast, I won't comment on those - as I have never lived there, therefore, my perception would potentially be incorrect.

I can comment on Perth. After you left Perth, the heatwave left with you, only to surface on the East coast (Sydney, Brissie etc) - where they experienced HOTTER temperatures for LONGER!

Since then, Perth has been at worst in the 30's. This is one example of how dangerous it is to make a decision based on snapshot in time. Had you gone to Sydney straight after Perth, you would have cooked and probably given Sydney a score of zero for complete unliveability. But, this would not have been based on more than the briefest experience of what was NOT the norm.

Re work - again, fact is overridden by perception. In Perth, 1.7 people compete for each job. Melbourne, it is 12 people competing for each job - I forget what Sydney was... I think it was 14. Food for thought.

Re play -- this totally depends on where you end up in each City. On my trips to Brisbane and Gold coast, I found them dull as ditch-water, but, from research I know that this is incorrect. My impression was to fleeting and thus too limited.

Lots of other things, but I won't bang on - point made.

I am not wanting to rain on your experience - just be sure to consider that it was just a snapshot and as such is not really a reliable resource as to what life is like here in ANY of the cities.

Having said all that though, I firmly believe that no matter where you end up in Aus, you cannot go wrong. Each place has its pros and all of it equals a better lifestyle and better opportunities than SA.

[Bloubok]

Thanks for this post!

[OubaasDik]

I have to say it, but this post is a perfect example of how dangerous LSD trips are (and I don't mean the medicated type)!

Although I have travelled to Melbourne, Sydney, Brissie and Gold coast, I won't comment on those - as I have never lived there, therefore, my perception would potentially be incorrect.

I can comment on Perth. After you left Perth, the heatwave left with you, only to surface on the East coast (Sydney, Brissie etc) - where they experienced HOTTER temperatures for LONGER!

Since then, Perth has been at worst in the 30's. This is one example of how dangerous it is to make a decision based on snapshot in time. Had you gone to Sydney straight after Perth, you would have cooked and probably given Sydney a score of zero for complete unliveability. But, this would not have been based on more than the briefest experience of what was NOT the norm.

Re work - again, fact is overridden by perception. In Perth, 1.7 people compete for each job. Melbourne, it is 12 people competing for each job - I forget what Sydney was... I think it was 14. Food for thought.

Re play -- this totally depends on where you end up in each City. On my trips to Brisbane and Gold coast, I found them dull as ditch-water, but, from research I know that this is incorrect. My impression was to fleeting and thus too limited.

Lots of other things, but I won't bang on - point made.

I am not wanting to rain on your experience - just be sure to consider that it was just a snapshot and as such is not really a reliable resource as to what life is like here in ANY of the cities.

Having said all that though, I firmly believe that no matter where you end up in Aus, you cannot go wrong. Each place has its pros and all of it equals a better lifestyle and better opportunities than SA.

Reminded me of those Poms who came out to SA in the early 80's and after a week knew exactly what was wrong with the country and how to fix it.

I realise that he said up front that it was his impressions, but they are far too limited to allow a real comparison.

Anyone who has not been to Oz reading this who bases his own choices on this is doing himself and his family a disservice.

[Fish]

I can comment on Perth. After you left Perth, the heatwave left with you, only to surface on the East coast (Sydney, Brissie etc) - where they experienced HOTTER temperatures for LONGER!

...

Without wanting to take away from your main point which I think has some validity just thought I would mention that Brisbane did not get hotter temperatures for longer. I think you are thinking of western Sydney. Humidity yes, hotter temps, no...Brisbane hadn't had a 39c day for a decade. You can argue whether lower temps with humidity, or much higher temps without, are better or worse but that is personal preference I think.

[rozellem]

Useless info about Sydney weather:

We have been here for 4 years. In that time we have switched the aircon on exactly 3 times. First time was about 2 years ago when there was a record breaking day, it was something crazy like 30C at midnight still. This Jan we switched it on twice, for a few hours around the kids (1&3) bed times to make sleeping more pleasant for them. Today, for the second time in less than a week, we are dresssed for winter and making pancakes for some forum friends.

Ps. I left a empty bucket out on the deck last weekend. Rain filled it to the brim in two days. Just saying.

Edited February 2, 2013 by rozellem

[MarcK]

Loved your post - well written and honest.

Agree with you that Brisbane is the place to settle!

[team44]

Excellent article..just sorry you have not gotten to Melbourne yet where we are headed!!

[MarcK]

PS - Brisbane & GC as dull as ditch-water - really?

[maxi]

Very good post, enjoyed the read . We have been in Perth for 3years now, it is not the same Perth you talk of. Yes it gets very hot here, no humidity thank goodness , but you get used to it . During the heat of the day most people are in their offices and kids at school . The heat only lasts a few months ,three at the most. Remember Summer is the dry season and winter is the wet season .

Not quite sure where you went in Perth , you will see the older suburbs have loads of trees in the streets and parks. No dry dust blowing arround as

I remembering it in JHB winter. The newer suburbs are not established yet, give them time. I am not quite sure what you mean about water conditions. Perth is pretty flat , that makes cycling easier . There is loads to do here , the longer you stay the more you discover. The Perth arts festival starts in feb and runs for about a month. Most of it is free . The big museums are free entry . We don't get major flooding like what is happening over east , twice in three years now for them .

I love Perth .