I hate Australia- venting
I presume this is going to get better, but my introduction to Australia has not been the best. I intend to bitch and moan on this entry, so for those of you who want to read only good stuff, skip today’s post. For those suffering the pangs of jealousy over my travels, this should make you feel better.
The problems began weeks ago. When I booked my ticket I thought it would be cool to fly from NZ into Melbourne because I will be flying out from Sydney. I picked a random date 1 month after my arrival in NZ. Who knew that this would land me in Melbourne smack in the middle of the Australian Open, in the height of the summer holidays? I have searched every single internet hotel site and could not find a room for Saturday night for under $400. I booked a room for $200 for my Friday arrival and found a room for Sunday and Monday for an ultracheap $165/night. I thought I might get lucky wandering from hotel to hotel on Friday night and that one might have a cancellation. Zip. Nada. Nothing. Plus, it was raining. So I gave up, changed my plane ticket to Tasmania, paid the higher fee, along with the penalty for changing (still ends up loads cheaper than a hotel room for $400) and I’m blogging from the airport.
Then there was the flight from Christchurch to Melbourne on Jetstar. As per my usual, I used up my last NZ currency in the airport in Christchurch. I entered the airplane carrying $20 US and my credit card. Jetstar is a no frills carrier and they don’t serve anything for free- not food, not beverages, not headphones- nothing. Unfortunately, nowhere do they give you advance warning that purchases on board can only be made using NZ or Australian currency- no other currencies and no credit cards.
One of the flight attendants graciously (that’s facetious) got me a cup of tap water and pointed out, with what sounded like a touch of sarcasm, that I could have gotten Australian currency before I left NZ?! The New Yorker in me was screaming out to whack her in the nose, but I thought that might make for a hairy arrival in Australia so I restrained myself.
The last indignity thus far was when I went to pick up my suitcase from my hotel in order to go to the airport. I needed to use a bathroom but the desk clerk advised me that they were only for guests and told me there were toilets at the train station. Again, I managed to avoid whacking her, and the strongest 4-letter word I used was “rude” although numerous others were on the tip of my tongue!
The good news is, this can only get better. Stay tuned for cheerier posts.
Tags: Australia, Melbourne, Travel
myra_n
Myra, so Australia is not the party that we are led to believe… I do know that everywhere except England AMERICANS ARE HATED, and if you could carry an extra passport claiming a different country of origin people would be less likely to BLOW SNOT ON YOU when they have to talk to you. Meanwhile… here in New England, folks who have oil heat are paying $3.65 a gallon to heat their homes, and $3.25 for gas, and that doesn’t leave much partying money (or grocery money) and the U.S. is headed for full-blown recession. Dubya is launching an economic plan this week and it will probably be better than Hillary’s or Obama’s (but not Romney’s) because Mitt has the tools to save the economy. Thankfully, global warming is heating up NE winters and we can leave the mess for our grandchildren. Where to after sunny Australia?
Oh by the way Myranee, the pictures look great up on Flickr, you sure are a shutterbug!
Hi! Sounds like you are having a mixed bag time. Glad things are better now. Frank & I are off on our South American adventure next week. Looking forward to Superbowl, a day that you will surely be missed by all. Go Big Blue! I think the injections are actually improving my mobility. Long way to go yet, but any improvement is greatly appreciated. Going to look at your photos now. Have a great timeand stay safe. Kisses.
Hi! I’m a Canadian in Australia. It was refreshing to read your post. I hope the rest of your trip was better. Trust me, the passport you hold makes no difference. I have had a terrible time trying to develop a network here. My fiance is Australian and after six months I am counting down the days to our return to North America. It’s too bad. I will miss the beautiful beaches, but that’s it! Can’t wait to get out of here.
Ya I agree. I’m from North America in Australia and I find the place to be an EXTREME DISAPPOINTMENT!!! This country is soooooo underwhelming…virtually everything we have seen or done has been a disappointment. For example we went to the “Royal Botannic Garden” in Melbourne. Do they even know what a garden is? Because there was NOTHING to see…no flowers, nothing exotic at all. Just a field of trees and brown grass. This being Australia I was expecting to see spectacular displays of beautiful, exotic flowers, lush foilage, ponds, etc. But it was nothing like that. Not worth the time to visit. We went on the Puffing Billy steam train in the Dandenongs and what a joke that was. It was sooo expensive and you had to sit on wooden benches in cars open to the elements and it was freezing. We have been to the museum and found nothing compelling or interesting to see. We went to Scienceworks which is in the middle of a really scary totally run down (what area of this city isn’t run down?) industrial area; the place is more a kindergarten than a science center. It’s really only for kids under 6 years old as all the displays are meant for children. Nothing for adults to see unless you find 100 year old sewage pumps interesting. Crown casino has no attractions unless you like gambling. The Great Ocean Road is ok but the accomodations are AWFUL and soooo expensive.Things are done on a small scale here.
There is an incredible amount of grafitti and vandalism and litter in Melbourne especially in and towards the suburbs…everywhere you look something has grafitti on it or something is vandalized. I guess grafitti and vandalism aren’t crimes here. The train ride from the suburbs to the city is like something from the third world. The suburbs are an endless sea of monotonous, cookie cutter run down red brick bungalows. People don’t bother to maintain their homes and yards…everything is run down…and to top it off they have a habit here of parking their cars on their front grass which is really charming. A bit like Mexico. Aussies like to fight too..we went to a bar and wanted to play pool but we were told they couldn’t give out the cues as fights will break out and people will beat each other with the cues…how lovely!
Best place we have been to is Surfer’s paradise. I guess because of the international influence it is a bit more worldly of a place.
Sorry you had such a bad time. I actually ended up loving Australia, Melbourne included. Just had a rough start. Myra
Can anything be worse than Canada?
I have been studying in Ottawa Canada for the past 7 months and I think Canada is the worst country I have ever lived in (France, USA, Ecuador, Canada). No culture, no fun, no jobs, terrible food, LOTS of poor people, out of control cost of living and taxes and of course, … the worst weather on earth.
Canadians are very polite but apparently they are not interested in making friends.
I would say Canada was a terrible disapointment for us. My husband is an experienced engineer. He speaks English fluently but like thousands (millions?) of skilled immigrants he had to get a very low paying job. We thought Canada was a land of opportunity. Now, we can’t wait to get away from here.
Beautiful Australian beaches sound great right now!
Not sure why everyone feels the need to complain about other countries on my blog, but I believe in free speech so I’m leaving this. My blog entry was specifically related to a bad experience on entry and subsequent entries showed that things improved. – Myra
wow canadians are more arrogant than americans!!
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