Paging Aussies, Kiwis and other Down-Underers

Sandvich Hero · #1 05-26-2011, 09:05 AM

Soooooo, it's now official that I will be heading down to Oz and NZ in August for at least a couple months. It's been pretty crazy lately with all the preparation, selling stuff, etc, but I could'nt be more exited.

The Plan for now is to spend a couple weeks in Sydney since I will be landing there, than heading down the coast to Melbourne, spend some time there, then off to Tasmania to hike part of the Overland track and also spend some time in either Devonport or Hobart. After that, I'm pretty much open to anything (West coast ? Try to reach Darwin ? At that point it will also depends on who I meet I guess). I'll probably head to NZ after New Year and spend a couple months there. I also will spend most of November in Vietnam as a side-trip, where some family members will join me.

I will spend most of my time alternating between visiting/travelling and HelpXing, in part to offset the cost of the whole thing but also because I always enjoyed farm and soil work.

So as much as I have been reading and researching, I'm all open for advices from the locals about stuff/places not to miss around those cities. Good music joints ? Tasty beer ? Interesting festival during those times ? How not to get killed in a painful and gruesome agony by every other creature you meet ?

Any discussion is welcome.

MJ5150 · #2 05-26-2011, 09:11 AM

I hear Fosters is great! It's Australian for bee-yah.

-Mike

champbassist · #3 05-26-2011, 09:24 AM

Get one of these and tell us how they sound

Sandvich Hero · #4 05-26-2011, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ5150

I hear Fosters is great! It's Australian for bee-yah.

-Mike

We'll see about that. I thought it wasn't that popular over there though ? More of a popular export product.

Quote:

Originally Posted by champbassist

Get one of these and tell us how they sound

Damn, that sounds pretty cool. I need to get me some of those (or at least try them). Good price as well when I'll be over there. It would sure make for a more interesting souvenir than a t-shirt

They do not state where they are located on their website though (or can they be found in music stores ?). Anyways, I'll do a search about those, thanks for the tip.

alec · #5 05-26-2011, 10:13 AM

Fosters is not drunk in Australia!

Hollow Man · #6 05-26-2011, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alec

Fosters is not drunk in Australia!

I've got a fair number of Aussie friends, and they all echo that sentiment. I hear that Foster's is Australian for piss.

New Zealand has some excellent wines, if you're into that.

Rusty Chainsaw · #7 05-26-2011, 11:24 AM

Nope, nobody in Oz drinks Foster's. It's their equivalent of something like Coors Light - ie, p!$$water.

Ask for Victoria Bitter and you'll be good. Or Castlemaine XXXX if you still want to look like a tourist, but without quite as much of a stigma as Foster's.

We're off to Oz in November to visit my relatives out there and introduce them to our son - taking a (by then) 11-month-old on a 28-hour flight should be interesting... looking forward to it though. It's been 18 years since I was there and I'm looking forward to getting re-acquainted with the place.

jordy_on_bass · #8 05-26-2011, 11:25 AM

Melbourne is definitely the home of music in Australia, or at least it was when I lived there. The alternative scene is huge, but it's just part of what Melbourne is all about. Can usually go to a pub on a Friday or Saturday night and it is pumping with a live band and full dance floor.

If you want to blend in, ask for a Tooheys New in New South Wales or a Carlton Draught if you are in Melbourne. If you ask for a Foster's, you will be laughed at or kicked out. Or possibly both lol.

If you go up to Northern Queensland, stay out of the water. Sharks at sea and croc's in the rivers.

Relic · #9 05-26-2011, 11:26 AM

Fosters? that stuff is actually made in Canada now. It's about as Australian as maple syrup

best of luck to you, I'm jealous!!

Rusty Chainsaw · #10 05-26-2011, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordy_on_bass

Melbourne is definitely the home of music in Australia, or at least it was when I lived there. The alternative scene is huge, but it's just part of what Melbourne is all about. Can usually go to a pub on a Friday or Saturday night and it is pumping with a live band and full dance floor.

I had a great time in Melbourne when I was there - saw lots of bands and got very drunk in the clubs on and around Smith St in Fitzroy (a couple of miles east of the Melbourne CBD). Excellent music scene. Be sure to check out The Bass Centre when you're in town too - loads of good stuff to play (although the prices aren't so good).

Apparently the music scene in Perth is starting to get good too. One of my current favourite bands, Karnivool, are from there and speak quite highly of the place.

jaywa · #11 05-26-2011, 11:29 AM

Climatalogically speaking, August is actually "winter" in Australia, right? The OP may want to keep that in mind.

jordy_on_bass · #12 05-26-2011, 11:37 AM

Rusty Chainsaw,

That's the current market for gear unfortunately. I got a giggle seeing guys in the US whinging about strings costing $20 a set. We pay $50+ for a decent set, Fender flats are worth $80 a set. And our dollar is stronger than the US dollar at the moment too. Brand new GK700RBII is around $2000 from memory.

Cheers,
Jordan

Rusty Chainsaw · #13 05-26-2011, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

Climatalogically speaking, August is actually "winter" in Australia, right? The OP may want to keep that in mind.

Yep. Although winter in Australia, depending on where you are, is like winter in Florida. Cooler than the summer, but still hardly coat-wearing weather. Might not be a bad idea going in the winter, to be honest, since the ~40C temperatures in the summer can be a bit overwhelming. Even in Melbourne, which is temperate by Aussie standards, it gets to well over 35C in summer. At least you don't get the humidity to go with it.

Rusty Chainsaw · #14 05-26-2011, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordy_on_bass

Rusty Chainsaw,

That's the current market for gear unfortunately. I got a giggle seeing guys in the US whinging about strings costing $20 a set. We pay $50+ for a decent set, Fender flats are worth $80 a set. And our dollar is stronger than the US dollar at the moment too. Brand new GK700RBII is around $2000 from memory.

Cheers,
Jordan

Apparently Australia's import tariffs are pretty tough, and it's not like there's a huge market there for instruments so retailers don't have the luxury of being able to buy in bulk to save money. That's the main reason places in the US like Guitar Center are so cheap - they're able to buy stuff in huge quantities. I'd have thought stuff imported from the far east (Ibanez, ESP, etc) would have been more reasonably priced though.

Still, all the more reason to support Aussie-made instruments - I've seen some very nice Noyce, Kennedy and Maton instruments.

Sandvich Hero · #15 05-26-2011, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rusty Chainsaw

Ask for Victoria Bitter and you'll be good. Or Castlemaine XXXX if you still want to look like a tourist, but without quite as much of a stigma as Foster's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordy_on_bass

If you want to blend in, ask for a Tooheys New in New South Wales or a Carlton Draught if you are in Melbourne. If you ask for a Foster's, you will be laughed at or kicked out. Or possibly both lol.

Exactly what I needed. Don't matter the jetlag, the new lifestyle or the culture shock, there is nothing worst than arriving in a new country and not knowing what beer to order !

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordy_on_bass

Melbourne is definitely the home of music in Australia, or at least it was when I lived there. The alternative scene is huge, but it's just part of what Melbourne is all about. Can usually go to a pub on a Friday or Saturday night and it is pumping with a live band and full dance floor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rusty Chainsaw

I had a great time in Melbourne when I was there - saw lots of bands and got very drunk in the clubs on and around Smith St in Fitzroy (a couple of miles east of the Melbourne CBD). Excellent music scene. Be sure to check out The Bass Centre when you're in town too - loads of good stuff to play (although the prices aren't so good).

Apparently the music scene in Perth is starting to get good too. One of my current favourite bands, Karnivool, are from there and speak quite highly of the place.

Great, thanks for the tips on that too. I will try to catch as much live music as I can, seeing that I won't carry around a bass and will need my music fix from time to time. Guess I'll just hit a music store from time to time to keep the fingers in shape. I certainly don't expect to see any decent prices on imported instruments anyway over there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordy_on_bass

If you go up to Northern Queensland, stay out of the water. Sharks at sea and croc's in the rivers.

Myeah that shouldn't be a problem though. I know some people might consider this a travesty to go to Aus. and not enjoy the ocean, but I don't even know how to swim/float, that's just how remote from lake/pools I was raised ...

MJ5150 · #16 05-26-2011, 11:54 AM

I still say you order a Fah-sturs lah-guhr. These guys posting here don't know anything.

-Mike

Sandvich Hero · #17 05-26-2011, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

Climatalogically speaking, August is actually "winter" in Australia, right? The OP may want to keep that in mind.

Myeah, like Rusty stated, the quotes are important in this case when mentioning "winter". From what I gather, when I leave in August, I should have about the same weather here in Montreal (peak of summer) than in Sydney (peak/end of winter). But I will be there a couple months and will get to the summer, it's just nice that I will have a couple weeks of slowly raising temps to try to get acclimated a bit.

jaywa · #18 05-26-2011, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sandvich Hero

Myeah, like Rusty stated, the quotes are important in this case when mentioning "winter". From what I gather, when I leave in August, I should have about the same weather here in Montreal (peak of summer) than in Sydney (peak/end of winter). But I will be there a couple months and will get to the summer, it's just nice that I will have a couple weeks of slowly raising temps to try to get acclimated a bit.

Yeah that's what I was getting at. I do know the summer season in certain parts of Aussie gets bloody hot (40C = 104F), but you should be out of there by then.

tbrannon · #19 05-26-2011, 12:15 PM

I lived in NZ from 2002-2007... loved it and my wife and I have plans to move back at some point. Whereabouts will you be at in NZ or do you have no definite plans?

No worries on the painful death by creature/insect in NZ. There are a few redback spiders that snuck across from AU, but for the most part you can romp around the countryside nekkid, sticking your body parts into dark, damp places without fear.

Sandvich Hero · #20 05-26-2011, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbrannon

I lived in NZ from 2002-2007... loved it and my wife and I have plans to move back at some point. Whereabouts will you be at in NZ or do you have no definite plans?

No worries on the painful death by creature/insect in NZ. There are a few redback spiders that snuck across from AU, but for the most part you can romp around the countryside nekkid, sticking your body parts into dark, damp places without fear.

Well, that's errr, good to know I guess !
They do have those weird grasshoper X10 insect though ...

But as to my plans in NZ, nope, not done yet. It is something I will do while in Oz. Snowboarding in the south island is DEFINITELY on my to-do list though.