My First Impressions of Australia

It's been 48 hours since I landed in Sydney. I've unpacked, had a barbecue, been to the beach, slept for 12 hours and eaten my first TimTam. Safe to say, I am very much in Australia.

I thought Australia would be pretty much a hotter version on Britain. And in some ways, it is. It's an English speaking country, everyone drives on the left and our dear old Queen is on the coins. However, some things I wasn't prepared for

1) 1cent and 2 cents don't exist
So if something costs $2.99, you actually pay $3.. and if something costs you $3.03.. you also pay $3. I'm SO glad I was told this on arrival, because I definitely would've thought I was being short changed (luckily being British, I would never have said anything anyway).

2) People Don't Wear Shoes (like, outside of the beach) 
Within a couple of hours of arriving, I thought it would be a good idea to scope out my new city. I live in the suburbs, about 20 minutes on the bus to the nearest glorious beach. So IMAGINE my surprise, when I came across approximately 9 people throughout my walk around the block, who weren't wearing shoes. People crossing the road, walking through the supermarket, drinking coffee. If you did that in Britain, somebody would show you to the nearest homeless shelter.

3) McDonalds is Macca's. EVERYTHING IS ABBREVIATED.
This explains itself. I kind of knew this about Australia because of the couple of Australians in my life, but the extent it reaches is pretty mad. I promise to never write the word 'sickie' as a noun for a good day.

4) Avocado is in Everything Ever
This is not a drill. And it's like life is teasing me because I found out I was allergic to it back in June. No-avo-Alice.

5) Border Control is Serious Business
Everyone is given a declaration card on the plane, unless you're me and missed that memo, and then you basically have to select anything you need to declare. Except in Australia, there's queuing and more queuing. There's different queues for different types of declarations. And then, even if you're not declaring anything, you still get searched 99% of the time by sniffer dogs. My first impression of Australia was a labrador sniffing around my suitcase.

It's safe to say I am loving Australia. After spending yesterday at the beach, I can absolutely see why people apply for their second year visa and end up moving out here. I'm so excited to start my new adventure in this beautiful country!

Love, Alice x