A move to Oz from the Frozen North may be in the cards (shhhhh!)

Of course, cost of living, salary, etc are of no concern!!

What I need to know is:

(stupid question, but Oz is like the one country I have never been to)

Likely be living in Sydney or Perth (or area - like Nowra)

1) Do most / many houses have garages / shops ?
2) Do people tend to have much property or not? Where I live, many lots are 3 acres plus, and I'm only 20 mins from a major(ish) city
3) Do you have a lot of those "home owner associations" things the guys on here talk about?
4) What are the land use issues like? I know 4wd is often required for survival not recreation...but how are recreational wheelers seen by those who are not?
5) Do you guys have any LHD rigs on the road over there?
6) What are road liscencing requirements like - super strict like Europe or "who cares" like Arkansas?

I'll think of more!

Thanks
(PM if you prefer)

Thought of some more,

- Worth bringing all my Metric and SAE tools, or do you have unique types, like some of the Brit stuff?

- Prolly wont bring the whole Jeep - to beat and rusty. What is expensive or hard to find that i should bring? Swampers? 8274? Axles? Beadlocks? I only get 7000lbs (and that's for EVERYTHING!)

Don't mean to be a drongo...thanks for the good guts :p

Cone Awwwn....DON'T make me take it to Chit Chat........phuleeeaze!~

now I've never been there, but I heard that the toliets all flush in the opposite direction and as such you need special toliet paper that is wrapped on the roll in the opposite direction, so keep that in mind

That's a good point Freddy, but I was kind of hoping I could take all my Canadian TP and just buy some sort of "adapter" that I could run it through so it would come out on the right side of the roll?


Seriously...are they 50 or 60 Hz...I know 220 volt?

Fawkin Aussies - they prolly only all surf from work! (I might like it there :-)

Billa Vista

Glad you are coming down to our fine shores. I'm sure that you will like it here. The comment about surfin' to work is not too far off the mark for some of us.....

1/ 240V 50Hz which means your US appliances will not work unless you get an adapter. The plugs are also different.

2/ The typical suburban block size is about 1/4 acre depending upon where you live. Some areas have lot sizes up to 10 acres.

3/ Suburban style housing, in general, has at least space for one car undercover, though you can buy houses that have "great aussie sheds" in the back yard. This is where the real work gets done.

4/ There are some land use issues here - depends on where you live though. If you live near the city like Sydney, you will have to drive for a while to find some tracks. However if you live in Bundaberg, there are tracks galore and less land use issues.

5/ No LHD cars here. You can get em converted, and sometimes you can get them registered, but only under special circumstances.

6/ Road licensing requirements vary from state to state, but in general, you cannot do anything you like to your vehicle. It will have to be inspected.

7/ Bring all the good stuff. Stuff is very expensive here. It costs us about 3 times what you guys pay in US dollars to get stuff here and in Aussie dollars. Let me give you a few examples: An ARB Air Locker is about $1100 AUD, a 33x12.5R15 MTR = $313 and 33x12.5R15 BFG M/T = $285. A stock US Wheel White Spoker = $125. Get the idea.

Hope this helps.

Rod (from Brisbane)

Originally posted by BillaVista
A move to Oz from the Frozen North may be in the cards (shhhhh!)

Of course, cost of living, salary, etc are of no concern!!

What I need to know is:

(stupid question, but Oz is like the one country I have never been to)

Likely be living in Sydney or Perth (or area - like Nowra)

1) Do most / many houses have garages / shops ?
2) Do people tend to have much property or not? Where I live, many lots are 3 acres plus, and I'm only 20 mins from a major(ish) city
3) Do you have a lot of those "home owner associations" things the guys on here talk about?
4) What are the land use issues like? I know 4wd is often required for survival not recreation...but how are recreational wheelers seen by those who are not?
5) Do you guys have any LHD rigs on the road over there?
6) What are road liscencing requirements like - super strict like Europe or "who cares" like Arkansas?

I'll think of more!

Thanks
(PM if you prefer)

Really depends on what area you live in. 30min of driving and you will got from absolute city to someplace where you carnt see any houses.

For example where I live and answering your questions:

1 - Yes
2 - Exactly the same, 5acres and 20 min from Brisbane
3 - No
4 - No probs at the moment around here but is becomming an issue.
5 - Yes I know of guys driving LHD cars legally on the road but have special permits
6 - Reasonably strict - If you drive around with 36s and mudflaps and flares that cover the tyres you will be OK. I think the laws in NSW (sydney) are better than what we got up here they can run bigger tyres on the street and things like SOA can be certified.

If I lived 10min drive from where I am then the answere could be
totally opposite.

Sam

Tools are the same. And if you bring money with you everything will be cheap (except swampers)

Prices in $AUS

42in tsl - $1000
36in tsl - $600
ARB locker - $1000
Winch - $2000 maybe a bit more
Axles - hard to get put there are a couple of places that import them and cut splines.
Front dana 60s - very hard to get but I found a place that can get them and cost $2500 for junk yard axle
Bead locks - complete US imports $400 each (steel rims). To get them put on your own rims I paid $170 each.

Hope this helps. We got some really good wheeling but it is a little bit different. In terms of the stuff on our rigs (axles gears ands tyres) we are a fair bit behind but getting there.

Sam