Tomayto, tomarto
Posted on Sunday 4th March 2007
A few days ago, Tony asked what the cost of living was here by comparison to the UK. Rather than just answer this I thought it might be time to expound some of the differences I’ve noticed since arriving.
Petrol:
Very cheap here. I don’t know what it is in the UK, but here people are complaining because it is the equivalent of about 60p a litre! The petrol has a much lower octane rating (91 RON), and standard UK unleaded (95 RON) is called premium here!
Houses:
The standard house here is a bungalow, as 2-storey houses are quite rare. This is probably since land is not that expensive here, so it is cheaper to build out than up. Central heating with radiators is unheard of, as cooling a house is more of an issue. Air-conditioning is considered an essential, especially at this time of year! House prices used to be cheap but are increasing now due to the improving Aussie economy.
Food:
This is almost a religion in Adelaide. The wealth and diversity of cuisines would shame London. Many immigrants have come here over the years and they have all brought their dishes with them. Generally resturant food is of a good standard as patrons have high expectations and places that serve poor quality food go out of business very quickly. Eating out is a way of life, and as such it isn’t anything like as expensive as the UK.
Cafe culture:
Starbucks wouldn’t get a look in here. The Italian migrants brought the social cafe culture and it has stuck. As with restuarants the bar is set high, with people preferring to go for a coffee to going to the pub. This may surprise people from the UK who think beer is a way of life here, but Aussies drink far less on average than the English.
Water:
The most precious resource here. In the UK it is taken for granted, and we think nothing of having a third of the mains supply leak into the ground because it rains so much. Here they treat water with more respect than gold. It rained once in the whole of the last month and then only for about 5 minutes. The drought is so severe that they already recycle water and are talking about draconian restrictions. Fortunately the infrastructure is setup to manage water efficiently, so it is unlikely the supply will run out entirely.
Those tricky differences in names:
I’ve had to get used to familiar things having different names like:
- sweets = lollies
- trousers = pants
- bottled beer = stubby
- canned beer = tinny
- off-licence = bottle shop
- pickup truck = ute
- picnic cooler = esky
- flip-flops = thongs!
Of course there are many more differences but this is a taste!
Hi Rick,
I thought that you might like to know a little bit of background to the food and cafe culture in Adelaide. The patron of this was Don Dunstan, who was premier of SA in the 70′s.
He did have the foresight to encourage this, since at that time we had a lack of street life for a country with a predominantly mediterranean climate. He also set up the main cooking school in Adelaide, which is probably the best in Australia.
He was extremely liberal (he once wore pink shorts to parliament), and is one of my political heroes, expounding such concepts as “social justice”. Much of the consumer protection laws were set up in his tenure.
Anyway, I dwell. It’s a good thing to ask Vicki and Mick.
Stay well
Anthony
Flip-Flops are called Thongs??!
seriously, well interesting reading about it all. Maybe you should write for Lonely Planet. Hope to get out there and see you both.
Hope work is going well, and that you five are all doing well. Enjoy the weather, Scotland has not been particularly cold but it’s been bleak. And the school is being inspected…
have a good week,
Ed
Hi Ric Thats funny what ed says if thats true.Petrol is so cheap there as its roughly 85 pence a litre here also i think the way of life out there has just goto be better than the uk to be honest its getting exspensive.The goverment are trying to bring in road pricing which is ridiculous.Hear from you soon mate
Just ONE question Rick
If FLIP FLOPS are called THONGS then what do you call THONGS?
What is known as a ‘thong’ in the UK is known here as a ‘g-string’. After becoming accustomed to the UK definition it takes a bit of getting used to people talking about wearing ‘thongs’ in the Aussie way! I think Rick hasn’t quite got over my father wandering about the house looking for this ‘thongs’ . . .