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Hi all, I received news yesterday that I'm going to be heading to Australia next year for a relative's wedding. We'll be going to a place called Karnup, which thanks to Google Maps, I know is near Perth.
Now, I'm so excited for this, as the furthest I've been out of the UK is to the Alps. However, there are a few things which I'm hoping some of the native Aussies on here could advise me on. I'd just like to know what to expect from things such as the locals, the climate, and the thing I'm most concerned about, the fething huge critters you get over there. Also, what are the ages for drinking and driving there? Just that and any other little things it would be helpful for me to know.

Thanks for reading,

Welcome to Aus, mate! (when you do get here..._

Most things are legal by 18 here, driving you can get earlier. Karnup is...well Perth is near the arse-end of nowhere so heh, statement retracted. Good luck. If it's near Perth you shouldn't have too many incidents with Drop bears, they're more prevalent in the really remote areas.


Do you get many spiders in the UK? Just make sure you take a peek around the bathrood before sitting your tush down.

Shouldn't you warn him about the killer rabbits?

Emperors Faithful wrote:Welcome to Aus, mate! (when you do get here..._

Most things are legal by 18 here, driving you can get earlier. Karnup is...well Perth is near the arse-end of nowhere so good luck. If it's near Perth you shouldn't have too many incidents with Drop bears, they're more prevalent in the really remote areas.


Do you get many spiders in the UK? Just make sure you take a peek around the bathrood before sitting your tush down.

Hmm thanks for that, we don't really get that many spiders here in the UK, we get occational little ones, but it's rare to see one bigger than an inch across, but don't you guys get ones like 10 feet across? (Maybe a bit hyperbolising, but you get what I mean...)

Don't worry, there's no poisonous snakes in Australia.

But only because the spiders killed them all.

Also: never try to run over a wombat.

Lord Scythican wrote:Shouldn't you warn him about the killer rabbits?

Killer rabbits are more northern climates. Dropbears though...............

Swordwind wrote:Don't worry, there's no poisonous snakes in Australia.

But only because the spiders killed them all.

Also: never try to run over a wombat.

Poisonous snakes/spiders/wombats (yes poisonous wombats), we've got the lot.

@Valkryie: Some of these critters are really freaking huge. That motivational picture isn't even the biggest Hunstman I've seen. Thankfully Huntsmen aren't poisonous so you can try to ignore them, it's bastards like these that you have to watch out for.


This nasty little critters tend to hide out in little caverns or holes, often making a home in your shoes. This spider is not only poisonous, it's crazy enough to fething chase you down after you've disturbed it and bite you repeatedly until you collapse.

Never going to Australia ever.

Purplefood, I've moving to there for college.

Packing a gak ton of raid.

Screw that take a gun or something...
Australians like knives right?(Crocodile Dundee says so) Take a big one, one that blurs the line between knife and sword (or spoon for that matter)

I'm brining my big knife. That's an 18 inch steel machete, SOG grade.

I don't own any guns, but I do own a gak ton of knives.

Hehe, now that should buy you a few seconds against a spider...but knives are illiegal to carry in Australia...Crocodile Dundee would get arrested these days...

Actually, he only just got out of being arrested last time he was here for tax evasion!

Crikey!

I walk anywhere with at least 3 knives on me, minimum.

Personal Area Shirts, they are a godsend.

Chowderhead wrote:I walk anywhere with at least 3 knives on me, minimum.

Personal Area Shirts, they are a godsend.

Bro, you crazy.

I ain't crazy.

I have my Swiss Army Card in my wallet, my Leatherman in my pocket, and my rigging knife in my other pocket.

A rigging knife has a blade for cutting into rope, and a marlin spike for splicing line.

Rubic, I sail at least 3 days a week, and am impromptu sailing at least 1 day a week. I need to be prepared.

Addng America to my list of places not to visit... crazy heavily armed peoples that you are...

purplefood wrote:Addng America to my list of places not to visit... crazy heavily armed peoples that you are...

You're afraid of a guy who uses knives for sailing? You don't care about the guns, or the idiots who buy ridiculously ornate knives and pointy things just because they look "awesome" in their eyes?
And in a thread about the country where 1 in 3 creatures is probably poisonous?
Krikey.



Oh, and make sure you put a fork behind your right ear, like a pencil. It'll keep the drop bears away.

micahaphone wrote:

purplefood wrote:Addng America to my list of places not to visit... crazy heavily armed peoples that you are...

You're afraid of a guy who uses knives for sailing? You don't care about the guns, or the idiots who buy ridiculously ornate knives and pointy things just because they look "awesome" in their eyes?
And in a thread about the country where 1 in 3 creatures is probably poisonous?
Krikey.



Oh, and make sure you put a fork behind your right ear, like a pencil. It'll keep the drop bears away.

Australia made it onto my list before America did...
The only reason America is on the list is because of the large amounts of weapons you seem to be able to acquire with relative ease... it makes me a touch nervous as you could probably imagine...
I don't mind Chowderhead having pointy objects but i do mind other less upstanding members of your nation having them...

A three-day waiting period for a handgun is three days too long! Give me a 9mm in a drive-through window, with a complementary box of bullets! And I want the option to super-size my order, making it a .45 with an extra large box!

Most of us aren't actually gun crazy. Stick to liberal cities & states if you're very afraid.

Chowderhead wrote:I ain't crazy.

I have my Swiss Army Card in my wallet, my Leatherman in my pocket, and my rigging knife in my other pocket.

A rigging knife has a blade for cutting into rope, and a marlin spike for splicing line.

Rubic, I sail at least 3 days a week, and am impromptu sailing at least 1 day a week. I need to be prepared.

Do you also carry your boat around with you? Unless you're sailing a folding kayak that you store on your back or something, not sure how impromptu sailing works. . .

micahaphone wrote:A three-day waiting period for a handgun is three days too long! Give me a 9mm in a drive-through window, with a complementary box of bullets! And I want the option to super-size my order, making it a .45 with an extra large box!

Most of us aren't actually gun crazy. Stick to liberal cities & states if you're very afraid.

Or, i could stay here where the biggest threat for the past 500 years has been the Germans, the English and the Welsh.
Back OT: Australia seems like a safe-ish place due to the mundanity of anti-venom... still not sure whether they are kidding about those bears though... i couldn't comment on anything else... though jet lag might mess you up pretty badly if you aren't used to it.

rubiksnoob wrote:

Chowderhead wrote:I ain't crazy.

I have my Swiss Army Card in my wallet, my Leatherman in my pocket, and my rigging knife in my other pocket.

A rigging knife has a blade for cutting into rope, and a marlin spike for splicing line.

Rubic, I sail at least 3 days a week, and am impromptu sailing at least 1 day a week. I need to be prepared.

Do you also carry your boat around with you? Unless you're sailing a folding kayak that you store on your back or something, not sure how impromptu sailing works. . .

You're bored. You run up to a boat, and get told "feth off" when you ask if you can help. Proving that you have the right tools with you dramatically increases the chances of being allowed onto said boat, especially if the owner of said boat doesn't have certain tools on hand himself.

drop bears? Those are an urban myth or whatever, every aussie knows they don't actually exist, its just perpetuated to scare the crap out of gullible visitors...

chaos0xomega wrote:drop bears? Those are an urban myth or whatever, every aussie knows they don't actually exist, its just perpetuated to scare the crap out of gullible visitors...

Sssssshhhhhhh.... you know that, and I know that, but he doesn't know that!

micahaphone wrote:

rubiksnoob wrote:

Chowderhead wrote:I ain't crazy.

I have my Swiss Army Card in my wallet, my Leatherman in my pocket, and my rigging knife in my other pocket.

A rigging knife has a blade for cutting into rope, and a marlin spike for splicing line.

Rubic, I sail at least 3 days a week, and am impromptu sailing at least 1 day a week. I need to be prepared.

Do you also carry your boat around with you? Unless you're sailing a folding kayak that you store on your back or something, not sure how impromptu sailing works. . .

You're bored. You run up to a boat, and get told "feth off" when you ask if you can help. Proving that you have the right tools with you dramatically increases the chances of being allowed onto said boat, especially if the owner of said boat doesn't have certain tools on hand himself.

I had no idea one could do such things! I will definitely be trying this.

Hey, welcome to my city!

Perth has great weather and fantastic beaches. It does get pretty hot in the summer, though.

There's a lot of good places to get out and see, you can . I'd really recommend getting down the Margaret River and touring the wine country there, if that takes your fancy I can recommend some really good wineries and a few breweries. If you prefer the idea of a cruisy little surfing town, then Lancelin can be a great place to spend a day or two in. Head up north past Lancelin and you can get into some pretty awesome and unique country. In either case you need to pay attention to how long it takes you to get somewhere, day tripping isn't really practical in Perth.

The city itself is pretty lame, though. You'll probably also find it crazy expensive to eat out, it's way over-priced compared to other Australian cities, and with the exchange rate as it is it could be quite a shock. The city is also pretty much dead - lots of people head in expecting it to be like, well, any other city in the world and have shopping and cafes and the like and wonder why everything is closed... well that's just how Perth is.

Emperors Faithful wrote:
This nasty little critters tend to hide out in little caverns or holes, often making a home in your shoes. This spider is not only poisonous, it's crazy enough to fething chase you down after you've disturbed it and bite you repeatedly until you collapse.

You don't get funnel webs spiders in WA though.

Ssshhhhh!

I've never understood the difference between the Sydney Funnel Web Spider and the regular fellows.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

purplefood wrote:Back OT: Australia seems like a safe-ish place due to the mundanity of anti-venom... still not sure whether they are kidding about those bears though... i couldn't comment on anything else... though jet lag might mess you up pretty badly if you aren't used to it.

Drop Bears (no one uses their proper name here) resemble Koalas, but they are the predatory branch.

micahaphone wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:drop bears? Those are an urban myth or whatever, every aussie knows they don't actually exist, its just perpetuated to scare the crap out of gullible visitors...

Sssssshhhhhhh.... you know that, and I know that, but he doesn't know that!

Think it's funny? The State of Queensland and the Northern Territory have to issue travel warnings for those heading north.

For a moment there, I thought that the "Department of Dangerous Fauna Management" was a real thing.

Either way, always buy drop bear repellent. Always. Most stores don't have it on the shelves due to high theft rates, so you'll have to ask the clerks of the store for it.

Oh, and a drinking age of 18, with minors being allowed alcohol in a private setting with their parent's consent. Driving age of 17 (learner permit at 16), and must be 21 to rent a car.

There is two ways to travel, this clip illustrates them. Personal choice between option 1 and 2 with its 31 items.

http://youtu.be/uvh3x1O4Xtk