A Few Questions About Life in Oz | Page 2 | FerrariChat

A Few Questions About Life in Oz

Discussion in 'Australia' started by ryalex, Jan 2, 2004.

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  1. ryalex

    ryalex Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 6, 2003
    24,957
    Las Vegas, NV
    Full Name:
    Ryan Alexander
    This is what I feared.

    As far as the violence/crime fear in America, I say that's waaay overblown and misunderstood - I know even in Canada they think the entire US is this big gangland war and everyone lives in constant fear. This is not true - there are some bad areas in the big cities but the other 290 out of 300 million people live in neighborhoods that are just fine. It's just that the scary news comes from that one neighborhood and gets plastered everywhere.
     
  2. Sin

    Sin Karting

    Nov 28, 2003
    151
    WA
    Full Name:
    Mark
    Don't worry there's plenty of violence in Australia too. Take a look at sydney with gang rapes and the (country removed) based gangs and victoria has less gangs but still a lot of bad **** going on, on the weekend a bunch of guys took steel poles to a bunch of cars on Chapel street for no reason.

    Admiral Thrawn: glad someone else agrees with me.
     
  3. Glassman

    Glassman F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed Silver Subscribed

    I know what you're saying, people from Butte think the same way. I will give you a shout if I get back to that area. But honestly the best place to find me outside of Montana is Monterey in August!!!
    Bill
     
  4. Texas Forever

    Texas Forever Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 28, 2003
    75,380
    Texas!
    I can't wait!
     
  5. jmillard308

    jmillard308 F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    May 29, 2003
    6,568
    Perth West Oz
    Full Name:
    John Millard
    I'm pleased to advise that the World Bank has given Australia the entrepeneurs seal of approval

    http://www.industrysearch.com.au/news/viewrecord.asp?ID=13571
     
  6. SR Ferrari

    SR Ferrari Rookie

    Dec 1, 2003
    48
    G,day Ryalex.
    Sydney is not unlike any other major city in the world the closer you get to the city the more expensive it is. Sydney is a great place and if you have the chance to do anything you want.As a young man if you put your head down and work hard you can acheive anything.Australia is still a great country and you could not go wrong living there.Cars have always been rediculos as the import tarrifs are so expensive .
    I used to figure it was about 140% above US prices to drive a luxury car down there but from reading some of the threads it seems more.
    I don,t generally here of to many people having bad experiences down under and was sorry Mark had had some.
    Taxes are on a tear scale and if you have a good job you can generally do fine.
    You do not have quite the freedom driving down there there are no traffic scools and the fines for speeding are pretty heavy.
    When you drive at high speeds outside of the citys you have to watch out for kangaroos as they feed on the green shoots right on the side of the road and I once hit two that hit the middle of Ford Falcon XA Fast back I was driving at 95mph at night that was quite the experiance.
    Other animals on the outback roads you have to concerned about now are Camals with AUS having the largest population in the world also Emus.
    Good Luck www.srexoticautomotive.com
     
  7. Sin

    Sin Karting

    Nov 28, 2003
    151
    WA
    Full Name:
    Mark
    SRF,

    Cool site. Also have to watch out just after it has rained in the outback (not all that often but it does happen sometimes) as the 'roos come onto the road and suck it up, road trains going through make slaughter-fields.
     
  8. PWehmer

    PWehmer Formula 3

    Oct 15, 2002
    1,733
    Surrounded by Water
    Are there many job opprotunies for an engineer in the Gold Coast area?

    Thanks for your comments about living in AU.
    Spent a holiday there- found the people to be great.
    Cleaner then the US.
     
  9. SR Ferrari

    SR Ferrari Rookie

    Dec 1, 2003
    48
    Sin.
    I lived in Alice Springs for a year 20 years ago and got caught in a couple of those storms I once was at the Olgars and we had a huge down poor one of the park rangers said it hadn,t rained there for 10 years at that time it was quite the experience.Animals are a huge problem on the roads as you don,t drive under 100mph in the ouback.
    When I was in the Alice I worked a a garage called Alice City Auto and the local coriner use to have me go to there local impound yard to find and
    identify compliance plates in vehicles that had generally got tangled with road trains I can tell you I would rather have hit a train head on than have got tangled up with those bad boys.Some times I used to go back without the Information.
    One day I had the job of cutting out a wild Brumby [Horse] that was stuck between the straight axle and the motor the flies and the fact that it was 115 in the shade didn,t make it pleasent.
    Kind Regards
    Wayne Hynes
     
  10. moretti

    moretti Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 1, 2003
    58,225
    Australia
    Full Name:
    John
    Sure dude,

    I'm a comms engineer and I've got a job and I live on the GC :)

    What sort of engineer ??

    There are a 1000 people coming tothe Coast every week and it just took my wife 9 months to find a job and she was an IT manager at a large firm in Sydney before coming here.

    The roads are great but the police Nazis are thick on the ground with laser, radar and any other mehod that will drag in the money.
     
  11. PWehmer

    PWehmer Formula 3

    Oct 15, 2002
    1,733
    Surrounded by Water
    Plastics and material science is my specialty.

    Sounds like the job market is very competitive.

    Sorry to hear about the traffic cops. If you drive farther inland (desert?) is it better?
     
  12. Admiral Thrawn

    Admiral Thrawn F1 Rookie

    Jul 2, 2003
    3,932
    Yes, but it's one hell of a long drive.

    In the northern territory, there are actually some really excellently paved highways out in the desert without any speed limits.

    There was a race there a few years ago which culminated in an F40 ploughing into the race marshals...
     
  13. Sin

    Sin Karting

    Nov 28, 2003
    151
    WA
    Full Name:
    Mark
    all roads in NT are now restricted.
     
  14. Admiral Thrawn

    Admiral Thrawn F1 Rookie

    Jul 2, 2003
    3,932
    Should have known...
     
  15. Sin

    Sin Karting

    Nov 28, 2003
    151
    WA
    Full Name:
    Mark
    I actually have the picture taken milliseconds before the F40 crashed killing the guys. It was in Motor(?) magazine but it's in my collection in Perth which is a long way from where I am at the moment.
     
  16. PWehmer

    PWehmer Formula 3

    Oct 15, 2002
    1,733
    Surrounded by Water
  17. jmillard308

    jmillard308 F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    May 29, 2003
    6,568
    Perth West Oz
    Full Name:
    John Millard
    WE ARE ONE

    We are the people of a free nation of blokes, sheilas and the occasional wanker. We come from many lands (although a few too many of us come from New Zealand), and although we live in the best country in the world, we reserve the right to ***** and moan about it whenever we bloody like.
    We are One Nation but divided into many States.
    First, there's Victoria, named after a queen who didn't believe in lesbians. Victoria is the realm of Mossimo turtlenecks, cafe latte, grand final day, and big horse races. Its capital is Melbourne, whose chief marketing pitch is that "it's liveable". At least that's what they think. The rest of us think it is too bloody cold and wet.
    Next, there's NSW, the realm of pastel shorts, macchiato with sugar, thin books read quickly and millions of dancing queens. Its capital Sydney has more queens than any other city in the world and is proud of it. Its mascots are Bondi lifesavers that pull their Speedos up their cracks to keep the left and right sides of their brains separate.
    Down south we have Tasmania, a State based on the notion that the family that bonks together stays together. In Tassie, everyone gets an extra chromosome at conception. Maps of the State bring smiles to the sternest faces. It holds the world record for a single mass shooting, which the Yanks can't seem to beat no matter how often they try.
    South Australia is the province of half-decent reds, a festival of foreigners and bizarre axe murders. SA is the state of innovation. Where else can you so effectively reuse country bank vaults and barrels as in Snowtown, just out of Adelaide (also named after a queen). They had the Australian Grand Prix, but lost it when the views of Adelaide sent the Ferrari Formula One drivers to sleep at the wheel.
    Western Australia is too far from anywhere to be relevant. It's main claim to fame is that it doesn't have daylight saving because if it did, all the men would get erections on the bus on the way to work. WA was the last state to stop importing convicts and many of them still work there in the government and business.
    The Northern Territory is the red heart of our land. Outback plains, sheep stations the size of Europe, kangaroos, Jackaroos, emus, Uluru, and dusty kids with big smiles. It also has the highest beer consumption of anywhere on the planet and its creek beds have the highest aluminium content of anywhere too. Although the Territory is the centrepiece of our national culture, few of us live there and the rest prefer to flyover it on our way to Bali.
    And there's Queensland. While any mention of God seems silly in a document defining a nation of half arsed sceptics, it is worth noting that God probably made Queensland, as its beautiful one day and perfect the next. Why he filled it with dickheads remains a mystery.
    Oh yes and there's Canberra. The less said the better.
    We, the citizens of Oz, are united by Highways, whose treacherous twists and turns kill more of us each year than murderers. We are united in our lust for international recognition, so desperate for praise we leap in joy when a rag tag gaggle of corrupt IOC officials tells us Sydney is better than Beijing. We are united by a democracy so flawed that a political party, albeit a redneck gun toting one, can get a million
    votes and still not win one seat in Federal Parliament. Not that we're whingeing, we leave that to our Pommy immigrants.
    We want to make "no worries mate" our national phrase, "she'll be right mate" our national attitude and "Waltzing Matilda" our national anthem (so what if it's about a sheep-stealing crim who commits suicide). We love sport so much our newsreaders can read the death toll from a sailing race and still tell us who's winning.
    And we're the best in the world at all the sports that count, like cricket, netball, rugby league and union, AFL, roo shooting, two up and horse racing. We also have the biggest rock, the tastiest pies, and the worst dressed Olympians in the known universe. Only in Australia can a pizza delivery get to your house faster than an ambulance. Only in Australia do we have bank doors wide open, no security guards or cameras, but chain the pens to the desk.
    Stand proud Aussies - we shoot, we root, we vote. We are girt by sea and pissed by lunchtime. Even though we might seem a racist, closed minded, sports obsessed little people, at least we feel better for it.
    I am, you are, we are Australian!
    P.S We also shoot and eat the two animals that are on our National Crest!!!! No other country has this distinction!
    HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY - January 26, 2004.
     
  18. Sin

    Sin Karting

    Nov 28, 2003
    151
    WA
    Full Name:
    Mark
    I did some research and I am wrong :)

    http://www.sdt.com.au/DRIVINGTOURS.htm
    That also looks interesting
     
  19. SR Ferrari

    SR Ferrari Rookie

    Dec 1, 2003
    48
    Guys Quote me if I,m wrong but that is one stretch of highway where your speed is only govened by how brave you are in reference to throttle imput.
    Sin if you have the time this is a great part of the world to see
    Unfortunatly to don,t get to rough it much but you will come away with some great life time memories.
    Wayne Hynes.
     
  20. Sin

    Sin Karting

    Nov 28, 2003
    151
    WA
    Full Name:
    Mark
    Yep I have been in that region (its pretty big obviously) once when I was too young to remember we went to Uluru (my old man carried me up, hehe) and another time in when I was in High School went to the Pilbara region for 2 weeks. It's too damn hot! I prefer my 0 degrees (C) every day here :)
     
  21. SR Ferrari

    SR Ferrari Rookie

    Dec 1, 2003
    48
    Sin your right about the heat you never get used to it.
    I stood watching a couple of dust storms roll in over the time I was in Alice Springs and you couldn,t see 20 feet in front of you.
    To escape the heat I used to go west of Alice Springs as far out as Palm Valley and swim in the stagnent pool on the post end of one of the mountain natural water ways untill you reached the good water and swim all day one problem was sharing the pool with the snakes one of the hazards of staying cool.I have taken some of my fondest memerios from this part of AUST.
     
  22. ashsimmonds

    ashsimmonds F1 World Champ

    Feb 14, 2004
    14,385
    adelaide, australia
    Full Name:
    Humble Narrator
    i live in south australia, and just this last week i've been *****ing my bollocks off about the dam weather.

    on saturday it was 44 deg C during the day, 35 deg C at night, it's just plain insane. here we never get below 10 deg C for more than a couple hours at a time, but for the most part the weather is fairly mild all year round with very low rainfall, compared to the extremes of other countries.

    i've lived in the outback for several years, as a kangaroo shooter etc. i don't recommend it unless you want "the experience". summer gives you stinking hot dusty days with buckets of flies, and sometimes hot nights with buckets of mosquitos, but other times near zero temps which seem to have come from the wrong end of the planet. that, and there's nothing to do except drink beer.

    a very nice rendition by jmillard308, we can all agree and disagree with much of it. :D

    the up-side to exotic car prices is that they are RARE on the road. if you have one, you are likely to have the ONLY one which will be seen by most people in a given month. so far this year i've seen 2 ferrari's, 1 lotus elise, 2 rolls', 1 NSX, and a maserati. everything else on the road has been as exciting as a taxi. actually, i've seen a few camaro's and corvette's, and on our roads those things are pretty dam rare and cool.

    i'm pretty sure you can't make it big here without rorting the system in some way, which is why there's a massive gap between the common white collar guy on $50-70k and the people i've never met who make exponentially more every year. it's really hard to increase your lifestyle even with a "decent" pay increase of $5k, as if you're earning over $50k, you'll take home about $2500, then pay tax again on everything you buy. anyway, my point is you gotta be smart with your cashflow to get through the bubble... then it's (probably) pretty straight-forward.
     
  23. SR Ferrari

    SR Ferrari Rookie

    Dec 1, 2003
    48
    Hello ashsimmonds.
    I know its rare to see a Ferrari on the road I,m sure the total # of cars in the Country is not more than possibly 200 and that may be to many.
    How is the Roo population if they get rain in the channel country the population explodes.
    I bought a P60 patrol out of foxes I shot when I was 18 that was $7200.00 as you can appreciate that was a lot of foxes but I wanted that 4x4 so badly I used to peg the pelts on the afternoon side of sugar gums in the dry river beds hi enough that the pigs wouldn,t take them.
    keep up the hard work.
    cheers mate
    Wayne Hynes
     
  24. Admiral Thrawn

    Admiral Thrawn F1 Rookie

    Jul 2, 2003
    3,932
    Well whether it is an up-side or down-side is a matter of perspective; if you’re the type of person who likes meeting other exotic owners and going to events (like in the US), you’re sh*t out of luck.

    Well said. I think that pretty much sums it up (although I don’t know if the word “rort” is appropriate). Like you said, it is about the smart management of cashflow. Even on $250,000 / year, at the end of the day, you only take home about $135,000 thanks to our 40+% income tax. Then like you said everything you buy is taxed as well. The key is obviously tax minimisation; set up a corporation and buy paper assets which generate additional (less-taxed) cashflow. Relying solely on earned income is a fool's game.
     
  25. jmillard308

    jmillard308 F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    May 29, 2003
    6,568
    Perth West Oz
    Full Name:
    John Millard
    More than 1200 Ferraris in OZ - more than 600 members of Ferrari Club Australia.
     

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