I’m now approaching 5 months here down under, so I’ve started to notice some things where I prefer the Aussie implementation. Here they are!
Credit Cards: No signatures needed here. It is all chip and pin. Additionally, they have paywave – which means for transactions under $100, you just have to tap your card on the reader. I much prefer this to signing, though for some reason my 3 cards have different PINs and that can prove challenging at times.
Money: There are no pennies here. That is wonderful. Each bill is a different size and color, making it very easy to determine which bill is which. The lowest bill is a $5, and there are coins for $1 and $2.
Public Transit: This may be more “Melbourne” specific than Australia specific, but the public transit here is quite robust. Even on nights and weekends, the train/tram/bus frequency is still good enough that I haven’t used a cab or Uber since I’ve been here. Another *huge* bonus is there is a price cap (basically two rides) for the day. So, the most I can spend for the day is $7.52 ($6 on weekends and holidays).
Bars / Pubs: There is a much larger prevalence of small local bars / pubs here than in DC. Sara and I keep discovering little bars here and there, and they are never too crowded. We have no idea how they stay in business, but we are so happy they are plentiful and uncrowded.
New slang: I’m loving learning new slang that is different from what I know. A basketball teammate told me someone else had “cracked the shits” and I had no idea what that meant. The news tells us to “rug up” when it is cold. Each week I tend to learn some new phrase to chuckle at.
Customer Service: Most of the customer service interactions I’ve had here have been quick and positive. Short hold times and friendly folks have greeted me across many different industries when I’ve had to call about something.
MSAC: The Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Center is where I play basketball twice a week. I am just quite happy this place exists and has 10 full size basketball courts that are easy on my old man legs.
Car rentals: We’ve rented cars here for a few weekend trips / errands, and I’m enjoying certain aspects of the process. All rentals include some insurance – a loss damage waiver – that limits your liability to about $3000. Also, they have a detailed description of what constitutes “damage” – so there is no question of what you need to report beforehand.
Parcel Lockers: Now, this is something that Amazon has partially implemented, but here the Australian Post Office is doing it. You can sign up for a free locker in as many locations as you want, and you are provided a shipping address for that locker. If you have something shipped to it – they’ll deliver it to the locker and send you a text message that it is there. It works quite well for things you need to sign for.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot they are doing wrong here, but that’s for another post!
