Why do people go to Australia/New Zealand?

One Cold Hand

Húrin wrote: »

I'm not slagging travel in general in my thread here. I'm just trying to unravel why people choose Australia in particular.

Hurin,
I think you should also bear in mind that a lot of people who go to Aus or NZ go as part of a larger world trip, taking in various part of Asia, South America or whatever takes their fancy. Very few people fly straight to Australia, then fly straight home. Obviously a full year travelling is very expensive so a lot of poeple opt to stop and work for a few months somewhere along the way. Australia is the choice for a lot of people for a number of reasons:
1. Easy to get a VISA
2. Language
3. Culturally not too dissimilar to Ireland
4. Has a few differences to make it an exciting experince (weather, lifestyle, landscape etc)
5. Geographically it's about halfway through a lot of peoples world trips. For example, a lot of people go to SE Asia for few months, then Aus/NZ, then S. America for a few months on the way home. Australia is a logical place to stop for a few months on the way.

You asked the question do people not think Ireland is interesting? Personally I think Ireland is facinating. I love it, and it's my favourite country by miles in the world, it's my home and I'll be back living there in a year or so. However after living in Dublin for 26 years, growing up there, going to school, 6 years of college, it was time for a change. It's not that I think there's nothing to do there. I'd done nearly everything there is to do in Ireland.
So I decided to leave. I'd been to the UK, and travelled through most of Europe and lived and travelled in North America. You seem to think that no-one has been to anywhere in the UK and Europe, or done anything in Ireland? Everything in Europe is so close and easy to get to these days. I wanted to go somewhere I hadn't been before. The point is that when I'm 35 and married and settled down with a mortage, I'll still be able to check out the places in Europe and Ireland that I've missed. Going for a hike up Franz Josef wouldn't be quite as easy though! When I'm young I wanna check out all the hard to reach places in world!

A lot of things are similar to Europe, but there are also so many things that are different. Most have been outlined already.

Húrin

One Cold Hand wrote: »

Very few people fly straight to Australia, then fly straight home.

It seems to me that a lot of people do.

Australia is the choice for a lot of people for a number of reasons:
1. Easy to get a VISA
2. Language
3. Culturally not too dissimilar to Ireland

Yes there are the reasons I was wondering why people go to Australia on holidays. I love going to places where they speak a different language, and learning a bit of it by spending time with the people who live there.

You asked the question do people not think Ireland is interesting?

So I decided to leave. I'd been to the UK, and travelled through most of Europe and lived and travelled in North America.

You're thinking in terms of destinations. The journey is more important, every land you pass through has a dense cultural and natural fabric available for exploration. Though when travelling by bus, aircraft or train this fact is disguised unfortunately.

You seem to think that no-one has been to anywhere in the UK and Europe, or done anything in Ireland?

No, but there have been a few posters proclaiming Australia so be so much more intrinsically interesting than Europe. From my POV, Australians seem to be warmed up Brits, and is culturally closer to us than even geographically closer places like Spain, Norway or the Balkans.

Everything in Europe is so close and easy to get to these days. I wanted to go somewhere I hadn't been before.

There's more to Europe than London, Paris, Berlin, and skiing in the Alps. I suspect that you haven't seen as much of Europe as you think. This summer I went cycling around France and Spain, which really opened my eyes to these things.

The point is that when I'm 35 and married and settled down with a mortage, I'll still be able to check out the places in Europe and Ireland that I've missed.

I agree with that logic and that's why I am saving the many of the wonders of Ireland and Britain for later in life, and exploring the continent now. I just see the current trend of going to Thailand, Australia etc as a lot of people being conned into thinking they're going somewhere that is so much more interesting than boring old Europe... when that's not at all the truth.

Zambia

Yes some people fly straight home ...thats there choice.

You love going to places where they speak a different language ,I for one dont. You are probably more linguistic than I am , fair play its a skill you should be proud of.

As for the warmed up brits comment , seriously catch yourself on there. The Irish are far more British in nature to the Aussies. Come walk up my street in Belfast and you cant see for eejits bending over backwards to be British the Aussies have no such problem. in fact in our habits we are near identical in many respects.

So your real piont is you think we should all be going to the UK & Europe and not Australia or Thailand? You know a lot of people think like that, and some dont. They want to start further than europe travel young leave europe till their 40's. Then do Ireland on the free bus pass.

I dont think anyone is really having a go at Ireland/UK/Europe so people just want to go further or see different things. Now lay off Australia we get you dont like it but your beginning to sound like your girlfriend has ran off down under with a backpacking koala. Each to there own like.

Enjoy Europe

BarryCreed

One thing I do notice between Europe and Oz is that Oz is Europe is overpopulated in my opinion. When it comes to living somewhere, grand, you have cool cities in Europe, but you're piled high in apartments. I think Oz has an advantage here in that there is plenty of space, clean cities,and good weather etc. YOu have so many med extraction people there, you get parts of their culture too, as well as the asian influence..

Europe does have an advantage in that you are close (1 to 2 hour flights) to many cultures and languages, whereas Oz is so big, and you are a good six hours flight from anything not in English. I loved Perth, but it being so far from everything is one concern. You can;t take a 2 hour flight and be in prague, or bratislava, or berlin, or san sebastian, or stockholm (all different), you kind of have to stick with the south west WA, which is beautiful, but you know what I mean.....

slipss

Húrin wrote: »

I'm just trying to unravel why people choose Australia in particular.

It's an English speaking country with a reasonably healthy economy, beautiful weather all year round, a visa arrangent with Europe, a natural landscape and wildlife that is very different from Ireland and it is also very firmly geared towards catering for foreigner visitors. It really isn't that hard to understand man. Can you name any other country on the planet that ticks all those boxes?

Piha Pirate

I've been over in NZ for the last 2 years. I've seen so many Irish and other nationality backpackers coming through our pub. its important to note a few things about the place.

firstly the bad points

New Zealand will cut you up and spit you out if you haven't got your ducks in a row. Know you want and go and do it.

Some people do only last 2 months in the place. It really isn't for everyone.

The financial crisis has hit OZ/NZ too. The wages are poor enough and stuff is generally cheaper.
Work is not plentiful. You really do need to do the work. After 3/6 months of travel you might be up to it.

The NZ can be a very dour lot...hard to make friends with. This leads to all the other nationalities sticking together to their own groups.

BUT OH MY GOD

Sunny days in August. 6 months solid of sunshine. Great beaches. Wide open roads that you can cruise down the country with little stress. Even in the cities the traffic isn't that terrible. The various array of outdoor pursuits are well known. Great ski slopes. Where else can you jump off the side of a building with a rope around your ankles?

The social fabric of the nation is not built around the pub. You will be fitter and in better shape for the lack of "the big fry".

The freedom to do what you want to do without someone asking why do you want to do that? Who do you think you are? Like i said if you know what you want to do, it is there for you.

You will find a lot of the things you like are home are available out here.

If you are a person who lives for Saturday nights and has limited enough interests with same circle of friends you've had all your life, you are going to find it tough out here on your own. THIS IS NOT IBIZA.

If you do come out here on a Holiday Visa for a year, spend 5 nights a week in O'Malleys in Sydney or Father Teds in Auckland for the first month....do yourself a favour...GO HOME!!

Húrin

slipss wrote: »

It's an English speaking country with a reasonably healthy economy, beautiful weather all year round, a visa arrangent with Europe, a natural landscape and wildlife that is very different from Ireland and it is also very firmly geared towards catering for foreigner visitors. It really isn't that hard to understand man. Can you name any other country on the planet that ticks all those boxes?

Plenty tick all the boxes, except the English speaking part. Though I have never understood why people want to go to places that speak English on holidays, I mean in that case you may as well stay in Ireland or England - they're beautiful too.

Just that Australia is so far away from here... it mystifies me the expense and length of travel time that people are up for, to visit just another Anglo western country.

mrDuke

come to ozz and see for yourself.

Daithio

Are you honestly trying to argue that a place isn't worth visiting because they speak the same language as you? I'm sorry, but that is just retarded. I'm surprised you've ever bothered leaving Ireland at all. Sure you could just spend your summers alternating between the different Gaeltachts to satisfy your language immersion needs.

irish_bob

Daithio wrote: »

Are you honestly trying to argue that a place isn't worth visiting because they speak the same language as you? I'm sorry, but that is just retarded. I'm surprised you've ever bothered leaving Ireland at all. Sure you could just spend your summers alternating between the different Gaeltachts to satisfy your language immersion needs.

the criticism of the country being english speaking is nothing but snobbery , there the kind of people who after spending a month with some tribe in papuau new guinnea would be singing the praises of that in touch with nature culture when the arrived back in ireland
personally even though i enjoyed my visits to lots of non english speaking countries , i could never ever settle down in a non english speaking country , not everyone takes to new languages like a duck to water , doesnt mean your not intelligent , linguistics are not a passion of most people

JWAD

Húrin wrote: »

No, but there have been a few posters proclaiming Australia so be so much more intrinsically interesting than Europe. From my POV, Australians seem to be warmed up Brits, and is culturally closer to us than even geographically closer places like Spain, Norway or the Balkans.

There's more to Europe than London, Paris, Berlin, and skiing in the Alps. I suspect that you haven't seen as much of Europe as you think. This summer I went cycling around France and Spain, which really opened my eyes to these things.

I agree with that logic and that's why I am saving the many of the wonders of Ireland and Britain for later in life, and exploring the continent now. I just see the current trend of going to Thailand, Australia etc as a lot of people being conned into thinking they're going somewhere that is so much more interesting than boring old Europe... when that's not at all the truth.

Unless you've been to Australia or the likes, I don't think you can pass a credible proxy criticism on the country.
I lived there for many years, am a citizen and still own my house (in Byron Bay) which is where I will return to and retire later on in life (I hope). The lifestyle (coastal in my experience) is what I miss as well as the climate.
Australia is a very varied country and you cannot pigeon-hole it under one descript.
I've also lived and worked in Greece and later on moved to Norway in 2000 (from Australia) where I lived until 2005. I've been on one package holiday in my entire life (Lanzarote). Have inter-railed. Have been to plenty of Europe for good trips too.
Aussie still does it for me and I'll be back there next october for a month.

Personally I'd have a more of an issue with the thousands of people each year who go to European cities on weekends (bucks parties or whatever) or European resorts and do exactly what they do at the weekend at home ie. drink til they drop.

Húrin

irish_bob wrote: »

the criticism of the country being english speaking is nothing but snobbery , there the kind of people who after spending a month with some tribe in papuau new guinnea would be singing the praises of that in touch with nature culture when the arrived back in ireland

I find the people who engage in that kind of pretentious wankery to be even more annoying than the "OMG you've like got to go to Australia!!" - I also fear that such people may be damaging the cultures of such tribes by importing western tourism.

personally even though i enjoyed my visits to lots of non english speaking countries , i could never ever settle down in a non english speaking country , not everyone takes to new languages like a duck to water , doesnt mean your not intelligent , linguistics are not a passion of most people

My thread isn't about people who settle down, just holidaymakers. Personally I don't think I could ever settle anywhere but Ireland.

One Cold Hand

Húrin wrote: »

You're thinking in terms of destinations. The journey is more important, every land you pass through has a dense cultural and natural fabric available for exploration. Though when travelling by bus, aircraft or train this fact is disguised unfortunately.

I fully agree, that's why I spent a month travelling through Japan, and 6 weeks in New Zealand. And I'll be spending 3/4 months in South America, which to me is of more interest than Australia. As I said earlier a lot of people use Australia to stop off and earn a few bucks along the way.

Húrin wrote: »

There's more to Europe than London, Paris, Berlin, and skiing in the Alps. I suspect that you haven't seen as much of Europe as you think. This summer I went cycling around France and Spain, which really opened my eyes to these things.

I suspect that I know better than you!!:D
I'm not going to start listing countries, but I've been through all of Western Europe and a good percentage of Eastern Europe. I'm not claiming for one second that I've seen and done absolutely everything of interest in, for example, France. But I do feel that I've spent a good bit of time there and seen a good bit of the country.

I think I misunderstood you slightly earlier. Am I right in saying that you points are mainly with regard to people who fly to Aus for 2/3/4 weeks, and then fly home, as opposed to people like myself who will spend a year living here? If this was your point then I would tend to agree with you, I don't really see the point in flying to Australia for 2 weeks, then flying home again. I certainly wouldn't do it and would see it as a waste of time and money.

Am I right in saying that your main problems with Australia/NZ is their culture and history? Obviously Europe has a larger concentration of different cultures, I don't think anyone is going to argue that one! There are other reasons people move to Australia, most of which have been outlined above. Just for your own interest though, there are still hugely interesting historical and cultural aspects to Aus and NZ. The Maori people and heritage, for example, I found facinating. I don't think you should assume that Aus/NZ are the same as the UK without checking them out.

Out of curiosity, would Asia, Africa or South America interest you? Or would anywhere outside of Europe interest you? You seem to be quite gone on Europe!!

hussey

Here are some interesting statics avout Ireland and Australia
http://www.tra.australia.com/content/documents/Visitor%20Profile/2008/Ireland.pdf

in 2007 about 50% were people travelling alone.
1/6th arrived in Dec (for xmas, I am guessing)
40% was a return visit

IM0

you might as well ask 'why do people travel?' :rolleyes:
I guess either you get it or you dont....
theres in this instance 2 kinds of people
those who travel..and I MEAN BACKPACK or similar..not check into a hotel and eat chips and talk to other tourists only and stay by the hotel /pool ect :rolleyes: (or sardines as I like to call them!)

....and those who work :P keep the economy rolling and up to their ass in debt/kids/TV ect....

its a bit like religion in a sense, those who do/dont believe shouldnt bother trying to 'convert' those who do/dont really, floggin a dead horse n that...
and life is tooo short for that sh#t.

Ozeire

me@ucd wrote: »

theres in this instance 2 kinds of people
those who travel..and I MEAN BACKPACK or similar..not check into a hotel and eat chips and talk to other tourists only and stay by the hotel /pool ect :rolleyes: (or sardines as I like to call them!)

....and those who work :P keep the economy rolling and up to their ass in debt/kids/TV ect....

Well that’s not exactly true. I know you might not mean to but the way you are stating things, makes you sound like a bit of a snob.

Travel is for everyone not the soul domain of backpackers. They aren't the only true traveler in the world. Plus odds are the second group you so flippantly talk abut probably were backpackers in there day.

They have done that, been there and now when they can afford it, would rather a bit of comfort when traveling, nothing wrong with that.

It’s each to their own when traveling no one is better than anyone else. It is good to try and meet some of the locals and get immersed in the culture but you don’t have to necessarily rough it to travel.

....and those who work keep the economy rolling and up to their ass in debt/kids/TV ect....

Don’t forget these people keep the country going while you travel . So if you decided to return things are still good and you can get a job and live . Don’t write them off so quick .