Surprising Things About Living in SYDNEY Australia: UK Expat Experience
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มิ.ย. 2024
- Are you thinking of moving to Sydney, Australia? I've spent over 5 years living in Sydney after moving to Australia as a British migrant. Here are 15 things that surprised me about the Sydney lifestyle!
Learn about Sydney weather and how rainy it actually is. Discover realistic Sydney living costs and extortionate Sydney housing prices.
Find out how there are so many more Sydney beaches than Bondi Beach and Coogee (over 100!), and the things I discovered as an expat in Sydney.
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0:00 - Intro
0:28 - Sydney Beaches
1:10 - Waterside Sydney
1:27 - Sydney Ocean Pools
1:41 - Sydney Rainfall
2:13 - Sydney Winter Weather
2:43 - Nature in Sydney
3:22 - Hilly Sydney
4:18 - Sydney Public Transport
4:41 - Rarely Go into the City
5:30 - Safety in Sydney
5:49 - Sydney Property Prices
6:33 - Early Risers
7:09 - Historical Architecture
7:33 - Bushfires
8:01 - Snakes in Sydney
Finally an accurate view of Sydney! However most Sydney Siders do not live in a beach side suburb and much of Sydney is on The Cumberland Plain so much of it is quite flat. It's possible to drive from the CBD to The Blue Mountains and encounter only one real hill on Parramatta Rd.
I've had family come from the U.K. and they have never been so cold in Sydney so you're right. I've never been in a Sydney free standing home that was warm in winter or cool in summer without loads of heating or a/c. The insulation is rubbish. What you said about snakes is true (also spiders) and also house prices. And yes it isn't 30c and sunny all the time! Some beautiful old homes have been demolished. Did you say you've house sat 70 homes? Wow! Top notch vid!
Thanks for the information! I've never heard of the Cumberland Plain. I've house sat in about 70 suburbs but closer to 150 homes!
@@HappyDays-nk7iq Don't agree. Even small houses are cold in winter and hot in summer. Stand near a wall or window if the temperature drops below about 8 c and you'll feel the cold from outside. Drafts come around door frames on windy days too.
Top thing that surprises me about Sydney is that the vast majority of people don't live anywhere near the city centre or a beach. Most live and work in the west, including a vibrant outer suburban culture there that is neither 'city' nor 'country'. The centre of the metropolitan area is at Auburn, far west of the harbour and CBD, and moving even further west with recent developments.
The train and metro system is extensive (over 800 km with close on 200 stations) but it serves places where most live rather than beaches. It is mainly a suburban system more like the RER than the Tube. About 20 of the stations, mostly in the inner city areas, have underground platforms.
A lot of the more affluent areas (e.g. northern beaches and eastern suburbs) have resisted rail being extended into their area - that's why it doesn't go to Bondi Beach, and why the Northern beaches line never got past a couple of stub tunnels at North Sydney station.
Thanks for the information!
@@dreamingofdownunder Thanks for the information? You say you've lived there 5 years, yet aren't aware? Somewhat peculiar one might say.
Excellent,comprehensive coverage of one of the world’s great cities.
Thank you!
Just to be clear, Perth does not have one long beach stretching 194km along the coast. Yes, there are many stretches that are quite long, such as from Trigg down to Port beach, but there are other beaches that are isolated from each other, such as Burns in the north and Coogee in the south. There are also a number of riverside beaches from where the Canning River meets the Swan and then down to towards Fremantle.
hi :) I live in tassie :) I've just subscribed to your channel :) nice to be onboard :) I'm orig from melb but have also lived in qld :) we just came back from Sydney last month :) we went on our very first cruise on the 1st cruise in aus after the pandemic :) we had a lovely time in syd :) my last trip there was about 13 years beforehand. I loved it so much :) I was extremely surprised how many gorgeous heritage buildings they had in the cbd :) (I do not remember the cbd from my previous trip) I have never been to any of the beaches, not even manly or bondi. maybe in nov when we come back for another cruise :)
Thanks for subscribing! Glad you enjoyed Sydney. Yes, you must get to the beaches on your next trip!
not a bad video...!
thankyou.
if you love the water and beaches, go to sydney..... its also ringed by beautiful national parks....
its the outdoor persons heaven...!
the way you percieve the rain in sydney is misleading....!
there iis more rain in sydney than melbourne, but the rain usually falls in heavy half-hour downpoors instead of the melbourne pitter patter gloomy full day of rain.
the issue with sydney is the PRICE of everything. getting nastier and nastier...!
The Sydney rainfall is no big deal really. It rains for 5 to 10 mins at a time and then it's over.
Northern beaches always veto any plans for rail or even light rail, because they dont want anyone coming there.
Perth has 194km of beaches from Lancelin to Preston Beach. No, it's not stupid, Perth is the second longest city in the world behind only Sochi. No-one in Perth is more than 30 minutes from a beach, 85% within 0 to 15, maybe 20 minutes, the road system is outstanding.
Thanks for the extra information!
Coming from Parramatta and working at Randwick, I can attest to the 'eat versus west' culture of Sydney. A definite class warfare going on. The ultimate goal is a view of the Sydney Harbour - which, unless you're a Murdoch or a Packer, is totally unattainable.
I know. It's so unaffordable!
I loved living there.
It was very expensive, though.
Glad you liked it. Yes the expense is a pain.
A perfect description of... the North Shore, but not Sydney as a whole. There are vast swathes of the city that are flat, and nowhere near any water. I have never seen a house with one of those cable car type things you show because in the rest of Sydney they are not needed.
Go to South Windsor or Blacktown if you want to find an area that is unsafe. True that unsafe areas are rare in Sydney and tend to not be as dangerous as many places in North America, but they do exist.
True that you don't find trains on the North Shore (possibly at least partially due to all those steep hills,) but go over the other side of the harbor and we tend to get around on trains quite a lot, and the city does have underground rail. However, unlike London where the city is built on clay that is cheap and easy to tunnel through, much of Sydney is built on sandstone and that is slow and expensive to tunnel through so most rail is above ground.
The city of villages idea is a very suburban concept from some local governments trying to reinvigorate old town centers to compete with your big suburban shopping centers. Sydney is more a city of regions. There are the Westies, North Shore, The Shire, the city, and the Eastern Suburbs amongst other regions, and people in the various regions tend to live very different lives to people in other areas. For example I live in a 12th floor apartment surrounded by apartment towers up to 73 floors here in the CBD and your hilly forested headland living is as alien to me as my city living is to someone from Campbelltown.
I think it is these regional differences that make Sydney interesting. Personally, living in your area would drive me crazy because of the hills and lack of public transport options compared to my area, and the times I actually visit the North Shore, other than driving up the Pacific Highway on my way out of the city, is maybe once a decade or so. I like living where I am close to universities and research libraries and prefer living where I can walk to theatres. I went to North By Northwest at the Lyric last week. I will be going to Girl From The North Country at the Theatre Royal on Thursday. It is a very different life here in the city. I have lived here since 1975 and I have never seen a snake. It appears that snakes prefer far flung leafy suburbs to city living :)
I don’t live in the north shore, but I love bushwalking and I agree that Sydney has lots of great green spots all over the place (not just north shore). Down south is loads, blue mountains and more. most within 1 hr drive. Cambelltown is near some great national parks too, Dharawal has some popular swimming spots. I dislike the city and choose to never go there so maybe I relate more to the video than you 😅
There is, of course, the North Shore train line, extending from the Harbour Bridge to Hornsby through the North Shore suburbs.
@@graemedurie9094 That is true, but it doesn't go anywhere near the beach type suburbs depicted in the video.
@@artistjoh Certainly did not the last time I went into the city - but who knows what has happened in the last 10 days or so.
You're right about the house prices, it's ridiculously expensive, because of covid, I live about an hour north of Newy, and you can't even get a rental here now, because a lot of people left the cities to escape the lockdowns
I know. It’s insane!
So many good observations that I haven't clearly thought out. Thank you for a great video. Also, your conservative style is very much to my liking.
Thanks so much Marta! Glad you enjoyed it.
I would have expect Brisbane was wetter than Sydney and probably some Northern Queensland cities too, that is the only thing that surprised me from your facts. I would make a correction though while northern and eastern Sydney are very hilly heading southwest there are huge very flat areas. Basically the southern side of the Parramatta river and then even further west that plain extends even further north.
Yes, I thought Brisbane would have been wetter too until I looked at the stats. And yes, I generalised a bit with the hills.
South of the Harbour and then inland to the Blue Mountains is pretty flat. There's a bit of a gentle ridge about half-way, east of which drains into the Parramatta and Georges Rivers and then into the ocean, while west of that drains into the Nepean-Hawkesbury River and then into the ocean through Broken Bay - near Avalon, where the narrator lived for a while. North of the Harbour where we live, is very hilly. Not hilly in the sense of gentle hills and dales but more ridges and steeply sided valleys.
Hello nice video! My plan is to make a change and move to australia from germany. Are you happy with your decision moving from the UK to Sydney?😁
Hi, thanks for watching! Yes, I’m definitely glad I moved to Sydney from the UK. I love it here and wouldn’t change it.
I disagree that 16 degrees is colder than in the UK . Your spring time is as cold as our winter . You may not feel the cold as much in the UK is because your houses are well insulated and you have your central heating on 24/7 . We only put our heating on when we really need to . Most of our new houses are better insulated and we either have a split system or full duct air conditioning . You are most likely renting and that is why there is no heating because some landlords don’t think about comfort for the tennants . 18 degrees is not that cold . In fact during the day in winter most of the time we have sunny days with clear blue skies . Occasionally we will have a rainy winter which will feel colder . When you move to another country , it takes 5 years to climatise to the weather . So in England 18 degrees Celsius isn’t hotter than the Australian 18 degrees Celsius. People from the UK always compare Australia to the UK and who cares about the differences . Having said that , you are a nice well spoken person .
Great video, a slight Aussie accent there 🤔
Thanks Garry. Yes there’s a twang!
I think being in bed by 9am is exclusive to North Sydney. 10:30 is the usual time in the suburbs.
That is absolutely insane hahahaha . In London during the summer , people go out for dinner at 10-10:30pm
@@jonathankowalsky3143 - No Biggie. It happens in Australia too.
lovely girl
Id love to live in sydney as i have alot of relatives over thereo, i have my grandma and alot of cousins and aunties but im so scared of spiders and snakes how often do you see them..?
It's very unlikely you will see a snake in Sydney, unless you're in a more rural area. I've never seen one. I actually don't see many spiders. The houses here usually have mesh over the windows so insects can't get in. I would say it's a bigger problem in the UK! You will sometimes see spiders on webs on trees etc, but no more than in other countries.
Talking about winter do the people with houses with open fires actually light them in winter ❄️❄️??
Sydney has relatively little beach. Western Australia though has only one. It extends along the entire coast of the western third ofbtge Australi an continental land mass. So. More beach then. INFINITELY more beach than meagre sorrowful Sydney then. Hey.
And how often do we get a beach or a break to ourselves! Woohoo! Perth metro has 194km of beach, from Lancelin to Preston.
Your accent has definitely changed
Ha ha, yes I know!
I noticed that too!