Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and and may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired.
My wife and I had never ever visited the land down under as well as their Kiwi neighbor to the east. We had really built up the visit to be something over the top spectacular and like nothing we had ever seen or experienced before. It lived up to every expectation and beyond. But…
There are some really odd things about the these islands – at least from an American standpoint. Here is my list of things that totally surprised me. Some in a good way and some not so much. Let’s dive in.
What is up with power switches at each outlet? What a royal pain in the backside. I can not tell you how many times I have plugged in my phone and come back and it had not charged at all because… Yep… The outlet was switched off! I asked a bunch of people why they seem to be the only people on the planet who has this and the best answer I got was that there are so many things trying to kill you down here that we wanted at least this one thing to be more safe. OK then!
I am a fan of all kinds of foods with funk like a strong blue cheese (num), Swedish brown goat cheese (wife hates it), caviar from a tube you squirt on toast or even salt licorice that truly is an acquired taste. But we, for the first time ever, tried vegemite. My gosh – that stuff is just so wrong? Talk about ultra funk. Even a tiny taste stayed with me for some time. Never again.
Another thing that, in a good way, really surprised me is how genuinely nice just about everyone was on both islands. I mean most folks were smiling and so ready to help you or even in general the attitude of everyone was so kind. I think much of that has been lost in the good old USA – at least in the current climate.
Another thing that surprised us both, that I guess we should have known, is how tropical the islands are. I was not expecting so many palm tress and that in some parts winter does not really happen (think Florida like). I mean with Antarctica just south right? I also was surprised just how hot it can get with temps well over 100* F but thankfully those extreme heats around Sydney went away by the time we visited.
While we are on the topic of the two islands we were also surprised by one difference that really stood out between the two. In New Zealand I saw almost no graffiti tagging anywhere (I hate tagging) and everything was so clean. In Melbourne and Sydney it was a different story with tagging much more prevalent and more trash here and there. I mean I know they are different nations and peoples but personally I expected them to be very similar so this got my attention.
Lastly how completely cash less the two islands are. Sweden, where I am from, has also moved this way and not long gone are the days of converting US cash to whatever but there was zero need here. We always chose the local currency when paying (a smart #ProTip btw) and let my Chase Sapphire Reserve® <-LINK do the conversion with tap and pay. The entire time there I never converted any cash and it did not present any issues.
The last one was so very VERY refreshing as an American. Both islands pay people a living wage so there is no tipping culture at all. I mean none. You are not pressured into tipping nor is it expected. The few times I did tip I tipped in dollars and the reaction was both warmly welcomed and tipping with USD was not turned down (I know the USD is currently stronger than both currencies but still).
These were the things that I did not expect and most of them were very pleasant surprises. Have you ever, as an American, visited down under and were as surprised as we were? Were there other things that got your attention? Let us know! – Rene
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and and may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Australia is NOT an island. It is a continent. Every time I read “the two islands”, it hurt my eyes. And was confusing, as NZ has the North Island and South Island. But no, you’re referring to Australia. smh
@stogieguy7 – LOL! Funny because the locals we talked to called Australia and island and since you are surrounded by water… 😉
Thank you for posting this. My wife and I are going in February and March of 2027. We are doing 4 back to back cruises out of Sydney. Very helpful information. Thank you!!
@Alan – Brink lots of power plug adapters. (<-Like these) We picked up 2 but wish we had 3 or 4.
Have not been there but both on our bucket list . All of our daughters have been there(australia) and seen to like the vegemite ?We hope to get there sometime in the near future.. Are you going to do more blogs on it???
@dee – I will have a full report soon as I did a 12 day cruise from Auckland.
My first visit to Australia and New Zealand was 1983 when I was working for CO, now UA. It cost $50 r/t, but I had no hotel. The little old lady at SYD traveler’s aid booked me in a Sheraton in Kings Cross. Turned out that was the red-light district, lol. But very clean and safe.
The biggest surprises I recall were driving on the left and spam was popular. I was advised of American wards at hospitals for Yanks who looked the wrong way when crossing the street. Spam was a WWII legacy.
I returned with my family in the mid 90s for an extended visit. Stops included Sydney, Cairns (diving on the GBR, salties and rian forest), Alice Springs (Aborignes, Tropic of Capricorn), Yulara (Ayers Rock), Perth and Fremantle. I was surprised and astounded by the spectacular emerald color of the Indian Ocean at Fremantle and that Aborignes use boomerangs as straight-line hunting weapons. They are long pieces of wood with a curved upper surface and a flat bottom (an airfoil) that travel to the target in a straight line. Nothing like the boomerangs I played with as a kid.
Come to NSW in winter and temps will be mild with skiing in the mountains. B/t/w all continents are technically islands.
Best regards
I just came back from Auckland and Sydney I was pleasantly surprised and wished had visited earlier. I felt very safe and most places were very clean just chilled environment plus how tropical they look. I plan to return another time and visit Brisbane and Melbourne. The plug caught me by surprise I thought it would be like ones in England. I couldn’t use my international adapter had to buy an adapter at local store.
they have the outlet switches all over europe also.
@dave – I have been to a majority of European lands and never ever seen a power switch like this on the outlet itself.
I see them in zurich and/or London every year. Just can’t remember which or both.
Just back after 3 months of doing several trips in Australia with a swing over to New Zealand. I totally concur with your findings. The combination of genuine friendliness coming from the heart and “laid back”-ness really stuck with us and will us go there again. Power sockets follow the UK version of that separate switch. Naja, ok. The other thing i noticed, while super friendly in day to day life, do not expect this in road traffic. You must be really in remote areas before other drivers give you rid of way or greet you …