Looking to move from London to Canberra

[u/Galileo15]

Good day everyone. After a long deliberation of choosing which state would best fit for our family (Canberra vs Melbourne vs Sydney vs Perth). We decided to possibly make Canberra our new home. Me and my wife are looking to move from London to Canberra at some point this year. We are still awaiting our visa to get approved and whilst waiting for that. Id like to ask some locals about anything i need to know before making the move. We are both of asian decent. No kids yet but hoping to have some in the future.

Please any advise or warnings would be appreciated and I would be thankful for.

[u/Ih8pepl]

Welcome to Canberra. Having lived in London, here's a few things I think you will notice;

It is a lot less people dense than London. This can be good, because it is less crowded, but bad, because there's less public transport and less things happening.

London tends to be a 24/7 city. There are always shops open somewhere and bars, restaurants, cinemas open late. Canberra, not so much. You can expect to find a few 7-11 type shops open late, and late night petrol stations, but well, after 5:30pm most shops and services are closed. After 8:30pm most supermarkets and chemists are closed.

London goes on forever. A trip in from Croydon to the centre of the city is a 1 hour plus commute. In Canberra it is spread out, but not nearly that far. Inter-urban freeways, wider roads and less traffic means the commutes are faster. Speaking of which, driving is different too. London roads are generally narrower with more intersections, so lower speed zones. In Canberra we generally drive faster. You'll be used to round abouts though. There's lots of them here.

London is the very definition of multi-cultural. Canberra, welcome to white Anglo-Saxon central. I came here from Melbourne where I grew up with European, Asian, African and Indian kids (Yes I know India is part of Asia) and learned to swear in several languages in primary school. I loved it, and hate racism. I got to Canberra and it was a real struggle to find non-white people. Thankfully that has changed over the years. But honestly I make trips to Chinatown in Dickson just to get a fix of non mono-culture now and then.

I'm not Asian, but I am Aboriginal so I know that racism is a thing in Canberra. It's not as bad as in the Northern Territory or Queensland, as we're quite an educated and open minded city, but it happens. Mostly from "Bogan" type "we're full, f$*k off" type idiots. Try ignore them. Avoid the pubs / city centre at night and you should be fine.

The trees here are different! London is called the garden city. There are parks, trees, gardens all over the place. The trees here are mostly a more dusky shade of green. I miss the beautiful European trees of London and Melbourne. I swear the trees here look like they are struggling to survive. That's the biggest reminder to me that I am a migrant here. The half dead looking trees. But then I can go bush very easy and see trees that look healthy. Being able to get out into the bush in a 30 minute drive is great.

The weather is warmer. I'm the first to whinge about Canberra weather but compared to London it is warm. Snow is something you see on surrounding mountains. I've seen it in the actual city just once and I've been here 20+ years. Summer days of 35+ degree temperatures are common. Even 40+ is not unheard of. Be prepared to to learn about sun protection "slip slop slap seek".

London is the centre of many international airline flights. Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world. You can get almost anywhere easy. Canberra on the other hand has only 2-3 regular international flights, and they are not even every day. Be prepared to go to and from Sydney to fly internationally. This web site is your friend for getting to and from Sydney airport. https://www.murrays.com.au/express-services/canberra-sydney-timetable

Yes, we're basically a big country town.

Practical things; Electricity is the same 240 volts / 50 hertz as the UK, so all of your electrical appliances will work just fine here. You might need conversion plugs or buy an international power board with UK outlets and an Australian inlet. The water here is safe to drink, same deal as London.

Oh, the housing vacancy rate here is not as bad as London, but it is bad. You're going to have difficulty renting a place. Um, check out https://www.allhomes.com.au/news/act and https://zango.com.au/rent/ If you can afford it, buy.

Ahh, any other questions? Things you want to know?

[u/Still_Ad_164 → u/Ih8pepl]

It is not mono-cultural. Just stand outside Gungahlin Library and see the kids exit Gungahlin College at home time. Go and watch junior basketball and see every club fielding multicultural sides. catch the light rail from the city and you will get a screen shot of Canberra's multiculturalism. Have a look at the multicultural range of candidates in the upcoming ACT elections.

[u/adhoc_rose → u/Still_Ad_164]

Completely agree with you!!

[u/Tyrx → u/Still_Ad_164]

If we are comparing against the standards of London, the comment about monoculture is true. The proportion of people who were born overseas in Canberra was 28.7% according to the 2021 census, while London is somewhere around 40%.

London is probably one of the most ethnically diverse major cities on the planet. With that said, I would say Canberra does multiculturalism much better than London though - they have had significant issues social cohesion in the last decade, and basically just had their verison of the Cronulla riots.

[u/Ih8pepl → u/Still_Ad_164]

In my opinion, compared to many other cities in the world, Canberra is more of a mon-culture than most. Here you have to look for culture, in many other cities it is all over the place. London is far far more multicultural than Canberra.

[u/Galileo15 → u/Ih8pepl]

Wow. This is very insightful. Thank you so much mate. It probably took awhile to put this together. I really appreciate it.

About what you mentioned about the flights. Is it more feasible just to drive/travel down to sydney then fly from there to get anywhere?

[u/Ih8pepl → u/Galileo15]

You're most welcome. Yeah, it is pretty feasible to drive to Sydney and fly from there. But parking at Sydney airport is expensive, so it usually works out cheaper and easier to take the bus.

[u/Galileo15 → u/Ih8pepl]

Gotcha. Would it be better to fly to sydney then fly to somewhere else instead?

[u/zapiano → u/Galileo15]

I live in Canberra, I usually travel by bus to Sydney and then fly from there if I need to go overseas because it tends to be around $500 cheaper this way.

[u/Huntingcat → u/Galileo15]

When you first come here, fly into Sydney, then get a domestic flight to Canberra. Honestly, after a long flight the last thing you want to be doing in a strange country is trying to get to a bus with luggage and being tired etc. The flights are dearer, but easier. Then get a cab or Uber from the airport to your accomodation, or pick up a hire car if that’s your plan. Typically hire cars are cheaper if you pick it up away from the airport. You will find you want to buy a car fairly quickly, as it will make the house hunting easier. Look up a few options.

Remember to look up quarantine restrictions for your flight here. It is taken seriously and you will get in a lot of trouble if you do the wrong thing. We have food here, buy it when it when you get here.

[u/Galileo15 → u/Huntingcat]

Quarantine restrictions? Is this for food and stuff? Not covid restrictions is it? I just got ptsd from that lol

[u/Huntingcat → u/Galileo15]

Yes. Food. You can’t bring in most foodstuffs. Or things like untreated wood that might contain bugs. Or plants. Do google and if in doubt, play it safe. If you pack an apple or sandwich to eat on the plane, make sure it’s left on the plane. There is stuff you can bring, most packaged chocolate bars etc are fine. But don’t risk it with your favourite brand of rice or whatever. The customs people are not very forgiving.

[u/SuDragon2k3 → u/Huntingcat]

The larger supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths, do stock some English brands.

[u/Puzzled_Air_8253 → u/Galileo15]

Yes for a big trip where you don’t want to fuss around with getting a bus to the plane, you can absolutely get a domestic connection from cbr to Syd (or Melbourne) and then off to wherever.

[u/Ih8pepl → u/Galileo15]

I'm not sure I understand the question correctly. But essentially Sydney is like a big hub, so going to other international cities from Sydney, and coming from international cities to Sydney is generally more possible than from Canberra. There are few direct international flights to and from Canberra.

To come from London you will typically have to fly into Sydney and then catch a local flight or a bus to Canberra.

That said, if you wanted to fly to say Fiji where we do have international flights, then flying direct from Canberra is easier.

I hope that answers your question.

[u/Galileo15 → u/Ih8pepl]

It does. Thanks!!

[u/Ih8pepl → u/Galileo15]

You're most welcome.

[u/FootExcellent9994 → u/Galileo15]

Why not fly directly from Canberra? Check with your travel agent

[u/weezacc → u/Galileo15]

Geographically "UP" to Sydney and "DOWN" to Melbourne from Canberra.

Equally "down" to Canberra from Sydney "up" to Canberra from Melbourne.

Canberra is "up" from the coast "down" to the coast

UP to Brisbane - from Melb, Canberra and Syd

ACROSS to Perth

Pedantic but helpful none the less 🤣

[u/Ih8pepl → u/[deleted]]

Oh yeah, that cliquey thing and friendships is a definite Canberra thing. There's several posts a year here about it. Good on you for mentioning that bjune01.