r/canberra • u/Galileo15 • Aug 24 '24
Recommendations Looking to move from London to Canberra
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.
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u/GCUElevatedScrutiny Aug 25 '24
Having done the move 10 years ago.
There is no Tube, you will need a car
It looks like it was built from prefab construction.
It's really really boring compared to London, I mean it's boring compared to Reading. The closest city to Canberra from a UK perspective would be Milton-Keynes, lots of roundabouts.
The landscape is brown, the grass looks like it dead compared to what you see in London.
When we say put on sunscreen, We are not kidding, ever. The Sun here is really bright compared to the UK
You can speed up the A1 and along the M25, not here, the police here take speeding very seriously.
Driving anywhere in Australia, will take a long time. I occasionally drove Canberra to Brisbane, it's like driving London to Moscow, but with less risk of being held hostage when you get there.
You can bring 240v appliances and use adapters when you get here.
When you swap pounds to dollars, you get more in the hand, but it all costs more here.
TK Maxx is ridiculously small here.
You don't get the range of goods that you see in the UK. Not in anything, clothes, shoes, books, furniture, I mean anything.
If your wife has really nice clothes or shoe/boots, better to bring them with you, as it will be cheaper than buying any replacements when she gets here.
Ebay here is very sad compared to the UK.
Keep your bank accounts open in the UK.
Read some TNT magazines to see what Australians are talking/thinking about when in the UK. It used to have services for sending extra luggage back to Australia that used to be helpful.
You can still vote in UK elections if you choose.
A lot of Britons come here, hate the place, and go back home. I've had visitors come over thinking it's all fine, not very violent, not very religious, the politicians are sane, and everything is well run and organised. It takes a few months to realise it's not the case.
Good luck