Informationen

• Visa
• Accessability
• MLAK Key
• Weater / journey time
• Car / traffic
• Train / rail
• Society
• To go out
• Alcohol / sex and drugs
• Eating
• Sport
• Finance
• Internet and power supply

Visa

Australia has strict entry guidelines, tourists need a visa. Most European countries, Commonwealth nations and USA are eligible for an easy online visa for $20 and can get it here: www.eta.immi.gov.au.. If you intend to stay longer than 3 month, have a previous conviction or trouble otherwise you should gather information here: www.immi.gov.au. Some travel agencies provide the visa as a kind of service; you just need a valid passport

Accessibility

Australia is generally accessible. Public buildings (State, Councils) have to be wheelchair accessible and even many of the parks provide lavatories with plenty of space and, mostly, support bars. As you can see from this description, not everything is perfect, but they try hard and that helps. Especially in heritage buildings, were ramps had to be implemented subsequently, you get the feeling of using the “backdoor”. The same applies for the lowered kerbstones, which can be found almost everywhere, but still are quite steep, often with a step of 1-2cm (1/2”).

Hotels, particularly newer ones, mainly provide at least one accessible room with adapted bathrooms, meaning more space, “drive in shower” and shower stool, some supportive bars. Sometimes, however, important details are missing or have been implemented in a meaningless way. Things like gravelled parking spots, small steps or very narrow entrances or very thick, soft carpets are regularly found and proof that still many of the implementations for accessibility aren’t properly thought through, yet. Inconveniences such as these are often mentioned in the individual reports and marked with a lemon.

MLAK Key

Master Locksmith Access Key is a master key that fits into special locks allowing 24/7 access to public toilets throughout Australia. People with a disability can purchase a key that opens all accessible toilets displaying the MLAK symbol.  MLAK keys are available for $5 from local Council and the Visitor Information Centre. You will need a letter from a doctor, disability organisation, local council or community health centre to purchase a key. A list of all MLAK locations is available at www.scia.org.au. For more information you can also contact the Master Locksmiths’ Association of Australia Ltd on 1800 810 698 or phone the respective local Council.
http://www.scia.org.au/News/scia/mlak
+61 2 9661 8855

3.2009 Author TA Admin

Car / traffic

Australia has left hand side traffic. Traffic rules and regulations are pretty similar to the European ones, with some exceptions. The authority for everything that has to do with roads and traffic is called RTA (Roads and Traffic Authority www.rta.com.au). If you intend to drive yourself, please check the regulations for the respective states you want to go to. Usually you get a recommendation for an international drivers licence, but we never had trouble with the European licence (probably because it is understandable in English as well). But please check the requirements for your nation at rta.com.au or through the car rental agent.

The behaviour on the road is civilized with exceptions (beware some “P-Plate” drivers). In metropolitan areas it is, of course, very busy sometimes but as a traveller you may stay outside the main centres. Speed limits are as follows: inside towns/villages: 60km/h, partly reduced to 50km/h, please watch the signs; in school zones 40km/h during morning and afternoon phases (very important to watch the signage and check times!); outside town between 80km/h and 100-110km/h. Speeding is a serious offence with high fines and  possible loss of licence (eg. driving faster than 10km/h above the speed limit can cost AUD 100-200.-)

Down under is a 4WD nation. You can go nearly everywhere with your off-road vehicle. On many beaches outside towns 4WD’s are permitted and some dirt roads in national parks, forests and in the outback are only accessible with 4WD vehicles.

The European Parking Card for people with a disability (temporarily or permanent) can mostly be used in Australia, but slightly differing rules apply in the individual states. Please see the scheme for details in .pdf file.

Some rental car companies are flexible enough to offer equipment for people with special needs, such as hand assisted driving control systems (not the fully integrated type but a temporarily mountable version with levers). Car rental companies:
http://www.disabilityhire.com.au. (Sydney located small company);
more soon to come.

Train / rail

The railway network is thin interstate and well to very well established in the metropolitan areas. At times the same tracks are being utilised by different providers. To discover the metropolitan areas and surrounds it is an enjoyable way of travelling. Staff usually is friendly and helpful, they are connected via radio with your destiny station and a helping person is already at the platform when you arrive – all that without any ahead planning or booking! For a single person using trains is a cheap alternative compared to hiring a car, but if you want to travel between two cities you probably fare better using a car. The local rail providers are:
Adelaide http://adelaidemetro.com.au/
Brisbane http://www.citytrain.com.au
Melbourne http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au
Perth http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au
Sydney http://www.cityrail.info
You’ll find further information in the local descriptions of each area.

If you are interested in an interstate tourist luxury train adventure you can click to find out more.

Society

Australia has got one of the oldest cultures in the world, with estimated 60,000 years of indigenous history. This culture had developed completely different to western culture and therefore left no significant impression on the first settlers. The coastal mainland was used by early whalers as a base but the land didn’t raise much interest initially. In 1770 captain Cook commenced mapping of the land. European settlement was initialled by the setup of convict camps in the Sydney area, with more “Gulags” to follow.
Today’s cities raised out of them. In protected bays and close to the sought after raw materials more settlements developed. With the spreading of British culture the end of aboriginal sovereignty came along, land was “taken over”, forcefully if necessary – a sad chapter of destruction of a culture evolved. The primarily British culture got mixed up by the appearance of Asian immigrants during the gold rush in 19th century. Later on more and more Europeans and immigrants from around the world turned up, turning modern Australia into a colourful multicultural society. Even the Aboriginal culture was “rediscovered” in the past decades and got well established, particularly in the art scene.   

Today Australia has 21.5million citizens, around 0.5 million belonging to Aboriginal tribes. Most Australians live in NSW (7mio) followed by VIC with 5.3mio and QLD with 4.3mio. Roughly 70% of the population lives in the big cities or surrounding areas, mostly on the coastal fringes. The population is growing by ~1.7% per year. Average age is 37. Every woman has 1.93 children in the age of 30.4, on average

Lifestyle: Many people live in and around cities in their own home. They usually own more than one car and use it to go to work. Around 4pm on Friday afternoons it starts to get busy in pubs and hotels, when the beginning of the weekend is celebrated. Saturday is the day for sports activities, picnics and barbecues with family and friends. Not to forget: mowing the lawns. Young people usually sleep in to be ready for another night of partying in one of the many clubs and pubs. To be an early bird on the weekend, however, is useful, as many activities start early in the mornings and finish in the early afternoon. The same applies for cafés, which often close already around 3pm

To go out

As described before, people like to go to pubs. From around 4-5pm it gets packed and you can rub shoulders with people out there. In a wheelchair you are readily offered help by someone; that’s not a big deal, people usually are just friendly and helpful. Rush hour in the hospitality scene is between 5 and 8 p.m., in bigger cities up to 10 p.m. Young people stay longer in those clubs that are open past midnight.  When you go out you have a good chance to have a chat with an Aussie. It is pretty common to get talking while waiting for a drink or with the people around your table

Alcohol / sex and drugs

Usually you have to show your ID if you enter a pub. Alcohol is only permitted for people 18 + years of age and this really is regularly checked out. Not every restaurant/ bistro etc. is permitted to serve alcohol. Those who are not permitted and don’t have a full liquor licence advertise with BYO, “bring you own” bottle. To get a bottle you look for a “bottle shop” with every kind of spirits in there. Very convenient are the drive-through bottle shops. They are really laid out to drive through the shop. You drop your order and a staff member will put the drinks in your car and take your money - you don’t have to leave your car at all.  The most common glass size in a pub is a schooner, 345ml.

Cigarettes are available in supermarkets at the service desk. Prices are around $15 a pack.

Don’t fool around with drugs in Australia. Marihuana is illegal, all other drugs as well. Even in well known “Hippie”- areas such as the Byron Bay hinterlands, Nimbin and others the police is ever more forcefully cracking down on dope users and growers alike.

Officially there is no prostitution in Australia, but every city has some streets or areas you should avoid, especially at night. As a tourist you do not have the trained eye to identify the rough districts. It is easier to ask at the reception desk for the “no go areas”. You can find adult shops in shopping malls and other public areas; they are no indication in themselves for those “no go areas”.

Gambling can’t be missed out under this heading. It is a widespread pastime and you’ll find slot machines or “pokies”, as they are called here, in the almost every respected Workers’ and RSL Clubs. The "Returned and Services League" Clubs are veteran clubs. You can enter them as a visitor but should do so with as much respect as possible. These are some of the rare locations were a strict dressing code is present. No shorts, t-shirts, slipper, flip-flops (They are called thongs in Australia) are permitted. If you like to bet, the TAB labelled pubs and hotels look like a financial stock marked inside and provide any kind of information about every horse or dog race.

Eating

As a vegetarian or a person who needs a special diet, you are well served in the cities. Supermarkets provide shelves with gluten free food and sugar free is ”hip” anyway. Most restaurants offer vegetarian meals. An important part of restaurant fare is seafood of all kinds. Fish and chips are available in numerous take away shops for $8-10. A cultural icon, however, is the Aussie - barbie (BBQ). These usually gas fired and coin operated stainless steel hotplates are provided in nearly every park, so you don’t have to buy one on your journey. The councils or Parks-and Wildlife Services maintain them regularly. The known fast food shops are everywhere, we do not describe them any further, because everybody knows the range of products they provide and the quality.

Sport

National sport is cricket and football/ rugby, soccer is less popular. In the southern states like Victoria Aussie Rules is being played, a curious variety of rugby. It is meant to be a mix of rugby and Gaelic football. As a layman you see the difference on the four instead of two gate posts. Teams running around like soccer, but play like rugby and there are some rules as well. Otherwise every ongoing sport event is present in the media as long as an Australian team or individual takes part, and as long as they win the type of sport seems almost of secondary importance.

Finance

The currency is Australian Dollar, abbreviation AUD. $1 AUD = 100 Cents
Coins are available in 5, 10, 20, 50 Cent and 1 and 2 Dollar
Banknotes in 5, 10, 20, 50 and sometimes 100 Dollar
Exchange was very stable with €uro 0.60 = $ 1 AUD = $ 0.90 US, since the financial collapse in late 2008, however, the exchange rate has dropped to € 0.50 = $ 1 AUD = $ 0.65 US

All common credit cards are accepted in nearly every shop.

If you need cash, use one of the plenty ATM cash machines directly with your overseas bank card. Another option is to ask for “cash out” at a supermarket or larger shop checkout and they add the amount onto your purchase and thus act like a bank.

Internet and power supply

In populated areas many hotels and accommodations provide free internet. Even cafés and restaurants provide wireless internet for there guests sometimes. An alternative option can be an internet café; you can find is in nearly every town.

The power has 240V, which is a little bit higher than in Europe and doesn't damage anything, but the voltage is double that of the usual US voltage! If you travel in an electrical wheelchair that runs on 110V, make sure you can charge your chair proper. The power points are different as well but you can purchase an adaptor for around $ 5 to $10 in one of the supermarkets, tech shops, hardware stores.

3.2009 Author CK Admin / NA