I'm gunna have to check in with most unexpected thing I didn't see. I'm arachnophobic, I visited australia for 2 weeks and didn't see a single spider.

The coolest thing I think though was how well British and Australian attitudes mesh. It's like we were designed to take the piss out of each other.

faatiydut

How casual australians act around local wildlife was the most surprising thing for me (german) when I went there.

Lots of little Jellyfish in the water close to Sydney harbor? Guy walks into the water, picks one up with both hands, walks up to us like "guys I haven't seen those before, anyone know what kind that is?".

Cliff jumping with aussies, see water below us foam up a bit. "Looks like sharks. Ah it's probably just small ones, they won't do shit". (Fun fact: that was the exact cliff jumping location of this (faked) video)

Big ass spider inside a construction site I was working on. Like, big enough to drop a magical sword if you kill it. Asked my boss about it. "Nah leave her alone, it's the house spider. She's not dangerous!". When I asked whether "not dangerous" meant those kinds of spiders aren't venomous he answered "Nah we'd still have to drive you to the emergency room. But like, not as fast as we'd have to with other spiders". Ok thanks boss.

Stuff like that really makes me wonder how many of the people I've met there are still alive today.

Taedalus

I remember getting off the plane and just noticing that the colors were all different. Felt like the sun was brighter and the sky bluer. (might have been because we left Germany in winter and arrived in summer) but also, the silvery green of the Eucalyptus trees is a color we don't get here.

Also: Free BBQ stations everywhere. That was cool!

ntrontty

Moved to country Australia from NZ at age 14, and of all things I remember being astonished at how f**king huge the sky seemed, because the land was so flat and vast compared to where I'd come from. The horizon just stretched on forever!

reddit

Getting massively sunburned in winter.

Canadian living in Aus.

Astrosimian

Went in to buy more appropriate footwear in my first few days, and I was convinced the shopgirl was flirting with me. Bought something else in another shop, and more flirting. Another shop and the same thing.

Turns out they weren't flirting. They were just naturally being really friendly. Smiling and being interested in me for no other reason than because that's just how you do things.

I ended up taking a job going door to door selling things (backpacking yay!) and I was amazed how few times I was told to f**k off.

peon47

Drive through alcohol shop

nothefuzz

Before I arrived in WA I knew it would be big and hot. However, i wasn't prepared for it to be this BIG and this HOT.

Welshite

Astronomer here- the moon is backwards!

To explain, in the northern hemisphere when the moon is waxing, it fills up from the right side to the left, then when it wanes it goes from the same direction. In Australia, on the other hand, the waxing crescent starts on the left.

It took me a moment to realize what exactly I was seeing, and I was absolutely tickled pink once I figured out why it was the way it was. :)

Andromeda321

The animals are different colours. I spent a whole Saturday afternoon walking around a park looking at black swans and black and white crows of some sort, admiring their feathers.

Instead of raccoons, you have possums.

In Melbourne, coffee is a religion.

ironmaven

A sign on the beach saying "beware of snakes".

milkflakes

that they pronounce "adidas" as "added ass"

LionKiegrass70

The colourful flocks of birds. I fell off my bike the first time a flock of Rosellas flew past me.

tubbytucker

How quiet and polite everyone was.

Every time I've ever met an Australian on vacation (especially in Bali) they have been drunk and screaming. Its been the case so often in so many places I thought that everyone from Australia was like that.

reddit

The biggest shock to me was driving around and seeing a (presumably) roadkill kangaroo. Now it makes perfect sense when I think about it but prior to going to Australia the only time most people ever see a kangaroo is in a zoo all safe and in an enclosure so you kind of figure it's like that all over the place.

They're kind of like deer, just running around and getting hit by cars.

Bonus (totally unrelated) story: I couldn't believe you guys sell and eat kangaroo meat. I guess it goes back to my previous point about kangaroos being like deer.

ViralParallel

Frogs in the toilet was another surprise, increased numbers of frogs when flushing was a bigger surprise. You couldn't see the water for the frogs.

Welshite

Your cross walks. The CLANGA-CLANGA-CLANGA is terrifying the first few times.

__nev__

"Yay I'm in Australia. Let's get drunk!"

"Time to get a bottle of vodka.... checks price ...oh...nevermind"

...and that's when I began my relationship with goon

HottIcedTea

Visited Australia and New Zealand two years ago. The most unexpected, most jarring thing I've seen is how disciplined the people are compared to my country, sadly. It was really peaceful, clean and quiet. A breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively.

Adell021

No kangaroos. I was led to believe that kangaroos were roaming the streets.

Also, no Fosters beer. Apparently Fosters is not Australian for beer

trexrocks

The price of food, especially produce. At first I thought it was because so much would have to be imported, but the vast majority of produce I bought was from Australia. I discussed this a bit with some Australians and Americans and we wondered if this was the real cost of food, if you pay everyone in the chain an actual living wage, instead of depending on underpaid migrant workers.

smithje

Pies. Everywhere. This isn't a complaint.

MonsieurLeGimp

The gulls are SUPER aggressive. Those bastards get a foot away from you, yell at you, and then 3 distract you while one steals food off your plate. (They actually got a piece of tuna off my wife's plate this way.)

cscottaxp

Everybody I met was happy. Coming from Glasgow, Scotland, this was a massive culture shock.

HoundOfTheBasketball

I used to think the best days of my life might involve marriage, children, maybe career success.

Then visiting my brother in Perth i saw a pelican do a massive fly-by s**t on a toddler's head. Game over.

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