A British expat has shared the things that surprised her when she moved to Australia, including Australian supermarkets not selling sandwiches and frequent police checks while driving.
Charlee, who moved from London to the Northern Territory in November, revealed the things that could be ‘useful to know’ for Brits considering moving Down Under.
First, she explained her shock that Australian supermarkets don’t carry ready-made sandwiches, which is common in the UK.
“Where are the meal deals?” she asked in a video.
‘Brits, you know, you’ve been lazy, you forgot your lunch, you just pop out and get a meal deal.
Charlee, who moved from the UK to Sydney in November, revealed the things that could be ‘useful to know’ for Britons considering moving Down Under
It’s not weird in this country.
“I have never seen a meal deal or a sandwich in a supermarket in this country.
“It’s really rare when I do, and if I see one I wouldn’t buy it.
“I don’t know what’s going on there, because meal deals are out of the question here.”
Meal deals consist of a sandwich, wrap or salad, a drink and a snack – usually fruit or a bag of chips – for around £3-£5 ($5-$9).
Second, she said police checks were “much more common” in Australia than in the UK.
‘I know the police can stop you in the UK. It’s never happened to me, but I’m a pretty good driver.
“But in this country the police can stop you and breathe.
“You just roll down your window and they let you blow into the thing. I think that’s crazy, I’ve never seen anyone do that,” she added.
Third, she complained about slow WiFi in Australia, a common complaint from expats in Australia.
“Things are so fucking slow in this country,” she moaned.
Australians, please don’t come to me, this country is great, but you really don’t know what you’re missing. You’ve never had WiFi in the UK.
“Brits, I know you think your WiFi sucks, it’s not, you live in luxury.”
She also explained that she was confused by “P” signs in parking lots.
“What the hell does 3P mean?” she asked.
‘Usually it says parking time or ticket machine.
‘I googled it, the P stands for hours, so ‘3P’ means you can park there for three hours.
“I asked an Australian what that means and he said he didn’t know.”
Many fellow Brits in Charlee’s remarks agreed with her analysis of life Down Under, adding their own experiences as well.
One of them shared how they were shocked that there were no identity or passport checks on domestic flights within Australia.
It comes after the 25-year-old said in another video that deliveries take ‘weeks’ to arrive in Australia, while also being confused by various traffic regulations.
“Deliveries are f***king slow,” the expat explained.
“If you’re planning a night out in three days and you’re like, ‘It’s okay, I’ll order an outfit,’ you’re bloody wrong.”
Charlee went on to explain that the UK’s biggest online retailers such as Asos and Amazon offer next day delivery, while Amazon Prime Now offers delivery in just a few hours.
“Deliveries must be 50 years behind,” she added in a TikTok clip.
“The only thing that explains this is because this country is so goddamn big, its goddamn crisis,”
‘I pay for express shipping, but it still takes two weeks,” she added.
Charlee added that she was shocked to discover the differences in road rules between the UK and Australia.
Discussing driving in the UK, she explained: “If you are driving down the road and looking for a place to park and you see one on the other side of the road, go straight into it.
Expat Charlee (pictured) moved from London to Sydney in November and shared six things that shocked her most about living in Australia. The 25-year-old said she looked silly while driving because the traffic lights and car indicators are different to the UK, and she thought ‘how are you?’ meant ‘where are you going?’
“It’s so illegal in this country.
‘In England I did it every day. I’m a professional who parks on the other side of the road.
“But it’s illegal for her not to do it, you’ll get a ticket.”
Finally, she explained that many Australians drive automatic cars, while manual cars are the norm in the UK.
“In the UK we have to be phenomenal drivers, I don’t understand why everyone in the UK drives a manual car, while here everyone drives an automatic.”
The Brit has made many videos about life Down Under since moving to Sydney last year.
In January she said she looked silly while driving as the traffic lights and car indicators are different from the UK and thought ‘how are you?’ meant ‘where are you going?’
“If you’re thinking about moving to Australia, here are some things you should definitely know,” she said.
First, Charlee admitted that she didn’t fully understand some of the common terms used in everyday language.
‘When I first came here in November and people asked how I was, I said I was going to the supermarket. They looked at me like I was crazy,” she said in the clip.
“I now understand what this means – it means “how are you?”
Subsequently, Charlee said she initially had difficulty opening doors due to the type of locks used in Australia.
“In the UK, most doors close with a bolt,” she said.
Now I’m not a locksmith, but in every country I’ve ever been I can tell you that if you want to open the door, you turn the key to the center of the door and the bolt goes up.
Please don’t do that in this country. You look like an idiot and it’s the wrong way.’
Charlee came to understand that most doors Down Under require the key to be turned out from the door, not in.
Charlee was also caught off guard while driving as the turn signal is usually on the right in Australia, while in the UK and most of Europe it is on the left – but this depends on the make.
“When I go to report, I turn off my windshield wipers like crazy,” she said.
“This is one of the things that still upsets me [off] and I’ve been driving here for 10 days now.’
Charlee also mentioned how “crazy” Aussies can get into rush hours when they drive home after work to put on their “flip flops and camisoles.”
Charlee said Aussies beeped at her for being too slow at intersections when the lights turned green.
“Usually in the UK (the lights) turn red and orange at the same time, so you know it’s about to turn green,” she said.
‘He doesn’t do that in this country, he just goes straight from red to green.
Charlee said this doesn’t give you a chance to change tracks because you might miss when the lights turn green.
For the last two culture shocks, Charlee said dairy milk tastes like “Halloween chocolate” and many people have mullets.
Overnight, the video has been viewed more than 250,000 times and left hundreds in stitches.
“I laughed so hard at this. Some things I have completely forgotten,” one woman wrote.
Another said: ‘I still don’t know how to respond when a Brit says, ‘Are you okay?’ So there’s that.’
Others pointed out that the side of the car’s turn signals depends on the make of the car.
