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in perth its unit. you can rent or buy. apartment is just another term for unit.

there's also townhouse. Never saw condo used much. although legally speaking aparently there's specific definitions between apartment, condo and townhome....

and flat was shared laundry facilities.

Do people usually pay cash in the US?

Not as much as you may think.

Most people use credit cards. I use cards myself as I'm used to currency that is different colours and sizes, so to have currency that is all the same size and colour is confusing.

Only have some on me for tolls or vending machines.

But you do see some people use cash, but it seems the majority use credit cards these days. Much safer.

and flat was shared laundry facilities.

Denver I'm glad you cleared that up as I had wondered .... but seems in Sydney the line has blurred. When looking for somewhere to live some have share laundry and are called unit anyways....

And banking? One gets four free atm withdrawls per month .... beyond that you are charged $1.50 fee per transaction. Any atm withdrawl from a machine not hosted by your bank costs $2 or something. If you don't plan carefully you could end up paying 10-20 per month in fees. I think writing a personal cheque (check) costs about $2 per cheque. Getting your balance counts as a transaction too I think.

No wonder we put it on plastic and transfer the funds on payday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

oh, i STILL get charges from commonwealth bank from my savings account since my mum deposits money into it for me.

Can't access it, but it'll be nice spending money when we come visit next year


and flat in perth was generally a 1br with shared kitchen/dining room/living area in a teeny tiny spot. sometimes it was a bedroom also.

I still do minimum things with online banking. use credit cards, and hop on once a week to pay the bills and whatnot.

Yeah, I would have to say that right now the biggest noticeable thing about living in Australia as opposed to another country is the drought. We've been on water restrictions for a few years now and here in Brisbane we are on Level 5 - this means very limited watering of gardens with a bucket only and at specific times (and no watering lawns at all), no washing of cars at all except for windows and windshields, no new installations of pools, etc.

Everyone is so conscious of water now. I turn off my shower repeatedly when I'm not actually using the water to rinse or anything (e.g. I turn off the water while I am washing my hair, then turn it on again to rinse off). I can barely remember what my garden used to look like when I could use my sprinkler system!

I think when I move to the UK next year it will be very hard to get used to using water more freely - which isn't a bad thing of course.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

Not as much as you may think.

The question about the paying in cash was specific to buying an apartment (unit) as Babel said that here we get a mortgage to buy an apartment "unit". So I was wondering if people in the US have enough to pay cash for an apartment.

Here where I am and in the crowd I hang with, we haven't started using the apartment term. My stepdaughter has just bought herself a unit (settles in 2 weeks) and yes, the block of units has a mix of owner occupiers and tenants.

I try to resist swapping over to US terms if I can, although with films & TV, it is creeping in. Not because I don't like the US terms, I'd just like to keep my Australianism, if I can.

It's been interesting discussing how things differ.

Re: US shops. What type of shops are open for what typical opening hours?

Cheers
TW

Where i am from

Apartment = renting of a floor or section of a house. Generally with a lease of 1-2 years but we do have whats called a tenant-at-will or renter-at-will. It means that either the owner or the property or the tenate only has to give 45 days notice before leaving or evicting a tenant

Condo = is a unit attached to larger building that has units above below and next to it. Like a hotel. They generally range from 1 to 3 bedroom but can be larger.

Townhouse = very similar to a condo except that they are not always attached to the other condo units but it most cases they share only one common wall wither their neighbors ie.. they are in rows.

As for the shops the grocery stores are open from 8am-10pm most convenience stores are open 6-7am to 9-10pm but there are also many 24hr stores. In my state(Massachusetts) We just recently repealed “blue laws” which were old puritan laws which prohibited the sale of alcohol before 8am and after 11pm on Monday thru Saturday and not at all on Sunday. Now you can purchase alcohol on Sundays from 12 pm to 10pm


"No whammy, No whammy, No whammy, STOP!!"

1984-Michael Larsen On Press Your Luck

Apartment is being used only recently due to American-isms sneaking in. Flat/unit is the term used prior. I live in a 'unit'. (but I say apartment bec I think it sounds cooler)

wish-ga has got it just right. I've looked at Travel Agent's adds, and they always talk about apartments, but I remember as a kid they were holiday units. I work for a property development firm that has a Retail Division, Commercial Industrial Division & Development Division. Development Division creates new suburbs, sells land, houses & guess what - they sell "apartments" and not "units". Guess they think it sounds cooler too, wish-ga. Forgot all about them using that term. Silly of me, as Development Division staff think of themselves as 2 sep business units. Staff in Development Division think of themselves as either:-

Residential staff, who create new suburbs or communities (eg the roads, the shopping centes, the recreational parks, negotiate with local councils & authorities for the inclusion of school etc) & then on sell the land or land/house packages to the public) or

Apartments staff, who develop, build, strata & then off sell the final product to individual purchasers. They like to think the apartments are luxury and the top floor (or two) will ususally contain the penthouse/s.

So the US term snuck up on me & I didn't give it a thought till now. Even though in my earlier post, I said I always say "unit" & this still true in my non-professional conversations. But the fact that I probably deal with staff from the "Apartment" Division at least once a week, completely slipped my mind. What makes it even dopier of me, is my work has just moved out of it's old head office, which was situated in prime city real estate, overlooking Hyde Park with views of the harbour, harbour bridge & opera house. Why did we moving out? Because the old building is being converted into, guess what - luxury Apartments.

TW, a few of the newer houses we saw had a spot for the microwave near the fridge, but of course had it set up with the fridge door opening the wrong way

Babel, if that's the case, you know fridges & mirowaves are usually not included in the sale. I'm pretty sure it's possible to buy fridges & microwaves with doors that swing on the side you prefer. This might mean they are the more expensive ones though.

As for the shops the grocery stores are open from 8am-10pm most convenience stores are open 6-7am to 9-10pm but there are also many 24hr stores. In my state(Massachusetts) We just recently repealed “blue laws” which were old puritan laws which prohibited the sale of alcohol before 8am and after 11pm on Monday thru Saturday and not at all on Sunday. Now you can purchase alcohol on Sundays from 12 pm to 10pm

aaronfry, then we are not so different - at least in Sydney. As said Woolworths & Coles (grocery) are mostly open until at least 10pm & my local Woolworths opens til midnight 6 nights a week, closing at 7pm on Sudnay nights. Whenever Woolworths is open, I can buy liquor (although not all Woolworths have liquor). I thought you were all meaning in US, all the specialty shops were open late too. By specialty shops, I meant clothes shops, boutiques, jewellers, LFS's - those types of places. Babel - arent' Woollies open late in Brisbane, or do they close early there?

Still interested to know if in the US, you don't need to have a mortgage to buy an apartment/unit. Are they cheap enough for people to pay cash?

US residential tenancy leases are much longer than would be standard here. Residential tenancy leases would typically be 6 or 12 months & it would be unusual (but not impossible) for the leases to be longer.

I still can't believe your cheque accounts are free.

Cheers
TW

Nope most all the shops that I know of here in queensland close at 5pm, except on thursdays they're open till 9. Even the grocery stores close at 5pm. I think convience stores at gas, sorry, petrol stations stay open later (she types as she suddenly remembers to remind Adam that we didnt get milk yet).

"Still interested to know if in the US, you don't need to have a mortgage to buy an apartment/unit. Are they cheap enough for people to pay cash?"

Apartments are rentals that are paid for monthly instead of weekly the way they are here in oz. Usually there is a security payment that is one to two months rent, that is returned once you end the lease. Last time I had an apartment it was around $500 a month for a two bedroom. Was a pretty cruddy one next to campus though. My sister is paying over $1K a month for a tiny 1 bedroom in NW DC (northwest washington DC). They can be in newly built]http://rentals.realtor.com/FindHome/HomeListing.asp?snum=10&stype=rent&zp=20016&frm=byzip&pgnum=1&ss_aywr=&st=&mls=xmls&mnbed=1&js=on&mnsqft=0&fid=so&vtsort=&Image1=GO&typ=7&mxprice=99999999&Image1.x=27&exft=0&exft=0&exft=0&poe=realtor&mnprice=0&ct=&Image1.y=8&mnbath=0&sid=086904BA2570C&snumxlid=1078683523&lnksrc=00002[/link] buildings, or part of a converted [link=older building.

Condos are sometimes a vacation thing, my parents have a time share condo at the beach. Fully furnished two bedroom on the beach. We pay for the week we use.
Condos are also like what are called Units in oz. Individual living quarters in a building that are 1 bedroom to a full family size but usually one floor in a building. Some of the newer condos have two floors in an attempt to make them more custom. You usually need a mortgage, unless you have a random $400,000 in your pocket to pay for one. They can come furnished, and usually have additional monthly condo fees attatched.

Townhomes]http://www.stafford-county-real-estate.com/images/townhomestafford.jpg[/link] seem to be a pretty american thing, although from what I've seen they look to be catching on here. [link=This is a 'house' in the co-op I was part of. Co-ops are similar to condos in that you're paying for the right to live there, plus you have monthly fees, but you pay a down payment and when you sell it, you get the profits.

"I still can't believe your cheque accounts are free"

Not all checking accounts are free. I had checking accout with interest and savings accout with my local credit union, there were no monthly fees, two boxes of checks a year, plus other perks but we had to keep a minimum of $10 in the savings account. "Free" checking is somewhat new in the states. 10 years ago they used to advertise the 'lowest fees' to try and attract customers.

Another big thing I forgot to mention about since I haven't had to deal with it yet is the schools in oz. What in the States we called public schools, here in queensland they're called 'state schools' Adam says in new south wales they're also called public schools. In anycase, the school that students parents dont have to pay for they still wear school uniforms. And they're somewhat frumpy looking too. Everyone wears hats, and the boys wear their socks all the way up to their knees. The buildings are all seperate from each other rather than one big building like my high school. It seems they don't have high school teams the way we have in the states either. And no marching band either !

Adam and I just went into brisbane for an expo. The train tickets don't go through a machine like they do in DC (although it seems they're putting the touch gates in) and you don't even need a ticket ( ) unless you're stopped by a ticket inspector. Starbucks here sells meat pies, and good luck trying to find decaf coffee, most places don't have it.
Speaking of Starbucks, yes they are here as are McD's and Hungry Jacks (Burger king). We actually learned about the Hungry Jacks/Burger King issue in school back in the states. Someone in Oz was smart enough to register Burger King before the American Burger king could start franchises here and so they had to go by another name. There are also KFC's, and quiznos, and Sizlers, and Krispy Kreams, and Subways, but oddly enough there are no Outbacks . Anyway, speaking of starbucks, they aren't quite 'one on every streetcorner', instead there's a cancer screening center. In the states I almost never had to worry about sunscreen, here I do, possibly just because I don't want tons of wrinkles by the time I'm 42, but I have gotten sunburnt here with less effort than it took back in the states. Yesterday when adam and I were out on the boat I couldnt wear sunscreen due to the wetsuit (sunscreen degrades neoprene) and today I'm a little pink across the cheeks and nose. Then again I am using a topical medication that makes me sunburn easier.

Back to the important food difference, microwave popcorn isn't all that popular and doesnt taste the same neither does campbells tomato soup. Cheerios cereal doesnt come in a yellow box with big black letters, and there aren't as many sugar cereals targeted towards kids. Although like other things I'm sure that's changing.

^_^

Hmmm. seems there's quite some differences between Sydney and, at least parts, of Brisbane. My best friend moved to Brisbane a few years back and she never mentioned the shop shutting thing. Must ask her about how it is in her part of Brisi.

We have had townhouses in Sydney for at least 20 years, but they don't look like your pic, Babel. Townhouses are usually 2 storey dwellings of 2 or 3 bedrooms and often share one common wall where the next townhouse joins it. The common wall is often where the garage of both dwellings join. Usually, they are freestanding on the other end. Whilst each dwelling is usually 2 storey, there is no other dwelling above them and each one has a very small courtyard (backyard). They are usually part of a complex and they are popular because they are close to being a house, but as the land is small they cost far less. There are quite a few in my area & if I remember, I'll take a picture tomorrow.

Microwave popcorn - whilst we don't buy it regularly, if the kids have a movie night they will always get some.

I've heard public schools referred to as state schools ('cause they're run by state government) but we commonly call them public schools in NSW. My daughter originally went to a Sydney public school, which typically do have uniforms & for primary age kids [younger kids] they usually have a "no hat no play" policy. The hat is a baseball cap or foreign legion style and if the kid forgot his hat, he would have to sit in the shade at lunch & recess and miss out on play. Most public schools don't have a hat as part of their formal school uniform. From what I can see & from my own experience, mostly the Sydney public school kids could get away with a lot, in regards to breaking the uniform rules. How well the kids complied would have a lot to do with the principal and parental support for the school's policies. For the final 4 yrs of her school life, I sent my daughter to a private school, where the uniform rules were extremely strict. Below is a photo of her in middle school summer uniform. Notice the hat, short socks & uniform length. Within the school grounds, students could take the hat off, but once outside the gate, the hat must always be worn. If hair is longer than shoulder length, it must be tied up (ponytail, pigtail, etc). A middle school student can only wear long socks in winter time. A senior had to wear long socks in both winter & summer. There were other strange rules too. In winter, there was a jumper that you can wear either underneath or instead of the blazer - but only when in school grounds. Once outside the school gate, if you had your jumper on, you must put the blazer on top of it. If you didn't have your blazer, you had to take the jumper off, as it meant detention to be caught in public wearing your jumper on top of your uniform, if not covered by the blazer. Likewise, it was detention not to have your hat on.

You might think this would make a girl hate a uniform, but my daughter is in her 1st year of uni now and several times she has complained that there is no uniform.

Some Sydney stations have those ticket barriers. In the city, you can't get through the barriers without your ticket going through the machine, but most of the suburban stations don't have them yet. I think they are coming though.

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Cheers
TW

The pic I showed of the townhouse has 4 garages, for 4 seperate families. That's a shorter block, a lot of the ones built back in the 80's and 90's were much longer than those at least twice as long I'd suppose. This is more like the house I grew up in. The yards a lot smaller, my parents have around 2 acres total, that's the town I grew up in though, used to not even have a blinking light at the main intersection...

Some public schools in the states that have issues with gang violence have started using uniforms, althoug what's considered a 'uniform' varies. I photographed at a school that didn't allow T-shirts at all, the shirt had to have a collar. Other schools have instituted a volunteer uniform policy to place the focus on learning. My youngest sister started the same elementary school I went to when they first tried the voluntary uniform. Khaki trousers, the plad jumper (dress not sweater) or skirt, oxford shirt or logo polo shirt, sweater that you bought through the school. By the time she was in 5th grade Target had caught on and was providing a uniform line.
I was one of the weird kids that wanted to wear a uniform. It'd have saved me from doing silly things like wearing my grampy's WW2 Navel Uniform to school!

Australia doesn't seem to have Yearbooks the way we do in the states, even elementary schools have them now, and they're coming out in color. No Homecoming here, although they do have a Formal instead of Prom. No HS rings, so no ring dance. I'm guessing that without Homecoming there's no Spirit week and no pajama day or clash day or school spirit day. My HS had duck farmer day due to an old legend about the school (the actual mascot was the hawks) There's no Trick-or-treating since halloween doesnt exist, and even if it does catch on it won't ever be the same since it falls in spring rather than fall with all the crunchy leaves on the ground and bitter smell of frost on the back of your throat....okay I better stop thinking of halloween before I go raid one of the bags of candy corn I paid to ship over .

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Hi All,
I have to admit this has been THE most interesting thread
I've ever read. The similarities, and differences
between our two countries are fascinating. While I knew
there was a drought in Australia, I did not realize how
severe, or how wide spread it was. Here in Colorado, we
have had drought conditions as well. However our snow pack
in the mountains has been good, and we will have only
the "usual" lawn watering restrictions this summer.

From the way I read some of the comments, it sounds like
your nation as adapted to taking what I came to know as
a "Navy Shower." Freshwater must be manufactured aboard
ship and is used primarily in its boilers, and for cooking.
So, when we take a shower (there is no such thing as a
bath) you get in, get wet, shut it off, soap up and scrub,
then rinse, and get out.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

my daughter is in her 1st year of uni now and several times she has complained that there is no uniform

So far as I can tell the girls uniform on campus is hipsters that do not fit correctly.....

Getting sick of seeing way too much!

{I am joking. It isn't really a uniform. More an unsavoury epidemic}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

hahahah - true. Seriously though, she'd prefer a uniform so that she doesn't have to go through the fashion choices each day.

Cheers
TW

No HS rings, so no ring dance. I'm guessing that without Homecoming there's no Spirit week and no pajama day or clash day or school spirit day.

There IS a muck-up day End of high school, the yr 12 kids go a bit mad with the jokes and pranks etc. Generally they are pretty expensive and recently schools have been withholding exam marks and failing people who cause damage/participate. Bit of a shame, but hey, when did rules every stop the die-hard class clowns?

And my school did have some sort of school spirit week thingy but it was more a bit of fun than anything else. An excuse to get out of uniform and spraypaint your hair


Big issue with the drought now is that our main farming region is drying up. They are trying desperately to save the Murray-Darling River and that means cutting all water allocations for the upcoming year. Apparently close on 40% of our fresh food comes from there so without that area we are going to be paying a whole lot more to eat (and to be honest, without an awful lot more rain, it is starting to look like a lost cause anyway A lot of the Sydney farmers have been forced out of business in the last 10 years to make way for housing, so we have some wonderful fertile land that is getting something like passable rainfall stuck underneath concrete slabs
I shudder to think what stockfeed is going to cost soon, its already close on $20 for a bale of lucerne hay. If its anything like the banana crisis (yeah, we had a banana crisis last year, $16/kg) we are stuffed!

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I shudder to think what stockfeed is going to cost soon, its already close on $20 for a bale of lucerne hay. If its anything like the banana crisis (yeah, we had a banana crisis last year, $16/kg) we are stuffed!

How much do you bananas usually cost. I buy them every week at the market for breakfast and I get them between $.49 to $.59 a pound a bundle is usually around 2.5-3 pounds. I think I would forgo the $13 bananas

"No whammy, No whammy, No whammy, STOP!!"

1984-Michael Larsen On Press Your Luck

normally around $2/kg, sometimes down to $1/kg depending on how the market is. Cyclone Larry wiped out something like 90% of the trees so there weren't that many around. All of a sudden people were treating bananas like gold, it was pretty weird. We had some stocks of organic and ladyfinger left, but not many of the standard ones.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Yeah I worry about this lack of wet. It seems people are just plain being silly building houses and dams where it doesnt make sense But since I'm not an australian I have no voice in the issue .

I think they need to find a perfect patch of dry land, empty of anything sacared, of any possible farmland and just start a huge siphon from the ocean. Dig a hole, dump in water like you were draining a tank, as it fills up it'll stop drawing water. As the water evaporates it'll form clouds that will then rain, and the leftover sea salt can be harvested. If they install little turbines in the pipes then it'll also generate power. Since it's not actual sea water being pumped into the dams then there's none of this desalinization or recycled water issue that's been getting so much heat
I think it's a brillant idea.

Few more random ones.

Toilets have two buttons. Half flush and full flush. If you only need a little bit of flushing power you use the half flush. If you've created a bit more of a *ehem* ammonia spike you use the full flush.

Washing machines have lint traps. They are very important.

There's a marked lack of desitin, which I was raised using for burns including sunburn. Also no Neosporin, and nothing with the same actives.

Natural Peanut butter doesnt have salt.
Post office is closed on Saturdays, and they don't pick up mail from your box.

Here in Brisbane there are no Sanitation workers that ride on the back of the truck, it's all automated.

Yes Frank, we're almost onto sponge baths, a four minute shower makes it very hard to get everything done when you're a girl

Calla, spirit week wasn't about pranks, at least in my hick HS. Since we don't wear uniforms it was just a week to dress crazy according to whatever the Homecoming week committie picked.

aaron, as calla mentioned it was because of cyclone larry that bananas ended up so expensive. Australia doesn't import many fruits and veggies like the US does. Although I did get a bit of a laugh out of the Kiwi fruit, product of France sign I saw the other day. I think the lowest prices went down to was 15 cents (us) a pound for bananas when they had to harvest and sell the bananas due to the risk of losing another crop due to another cyclone .

^_^

No, neither was ours, It seemed to be based on creativity and expression.

Muck Up day is about pranks Wait til November, the worst ones will be on the news (and since I'mn all adult now I should have my disapproving face on, but *sigh* can't do it. I have a soft spot for strategically placed shaving cream filled seat cushions

Sanitation workers? Get up with the lingo Its garbologist, or garbo

*goes off to find the song about the garbage man*

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I remembered!

"I am the garbage man,
I empty all the garbage cans.
I take off the lid with a clatter and a clang
and I lift up the bin as high as my chin
and I pour all the much into my truck
with a crash and a clatter and a bang bang bang"



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Hi all,

I have been watching this thread for a while now and just have to thow in my two cents about the misconception that the whole of Australia is drought affected.

While it is true that large portions of the country are experiencing severe drought conditions with little sign of relief, that is not the case for other parts of the country.

The tropical regions of Australia have over the last few years received above average rainfall (in some areas bordering on record levels) and are not considered to be drought affected.

Another area of particular interest is the central desert region where Lake Ayre(sp?), which is normally a salt pan, has recently been tranformed into a flourishing oasis.

In the Alice Springs region there is a saying among the locals that "you can not call yourself a local until you've seen the Todd (River) flow 3 times!" - the Todd river has flowed and burst its banks 4 times in the last 12 months alone. (there's an awful lot of newcomers who can now consider themselves to be locals!)

I don't in any way want to trivialise the effect that the drought is having on this country, or its effect on those living with the drought conditions and water restrictions, I just wanted to point out that Australia is a very large land mass and not all of it has been affected by this drought.

G_T

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

The rain should be coming back soon as we are finally out of EL Nino. We should get closer to average rainfall this year.

Yes Frank, we're almost onto sponge baths, a four minute shower makes it very hard to get everything done when you're a girl

And it's about to get sooo much harder with winter coming up! Nothing nicer than just standing in a hot shower when it's cold, especially in the morning when you're procrastinating going to work. Will make it especially hard to use my turning-water-off-while-shampooing-or-shaving method. Lucky we have heat lamps in the bathroom, but they use a lot of electricity too.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

JB you're going to love all the extra water when you're in the UK , get your fill of the blue sky now though .

Electricity consumption isn't just a worry as far as the environment is concerned, but here in OZ at least it consumes a lot of the water as well.

Another difference is that many of the houses here arent insulated, and most of them don't have heating.

^_^

Another difference is that many of the houses here arent insulated, and most of them don't have heating

"Here" means queensland. A state up north (remember the further nth one goes the closer to the equator so the warmer it is). Australia covers a lot of areas; temperate, tropical, arid.

I agree in the 'cold' areas still no central heating - something we associate with snowy climes. Perhaps if it became the norm to insulate against cold the power consumption would be a whole lot less . Roll on Earth Hour.... every month! Insulation often in the form of 'bats' in the ceilings or lining gyprock walls (dry walls). But for a majority keepig cool is more of a concern.... HOT goes on for so much longer than cold in a lot of places.

My friend moved to Sydney (temperate) from Darwin (tropics) and is keeping (with the appropriate licenses) green tree frogs as they remind her of her home in the tropics. They are adorable

Babel's right. Hydroelectricity.... there's gotta be a better way (not oriented to Lucas Heights)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

ug.

I mapped out the immediate fallout zone for Lucas Hts a few years back, it covers almost all of the Sydney area. That was for when it was just research and medical stuff, that didn't even include whatever they opened recently there.

I wouldn't have too much of a problem with nuclear power if A) we knew how to make the waste inert and B) if humans weren't so short-sighted and silly at times. Once we get past those, I'll happily shift over.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Even in Sydney, the hot lasts longer than the cold - but we do have insulation bats in all our external walls & ceilings. Central heating - that's different to air conditioning, right? Air conditioning is common enough in Sydney. We don't have it, but hubby wants to get it - but I'm not really that fussed about it.

My Brissy friend always told me that a lot of the older Brisbane homes were built in the "Queenslander" style - meaning built up on stilts (the underneath sometimes being completly open or maybe they put the laundry, garage and/or rumpus there. They built that style to catch the breeze & to keep the homes cooler. So definitely, the focus was on keeping cool and not so much worry about heating. I think the style might now be not much used anymore.

As far as Lucas Heights goes, well unfortunately, I'm just around the corner (Menai). But like Callatya says, the fallout zone covers just about all of Sydney & I might prefer to be wiped out at once, rather than linger on with some ill effect from having a "slight" exposure in the case of some catastrophe.

Cheers
TW

Lucas Heights ??? Fill me in guys I'm guessing it's similar to Peach Bottom or Chernoble.

When I mentioned insulation it'd be for cooling as well as heating.

And Bats?????

Brisbane got 6mm of rain this morning

For some reason I have the home icecream jingle in my head.

^_^

Bradford Batts= ceiling insulation

Googled it and couldn't find a generic name for them. Bradford was the best known brand when I was growing up.

For a local persepctive on weatherproofing for our local conditions. Bunnings seem to think insulation and sealing gaps should weatherproof things so that only a space heater is needed to heat a home.


"Conserve your energy and make the most of heating and cooling with insulation"

"Insulation can help you make your home energy efficient. ...up to 5 degrees C warmer in the winter and 10 degrees C cooler in the summer...!
Tips ...try these tips on top of using insulation.

* Change your thermostat by one degree and make a big difference
* Seal up gaps
* Close blinds and curtains
* Open your windows in summer and close them in winter" <=== duh! wish I thought o' that!

source: http://www.bunnings.com.au/diy/278/Save_Energy.aspx

I am not endorsing Bunnings opinions/products - mods remove if this compromises the FP site.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Bradford Batts= ceiling insulation

Even better results if used in external walls of brick veneer homes, as well as in the ceiling - but this can only be done at the time of construction - whereas you can add bats to the roof at anytime.

Keeps the house cooler in summer & warmer in winter.

Here's a link to the website for Lucas Heights http://www.anawa.org.au/nsw/lucas-heights.html

Yippee, yahoo for rain in Brisbane Did any fall in the catchment areas?

Cheers
TW