{"id":4062,"date":"2017-09-06T10:05:49","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T10:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.isango.com\/theguidebook\/?p=4062"},"modified":"2018-01-11T14:57:06","modified_gmt":"2018-01-11T14:57:06","slug":"10-things-you-learn-when-you-live-in-outback-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.isango.com\/theguidebook\/10-things-you-learn-when-you-live-in-outback-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Things You Learn When You Live In Outback Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting a second working holiday visa in Australia means spending three months working in a regional area, so if you know anyone fruit-picking in the outback that\u2019s more than likely why. After three and a half months living in the outback, here\u2019s what I learnt:<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1.\u2018Just down the road\u2019 could mean anything from under 500 metres up to 500 kilometres. Your concept of distance will alter drastically.<\/p>\n

\"never-ending-road\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just popping into town for a coffee, can I get you one?\u201d really means \u201cHow do you take your coffee? Milk? Sugar? Cold?\u201d when \u2018town\u2019 is a 300km return trip.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Everyone knows everyone. And everyone knows everything about everyone. Choose Paul\u2019s Farmhouse over Farmer\u2019s Own milk just once and feel your ears burn for weeks.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t know the difference? Milk is milk right? You\u2019re clearly not from around here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. Despite what you may think, hungry sharks and venomous spiders aren\u2019t out to kill every tourist that lands in Australia. So forget your misconceptions, relax\u2026.and WATCH OUT FOR THAT F****** KANGAROO!<\/p>\n

\"kangaroo-australia\"<\/p>\n

If your car doesn\u2019t have a \u2018roo bar\u2019, you\u2019re clearly not from around here. Driving at night in the outback is like dodging bananas on Mario-kart\u2026except these bananas leap out of nowhere and weigh 50 kilos. Take it slow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. Before living in country Australia, I would imagine the outback and picture tumbleweeds blowing in the wind. Substitute the tumbleweed for a cotton bale and my typecast wasn\u2019t such a grotesque stereotype after all. Not much happens here to fuel the monthly newsletter – an anthology of carpet cleaning ads and yard sales.<\/p>\n

Returning from a long-weekend on the coast, a friend remarked with genuine shock and not an ounce of irony: \u201cI can\u2019t believe how much has changed since we went away – some of the leaves had even fallen off of the tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. It never rains. Well rarely. Coming from rainy Wales, the cloudless skies and awesome star-scapes of outback Australia are a novelty and a luxury but it also has its downsides.<\/p>\n

\"whirlwind-australian-outback\"<\/p>\n

Drought and dust come hand-in-hand so leave your pretty white dress at home and get used to driving a brown car.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. Australian may as well be another language. So not every Australian greets you with a \u2018g\u2019day mate\u2019 and chucks another shrimp on the barbie, but enter the outback and you\u2019ll learn an entirely new lingo.<\/p>\n

Here’s a couple to start you off. The grass is mown with a \u2018whipper snapper\u2019. It’s all good if \u201cshe\u2019ll be right\u201d but if it\u2019s \u201cpretty ordinary\u201d that\u2019s not okay at all. Oh and if someone offers you \u201csmoko\u201d, say yes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. Farming is an art.<\/p>\n

\"man-with-australian-sheep-fur\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not all mucking out and digging around in the dirt. Cattle herding, sheep shearing and wood chopping are also competitive sports. Win a reputation for the sleekest sheer in the shortest time and revel in glamour and glory.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8. Dressing for the weather is impossible. In winter, stand in the shade and shiver but stand in the sun and roast. There\u2019s no happy medium and no solution to the daily dilemma posed by your wardrobe.<\/p>\n

Shorts or pants? Woollen knit or t-shirt? I\u2019ll let you in on a secret\u2026there\u2019s no right answer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9. At home, your car keys will live on the dashboard and you don\u2019t even know when you last saw the front-door key. If there\u2019s no other human being within a 50 km radius of you, you don\u2019t need to worry about silly little things like security. You\u2019d hear them coming anyway!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10. You don\u2019t name your animals.<\/p>\n

\"muddy-piglet\"<\/p>\n

A friend of mine rescued a piglet from the wild and took it home to look after it. I suggested she call it Babe. She laughed and told me she never named her food\u2026as it turns out she was feeding Babe up for Christmas.<\/p>\n

All joking aside, I really loved my experience in outback Australia. Read about the Red Centre here<\/a> to see just how awesome it gets.<\/strong><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting the best out of your outback experience! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":4069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,58],"tags":[234,289,353],"yoast_head":"\n10 Things You Learn When You Live In Outback Australia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You've got a working visa for Australia, and you're heading to the outback. 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Her father grew up in Calcutta, mother in Borneo, siblings in California and Sasha in Swindon! A sense of injustice, a good measure of sibling rivalry and a fiery passion for adventure have fueled her travels ever since. Sasha has been lucky enough to tick a few escapades off her bucket list: bungee jumping in Brazil, road tripping in Australia to name two. Not one to be landlocked, she also loves hopping around Europe. 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