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Six weeks back - my impressions (warning, whinge)


Marisawright

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Part of it has to be the exchange rate, after all it was a lot more favourable only a few months ago. But rail travel is just a joke. We looked into going up to London from Bournemouth while we were there - it was over £50 each, off peak!

 

Another thing I can't understand about the reality vs what people talk about here - television. We complain about the rubbish on Australian TV but this is worse. Hundreds of channels but they're full of nothing but "property porn", reality shows, and repeats of drama programs I've already seen twice on Australian TV, or straight-to-video movies. We're lucky if we can find one show a night worth watching.

 

Talking of television. Lol... i'm not long back from a visa activation trip to Australia, and i remember flicking through the channels thinking that 90% of the tv was english stuff. English stuff that I love. What is everyone complaining about?

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Yes we can get a huge one in our local (ish) cafe for under £3. Sets me up for the day ☺

 

Couldnt even get that in Weatherspoons in the south east. For £5 i could probably just about get a breakfast stick (foot long) and thats in a greasy spoon. For a sit down breakfast, your looking at £7 / £8 round this way.

 

Only thing I can get for £3 is a meal deal from sainsburys lol

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I don't even understand how that's possible!

 

He probably lives in Hilary's or Mullaloo lol. If you'd seen the houses there, you'd understand the prices they charge :-)

 

In all honesty, I think I was paying $7 for a bottle of beer in Perth CBD a few weeks back. Even in the mini bar in the Crowne Plaza it was only $9 for a large bottle. And we all know what rip off's mini bar's were (This was a mini bar that charged $5 for a bottle of water!)

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Yeah but it was a cola lol! I can understand alcohol is expensive but that price for cola?! Or did I read it wrong :unsure:

 

Fruit juice.

 

Honestly come down south and buy an orange juice.

 

I was at s wedding last recently - pint of beer £5, pint of orange juice and lemonade £6.

 

Even when I worked away in Leeds we were paying £5.50 per pint in the hotel bar, thought is was a rip off - went to a local pub, £5 a pint. I don't even pay that in a pub in Cambridge.

 

I actually find London cheaper than most of the UK for eating and drinking out, probably due to the amount of competition.

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Yeah I've paid for expensive alcohol before. A cocktail in edinburgh is £10 and sometimes glasgow. I paid £10 for a long vodka at the airport once but I wouldn't pay £6 or more for a juice lol. I guess as a backpacker I won't be in the sort of places paul must visit although I know it's still quite expensive in general

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Plenty of cheap places to go as a backpacker.

 

I remember back in the day, Sunday's at the Kings Cross Hotel in Sydney. They would show the Eastenders omnibus, there would be free pizza provided by dominos and beers were $7 a jug.

 

No one drunk though for fear of losing their place to watch Eastenders. The only time you got 200+ people staring at the big screen in silence for 2 hours lol.

 

Plenty others though. Used to love a place in Cairns. Less that $10 for steak, chips and a beer which you could eat in the beer garden whilst watching a band on the stage.

 

Or The Woolshed. That's an entirely different story that is. Lol. And still going strong today. Backpacker Mecca lol

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Plenty of cheap places to go as a backpacker.

 

I remember back in the day, Sunday's at the Kings Cross Hotel in Sydney. They would show the Eastenders omnibus, there would be free pizza provided by dominos and beers were $7 a jug.

 

No one drunk though for fear of losing their place to watch Eastenders. The only time you got 200+ people staring at the big screen in silence for 2 hours lol.

 

Plenty others though. Used to love a place in Cairns. Less that $10 for steak, chips and a beer which you could eat in the beer garden whilst watching a band on the stage.

 

Or The Woolshed. That's an entirely different story that is. Lol. And still going strong today. Backpacker Mecca lol

 

I think i've actually been there! It might be part of Gilligans or very near to it!

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Yep a nice pleasant drive round central London

 

rail in london in cheap. Its getting to London that is expensive.

 

I live 60 miles from London, and if we're going for a day out and I dont want a beer (so able to drive), we drive to either Redbridge train station (£7 parking all day), or Westfield Stratford (£5 parking all day, a little further in though, so more traffic), and buy a travel card for the day. That works out at about £8 per addult, for the full day. All overground and underground trains), plus the DRL, London Buses and river ferries.

 

That my friends, is cheap as chips.

 

From Cambridge itself, departure after half 9, £20 adult, £1 child last time i went. Thats for any route into London plus your travel card to use all trains / undergrounds / buses etc..

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I think i've actually been there! It might be part of Gilligans or very near to it!

 

Lol. This was in central cairns opposite the woolworths.

 

I remember the name Giligans but not where it was, so could well be. :-) loved it there at the end of a day as the sun set and the place cooled down.

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Yeah the hostel im staying in does $10 Sunday roasts so I'll be getting one of those lol. I'm sure I read it has $5 vodkas so that will do me too lol. Not that I'm going to drink that much

 

Australia turns every backpacker into a drinker lol. You'll soon be buying wine but the box haha.

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Lol. This was in central cairns opposite the woolworths.

 

I remember the name Giligans but not where it was, so could well be. :-) loved it there at the end of a day as the sun set and the place cooled down.

 

Yeah I know where you're on about, it might be the same place, might not. I went into a place that had a bar but if you carried on through there was an eatery, you've brought it all back now haha I remember getting a stew and it being lush! It was the first home cooked kind of food i'd had in ages! Then through the doors there was an outside area that had a stage and loads of tables/chairs around it. Even had security there too.

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well as part of the package Im booked on we go to port stephens for a few nights to do sandboarding,4WD on the sandunes and dolphin cruise so I expect there will be a camp fire and some goon going on there lol. I think I've tried goon before - we got some cheap wine from wetherspoons and im sure it said it had fish or eggs in it :laugh: I remember thinking wtf and it was from Australia too. Had such a sore head the next day

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Yeah I know where you're on about, it might be the same place, might not. I went into a place that had a bar but if you carried on through there was an eatery, you've brought it all back now haha I remember getting a stew and it being lush! It was the first home cooked kind of food i'd had in ages! Then through the doors there was an outside area that had a stage and loads of tables/chairs around it. Even had security there too.

 

Sounds familiar. It was certainly a strange layout / process for ordering food. :-)

 

Happy days spent around the lagoon, evening food and beer and then back to the hostel before hitting up the Woolshed to tyy to win a day out.

 

We had trips to the frame at barrier reef and to some waterfalls all courtesy of the Woolshed and some drinking competitions.

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Sounds familiar. It was certainly a strange layout / process for ordering food. :-)

 

Happy days spent around the lagoon, evening food and beer and then back to the hostel before hitting up the Woolshed to tyy to win a day out.

 

We had trips to the frame at barrier reef and to some waterfalls all courtesy of the Woolshed and some drinking competitions.

 

http://www.thewoolshed.com.au/our-nights/ I think i'll be avoiding wet Wednesday :laugh:

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She could take me out and show me where to go lol. I'm just finding that price for a soft drink hard to believe because I can't even think of the posher places in the UK charging that. Not that I go to any! That sunday of the hen night we ended up in a posh place for breakfast, I ordered my breakfast and then said can I just have water. He said "tap water" and screwed up his face lol. probably thought I couldn't afford anything else :laugh: especially because I only ordered a croissant but that's all I wanted. I was going to get a cake but then I got the bad news about my grandad. The others were paying almost £10 for toast and eggs!

 

Paid £18 quid in a hotel in newcastle for my wife to have the buffet breakfast.

 

She had.. a cup of coffee, and 1 slice of bloody toast.

 

Fill up I said... £18 bloody quid I said... but no. A cup of coffee and a slice of bloody toast. Cheesed me right off.

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Sounds familiar. It was certainly a strange layout / process for ordering food. :-)

 

Happy days spent around the lagoon, evening food and beer and then back to the hostel before hitting up the Woolshed to tyy to win a day out.

 

We had trips to the frame at barrier reef and to some waterfalls all courtesy of the Woolshed and some drinking competitions.

 

I wasn't even drunk I just didn't catch the name before walking in lol, Cairns has some really good places to eat and drink!

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