| |
BUSINESS HOURS -- Banks are open
Monday through Thursday from 9:30am to 4pm, Friday 9:30am to
5pm. General business hours are Monday through Friday from
8:30am to 5:30pm. Shopping hours are usually 8:30am to
5:30pm weekdays and 9am to 4 or 5pm on Saturday. Many shops
close on Sunday although major department stores and shops
in tourist precincts are open 7 days.
DATES -- Australians write their dates
day/month/year; so March 6, 2013, is 06/03/13.
DRUGSTORES -- These are called "chemist shops" or
"pharmacies." Australian pharmacists are permitted to fill
only prescriptions written by Australian doctors.
ELECTRICITY -- The current is 240 volts AC, 50
hertz. Sockets take two or three flat, not rounded, prongs.
North Americans and Europeans will need to buy a converter
before they leave home (don't wait until you get to
Australia, because Australian stores are likely to stock
only converters for Aussie appliances to fit American and
European outlets). Some large hotels have 110V outlets for
electric shavers (or dual voltage) and some will lend
converters but don't count on it in smaller less expensive
hotels, motels, or B&Bs. Power does not start automatically
when you plug in an appliance, you need to flick the switch
beside the socket to the "on" position.
EMBASSIES & CONSULATES -- Most diplomatic posts
are in Canberra: British High Commission, Commonwealth
Avenue, Canberra, ACT 2600 (tel. 02/6270 6666); Embassy of
Ireland, 20 Arkana St., Yarralumla, ACT 2600 (tel. 02/6273
3022); High Commission of Canada, Commonwealth Avenue,
Yarralumla, ACT 2600 (tel. 02/6270 4000); New Zealand High
Commission, Commonwealth Avenue, Canberra, ACT 2600 (tel.
02/6270 4211); and the United States Embassy, 21 Moonah
Place, Yarralumla, ACT 2600 (tel. 02/6214 5600).
EMERGENCIES -- Dial tel. 000 anywhere in
Australia for police, ambulance, or the fire department.
This is a free call from public and private telephones and
needs no coins.
INFORMATION -- For telephone directory assistance
within Australia, call tel. 12322.
INTERNET ACCESS -- Internet access is available
just about everywhere including some of the smallest Outback
towns which generally have at least one cyber cafe. Coin-op
terminals are also available at larger airports. Major
tourist towns such as Darwin and Cairns sometimes have whole
streets full of cyber cafes. Most accommodation facilities
now offer WIFI Broadband access for a small fee.
LANGUAGE -- Australia’s official language is
English. However being a multicultural nation with a
significant migrant population Australia also enjoys a
tremendous diversity of languages and cultures.
LIQUOR LAWS -- Hours vary from pub to pub but
most are open daily from around 10am or noon to 10pm or
midnight. The minimum drinking age is 18. Random breath
tests to catch drunk drivers are common and drunk-driving
laws are strictly enforced. Getting caught drunk behind the
wheel will mean a court appearance not just a fine. The
maximum permitted blood alcohol level is 0.05%. Alcohol is
sold in liquor stores, in the "bottle shops" attached to
every pub and in some states in supermarkets.
LOST & FOUND -- Be sure to contact your credit
card companies the minute you discover that your wallet has
been lost or stolen and file a report at the nearest police
precinct. Your credit card company or insurer may require a
police report number or record of the loss. Most credit card
companies have an emergency toll-free number to call if your
card is lost or stolen. They may be able to wire you a cash
advance immediately or deliver an emergency credit card in a
day or two. In Australia call toll-free: American Express
(tel. 1300/132 639), MasterCard (tel. 1800/120 113) and Visa
(tel. 1800/125 440). If you need emergency cash over the
weekend when all banks and American Express offices are
closed, you can have money wired to you through Western
Union (tel. 800/325-6000; www.westernunion.com).
MAIL -- POSTAL SERVICES -- Post offices are
usually open 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday, with some city
post offices open on Saturday morning. Travellers can
arrange to collect mail at post offices throughout
Australia.
MAPS -- Newsdealers/agencies, auto clubs and
bookstores are your best sources for maps. Or use GPS that
your hire car company offers. If you have WIFI access simply
google the address.
NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINES -- The national daily
newspaper is The Australian, which publishes an expanded
edition with a color magazine on Saturday. Most capital
cities have their own daily papers, usually a tabloid and a
broadsheet. The Australian current-affairs magazine, The
Bulletin with Newsweek, is published weekly, and there is an
Australian edition of Time.
PETS -- Leave them at home. You will be back home
planning your next vacation before your pet clears
quarantine in Australia.
POLICE -- Dial tel. 000 anywhere in Australia.
This is a free call from public and private telephones and
requires no coins.
SAFETY -- Violent crime is uncommon and the
political situation is stable. Guns are strictly controlled.
Purse-snatchers are the same threat they are all over the
world.
SMOKING -- Smoking in all public areas, such as
museums, cinemas and theaters, shopping centers, restaurants
and pubs, and office buildings is restricted (12 metres from
the venue) or banned. Australian aircraft on all routes are
completely nonsmoking as are all airport buildings.
TAXES -- Australia applies a 10% Goods and
Services Tax (GST) on most products and services. Your
international airline tickets to Australia are not taxed,
nor are domestic airline tickets for travel within Australia
if you bought them outside Australia. If you buy Australian
airline tickets once you arrive in Australia, you will pay
GST on them.
Through the Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS), Australians and
international visitors can claim a refund of the GST (and of
a 14.5% wine tax called Wine Equalisation Tax, or WET) paid
on a purchase of more than A$300 (US$240) from a single
outlet, within the last 30 days before you leave. Do this as
you leave by presenting your receipt or "tax invoice" to the
Australian Customs Service's TRS booths, located beyond
passport control in the International Terminal departure
areas at most airports.
Items bought in duty-free stores will not be charged
GST. Nor will items you export -- such as an Aboriginal
painting that you buy in a gallery in Alice Springs and have
shipped straight to your home outside Australia. Basic
groceries are not GST-taxed but restaurant meals are.
Other taxes include departure tax of A$38 for every
passenger 12 years and over included in the price of your
airline ticket when you buy it in your home country; landing
and departure taxes at some airports also included in the
price of your ticket; and "reef tax," officially dubbed the
Environmental Management Charge, of A$6.00 for every person
over the age of 4 every time he or she enters the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park. (This charge goes toward park
upkeep.)
TELEPHONE -- The primary telecommunications
network in Australia is Telstra (www.telstra.com).
To call Australia: If you're calling Australia from the
United States:
1. Dial the international access code 011.
2. Dial the country code 61.
3. Dial the city code (drop the 0 from any area code
given in this guide) and then the number. So, if you're
calling Sydney, the whole number you'd dial would be
011-61-2-0000-0000.
To make international calls: To make international calls
from Australia, first dial 0011 and then the country code
(U.S. or Canada 1, U.K. 44, Ireland 353, New Zealand 64).
Next dial the area code and number. For example, if you
wanted to call the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., you
would dial 0011-1-202-588-7800. For other country codes call
tel. 1222 or look in the back of the Australian White Pages.
For directory assistance: Dial tel. 12322 if you're
looking for a number inside Australia.
Toll-free numbers: Numbers beginning with 1800 in
Australia are toll-free, but calling a U.S. 1-800 (or 1-888,
1-877, or 1-866) number from Australia is not toll-free; it
costs the same as an overseas call.
Other numbers: Numbers starting with 13 or 1300 in
Australia are charged at the local fee of A325¢ anywhere in
Australia.
TIME ZONE -- Eastern Standard Time (EST,
sometimes also written as AEST) covers Queensland, New South
Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, and
Tasmania. Central Standard Time (CST) is used in the
Northern Territory and South Australia, and Western Standard
Time (WST) is the standard in Western Australia. When it's
noon in New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Queensland, and
Tasmania, it's 11:30am in South Australia and the Northern
Territory, and 10am in Western Australia. All states except
Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia
observe daylight saving time, usually from the last Sunday
in October (the first Sun in Oct in Tasmania) to the last
Sunday in March. However, not all states switch over to
daylight saving on the same day or in the same week.
The east coast of Australia is GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
plus 10 hours. When it is noon on the east coast, it is 2am
in London that morning, and 6pm in Los Angeles and 9pm in
New York the previous night. These times are based on
standard time, so allow for daylight saving in the
Australian summer, or in the country you are calling. New
Zealand is 2 hours ahead of the east coast of Australia,
except during daylight saving, when it is 3 hours ahead of
Queensland.
TIPPING -- Tipping is not expected in Australia.
It is usual to tip around 10% for a substantial meal in a
restaurant. Some passengers round up to the nearest dollar
in a cab, but it's okay to insist on every bit of change
back. Tipping bellboys and porters is sometimes done, but no
one tips bar staff, barbers, or hairdressers unless the
services has been extraordinary.
WATER -- Water is fine to drink everywhere. In
the Outback, the taps may carry warm brackish water from
underground, called "bore water," for showers and laundry,
while drinking water is collected in rainwater tanks.
|
|
