Buzzy--Bee

Hello

Our friend from Queensland has just been staying with us for a few days here in the UK. I thought I'd share some of her observations with you guys, the way she said them, with no bias from me!!!

- She is surprised that we have Pizza Hut restaurants. In Australia there is no such thing as a pizza restaurant - just take away and delivery. Oh, and the delivery charge for a pizza is $5, not free like in the UK.
- She is amazed at the way people park in the UK. Apparently in Oz you would get ticketted if you parked the way people do here.
- She is amazed by offers in the supermarkets like buy one get one free, or buy 3 for the price of 2. Nothing like that in Oz.
- We have to pay for a TV licence????
- Can't believe how early it gets dark in winter.
- Why doesn't the fish and chip shop sell burgers?
- You can't get a good burger in the UK. Burgers in Oz have beetroot in them.
- impressed by the fact that I get free cold drinks at my work. At her work the company provides tea and coffee but you have to bring your own mug.
- impressed that my wife, who is on maternity leave, it still treated as an employee and still gets holiday pay, health insurance etc. Apparently in Oz women on maternity leave get nothing.
- and finally, and the most important one, doesn't reckon the judges should have a say on who gets voted off on X factor.

OK guys, over to you!!!!!

Cheers

Buzzy

fraser

I got a ticket for parking my car against the flow of the traffic on a dead end rd

NickyC

All Pizza Huts here used to be restaurants once. There still are some - but most have converted to delivery/take-away only. Pizza Hut don't charge for delivery as such - they just charge less per pizza if you pick-up.

And don't get me started on pizza prices in the UK - I had to pay 30 POUNDS for one large, one medium and one small pizza delivered in southern Hampshire! (And it was a disgusting Dominos) A similar deal here would have been around $20.

ossigeno

My nearest Pizzahut has tables & chairs but I wouldn't call it a restaurant. You order your food boxed and can sit down and eat it.

I understand TV in Oz is pretty dire.

A few people I have worked with have taken paid maternity, not sure what the legal requirement is for companies to pay.

beebopaloola

it gets dark here in Brisbane around 7pm everynight!! no long summer nights.

Breezey

I think this really sets the tone, honestly who cares what your friend thinks of the UK, she clearly is a Chav, or Westie or Bogan or whatever they call it in Queensland.
Oh and Australia had hundreds of Pizza Hut restuarants(with desert and salad buffets) for years(and believe me, the Pizza tastes much better than in the UK) altough Pizza Hut made a recent decision to close them.

Pollyana

You usually do get free delivery - everyone gets junk mail from pizza places, just make sure you use the coupons and pizzas are dirt cheap.Don't think we have ever paid a delivery fee
very true - my mate parked facing the wrong way in a quiet street, wide enough for a bus to park sideways, and my brother-in-law was horrified! His face was an absolute picture, Knowing the way my mate parks in the UK - skew-wiff, wherever he can get the car in, we just laughed. Used to work with a guy who had one of those little Smart cars, and he used a roadside parking space, but instead of parking parallel to the kerb like those each side of him, he parked rear-end in. Wonder what the Aussies would make of that!

Any burger without beetroot is good Aussies love beetroot, its in everything,It stains the fridge, stains the worktop, stains the tupeprware and taste yeuch! Save me from the Beetroot Menace
Quite right, maternity rights are sparse and where they do exist, they are way behind the UK.

debbiemc

anyone interested in a pizza hut fanchise?!

tiredwithtwins

lol!

its dire enough having to sit in a pizza hut restaurant in the uk....god only knows how bad it would be in aus....the smell, the heat...yuck!


oh, mind you, they probably have aircon in the aus restaurants! wish theyd introduce that concept in uk pizzahut restaruarnts.


sue

ABCDiamond

A quote on Maternity pay:
"39 per cent of female employees in Australia can take an average of seven weeks’ paid maternity leave, up from 28 per cent in 1997.
Although 77 per cent of women in the finance and insurance industries have access to paid maternity leave, only one per cent are covered in the retail sector, and 2 percent in hotels and restaurants."

BadgeIsBack

My last employer, who only employed 10, took weekly deliveries of soft drinks and beer. Maternity a strange one, where does the money come from? Will it go the same way as pensions?(!)

OzTennis

I can only speak for teachers and Victoria but when they go on maternity leave they are guaranteed a post (not necessarily the one they left of course) after 5 years - the idea is to allow the mother to look after the child until he/she starts at school. Seems more eminently sensible than the 'leave the infant with the baby sitter and get back to work, oh, BTW babysitter, what's the name of my child again' approach.

Roads in the UK were largely constructed before the advent of the motor car; roads in Australia were largely constructed after the advent of the motor car. Roads in Oz are generally wider so the law does not allow you to park on the 'opposite/wrong' side of the road. Different laws framed in different circumstances.

All of Australia is in lower latitudes than the UK so not surprisingly the daylight hours are much longer in summer and much shorter than winter. I noticed on the weather this morning that there were less than 8 hours of daylight and more than 16 hours of darkness in Southern Scotland today - lovely crisp, sunny day and I can see the snow on the hills in the background though - noice.

I'll leave the take away pizza and X factor comments to the more discerning gourmands and viewers of the forum.

OzTennis

Vash the Stampede

Not true.

They're not as widespread as the UK, but we definitely have them.

OzTennis

Agreed, BOGOF in both countries. They do it all the time on shoes in Oz.

OzTennis

fraser

I've yet to see one, I spend too much time in the supermarket as well.