Canada over OZ
Feb 25th 2009, 5:27 pm
#106
slanderer of the innocent
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 6,695
Re: Canada over OZ
True story: coworker in melbourne, of greek descent, always tanned. Insisted she didn't have to worry about the Oz sun because she was of greek descent. Diagnosed with melanoma at 28. Now cannot be in sun without 40+ sunblock, hat, and long sleeves/pants ever again.
Met a girl (irish descent) from Brissie who had already had skin cancer in her early 20's. She moved to Melbourne because she wanted to experience the seasons.
One of the things I love about Canada, coming from the antipodes, is that the sun is so much gentler here. I don't have to worry about it the same way and I don't have to wear sunblock all.the.time or I'll get burnt.
each to their own though
Feb 25th 2009, 5:36 pm
#107
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 15,883
Re: Canada over OZ
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/educatio...castmap_e.html
Feb 25th 2009, 5:46 pm
#108
slanderer of the innocent
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 6,695
Re: Canada over OZ
Low. That warms the cockles of me 'eart that does. 
Am glad because kid has the kind of skin that goes red and rashy if the sun so much as glances at her. Must be the scottish side...
Am glad because kid has the kind of skin that goes red and rashy if the sun so much as glances at her. Must be the scottish side...
Feb 25th 2009, 9:33 pm
#109
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 118
Re: Canada over OZ
My issue with you is you are deliberately ignoring certain facts that don't fit into your WOOO Australia! bias.
example: You said houses in OZ are cheaper. However, it turns out what you meant was that smaller basement-less houses in OZ are cheaper than bigger, better built and basement containing houses iN canada. Wow, really? No kidding.
You're comparing Brisbane to the Tdot, which is kinda ridic. imo. It just really weakens your argument. Brisbane is not as populated as the GTA, so I dunno...maybe that's why it's easier to get around? I really doubt anyone into culture/the arts/nightlife would agree Brissie has as good amenities as Toronto. Beach bums would love it, I agree.
As you know, skin cancer and harsh sun is a real issue in Australia. I think the climate is a wash between the two.
If you're happy in Brisbane, great! Just stop trying to twist things to make it better than Canada. it's not for many people. It is for YOU.
example: You said houses in OZ are cheaper. However, it turns out what you meant was that smaller basement-less houses in OZ are cheaper than bigger, better built and basement containing houses iN canada. Wow, really? No kidding.
You're comparing Brisbane to the Tdot, which is kinda ridic. imo. It just really weakens your argument. Brisbane is not as populated as the GTA, so I dunno...maybe that's why it's easier to get around? I really doubt anyone into culture/the arts/nightlife would agree Brissie has as good amenities as Toronto. Beach bums would love it, I agree.
As you know, skin cancer and harsh sun is a real issue in Australia. I think the climate is a wash between the two.
If you're happy in Brisbane, great! Just stop trying to twist things to make it better than Canada. it's not for many people. It is for YOU.
Also while it's true that most houses in Australia dont' have basements, I still find houses in Australia cheaper. If you wanted a valid comparison you'd really have to look up the sqaure footage for houses in equal sized cities in locations as far from the CBD for both cities. I'm just guessing their about the same size, but I don't know because I have no idea what effect the basement size has in general on the two different countries houses, which is why I added the disclaimer. If you are so keen to prove/disprove my point you can go ahead and do the research, but I seriously don't have that much time/interest on my hands.
This is a thread fuelled on opinion isn't it? I'm sure anyone thinking about where to migrate would want to do that research on their on.
My problem is that you're basing your opinions basically on academic merits, without living in the cities that you've been discussing.
I think Brisbane is a valid comparison to "Tdot" - because as I've said both have the amenenities I'm interested in. If you don't think it's valid then again you're entitled to your own opinion. How is the subway a huge amenity? While I was in Toronto I only used it infrequently, and only then to escape the cold. If I could stand waiting in cold for the buses I'd have just as easily used the street cars/buses.
Ok the film festival is only a small part of Toronto - and living there my entire life I nor anyone I know has ever been to it. So it's not really a huge amenity when it's a once in a year event.
Again Brisbane is an international city - it's has a large population size, international airport and all the amenities you could want. It's not a "London" or "New York" but in my humble opinion it's comparable to Toronto.
How am I twisting anything? If anything you are the one pro Canada - I'm seriously trying to give people a more informed view - again with experience, not blind hatred towards Oz
Finally as for skin cancer - in my line of work I see this all the time. There is whole in the Ozone layer over Australia - plus many Australians have pale skin with a low density of melanin; so of course skin cancer rates are higher. Contrary to public opinion sitting on a beach 24/7 and getting "tanned" is not good for you.
Feb 25th 2009, 11:03 pm
#110
slanderer of the innocent
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 6,695
Re: Canada over OZ
aaaaaaargh my head hurts. So basically, if you don't like/make use of something, it therefore doesn't count. Okay, now I get it.
Feb 26th 2009, 12:34 am
#111
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 118
Re: Canada over OZ
Again I have no interest in promoting one country over the other - I'm just discussing both. In fact I spend part of the year in each.
Feb 26th 2009, 12:39 am
#112
Banned
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,855
Re: Canada over OZ
Yeah, I'm always surprised how people don't take more notice of this. Maybe it's because they haven't had to deal with really harsh sun before they went to Oz/NZ? NZ's sun is also harsh. It's nasty.
True story: coworker in melbourne, of greek descent, always tanned. Insisted she didn't have to worry about the Oz sun because she was of greek descent. Diagnosed with melanoma at 28. Now cannot be in sun without 40+ sunblock, hat, and long sleeves/pants ever again.
Met a girl (irish descent) from Brissie who had already had skin cancer in her early 20's. She moved to Melbourne because she wanted to experience the seasons.
One of the things I love about Canada, coming from the antipodes, is that the sun is so much gentler here. I don't have to worry about it the same way and I don't have to wear sunblock all.the.time or I'll get burnt.
each to their own though
True story: coworker in melbourne, of greek descent, always tanned. Insisted she didn't have to worry about the Oz sun because she was of greek descent. Diagnosed with melanoma at 28. Now cannot be in sun without 40+ sunblock, hat, and long sleeves/pants ever again.
Met a girl (irish descent) from Brissie who had already had skin cancer in her early 20's. She moved to Melbourne because she wanted to experience the seasons.
One of the things I love about Canada, coming from the antipodes, is that the sun is so much gentler here. I don't have to worry about it the same way and I don't have to wear sunblock all.the.time or I'll get burnt.
each to their own though
More people die of SKin cancer in the UK then OZ. How many people freeze to death or die of cold in Canada, plenty.
Feb 26th 2009, 5:24 am
#113
never settled
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 227
we're talking per capita...
Feb 27th 2009, 8:22 pm
#114
Happy in NB
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Island View, New Brunswick
Posts: 2,020
Re: Canada over OZ
We just cannot compete with that lot!
Feb 27th 2009, 8:56 pm
#115
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2004
Location: Victoria BC... for now
Posts: 361
Mar 2nd 2009, 10:21 am
#116
Forum Regular
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 100
Re: Canada over OZ
We own a townhouse approx. 8 klm from Sydney CBD. Identical dwelling next door sold for just under $700, a month ago.
It has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms. It's 7 years old.
It has a big front yard and roomy rear courtyard.
It's part of a large residential complex containing big pool, bar-b-que area, lawns, etc. Has a fully equipped gym. Two large private parks. Private roads, walkways and gardens. A mix of hi-rise, two level townhouses and one level villas. Our place is situated on wide garden walkway 160 metres long, filled with flower-beds, trees, gardens, etc. NO traffic passes our door, yet just outside the complex is bus-stop, ten minute walk to local village suburb and out of ear-shot, but only a ten minute walk to the right is main arterial road which takes you straight into heart of Sydney.
This year, we've had quite a bit of rain .. say a day or so every week, on average.
Temperature wise, we've only had two days all summer that came near 35 degrees. Several have hovered on 30 degrees but with cool Southerly wind moving in at dusk. We haven't bothered installing air-conditioning and next door, they haven't had theirs on this summer at all. It does get a lot hotter in the western-suburbs of course, which is another reason we chose not to live in the outer west of Sydney, although you get more for your money property-wise in the outlying suburbs, as a rule.
We had some solid rain a week or so ago, and killed four Huntsman spiders (they try to come into the house during prolonged rain) They're big, but will try to get out of your way. This particular place has a lot of Redback spiders for some reason, so I spray them and that usually sorts it.
We're moving into Autumn here now and it's glorious, as is Spring.
Winters here in Sydney's Inner-West can drop as low as 8 degrees indoors. Lots of the older houses have fireplaces and it gets cold enough to enjoy an open fire. Others settle for air-conditioning (low maintenance) or others opt for a variety of electric or gas heating. Outdoors in the yard, it can get down to 3 or 4 degrees quite often in Winter and zero is not uncommon, depending on the suburb.
Yes, we have snowfields here in mainland Australia. They had snow last year in the Blue Mountains, which is only a couple of hours from Sydney CBD by car or train. Then there are the snowfields proper, down in the Cooma region. Tasmania gets snow too.
Within Australia, we've lived (20-odd years) on the Gold Coast, in Queensland. Queensland is a spectacular place with great standard of living for families. Lots of blue-collar families in Queensland have beautiful modern homes with inground pool and close to miles of gorgeous beaches, islands, cool hinterlands, waterfalls, mountain trails and villages, views-forever, etc.
We've found that the Sydney climate is milder in comparison to Queensland, with milder summers and less severe humidity. However, Queensland offers more warmth and sun .. year-round .. than Sydney. In Queensland though, the temperature on winter nights can still drop down to zero or one-digits. You can wear shorts and t-shirt virtually all year round in the daytime in Queensland, only needing to put on a sweater or heater on the coldest nights. It's spectacularly beautiful up there
We also lived in the South Burnett region in Queensland, which is only a couple of hours from Brisbane and has an extremely comfortable temperature, year round, with again the need to warm up the house at nights in winter. The South Burnett is a rural area with fresh, clean air and sits higher, so escapes the humidity.
Australia has a variety of climates to offer and there's a place to suit everyone's taste, from city to rural and large regional towns which are a compromise. Towns and cities by the ocean or slower lifestyles by rivers -- or mountain villages -- or large rural centres rich in community feel yet with easy access to the cities.
The relative isolation of Australia does mean you'll need to spend approx. 12 hours longer on international flights. BUT it also means Australia escapes many problems suffered by other places.
It has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms. It's 7 years old.
It has a big front yard and roomy rear courtyard.
It's part of a large residential complex containing big pool, bar-b-que area, lawns, etc. Has a fully equipped gym. Two large private parks. Private roads, walkways and gardens. A mix of hi-rise, two level townhouses and one level villas. Our place is situated on wide garden walkway 160 metres long, filled with flower-beds, trees, gardens, etc. NO traffic passes our door, yet just outside the complex is bus-stop, ten minute walk to local village suburb and out of ear-shot, but only a ten minute walk to the right is main arterial road which takes you straight into heart of Sydney.
This year, we've had quite a bit of rain .. say a day or so every week, on average.
Temperature wise, we've only had two days all summer that came near 35 degrees. Several have hovered on 30 degrees but with cool Southerly wind moving in at dusk. We haven't bothered installing air-conditioning and next door, they haven't had theirs on this summer at all. It does get a lot hotter in the western-suburbs of course, which is another reason we chose not to live in the outer west of Sydney, although you get more for your money property-wise in the outlying suburbs, as a rule.
We had some solid rain a week or so ago, and killed four Huntsman spiders (they try to come into the house during prolonged rain) They're big, but will try to get out of your way. This particular place has a lot of Redback spiders for some reason, so I spray them and that usually sorts it.
We're moving into Autumn here now and it's glorious, as is Spring.
Winters here in Sydney's Inner-West can drop as low as 8 degrees indoors. Lots of the older houses have fireplaces and it gets cold enough to enjoy an open fire. Others settle for air-conditioning (low maintenance) or others opt for a variety of electric or gas heating. Outdoors in the yard, it can get down to 3 or 4 degrees quite often in Winter and zero is not uncommon, depending on the suburb.
Yes, we have snowfields here in mainland Australia. They had snow last year in the Blue Mountains, which is only a couple of hours from Sydney CBD by car or train. Then there are the snowfields proper, down in the Cooma region. Tasmania gets snow too.
Within Australia, we've lived (20-odd years) on the Gold Coast, in Queensland. Queensland is a spectacular place with great standard of living for families. Lots of blue-collar families in Queensland have beautiful modern homes with inground pool and close to miles of gorgeous beaches, islands, cool hinterlands, waterfalls, mountain trails and villages, views-forever, etc.
We've found that the Sydney climate is milder in comparison to Queensland, with milder summers and less severe humidity. However, Queensland offers more warmth and sun .. year-round .. than Sydney. In Queensland though, the temperature on winter nights can still drop down to zero or one-digits. You can wear shorts and t-shirt virtually all year round in the daytime in Queensland, only needing to put on a sweater or heater on the coldest nights. It's spectacularly beautiful up there
We also lived in the South Burnett region in Queensland, which is only a couple of hours from Brisbane and has an extremely comfortable temperature, year round, with again the need to warm up the house at nights in winter. The South Burnett is a rural area with fresh, clean air and sits higher, so escapes the humidity.
Australia has a variety of climates to offer and there's a place to suit everyone's taste, from city to rural and large regional towns which are a compromise. Towns and cities by the ocean or slower lifestyles by rivers -- or mountain villages -- or large rural centres rich in community feel yet with easy access to the cities.
The relative isolation of Australia does mean you'll need to spend approx. 12 hours longer on international flights. BUT it also means Australia escapes many problems suffered by other places.
Mar 2nd 2009, 2:18 pm
#117
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,054
Re: Canada over OZ
We own a townhouse approx. 8 klm from Sydney CBD. Identical dwelling next door sold for just under $700, a month ago.
It has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms. It's 7 years old.
It has a big front yard and roomy rear courtyard.
It's part of a large residential complex containing big pool, bar-b-que area, lawns, etc. Has a fully equipped gym. Two large private parks. Private roads, walkways and gardens. A mix of hi-rise, two level townhouses and one level villas. Our place is situated on wide garden walkway 160 metres long, filled with flower-beds, trees, gardens, etc. NO traffic passes our door, yet just outside the complex is bus-stop, ten minute walk to local village suburb and out of ear-shot, but only a ten minute walk to the right is main arterial road which takes you straight into heart of Sydney.
This year, we've had quite a bit of rain .. say a day or so every week, on average.
Temperature wise, we've only had two days all summer that came near 35 degrees. Several have hovered on 30 degrees but with cool Southerly wind moving in at dusk. We haven't bothered installing air-conditioning and next door, they haven't had theirs on this summer at all. It does get a lot hotter in the western-suburbs of course, which is another reason we chose not to live in the outer west of Sydney, although you get more for your money property-wise in the outlying suburbs, as a rule.
We had some solid rain a week or so ago, and killed four Huntsman spiders (they try to come into the house during prolonged rain) They're big, but will try to get out of your way. This particular place has a lot of Redback spiders for some reason, so I spray them and that usually sorts it.
We're moving into Autumn here now and it's glorious, as is Spring.
Winters here in Sydney's Inner-West can drop as low as 8 degrees indoors. Lots of the older houses have fireplaces and it gets cold enough to enjoy an open fire. Others settle for air-conditioning (low maintenance) or others opt for a variety of electric or gas heating. Outdoors in the yard, it can get down to 3 or 4 degrees quite often in Winter and zero is not uncommon, depending on the suburb.
Yes, we have snowfields here in mainland Australia. They had snow last year in the Blue Mountains, which is only a couple of hours from Sydney CBD by car or train. Then there are the snowfields proper, down in the Cooma region. Tasmania gets snow too.
Within Australia, we've lived (20-odd years) on the Gold Coast, in Queensland. Queensland is a spectacular place with great standard of living for families. Lots of blue-collar families in Queensland have beautiful modern homes with inground pool and close to miles of gorgeous beaches, islands, cool hinterlands, waterfalls, mountain trails and villages, views-forever, etc.
We've found that the Sydney climate is milder in comparison to Queensland, with milder summers and less severe humidity. However, Queensland offers more warmth and sun .. year-round .. than Sydney. In Queensland though, the temperature on winter nights can still drop down to zero or one-digits. You can wear shorts and t-shirt virtually all year round in the daytime in Queensland, only needing to put on a sweater or heater on the coldest nights. It's spectacularly beautiful up there
We also lived in the South Burnett region in Queensland, which is only a couple of hours from Brisbane and has an extremely comfortable temperature, year round, with again the need to warm up the house at nights in winter. The South Burnett is a rural area with fresh, clean air and sits higher, so escapes the humidity.
Australia has a variety of climates to offer and there's a place to suit everyone's taste, from city to rural and large regional towns which are a compromise. Towns and cities by the ocean or slower lifestyles by rivers -- or mountain villages -- or large rural centres rich in community feel yet with easy access to the cities.
The relative isolation of Australia does mean you'll need to spend approx. 12 hours longer on international flights. BUT it also means Australia escapes many problems suffered by other places.
It has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms. It's 7 years old.
It has a big front yard and roomy rear courtyard.
It's part of a large residential complex containing big pool, bar-b-que area, lawns, etc. Has a fully equipped gym. Two large private parks. Private roads, walkways and gardens. A mix of hi-rise, two level townhouses and one level villas. Our place is situated on wide garden walkway 160 metres long, filled with flower-beds, trees, gardens, etc. NO traffic passes our door, yet just outside the complex is bus-stop, ten minute walk to local village suburb and out of ear-shot, but only a ten minute walk to the right is main arterial road which takes you straight into heart of Sydney.
This year, we've had quite a bit of rain .. say a day or so every week, on average.
Temperature wise, we've only had two days all summer that came near 35 degrees. Several have hovered on 30 degrees but with cool Southerly wind moving in at dusk. We haven't bothered installing air-conditioning and next door, they haven't had theirs on this summer at all. It does get a lot hotter in the western-suburbs of course, which is another reason we chose not to live in the outer west of Sydney, although you get more for your money property-wise in the outlying suburbs, as a rule.
We had some solid rain a week or so ago, and killed four Huntsman spiders (they try to come into the house during prolonged rain) They're big, but will try to get out of your way. This particular place has a lot of Redback spiders for some reason, so I spray them and that usually sorts it.
We're moving into Autumn here now and it's glorious, as is Spring.
Winters here in Sydney's Inner-West can drop as low as 8 degrees indoors. Lots of the older houses have fireplaces and it gets cold enough to enjoy an open fire. Others settle for air-conditioning (low maintenance) or others opt for a variety of electric or gas heating. Outdoors in the yard, it can get down to 3 or 4 degrees quite often in Winter and zero is not uncommon, depending on the suburb.
Yes, we have snowfields here in mainland Australia. They had snow last year in the Blue Mountains, which is only a couple of hours from Sydney CBD by car or train. Then there are the snowfields proper, down in the Cooma region. Tasmania gets snow too.
Within Australia, we've lived (20-odd years) on the Gold Coast, in Queensland. Queensland is a spectacular place with great standard of living for families. Lots of blue-collar families in Queensland have beautiful modern homes with inground pool and close to miles of gorgeous beaches, islands, cool hinterlands, waterfalls, mountain trails and villages, views-forever, etc.
We've found that the Sydney climate is milder in comparison to Queensland, with milder summers and less severe humidity. However, Queensland offers more warmth and sun .. year-round .. than Sydney. In Queensland though, the temperature on winter nights can still drop down to zero or one-digits. You can wear shorts and t-shirt virtually all year round in the daytime in Queensland, only needing to put on a sweater or heater on the coldest nights. It's spectacularly beautiful up there
We also lived in the South Burnett region in Queensland, which is only a couple of hours from Brisbane and has an extremely comfortable temperature, year round, with again the need to warm up the house at nights in winter. The South Burnett is a rural area with fresh, clean air and sits higher, so escapes the humidity.
Australia has a variety of climates to offer and there's a place to suit everyone's taste, from city to rural and large regional towns which are a compromise. Towns and cities by the ocean or slower lifestyles by rivers -- or mountain villages -- or large rural centres rich in community feel yet with easy access to the cities.
The relative isolation of Australia does mean you'll need to spend approx. 12 hours longer on international flights. BUT it also means Australia escapes many problems suffered by other places.
Mar 2nd 2009, 4:50 pm
#118
slanderer of the innocent
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 6,695
Re: Canada over OZ
QLD sounds lovely, but kinda boring.
So far, doesn't sound any better than BC for climate...and certainly not as good for culture.
So far, doesn't sound any better than BC for climate...and certainly not as good for culture.
Mar 2nd 2009, 9:05 pm
#119
Happy in NB
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Island View, New Brunswick
Posts: 2,020
Re: Canada over OZ
Well we East coasters are down to earth and we all fart in your general direction (and your mother smells of elderberries)
