Hobart and William Smith Colleges/Union College Partnership for Global Education

Queensland Term Survival Guide

States and Territories (Capitals: Population)
Queensland (Brisbane: 1,600,000)	New South Wales (Sydney: 3,800,000)
Victoria (Melbourne: 3,300,000)	Western Australia (Perth: 1,300,000)
South Australia (Adelaide: 1,100,000)	Tasmania (Hobart: 200,000)
Northern Territory (Darwin: 83,000)	Capitol Territory (Canberra: 300,000)

Political Leaders
Prime Minister: John Howard (Liberal Party)
Queensland Premier: Peter Beattie (Labor Party)

Time Difference
Australia has a number of different time zones. Eastern Standard Time (EST) is observed in Queensland. Geneva, New York is 14 or 15 hours behind, depending on whether Eastern Daylight Time or (US) Eastern Standard Time is in effect.

Currency
Australian currency is decimal based, with the Australian dollar as the basic unit. Notes come in $100, $50, $20, $10, and $5 denominations. Coins are minted in $2, $1, 50¢, 20¢, 10¢, and 5¢ denominations. There are no pennies. The terms "nickel" or "dime" are not used, and of course, there are no "quarters." The exchange rate as of 25 April 2001 US 0.51 = AU 1.00 (and will vary). Current exchange rates.

Passport
Bring it. Keep a photocopy of it separate from your passport.

Weather
As spring advances, it will be "hotting up" in Brisbane:

	Sept	Oct	Nov
Average Max Temperatures	76	80	82
Average Min Temperatures	55	60	64
Average Rainfall (inches)	1.9	2.5	3.7

The current Brisbane Weather courtesy of The Australian.

Key Conversions:	More Conversions
Celsius = 5*(Fahrenheit - 32)/9	Fahrenheit = (9*Celsuius/5) + 32
1 m = 39.3701 in
1 cm = 0.3937 in	1 inch = 2.54 cm
1 km = 0.621371 miles	1 mile = 1.60934 km

Homestay Gift
Bring a small gift for your host family. Something relating to your hometown?

Phone
Local phone calls are not free in Australia; please discuss this with your homestay family. Come to some arrangement about how you will pay for them.

Equipment and Clothing
Statistics text (optional), Blank diskette, Calculator, Watch, Alarm clock, Notebooks, Small Field Notebook, Diary.

Students dress casually in Australia: shorts and tops, jeans, t-shirts (no holes)

A few warmer clothes: jeans, sweaters, turtlenecks, and sweatshirts for the field trips to Lamington and Carnarvon. ("Peelable" clothes are ideal; it gets warm by the middle of the day.) From a '96 alum: "Bring an ample supply of warm clothes if you intend to travel to New Zealand. I found it surprisingly cold and had to wear the same clothes every day!!"

Swimsuit (2 if possible), beach towel, dive booties (not unlike these), old sneakers/aqua shoes for reef walks

Sun protection including: Sunglasses, Sun block (SPF 15 or higher), Hat, Long sleeved t-shirt for sun protection while snorkeling

Face cloths (not usually supplied in Australian accommodations)

Hooded Raincoat (anoraks are ideal)
Walking shoes, Hiking boots [Break them in before you leave!! Blisters were common. Sock liners]
Camera w/ 8 to 12 rolls of film
Binoculars if you own them
Personal medication (extra prescription, just in case), toiletries, cosmetics
Backpack (day pack); larger backpack if you intend to camp on your own
Snorkelers who have their own gear can bring it
Soft luggage or large backpack is ideal for field trips
Flashlight and extra batteries
1 pair cheap cotton gardening gloves (for work in reef flats)
Sleeping bag (Are there 15 students willing to bring them?)

Club clothes: Men: dress shoes (no sneakers), pants other than jeans and collared shirts. Women: closed-toed shoes (no boots) 1 or 2 nice outfits.

Book(s), Walk/Discman and a few tapes/cds for the long plane/bus trips

Medical
Standards of medical care are quite high in Australia: socialized medicine with universal coverage. We will have access to the U of Q Infirmary. You will have to pay any fees up front and be reimbursed by your insurance later. From the Office of Off-Campus Programs: "We do, as a matter of policy, strongly urge students to secure the ISIC. The card discounts are handy and in particular it provides some insurance coverage that is very important to have. The coverage includes evacuation, repatriation and some additional medical/accident protection. It can be issued to HWS students at the registrar's office, and is billed to the student's account. The cost is approximately $25 for the ISIC and about $8 for the photo."

Electrical Devices
Australian electrical power is 240v, 50Hz using a flat 3-pin plug (different from the US). Unless you have equipment that can handle 240v, do not bring it. Plug adapters can be bought for about AU$10, but voltage converters to change 240v to US 110v are much more expensive. For example, buy a hair dryer there ($AU15-20) rather than buy a converter and adapter.

Travel Expenses
From 1998, students reported that the average amount of money spent in Australia before travel at the end of the program was $1750.

Plane Travel
The flight over is not too bad; you will be over the Pacific at night time. If you can sleep for several hours, you will not be jet lagged at all because you arrive in Australia in the morning. Try not to party too much on the plane. Stick together and watch out for each other. You will want to pack a few simple toiletries in your carry on bag --- toothbrush and the like. A backpack as a carry on bag works well. Bring a book and music?

Local Transportation
The Brisbane City Council provides services for travelling about the city: bus, high speed "cat", or ferry. The bus system in Brisbane is extensive and economical when weekly or monthly tickets are purchased. Since many busses travel along parts of the same route, it is important to know the particular route number(s) that will take you to your destination. You must hail the bus; they do not automatically stop, even if people are waiting.

The city is divided into 5 bus zones (concentric rings). as shown

A bus pass providing unlimited 2 zone travel for a weekly travel is about $AU20 and monthly is about AU$70. They are widely available at many convenience stores ("newsagents"), but may not be purchased on a bus.

Tickets for Queensland Rail services may be purchased at train stations.

Taxis
Meter operated taxicabs are found in all major cities and towns. This is can be a reasonably inexpensive and convenient option when travelling in groups of 3 or so. Tipping is not expected.

Banking and ATMs
Among the larger banks in Australia are the ANZ, Commonwealth and National Bank of Australia. All have branches on the University of Queensland campus. Banking Hours are similar to those in the US. Most banks have automatic teller machines.

Though traveller's checks are a safe way to carry funds, they are often inconvenient and the rate of exchange is sometimes unfavorable. Some banks require a passport to cash them and then charged a substantial fee to exchange them to Australian dollars. If it is possible to obtain traveller's checks denominated in Australian dollars, then do so.

Potentially the cheapest method to obtain Australian currency is by
using an ATM debit card. A more expensive alternative is using the cash advance feature on credit card. The differences are:

1. If your bank card shows the Cirrus symbol (or if you know that it has the Cirrus encoding), then you can use this card at any of the ATM machines of the ANZ and the Commonwealth banks. This gives you direct access to the funds in your checking account. There is usually a minimal fee for accessing your own funds this way. If you have a bank card that shows the Plus symbol (or if you know that it has the Plus encoding), then you can use this card at any of the ATM machines of the ANZ bank. Again, any transfer fees are minimal. Make sure you keep track of any funds withdrawn this way, taking into account the exchange rate; otherwise you may overdraw your checking account.
   
   
2. If you have a bank card that is actually a debit card and it shows a MasterCard or Visa logo, you can use it at most ATM machines to access funds from your bank account. Again, any transfer fees involved are minimal. (Debit cards are not credit cards; the amount of a "charge" is immediately deducted from your checking account. Debit cards are less common in the US than credit cards.) Again, keep track of any funds withdrawn this way, taking into account the exchange rate; otherwise you may overdraw your checking account.
   
   
3. If you have a credit card, (MasterCard or Visa), then you can use it in most ATM machines to get a cash advance. There can be substantial fees involved to do this! Usually there is a transaction fee plus interest charges that will appear on your next credit card statement. You are essentially taking out a small loan. This differs from the transactions in 1 or 2 where you are simply accessing your existing checking account funds. This is the least preferred method of getting money. It less expensive for you to use your credit card to actually make the purchases you require than it is to get "cash advances".
   
   
4. Any card showing the MasterCard or Visa logo can be used inside almost any bank at a teller to get cash. It will be either a debit transaction (see 2) or a cash advance transaction (see 3) depending on whether you are using a debit or a credit card. Note: An ordinary US bank card (showing no Visa or MasterCard logo) cannot be used to get cash from a bank teller, even if it has the Cirrus or Plus encoding.
   

• Tim Mel Gibson's film debut, playing a simpleminded young adult who falls in love with an older woman (Piper Laurie).
  
• Picnic at Hanging Rock Directed by Peter Weir, this suspense story revolves about the mysterious disappearance of a group of students from an all-girls boarding school in the turn of the century Australia.
  
• Sunday too far Away Jack Thompson as a champion sheepshearer circa 1956.
  
• My Brilliant Career is about a woman born before her time. Set in the late nineteenth century, it tells the story of a young woman who lives with her family in the bush country does not want to marry.
  
• The Man From Snowy River An Australian Western about the coming of age of a mountain man (Tom Burlinson). Also stars Kirk Douglas and Jack Thompson. Good scenery
  
• Breaker Morant Rates five stars in many books; great character study and high adventure rolled into one film.
  
• Bliss Black comedy about a business executive who survives a heart-attack only to find himself in a hellish version of the life he once had.
  
• Malcolm An emotionally immature young man loses his job with a rapid transit company after he builds his own tram with spare parts. He falls in with thieves and loves it.
  
• Lighthorsemen WWI encounter between Australian and Turkish forces in Beersheba and a young recruit who can't bring himself to kill in battle.
  
• Caddie A woman struggling to support herself and her children in Australia in the 1920s.
  
• The Club A highly paid rookie joins an Australian football ('Aussie Rules') team whose last championship was a generation ago. Winning, losing, loyalty, and determination...
  
• Strictly Ballroom
  
• Oscar and Lucinda Gamblers take a glass church up a river....