The 10 Biggest Differences I've Noticed About England So Far

1. The Sky/Weather

This is an obvious one, the weather is definitely a shit load colder here (roughly 40°C colder in fact) however the biggest difference is the sky – in that England doesn't really have one. In Alice there's usually bright blue skies and a searing hot sun with the occasional cloud floating by here and there. Here there is nothing but white clouds... freakin' everywhere:

2. The Keyboard

There are a few differences between the Australian and English keyboard, but the biggest one is that the @ symbol and the “ marks have switched positions:

3. The Currency/Variety Of Prices

Again, this one is obvious – they use Pounds and Pence here rather than Dollars and Cents, however the thing I found interesting is that they still have 1p and 2p coins. What this means is that the cost of items vary down to the pence, rather than in Australia where every price ends in either a 0, a 5, or a 9:

4. The Street Signs

This may just be where I am staying at the moment (as may almost everything else on this list) but from what little I have seen so far I have found the street signs here rather entertaining. My favourite is the “Elderly People” sign which my Aunt compared to the “Kangaroo” signs we have in Australia:

 This is the "Elderly People" sign from afar

 "20 is plenty!"

 "Watch out for the humps!"

5. The Traffic Lights

On first glance the traffic lights seem exactly the same, however there is one big (and kinda cool) difference between them. Here instead of the lights turning from red straight to green, the orange light will come on first to signal that the lights are about to turn green, giving the drivers time to get into gear and put the pedal to the metal:

6. Their “Orange” Fanta is F**CKING YELLOW!!!

See Below:

W.T.F?

7. Sweets/Chocolates/Lollies/Chips/Crisps

Whatever you want to call them, England has them in a larger variety and with better taste. They also have the same products such as Mars Bars but sell them in larger quantities and for cheaper (a bag of 4x Mars Bars was only £1 – that's about 30c per Mars Bar!) My favourite of the large variety thus far are 'pickled onion' Monster Munch and 'prawn cocktail' crisps:

Confusing isn't it?

8. The Cost Of Things

Everything here is cheaper than it is in Alice Springs and Australia. Whether it is Maccas where you can pick up a large quarter pounder meal for about £5 ($7.32), the cinema where you can get in on cheap Tuesdays for only £3.25 ($4.76), t-shirts for £2.50 ($3.66) or jackets that cost $250 in Alice for only £120 (175.65) in shops around here, most if not all things I have come across so far have been considerably cheaper than back home.

9. The Accents

Yet again we have another obvious one, but of course it has been one of the most noticeable things for me. I do so ever love the British accent in all it's forms. Along with the accent comes a variety of different sayings and expressions which are somewhat unheard of or uncommon back in good ol' Alice Springs. They use expressions such as “watcha?” and “y'aight?”for a greeting similar to “hello”/”how are you?”. Along with this they don't understand some of the things that I say. They find it odd to ask “How's it going?” and they can barely comprehend the saying “nek minnit!”. One of my personal favourites is the fact that they say “half eight” rather than “half past eight” or “eight thirty”.

10. The Taxis

I found it interesting to note that the taxis here aren't all the same as they are in Alice. Rather than having a fixed look, the taxis here are simply the drivers cars, meaning they come in all shapes and sizes. The only way they can be identified as being a taxi is the sticker/plate they put near their number plate.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of any of them, but if I am lucky enough to find one later on I will update and edit this post to include it.