British nurse is shocked by cold Australian winters in Albury slammed by locals

By William On May 23, 2023

A British expatriate has revealed she was shocked by Australia’s ‘cold weather’.

Tembie, who recently moved from the UK to Albury/Wodonga on the NSW/Victoria border, revealed that ‘the biggest shock’ was how cold Australia’s winters are.

The nurse said she was taught to believe that Australia was all “heat waves and wildfires” and that she should go buy a coat after landing Down Under.

Why is Australia so freezing cold? No one told me this, this has been a huge culture shock,” she said in a video.

“I’ve been here for a month now, I didn’t really research where I was going. I was only told by my agency ‘this is a job, this is how much they pay you,'” she added.

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Tembie, who recently moved from the UK to Albury/Wodonga on the NSW/Victoria border, revealed that ‘the biggest shock’ after moving to Australia was how cold Australian winters are

The staffing agency’s nurse, who has also lived in New Zealand, said she saw “dollar signs” and “ran” to the job.

“I didn’t do much research into the city I’d be in or anything like that.

“When I landed I was like ‘why is it cold?'”

‘I know you have winter, but I assume it won’t be cold.

“I know it’s stupid, but when you hear about Australia, you hear about bushfires, snakes, the extreme heat, the drought.

“Nobody ever tells you it’s cold,” she added in the TikTok video.

Tembie also explained that she “had to go buy a coat” because she was “so cold” at 9 degrees.

Many comments told her that Australia was “huge” with different parts with different climates.

British expat: These are the ten realities of moving to Australia

You need to open a bank account and get a tax code, which can take a while before you can get a job
Most jobs require you to pay to take a course e.g. RSA, white card etc
Everything is so expensive and it’s hard to balance working and exploring because you don’t want to overspend
Renting can be quite difficult as sometimes you need the renter’s history or huge down payments
Australia is so far away from family with huge time differences
Australia is huge and it’s hard to see everything
The housing crisis has been the ultimate pain! There is no place to live! Finding places is so hard and there are so many scammers
Greyhound buses get booked up so quickly that you need to plan trips in advance
Jobs are so oversaturated and hard to find! Even if you have good experience, you can still have a hard time
It’s quite hard to make friends when you’re not partying and staying in hostels

While others warned that it was still autumn and would get much colder.

“We’re not in winter yet, so buckle up,” one wrote.

“Make the best of it, because in six months you will be singing a different song,” said another.

“It may not snow in the suburbs, cities, but the wind is coming from Antarctica, so it’s freezing,” a third commented.

“Honestly, even being from New Zealand I was still shocked by how cold it gets here in Australia,” added another.

“There is more snow in the Australian Alps than in the Swedish Alps,” another inquired.

‘I live in Albury and it’s getting colder, we’re only an hour away from the snow!’

Tembie’s comments come after a British expatriate shared the things that surprised her when she moved to Australia, including Australian supermarkets not selling sandwiches and frequent police checks while driving.

Charlee, who moved from London to the Northern Territory in November, revealed the things that could be ‘useful to know’ for Brits considering moving Down Under.

First, she explained her shock that Australian supermarkets don’t carry ready-made sandwiches, which is common in the UK.

Another British expat revealed that she was shaken awake when she tried to order a cheeseburger from an Australian McDonald’s restaurant.

Jenny Herriot was ‘starved’ after a long day and decided to satisfy her appetite at a Macca’s drive-thru.

She ordered a McChicken meal and added a cheeseburger as an extra snack.

Originally, Jenny only expected to pay an extra 99p ($1.85 AUD), but Jenny was shocked when the cheeseburger added $4.70 to her total.

“It’s not all sunshine and rainbows here in Australia,” she realized after the surprise encounter. “This one cut deep.”

Another Brit talked about the struggles she’s been through since moving to Australia, from finding a place to rent to making new friends.

Catherine Owen, who has been living in Australia for four months, revealed the ‘reality’ of moving Down Under from the UK on a holiday visa and many Aussies agreed with her.

The 26-year-old said she found it difficult to find a job after weeks of setting up a bank account and tax file number.

She said that while she loves Australia, finding a home amid the country’s rent crisis was “the ultimate pain” and she struggled to find a job.

Catherine was also shocked by how expensive things are in Australia and how big the country is making it hard to ‘see everything’.