A Brit who made the move to Australia has shared the biggest cultural differences she’s noticed down there.
Victoria Whitehouse packed up her life in England to move to Sydney on a working holiday visa – and has documented much of her journey on TikTok, where she has amassed more than 86,000 followers under her name @vic_whitehouse.
In a video filmed eight months after her move, the travel influencer revealed what she loves about Australia, what Britain misses – but there’s still one thing she misses about home.
The clip, titled: ‘Differences I’ve found as a Brit living in Australia’, has already been seen by more than 91,000 people.
Read on for the TikToker’s full breakdown of how life compares on the other side of the world.
Victoria Whitehouse packed up her life in England to move to Sydney on a working holiday visa and has documented much of her journey on TikTok, where she has amassed more than 86,000 followers
Public transport is better
Victoria told viewers the first thing that’s better in Australia than at home is public transport.
She said: ‘Public transport in Australia is absolutely sensational – it’s not even close to what we have at home.
“It’s so much more efficient, it’s cheaper and if there’s a rail strike and the trains aren’t running, they use buses to take you to those destinations and it doesn’t cost anything.”
The TikToker laughed: “The UK could never do that, but yeah, the transport is insane.”
The supermarkets are more efficient
Next on Victoria’s list, which she calls ‘absolutely genius’, is the way Aussies are stocking their supermarket shelves.
She explained: ‘I don’t think it’s in all supermarkets, but certainly in most supermarkets I’ve seen.
In a video filmed eight months after her move, the travel influencer revealed what she loves about Australia, what Britain misses – but there’s still one thing she misses about home
‘If you’re standing in the refrigerator section and open the refrigerator to take out some milk, for example, the refrigerators are open and there are people behind them, so people can refill from the back.
‘I don’t know if that makes sense, but it surprises me because it means you don’t have to take all the stuff out to restock, so the oldest stuff is at the front.
‘You can replenish your stock through the back of the fridges, how cool is that’.
Coffee shops close earlier
Further on, the Brit mentions the one lifestyle difference she is not a fan of in Australia: that coffee shops and cafes close ‘very early’.
She revealed: ‘This makes me quite sad. Most cafes close between 2:00 PM and 2:30 PM and close at 3:00 PM.
“My friend and I tried to get coffee at 2pm and they said they were closing and couldn’t serve us, which is crazy.
‘Some cafes are doing really well: they open as a cafe during the day and turn into a bar in the evening, which I think is a great idea.
“But yeah, sometimes I just want avocado toast after work and I can’t have it.”
You cannot buy alcohol in supermarkets
On her fourth point, Victoria explains: ‘The next thing is the fact that you can’t buy alcohol in the supermarkets.
“They all have a bottle shop or a liquor store next to a supermarket, but you can’t buy a bottle of vodka at the regular grocery store.”
The TikToker didn’t mention whether she liked this concept or not, but she did say she found it “really funny.”
People start their day earlier
Another thing the Brit ‘absolutely loves’ about Sydney is how early people start their days compared to Britain.
She said: ‘You can get up at five in the morning and there are coffee shops opening, there are people going for a run, there are people on the beach and I just love that.
“I love that people get up so early for a sunrise or that people get up early but not just to go to work, which I love.”
Australians abbreviate everything
Finally, Victoria talked about ‘the way Australians shorten everything’.
She revealed: ‘I love this because I’ve definitely adopted some of the abbreviations they use.
“McDonald’s is ‘Maccas’, a gas station is a ‘servo’, a bottle shop or liquor store is normally a ‘bottle-o’ and what I find funny is that they are advertised that way.
“It’s not just that it’s abbreviated and people pick up on it – sometimes they’re just called that, that’s how they’re signed outside, which I just think is so funny and I love it.”
Viewers are divided in the comments section over the points Victoria made, with one user writing: ‘They run buses here too…’
Another added: ‘It would take a six-month debate in Britain to get a bus instead of a train.’
Meanwhile, an Australian stepped in to explain: “Cafes open very early in the morning to cater for tradies and therefore close mid-afternoon,” to which Victoria replied: “I only want breakfast for dinner.”
One Brit joked: ‘Have you never been to London’ and another asked: ‘Have you never heard of a ‘rail replacement bus service’ – it’s literally every weekend in Britain’.
It comes as thousands of Brits are swapping the dark and rainy skies for the sunshine of Australia.
The number of British citizens leaving the country to migrate Down Under is the highest since 2012, according to Statistica.
Meanwhile, research last year found that almost one in two Brits say they think they would be better off swapping the UK for Australia or New Zealand. Whether it’s the sunny lifestyle, better job opportunities or more affordable housing, there is something that drives people to start a new life on the other side of the world.