Familiar Antipodes?

Well, I'm back in the Antipodes. Brisbane, Australia to be exact.

Since I arrived on Sunday, I've been going back and forth on deciding whether I like this city or not (read: below post). It's very similar to Auckland, trying incredibly hard to be metropolitan - knocking down the weird grey pebbled and brown sloped architecture and replacing it with tall, glass sterile buildings. It's population is similar in size to that of Auckland, but has a much more concentrated city centre - Adalaide Street bustles and streams with a continual flow of kids, teens, workers, mums and foreigners (lots of those from out of State). That flow is relentless in the outer lying streets where small cafes offer time-out from the hideous humidity and often ignore you as you realise you have to sell your right kidney for a small latte or espresso - the service here is appalling. And the coffee is average. I miss my highly trained baristas and friendly smiles.

Each day I'm in the city I tend to wander around, mingling in the crowd, being one of the kabillions of people swarming in and out of shopping centres, peering over the shreiking teenagers and wiping the sweat away from my forehead from the blistering heat. I forget how much higher up the Eastern coast of Australia Brisbane is than in relation to Auckland. Though I'm an avid fan of the Botanical Gardens on the edge of the river and always make a point of wandering down that way if I've ventured into town, spending some time under the trees in the shade, writing and observing the interesting beings wandering in and out of the sunshine.

The river is disturbing - snaking through the city centre and outlying suburbs in all of it's muddy brown glory. I'm not entirely sure how it manages to stay so filthy and gross, as Australians have massive fines for littering and the 'unlawful dropping of rubbish'... so it's not polution. Just... mud. And all other kinds of filth. Mmmm.

And the animals. Or, wildlife, as I should probably call it. Ants the size of cockroaches, cockroaches the size of rats, rats the size of turkeys, turkeys (yes, there is a turkey that roams the streets where I'm staying in Corinda), bats, toads (which are killing the native wildlife and are almost impossible to erradicate), all kinds of disturbing insects and creepy crawlies.... Euurckk, it's making my skin crawl just thinking about it.

The weather is, well, sub-tropical. Matt, his daughter Caitlin and I went down to the Gold Coast yesterday and experienced pretty much four-seasons in one day - from scorching 36'C to high winds to rain to hail. It was a fantastic day down south, though, Gold Coast really is like the auckland waterfront, just at the beach. The beach itself is great, safe and vast, spanning many kilometres down the coast, but once your off the beach back on the street, the situation becomes dire, dodging drunken kids and hawkers trying to sell you tickets to 'party tours - where a hook-up is guarunteed!' Hamilton, anyone? On the way back we had 'extreme weather warnings' blaring on the radio, echoing familiar sounds of the previous two weeks where huge storms battered Brisbane and damaged homes - lifting tops off and blowing out windows, dumping over 250mm of rain and lighting up the sky with over 400 lightning strikes in 20 minute spells.
The weather system itself is pretty cyclical though and a lot more reliant than Aucklands haphazard guess-work that takes place - it seems that the days are generally hot, clear and extremely humid, with that humidity rousing storm fronts that encroach on the city on dusk and usually having a slight downpour in the evening and clearing for the following day.

Maybe it's because of the large volume of Kiwis here, that it makes me feel like I'm in Auckland. People call Brisbane the capital of New Zealand. And that's no surprise, with average incomes higher here (just your standard street labourer is paid an average wage of AUS$60,000) however compulsory super is usually built in to the packages.
Hah. Compulsory Super. What's that? National lowering the mandatory company contribution by half? Here's to the future, NZ.
There appear to be more jobs here in Brisbane than any of the other Eastern cities in Australia (Melbourne, Sydney, Adalaide) though Queenslands unemployment rose from 2.2% to 4.6% in November, and will continue to rise with the recent RIO TINTO lay-off announcement. I'm no longer sure the Australian economy will be able to continue to be propped up by its natural resources... It's been riding the storm for some time now and the real effects are still to come...

Crime here is similar to Auckland, if not slightly increased. There is a large pacific island community in Logan, that is experiencing the exact same problems as South Auckland - youth gangs and gang murders. Just last week an Aboriginal was killed in an unprovoked attack when walking through a park by group of islanders.
Queensland cops seem tough, taking a hard line on anyone - foriegners and locals alike. There are heavy penalties for a range of things and they appear to all be enforced.
There are cops on the beat everywhere, but many think this seems a bit redunant with the increasing gang and organised crime that Australia is being hit with.

The public transport system here is fantastic though - efficient train and bus systems that are clean, tidy and always on time. Peak times are a bit cosy, rubbing up to the lad or lass next to you due to absolutely no space, but people are generally tolerant and understand the situation. And it's surely no Tokyo railway system, having guards literally push and squeeze you in so they can close the doors. But with the growing population, this could be a sign of things to come...
There is success with that idea though, if you're in to that kind of thing - I was on the train back from the city a couple of days ago and unfortunately had been messing around and had to take the 5.10pm train, which was -packed- with commuters. As I got on, I plugged in my earphones and lowered my shades so I could watch and observe people, without, well, without making others (and myself) feel awkward, I guess. Anyway, a young lad and young lass were crammed up against each other. The young lad looked quite awkward and was trying to look the other way, while the lass looked as though her heart had just fallen out of her mouth and was trying to subtly attract the lads attention. They played games of awkwardness for a couple of stops before their eyes finally met and they both laughed nervously. By this stage the train was beginning to clear out a little and some space was available, but they were still locked up close. Before long they were chatting away and finally before the ladd got off they exchanged numbers.
Hah. A random piece of train romance for you.

OK, so maybe Brisbane isn't like Auckland, but i'm still not sure if I'm sold on this place - despite it being busier (which I guess I am looking for), easy to get around and a semi-tolerable climate, it still has this lingering sense of familiarity. It's potentially a good place to bring up a family, with residential sales and rental being the most affordable in Australia, but as you know, I don't have the wife and 2.3 kids, so this isn't a major factor for me.

Back to the drawing board though? Not sure, as I think I stated below, I have to go where the jobs are. I don't think I can continue to progress as a person, by staying in New Zealand. Auckland, for sure, but New Zealand as well. It's time to move, it's time to go and time to see the world some more... But I'm certainly realising that Australia isn't the solution to all my problems, and has very similar problems to New Zealand. Thanks to the New Zealanders? Also not sure...