So in case you haven't heard me on IRC I'm moving to Brisbane and I depart Auckland tomorrow at 9:25am sharp, expect lots of photos etc.

That is all :)

Tags: australia, brisbane, fedora, red hat

Yes, that's right, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi, boo All Blacks, go Wallabies!

But seriously, it's nice, sitting out in the sun, drinking a green tea, I'll update more later, but yeah, don't expect me to be in #fedora-* much the next day and a half.

Tags: australia, brisbane, fedora, red hat

It's pretty easy to compare the cost of living between two countries these days, especially for food. Both Woolworths in Australia and Woolworths in New Zealand offer online shopping and ordering, and it's free to browse, so I set myself a mission...

Compare food prices for a basic-ish shopping basket between the two countries, for the Australian Woolworths I used Sydney as my place of residence (bleh) and for New Zealand I used my current Suburb in West Auckland.

The shopping basket was: Some Rump Steak, Beef Mince, Green Tea (bagged), Blue Top Milk, Edam Cheese, Margarine, Nutri-Grain, Apricot Jam, Honey, White Bread, Flour, Sugar, Bananas, Kiwifruit, Frozen Peas, Straight Cut Fries, Pasta, Pasta Sauce, and a 6 pack of beer.

Where I couldn't find an exact match, I used to next best thing.

The meat was interesting, in Australia ~410 grams of Australian Rump Steak costs 9.70 AUD (12.40 NZD), and ~500 grams of Regular Mince costs 6.25 AUD (8.00 NZD), in New Zealand the Rump Steak would cost 7.38 NZD (5.77 AUD) and the Mince would cost 6.59 NZD (5.15 AUD). Making Australia around 5 AUD more expensive... OUCH

Dairy type products was also interesting, Australian Milk at 2.59 AUD (3.31 NZD), Cheese at 3.87 AUD (5 NZD), Margarine at 2.13 AUD (2.73 NZD) and Butter (note this is for 2x 250 gram blocks) 2.56 AUD (3.28 NZD) compared to New Zealand Milk at 3.23 NZD (2.50 AUD), Cheese at 5.19 NZD (4.05 AUD), Margarine at 1.99 NZD (Note this is a 'super special price') (1.55 AUD) and Butter (500 gram) 3.59 NZD (2.80 AUD). Making them about even (Australia cheaper without the Margarine special).

Groceries (I'm going to just list these....)

Pasta Sauce - Australia: 2.67 AUD (3.41 NZD) - NZ: 2.99 NZD (2.33 AUD)
Bread - Australia (650 gram): 1.09 AUD (1.40 NZD) - NZ (600 gram): 1.09 NZD (0.85 AUD)
Apricot Jam - Aust: 2.58 AUD (3.30 NZD) - NZ: 2.69 NZD (2.09 AUD)
Pasta (Spaghetti) - Aust: 0.85 AUD (1.08 NZD) - NZ: 0.99 NZD (0.77 AUD)
White Sugar - Aust: 2.35 AUD (3 NZD) - NZ: 3.50 NZD (2.73 AUD)
Flour - Aust (3x1kg): 3.06 AUD (3.90 NZD) - NZ (2x1.5kg): 4.18 NZD (3.26 AUD)
Nutri-Grain - Aust: 5.28 AUD (6.76 NZD) - NZ: 5.56 NZD (4.34 AUD) - I don't understand this, it's made in Australia...
Green Tea - Aust: 3.61 AUD (4.62 NZD) - NZ: 2.99 NZD (2.33 AUD)
Honey - Aust: 3.99 AUD (5.10 NZD) - NZ: 4.08 NZD (3.18 AUD) - Unfair comparison, neither country allows honey to be imported...
Fries - Aust: 3.81 AUD (4.90 NZD) - NZ: 4.95 NZD (3.85 AUD)
Frozen Peas - Aust: 3.80 AUD (4.90 NZD) - NZ: 4.25 NZD (3.32 AUD)

Fruit is pretty darn interesting too...
1 kg of Bananas from Australia cost 3.96 AUD (5.06 NZD), yet in New Zealand cost 2.58 NZD (2.01 AUD), and 4 kiwifruit (produce of New Zealand) in Australia going for 2.08 AUD (2.66 NZD) where as in New Zealand cost 3 NZD (2.34 AUD). I just don't get it!

Beer is more expensive in Australia costing 14 AUD (17.90 NZD) for a 6 pack of Victoria Bitter, where as only 11 NZD (8.60 AUD).

At the end of the day, Australia is only about 10 AUD more expensive, (so just don't buy the beer), but I'm sure you could save a lot more, with seasonal special and a real choice (instead of picking brands and items common to both NZ and AU) I'm sure it'd be a lot cheaper...

Tags: australia, cost of living, food, money
Current Mood: thoughtful

Looking forward to some exciting times ahead, I finally got round to sending in my CV to Red Hat at the ummm insistence of Murray McAllister.

It's going to be really interesting, and any excuse to leave New Zealand sounds pretty good at the moment, it's close to election time and I'll tell you one thing, it's just shown the politicians (esp the main ones) for who they really are - a pack of school kids that get excited when there is a camera about.

The other factor is that I'm a big fan of open source, and I'm really starting to appreciate the work that Red Hat do.

I must say, I was impressed with the local Australian Consulate Generals office, their phone system was the normal mess, but I sent them an e-mail instead, and within 15 minutes had a reply with all the information I needed, one of which was a guide on "everything you need to know about migrating to Australia". I also find it a little bit funny that they have a government department called "Department of Health and Aging" and the "Baby Bonus" scheme. But what the heck, I don't care, it's the experience that matters to me!

I hope this also means that I can better contribute to Fedora.

Tags: australia, fedora, jobs, life, politics, red hat
Current Location: New Zealand (for now)