April 6, 2014. Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia. Differences.

Already we have noticed the differences. We have been in Australia for 4 days, living in Darling Harbour, Sydney, so my observations may not be accurate for the rest of the country, but again, I may be right in my assessment. People in Australia are not nearly as friendly and helpful as are the New Zealanders. It is actually quite difficult to find tourist information. And when you stop and ask questions, they have no answers. A man wearing a security uniform was standing outside a ticket seller. I asked him a question about a water taxi, and he told me that he was working security, and knew nothing about the water. He told me to get in the line to get the information. That never happened to us in New Zealand. In New Zealand, we saw no overweight people. Not so in Australia. Walking the malls, you see many obese people., which surprised me. The mall is full of sweet shops and ice cream stores., so no wonder folks weigh too much. There are a huge number of restaurants. The whole Darling Harbour is lined with restaurants. It is lovely to sit and watch the people walk by. I did not see anything similar in New Zealand. The populations are different as is the size of the country so the economy is different . Both people speak with a distinctive accent too, but sometimes I can’t tell the difference between the two!! .