'Whinging' English backpacker posts rant saying Australia is 's***'
An English backpacker, disappointed with her trip to Australia, has blasted the country in a Facebook post and is glad to be heading home.
Maria Shaw of London says she is giving up on Australia after spending 47 underwhelming days in Queensland, saying her trip has been expensive, plagued with bad weather and she was unable to find work.
“Has anyone else come out here thinking it’s going to be amazing, and instead it’s pretty s***?” she posted to the Australia Backpackers Facebook group.
She admits she had high expectations knowing loads of Brits have moved to Australia and never looked back.
“I mean have we missed something of what?” she said.
Ms Shaw and her partner said they are giving up and heading home after 47 days travelling from Brisbane to Cairns and back.
In a bid to save money on accommodation, they partner bought a van to sleep and travel in, but slammed Australia’s parking restrictions and having to pay to camp.
“We were told it was pricey but weren’t prepared for the amount of cash that’s gone on pretty sensible spending, hardly any nights out, groceries, fuel and camping,” she said.
The backpacker claimed in her post finding work had been a struggle and farm jobs advertised required backpackers to pay for their own accommodation.
‘A waste of time’
Greek backpacker Mary Kyropoulou also savaged Australia in a post that has since been deleted.
“Australia? Such a waste of time ... Can’t wait to go back to Europe,” she says.
“Where university degrees are more important than a bunch of meaningless licenses and cards that require no intelligence or special skills to obtain,” she wrote.
“No appreciation at all towards foreigners ... we all came here to become just waiters and farmers...”
Other backpackers loving Australia
Fellow backpackers were baffled by the posts saying they have had a great time in Australia.
One commented on Ms Shaw’s post telling her if she didn’t like it the she should go ahead and leave.
Another claimed she made the mistake of spending 47 days travelling between Brisbane and Cairns.
One said it also took about two months to adapt and they had done the same trip in Australia and loved it.
“Hard to understand why you’re not having the best time ever. Absolutely baffling,” one man said.
“The most obvious thing is that you clearly don’t like travelling about/living in a van.
“As for farm work, you’re competing against vast numbers of backpackers so if you’re going to be extremely picky you’re in for an upset.”
Another man hit out at the woman, saying she was a “whinging pom”.
“You sound extremely surprised by ... well ... pretty much EVERYTHING!! It’s almost like you’ve done ZERO research about what to expect, anticipating cost of living/travelling, accommodation and employment possibilities or restrictions,” he said.
In a separate Facebook group for backpackers, a woman urged people to treat foreigners in Australia with respect.
“They have worked hard to come here. They are our guests. Be hospitable, kind and decent. Give them a reason to come back,” she said.
Australians have ‘no idea’ about banter
Their posts come just a week after one Brit said Australians had a “childish sense of humour” in the Facebook group Poms in Sydney.
“I had such a weird experience... I was on a work trip with all Aussies and the banter was not the same as the UK,” she wrote.
“I couldn’t relate”.
She labelled the common debate over whether Sydney or Melbourne was the nation’s best city as “so lame and boring”.
Others in the group were quick to chime in, with one person saying “Australians have no idea about banter”.
“Don’t even try with them. They are a frighteningly unfunny bunch,” they said.
Another said they had “given up” on Australians and branded them “narcissistic” and “intimidated by the English”.
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