[Bulwara Road]

Originally Posted by clutchcargo777

No box jellyfish or sea snakes. So we got that going for us.

I'm more concerned about any loonies with guns than any of the thousands of things here that can kill us!

One other thing - seeing a lot of the economy is hospitality based, do locals in Vegas have "weekends" or is everyday feel like a Tuesday?

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by NLVgal

I'm told the climate in Australia is very similar to that of Vegas.

The only part of Australia that matches Las Vegas for similar climate is western Australia/Perth, low humidity, little rain.

The eastern side of Australia is similar to the eastern seaboard of the U.S., high humidity and rain.

[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by tijlover

The only part of Australia that matches Las Vegas for similar climate is western Australia/Perth, low humidity, little rain.

The eastern side of Australia is similar to the eastern seaboard of the U.S., high humidity and rain.

Gotcha. I didn't know that.

I was told the climates were similar when my mother's bird, a cockatiel native to Australia, escaped and she was in a panic thinking the weather would kill her. She got the bird back after a week or so, btw. It survived the climate just fine.

OP, as was mentioned above, you'll miss the ocean, but as lakes go, Lake Mead is no joke (It's huge) so you can get your water fix there until you feel the need to drive to California to take a dip in the Pacific.

Welcome to the valley.

[cre8lite]

from all the documentaries i've seen on australia, there's a BILLION flies. you won't find that in vegas, unless you live next to the pig farm.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by Bulwara Road

I'm more concerned about any loonies with guns than any of the thousands of things here that can kill us!

One other thing - seeing a lot of the economy is hospitality based, do locals in Vegas have "weekends" or is everyday feel like a Tuesday?

Either you will come to accept our gun culture or you won't. It isn't just likely, it is GUARANTEED that one of your co-workers will be a gun nut. Grab a random sample of a few dozen Americans, and at least ONE of them will be a gun nut. Probably more.

Most American gun owners are responsible, decent people. Most. Just hope that the gun owners in your life don't develop substance-abuse or psychological problems. But even then, they're more likely to take their own lives than the lives of others. (Most gun related deaths in the United States are suicides. It's a statistic that is very much glossed over in our decades-long "debate" about firearms.)

As for weekends, my wife works a "normal" job with "normal" weekends. I work at a casino. Every day feels like a Tuesday. Except Fridays and Saturdays. That's just hell on earth. (A very astute observation about days of the week, incidentally. I hadn't thought of it that way. You are quite correct about what it's like to be a resort gypsy.)

[Bulwara Road]

Thanks for all the info - I am really looking forward to the adventure of moving to another country.

The things here I won't miss are

All of the flies we have here (and mozzies too)
Petrol (gas) at around $5.70 a gallon
Virtually all grocery items are at least double
Eating out at least double the cost here

I'm sure we will love it! Especially the variety of restaurants - just looking at a link one bloke posted here and it will take a year at least to get through them (and that's only in our area).

Am also looking forward to being able to go to almost anywhere in the US fairly cheaply given the vast amount of flights that go through Vegas - a lot of them I have looked into on priceline.com look almost too good to be true!

[Clarkcty]

Decent dining/entertainment/shopping in the area around South Shores. I prefer what's on offer at Tivoli Village/Boca Park/Rampart Commons/Fort Apache Commons.... for shopping, dining and entertainment. It's a very short drive from South Shores on Rampart. At Tivoli Village, Brio Tuscan Grille, Pizza Lounge, Kabuki, Poppy Den, View Wine Bar and Kitchen and Cantina Laredo are all great restaurants/bars. At Boca Park, I like Gordon Biersch, Wahoo, Cheescake, Grimaldis, Sambalatte while at Rampart Commons Honey Salt is good. A couple of casinos in the area on Rampart if you have the urge to gamble.

As mentioned here Marche Bacchus is good and with a nice view while Steiners on Cheyenne/Durango is a decent bar.
Lots of restaurants/bars to mention here but you won't be bored for sure and if you do, Downtown or the Strip is just a short drive away.

[BBMW]

Bulwara,

Have you dealt with the immigration issues? You can't just fly over here and take up residence (well, legally - lots of people do it illegally.) You can come over as a tourist easily, but you can't work legally under a tourist visa.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by Bulwara Road

Thanks for all the info - I am really looking forward to the adventure of moving to another country.

The things here I won't miss are

1) All of the flies we have here (and mozzies too)
2) Petrol (gas) at around $5.70 a gallon
3) Virtually all grocery items are at least double
4) Eating out at least double the cost here

Numbers added to quote for clarity.

1) You're absolutely right. You won't have these problems in Las Vegas. But we do have field roaches, crickets and black widow spiders. (I like the spiders. They kill the crickets and roaches.)

2) Gas (petrol) here is around $3.50 a gallon, plus the blood cost of our wars.

3) Your food is safe to eat, at least.

4) Don't forget to tip your server. Servers in America make $2.33 per hour for the most part.

[tRaMSt0p]

Bulwara ... I recently relocated to Las Vegas from Geelong (1 hour outside Melbourne) 14 months ago to live with my wife and step-daughter. I love it here but here is my list of loves and hates.

Loves
- So affordable to live here from buying a house (which you obviously know), eating out, buying groceries
- No big ass flies and mosquitos
- Awesomely cheap shopping ... pretty sure my wardrobe has tripled since living here and I've spent nothing comparable to what I would have in Australia

Hates
- Might not be the case for you, but I hate how there are no winters here comparable to back home ... i want rain, cold, hail etc etc
- I think the drivers are worse here (sorry @topaz420), but I've never driven in Sydney so might not be the best reference.
- Good luck getting healthcare! I had Medibank Private back home but here I've got nothing at the moment ... what made it worse was that I injured my leg last year and had to have a bunch of physio sessions at $100 a pop in cash (obviously this changes once you get a job here)

Middle Ground
- A lot of people complain about the Summer here but I find it very similar to back home but slightly more bearable. I easily walk round with pants on during Summer, and always have a jacket of some type for the casinos (cause of the awfully strong AC) - but compared to back home where you literally need to be in your jocks.
- Food quality is good here ... if you know where to go/eat.

Originally Posted by Bulwara Road

Our house is in South Shores, and it seems like a nice part of town from what I have heard - I'm wondering what the local amenities like restaurants, bars and locals casinos are like (I'm an Aussie who likes a beer and a bet), and also am wondering if there are local swimming pools in the area (we will eventually put a pool in, but would like to find somewhere to have a swim in the meantime).

Good chance you might have a pool in your community, but if not you have the casino strip pools which are pretty nice and fairly easy to get a pool key. Wet N Wild just opened and you have Lake Mead a while down the road.

Beer - you'll probably love Yardhouse (a gazillion types of beers) and be prepared to get Fosters jokes 24/7

Betting - the sports books here are nothing like the TAB from back home ... way more complicated to make bets. The Australian betting mantra is more about small $5 wagers on football/soccer multis right? Well here it's more about single bigger bets ... so if you like placing multis, then you'll struggle here. Plus the bets are listed different like +170, -120 instead of the 1.85 etc we have back home ... it takes a while to get used to

Hope this helps a little..