Sydney, Australia… is it the promised land?

A very modern city mixed with nature and history.

The first surprising thing about Sydney is the complex geography of the city. Divided by the river Parramatta and full of hills, parks and natural reserves makes the city a difficult challenge for people who like to walk around to discover places. On the other hand, it has a very advanced public transport system in which you will only require a rechargeable card (Opal card) to use buses, trains, and ferries to move around Sydney.

The city is a huge mixture of cultures, you easily realize this just by taking a stroll around CBD (Sydney central business district) – where you can eat food and see people from all around the globe.

If you are a history lover, you must visit the Australian National Maritime Museum where you will experience the Australia´s immigration legacy. You will learn about the coexistence between aborigines and oversees immigrants that generated problems for many decades. Even nowadays these issues are present in Australia´s society.

Where are the kangaroos and koalas?

When I was a teenager I saw several documentaries about Australia, this was in the 90s and I was very amazed about their unique fauna. Nowadays it is very hard to see a kangaroo or a koala in Sydney, well, the most you can see is a dead kangaroo in the shoulders of the many roads that connect all the neighborhoods surrounding Sydney.

Koala´s numbers are decreasing because of their massive deaths during summer bushfires, due to their slow motion.

If you want to see kangaroos and koalas in the wild you will have to travel far away, outside Sydney. The other option is to visit Taronga Zoo (Sydney´s Zoo) or Australian Reptile Park nearby Gosford, 69 km from Sydney.

The Blue Mountains, are they blue?

These mountains are spectacular, and they do look blue, but they are not blue, they are green… covered with thousands of eucalyptus trees and other flora.

The haze which appears to surround any distant object is due to an optical phenomenon called “Rayleigh scattering”.

The “blue” effect in the Blue Mountains is enhanced by millions of oil droplets released into the atmosphere by the huge number of eucalyptus trees.

If you would like to read more about the Blue Mountains visit: https://www.australia.com/en-us/places/sydney-and-surrounds/guide-to-the-blue-mountains.html

What about the translation industry in Australia?

The translation industry in Australia is well regulated by NAATI (National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters).

NAATI is a company that is jointly owned by the nine governments of Australia. They are governed by a Board of Directors.

Their mission is to set and maintain high national standards in translating and interpreting that enable the existence of a pool of translators and interpreters who are responsive to the changing needs and demography of the Australian community.

If you want to work as a translator or interpreter in Australia, you will need to visit their web: https://www.naati.com.au/

Is Sydney the promised land?

It is a hard question to answer. At least once in life you should visit this place and try to cover as many kilometers as possible to see the differences in between regions.

As a tourist is not very difficult to visit the country, as you can easily get an eVisitor visa. Here you may find more information how to get this visa: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa-1/651-

You will require enough money to cover your stay, keep in mind that food, accommodation, and transportation are expensive in general, but there are always ways to get things cheaper. For example: last minute flights, coach surfing accommodation, meals in some places has a discount at certain hours, etc. As general information please consider that a bottle of coke (600 ml) can cost around 4 AUD, a pizza 20 AUD, a fast food menu around 15 AUD. For more information visit: https://www.sydneymovingguide.com/the-cost-of-living-in-sydney/

If you want to emigrate there, well, investigate and think it over carefully because Visa procedures require at least a year preparation, salaries may be higher than most European countries (Except Nordics countries obviously) but expenses are very high too. If your main objective for immigration is improving your English, adventure, living in a country with very low population density, low crime, with business and work opportunities, then I totally recommend you give it a try.

To sum up, I would say that Sydney can be the promised land, but it all depends on your expectations.

At Jensen Localization, we want to encourage our readers to visit Australia as it is an amazing place to explore. Remember we are willing to hear from translators that would like to open a Jensen Localization franchise there or potential new customers looking for translation services. Email us for more information.