Australia or The Netherlands???

move to adelaide cause hondaf1 going :p j/k
 
Haha, Sydney or Scotland could be cool, but I don't think the SAE schools there (I found out there are SAE's there) offer the degree I want.

At this point, if anyone cares, this is whats pulling me between the two.

Byron Bay has better equipment at the school. It's on the beach, Its a small town, which means when I want to get away from classes and explore a city, or see bands that I like, I'd have to travel. I won't have the money for a car because of the costs to get to Australia.

Amsterdam doesn't have the equipment of Byron Bay, but its a city (I prefer cities). I can get to the UK where I have family easily if I needed to. It has public transport for me to get to school, or I could get a bike. I'd still be learning the same things.

I very much appreciate the response here though. I know more about Byron Bay then I did before I started this. So now I'll ask what you would do in such a situation.
 
Masternate2071 said:
So now I'll ask what you would do in such a situation.
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Well, if it were me I'd probably go for Byron Bay. If I was going there for school I'd want to pick a place that was good for that and Byron Bay seems like it would be a calm, relaxing place to work and study - If I went to Amsterdam I'd probably spend most of my time getting drunk and high and visiting prostitutes.:mrgreen:
 
Watch Eurotrip and see what Amsterdam is like ;)
 
HondaF1 said:
Watch Eurotrip and see what Amsterdam is like ;)
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You couldn't be more wrong. Those American stereotypes of Amsterdam and Dutch people are way off the mark. Sure, there is legal prostitution and legal softdrugs. But that doesn't mean that it's all there is. Amsterdam is a city with a very rich and diverse history, which is reflected by the still very diverse population and cultures. Sure, it may not be the surfers paradise Byron Bay is. I dunno about public transport in Australia, but with the vast distances between cities i guess it won't be as good as the public transport in Amsterdam (and the rest of the Randstad for that matter). About visiting relatives in the UK, from Amsterdam to Schiphol is about 30 mins, and from there to London is about a 60 minute flight, with dozens of cheap airlines flying regular schedules.
 
Having lived in Byron Bay for 9 years, I feel I should add something to this... when people say it's hippy central, they're not lying. There are hippies everywhere. The weekend markets are run by hippies, hippies are always on the streets, the beaches, everywhere. That said, it's a very nice place to live. When the surf is good it's good, but remember it's not like that all the time.
It's also an expensive place to live. I assume you'll have on-campus accomodation, so that would be alright, but to rent a house: well, for example, we still own our house down there (moved to Brisbane a few years back), and to rent it (it's not right in town so much as just on the edge of town, a little way out), is $400/wk.
I don't know what the education is like, I only ever attended primary school down there, not even sure where any higher education facility is.
Transport has to be a factor unless you intend to spend all your time in Byron. If you're staying in town the beach should be within walking distance. Basically all your necessities (supermarket, fast food (though no major chains), surf gear etc.) are on one street, or there are lots of surf stores directly off the main street. But if you want to travel around, which you probably will, to say Ballina, Lismore and whatnot you'll need a car. With roof racks. The surf in Ballina can occasionally be a lot better than what's in Byron that day and the whole area around the place is worth checking out.
Anyway, that's enough from me. The essentials, Byron is a nice place to live, lots of hippies, worth having a car for surrounding areas. Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
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Well I decided I'm applying to the Byron Bay school. All that was said here, plus the fact that its cheaper, better facitlies and the beach. Which of course brings good looking girls. I could be there in March if all goes well.

Salanax, I will be staying on campus, 5 minutes from the beach.

Now since I don't know much about cars in australia (as my only car information source is the wonderful show that brought me to Final Gear) can anyone give me any tips. What to avoid, or whats good. I just need something cheap and reliable to get me around, fast would be nice too but its not a priority at the moment.

Thanks again to everyone for the info.
 
It depends entirely on your budget. I'm assuming you're a pennyless student?

I don't know what would be available in Byron Bay in the way of used cars - Because It's a small town the selection would be limited but generally speaking: If you shop privately you can pick something up for as little as a few hundred AUD. If it runs reasonably smoothly and isn't blowing smoke it should do rightly. An old Australian car like a Commodore or a Falcon or an old Japanese car like a Nissan or Toyota would be a wise choice because there's millions of them and they're fairly durable. But at that price you'd sorta have to expect the car to be a bit crappy - they might just be getting rid of it because they know something you don't - like it needs a new transmission or head gasket or something. At that price the cars would have over 250,000km, heavy wear, fourth or fifth owner and they'd be pretty rattly and worn but they should have some life left in them.

If you have bit more cash and can afford a few thousand you could shop from a dealership and probably get a much better car. It would probably be the same kinds - Holdens, Fords and Nissans but they would be in better condition and you would get a warranty which the dealer might even honour!

You wouldn't be able to get something fast or even nice at that sort of price. It would basically be one step up from riding the bus.

Try these search results to get an idea of what's out there.

Avoid utes and vans because they've probably had hard lives, avoid anything European because it will break and cost a fortune to fix. Don't buy a Korean car.

Old Toyota Corona. Mmmm, sexy.


Holden Gemini. An engine that will last a thousand years!


Holden Commodore. P-Plater Special. Likes: Telephone Poles and Spinning-Out in the Rain. Dislikes: Being driven at a reasonble speed by a normal person. :lol:
 
didn't like all of the people die in that car though? (the driver was being a fucktard from memory though)
 
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