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Foreign electricity

21:00 / 10.06.03

I am going to Melbourne for the summer. Yayy. However, I am going to have to do some work on my PhD while I am there and the laydee with whom I am staying is (a) as big a Luddite as I am and (b) possessed of a very ancient Mac whereof I know not how it works, nor it me.

Accordingly, I have bought a very crappy laptop off ebay on which to type my brilliant thoughts about whatever the fuck this fucking thing is supposed to be about....

Ahem. The crappy laptop (previously owned, incidentally, by a sex fiend who may have deleted all his files but who does not know how to clear the list of files last viewed on his Media Player) has a modem inside it, and little cables to plug it into a phone point & a power point.

A British phone point/power point, that is.

Since you people can play the same videos as me, unlike Americans, I assumed you would also have good British electricity and phones: but from the amateurish sketch of an Australian phone plug I have been sent by the aforementioned laydee, it seems that the situation is not so simple. Not by a long shot. I am, that is, dealing with foreign electricity.

I know there are people here who have done the UK/Oz commuting thing - does anyone know what I should do about this? Buy an adapter here? Where from? Buy a new phone/power lead there? Just give up and stay in God's country where the electricity is normal? (But I have paid for my ticket, so I can't.)

Any other tips about how to adjust to life in Melbourne, or things I should have thought of already but haven't, or little amusing anecdotes about culture clashes, would be appreciated.

But if anyone posts any pictures of the giant mutated spiders which I understand infest every nook and cranny in Australia to this thread, I will be very cross.

21:09 / 10.06.03

Less searchable M0rd4nt

21:11 / 10.06.03

Fear not, my award-winning chum. They will have adaptors for the leccy, possibly even available at the airport shops. If not, try a TV or computer shop. I assume that the phone thing is a matter of plug shape, so you'll prolly be able to get an adaptor for that too.

Don't know how stable the electricity supply is in Oz. You may want to spend a little more and get an adaptor with a surge protector for your computer's power supply. Something like a Rough Guide will probably tell you what you need to know.

21:14 / 10.06.03

I think the phone jacks are the same innay? I haven't had any problem with laptops and phones wherever I've been. Admittedly, not Oz.

21:27 / 10.06.03

Ooh! A Rough Guide! I genuinely hadn't thought of that. (I don't travel, as a rule, so I am thrown into a tizzy at the most minor things.) Thanks, Mordant.

(I'm not talking to you, fridge

)

00:45 / 11.06.03

The phone jacks and electricity plugs are different but adaptors are easier to by on your way out, rather than in. When going the reverse way, I had a horrible time finding an oz>uk adaptor and wished I bought one earlier.

Some information about world power plugs.

The Return Of Rothkoid

01:48 / 11.06.03

Pick up an adaptor before you leave. High street electrical stores sell them, though the name of one has disappeared from mind. Dixons? Maybe. Depends - there's a couple. There's one that looks like a smaller laptop cable (a newer one) and an old one from Ye Olde Dayes Of Analogue. You can get adaptors here (try Dick Smith or Tandy - they're ubiquitous) for a couple of bucks. It's not a worry.

Just remember, though, that you won't be covered for any damage that occurs to your laptop from the phone system. It's unlikely such a thing would happen anyway, as telephony equipment certification is probably identical to the UK, but I was reminded by the staff at Dick Smith that technically speaking, it's illegal to stick a non-Austel-approved item into the phone system. But just ignore that, I guess. I've gone both ways and have found using the systems to be easy as pie - you just have to know what to ask for at the shop.

Make sure your ISP has a local number here, though, or you're in trouble. AOL (boo hiss) have an Australian operation, should you need to use them. Unlike the UK, calls aren't metered - if they're local - but are charged a flat rate, varying between 16 and 25c per call, IIRC.

Power-wise? Bring an extension board if you're bringing a couple of things to plug in. Power adaptors are easily enough found.

Lemme know what else you need to know.

Final advice? Ignore that Crocodile Hunter fuckhead. I'm planning on hunting him down and killing him. Right after Edna Everage.

05:18 / 11.06.03

High street electrical stores sell them, though the name of one has disappeared from mind

Given they seem to stock just about every conceivable electrical product known to man, Maplins will almost certainly have what you're looking for.

ONLY NICE THINGS

09:54 / 11.06.03

Maplin is the way of the gods - oh yes. You can order online also, I think, but if you have one local on Gauda Secunda, popping in for a chat might be wise. They are the gods of cabling in human form, and their staff are up to eight times more malodourous and omniscient than Dixons.

Also, the WH Smiths at any decent-sized airport will sell adaptors...

07:23 / 17.06.03

Thank you, you are all lovely and I am hie-ing me to Maplins as we speak, while running in fear from The Mutant Spider Who Knows My Name and sparing a moment to kick any passing crocodile hunters.

Now I have another question: does anyone know a good tattooist in Melbourne? I just want a little squiggly drawing done, in one colour.

08:10 / 17.06.03

Is it true that they have a heavy electricity program out there?

The Return Of Rothkoid

08:18 / 17.06.03

Yes. It powers the roo I ride into work.