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Any suitcase you choose should be small, have strong wheels (the bigger the better) and a handle that slides out of the way when not being used. It will save you hunting for trolleys at airports and bus stations. Take a note of what the airline flight crews take for their own use.
Personally, I consider a backpack or rucksack far easier to carry. Some of these useful travel bags even have a small, detachable ‘day pack’ for walking around town day trips after you’ve left the main pack at your hotel (or a left-luggage locker).
Electricity
Before you weigh yourself down bringing any electrical gadgets with you, consider… Will it run on Australian A/C mains voltage? Ours is 240 volts, which will burn up anything designed for 110 v (such as the US or Japan). The UK and much of Europe works on 200v, so it will probably be alright – but especially delecate gizmos have been known to burn out occasionally. Ask your local friendly electrician at home, or the appliance’s manufacturer. There are two other differences, too.
Firstly, our AC (alternating current) pulses at 50 Hz – that’s 50 times a second – while in the US and Japan its 60 Hz. Most modern gadgetry won’t care a hoot, unless it’s a clock that relies on the pulses to stay accurate.
The second difference is the shape of your power plugs and our wall sockets. You can pick up adapters at airport shops (most expensive) or at any Dick Smith store in Australia. And in Sydney, you can get the adapters in the Woolworths’ Metro Town Hall store, on the corner of George and Park Streets and just opposite the Town Hall and the diagonally across the square from the QVB Building. Incidentally, I traveled to China recently and discovered that they use the same shape power plugs and sockets as we do here in Australia. Isn’t that amazing?
Computers
Most Laptop Computers have ‘universal’ or switching power supplies that don’t care if the AC mains supply is 240v or 110v, but read the instructions on the power transformer to be sure. All you need now is a plug adapter, or possibly just a replacement power cord, from any Australian computer store that sells laptops, notebook and netbook computers.
And as for Batteries, dry cells or rechargeables, you can buy them anywhere over here. We call them D cells (torch/flashlight size), C cells (medium size), AA (penlight size) or AAA (very tiny penlight). There are also 9v transistor radio batteries, and large chunky 6v torch and lantern batteries. While you’re in Sydney, you could check out Jaycar Electronics in York Street near Town Hall, opposite the Queen Victoria Building. They can provide you with most kinds of batteries, cheap dry cells, rechargable batteries and chargers, alkaline batteries or whatever you require.
Cellphones (we call them Mobile Phones) in Australia are expensive to use in Roaming mode, and most US phones won’t work here anyhow. If you plan on being here a month or more, it would make more sense to buy a cheap prepaid mobile phone locally, and chuck it out when you leave. Most mobile phone stores can sell you a brand new phone for about $50 (Australian) that includes at least $30 worth of calls. If money is tight, keep your calls short and get other people to phone you!
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