Australia.... The Island Saga

[BOZO]

 
While visiting the land of the long white cloud my boss decided that we should go out for dinner.
Having not been out for dinner in a while,(an EXPENSIVE Activity) I was ready to eat just about anything. Well except for fish, food is supposed to be enjoyed, not played with picking out bones that will get stuck in your throat and kill you. Anything else better watch out, with enough spices I could make dry dogs turds taste like oxtail.
My opinion was, if you are paying, I'm eating! Normally when I travel alone I try to keep the bills as low as possible as there tends to be a hidden list of what they will pay for and what they won’t. It’s a secret list which I have not seen yet. So in true African style, not knowing when this opportunity will come round again I was keen.
A short walk from our hotel we found a restaurant called Mexico Britomart, ahhhhh Mexican food. Tequila!! And the vibe was awesome!! 
We decided that this would be our destination for the evening.
Finding it hard to choose which flavour I weighed up my choices and went with 3 out of the 5 taco's  beef, chicken and pork. extra chillies.
Serves me right!
Because today, its don’t wipe just dab........
Just love the decor!!!!

[BOZO]

Its that time of the year. 
Anybody that owns a car in Victoria knows this time.
Its not like Christmas or Easter, and it not like SpringDay. These arrive on different days for everyone. And If you happen to have more than one veee-hhhh-ache-hill you get to have this more than once.
Its called Rego day. I got mine in the email this morning.
Opening your wallet to pay this beast causes enough mental and physical distress to tighten your sphincter so tight that even Archimedes who said
“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”
wouldn't be able to release that tension.
It doesn't really matter what currency you convert this into its expensive.
If you don't pay it...boom your car is on the road illegally and if they catch you, (and they will) its a fine and you cant drive your car any further...

[silvrav]

Its that time of the year. 
Anybody that owns a car in Victoria knows this time.
Its not like Christmas or Easter, and it not like SpringDay. These arrive on different days for everyone. And If you happen to have more than one veee-hhhh-ache-hill you get to have this more than once.
Its called Rego day. I got mine in the email this morning.
Opening your wallet to pay this beast causes enough mental and physical distress to tighten your sphincter so tight that even Archimedes who said
“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”
wouldn't be able to release that tension.
It doesn't really matter what currency you convert this into its expensive.
If you don't pay it...boom your car is on the road illegally and if they catch you, (and they will) its a fine and you cant drive your car any further...

  I take back you lucky for delivery of foods....I rather have NZ rego

columns are 3,6 and 12months respectively

but for bikes, times it by 4 atleast as bike rego here is kak expensive

[IanTheTooth]

Yes, they took $491 out of my pocket for a bike in QLD of which $160 is the obligatory insurance. It is quite a bit cheaper to rego it for solo use only and as BOZO says, if you decide to not bother and use it on the farm for a couple of years you still have to pay $40 for a COR before they will re-register it to use locally on the roads so most of the kids here have unlicensed bikes and vanish into the bush when the police arrive. My son got a police car stuck in a cane field chasing a kid on a TTR230 which he said was a lot quicker than he expected. Told him he should have left well alone. The car rego is much worse and is the reason why Australians don't have a few cars to choose from in the garage like we did in RSA. There is a special rate for collectors and vintage cars but there are restrictions about using them too often, like driving to work 5 days a week.

[BOZO]

Nothing like taking in the tail pipe.... 
We have 2 cars and 1 bike. They all fall inline Aug, Sept,Oct.
The bike is no cheaper.  AND the coppers here are RUTHLESS.
Give an Aussie a ticket book and they will bitterly / literally write you up for breathing.... takes "keeping an eye on things" to a whole new level..

.

[immigrant]

You guys are amateurs when it comes to insurance.....

[mox]

Nee fok, I would walk.

[Sylvester]

You guys are amateurs when it comes to insurance.....

So, insurance on a 800cc Yamaha motorcycle is $2391 p.a. and more than on a 2016 GMC Crewcab 4 x 4.

Within 4 years you could replace the bike just on the money you spent on insurance. 

[Wolzak]

Nothing like taking in the tail pipe.... 
We have 2 cars and 1 bike. They all fall inline Aug, Sept,Oct.
The bike is no cheaper.  AND the coppers here are RUTHLESS.
Give an Aussie a ticket book and they will bitterly / literally write you up for breathing.... takes "keeping an eye on things" to a whole new level..

.

Pre 95 the White Spietkops in SA were the same, I remember one frothing at the Mouth and trembling uncontrollable while writing a Ticket because my reverse Light was not working.

[Sylvester]

Nothing like taking in the tail pipe.... 
We have 2 cars and 1 bike. They all fall inline Aug, Sept,Oct.
The bike is no cheaper.  AND the coppers here are RUTHLESS.
Give an Aussie a ticket book and they will bitterly / literally write you up for breathing.... takes "keeping an eye on things" to a whole new level..

.

Ruthless towards the people wanting to obey the law.

When it comes to breaking up a Sudanese teenage racket, you will find the coppers pretty useless.

[Tman21]

Nothing like taking in the tail pipe.... 
We have 2 cars and 1 bike. They all fall inline Aug, Sept,Oct.
The bike is no cheaper.  AND the coppers here are RUTHLESS.
Give an Aussie a ticket book and they will bitterly / literally write you up for breathing.... takes "keeping an eye on things" to a whole new level..

.

Ruthless towards the people wanting to obey the law.

When it comes to breaking up a Sudanese teenage racket, you will find the coppers pretty useless.

Look, ill admire any sort of efficiency at this point and time.

[BigEd]

Look, ill admire any sort of efficiency at this point and time.

I'm with you...

[Sardine]

I am so glad I started reading this.
Your writing style is fantastic and has me laughing out loud!

[immigrant]

You guys are amateurs when it comes to insurance.....

So, insurance on a 800cc Yamaha motorcycle is $2391 p.a. and more than on a 2016 GMC Crewcab 4 x 4.

Within 4 years you could replace the bike just on the money you spent on insurance.

I forgot to mention there is still a deductible when you claim and I have no choice when it comes to insurance. There is only provincial government insurance. If you want to ride/drive you have to pay the above prices. BUT we can get insurance for only a week at a time and we can buy and cancel online. So if I see it is going to rain next week, I can cancel my bike insurance till the weather improves, and in the winter I cancel my bike insurance altogether (but maintain fire and theft) Realistically my bikes are probably only insured for 3 months a year so they get  very little in premiums but have a potential big payout in case of an accident since that insurance covers lifetime medical expenses, loss of income , home renovations like wheelchair ramps etc. They calculate bike insurance on risk of injury, not necessarily on value of the bike itself

[BigEd]

I forgot to mention there is still a deductible when you claim and I have no choice when it comes to insurance. There is only provincial government insurance. If you want to ride/drive you have to pay the above prices. BUT we can get insurance for only a week at a time and we can buy and cancel online. So if I see it is going to rain next week, I can cancel my bike insurance till the weather improves, and in the winter I cancel my bike insurance altogether (but maintain fire and theft) Realistically my bikes are probably only insured for 3 months a year so they get  very little in premiums but have a potential big payout in case of an accident since that insurance covers lifetime medical expenses, loss of income , home renovations like wheelchair ramps etc. They calculate bike insurance on risk of injury, not necessarily on value of the bike itself

Ah, the fun of living in the first world. It just works.

Here you get a payout of your vehicle's trade in if a St Bernard used it as a chew toy...if that. And if your car was stolen, but the tyres were a little run down, well, you get nothing. Farkers...

[Ri]

I forgot to mention there is still a deductible when you claim and I have no choice when it comes to insurance. There is only provincial government insurance. If you want to ride/drive you have to pay the above prices. BUT we can get insurance for only a week at a time and we can buy and cancel online. So if I see it is going to rain next week, I can cancel my bike insurance till the weather improves, and in the winter I cancel my bike insurance altogether (but maintain fire and theft) Realistically my bikes are probably only insured for 3 months a year so they get  very little in premiums but have a potential big payout in case of an accident since that insurance covers lifetime medical expenses, loss of income , home renovations like wheelchair ramps etc. They calculate bike insurance on risk of injury, not necessarily on value of the bike itself

Ah, the fun of living in the first world. It just works.

Here you get a payout of your vehicle's trade in if a St Bernard used it as a chew toy...if that. And if your car was stolen, but the tyres were a little run down, well, you get nothing. Farkers...

Really? My car was written off with 100,000 km and the insurer paid out slightly more than book value.

[silvrav]

You guys are amateurs when it comes to insurance.....

So, insurance on a 800cc Yamaha motorcycle is $2391 p.a. and more than on a 2016 GMC Crewcab 4 x 4.

Within 4 years you could replace the bike just on the money you spent on insurance.

Yip, same in NZ and I believe the same in Aus but @BOZO can confirm

The reasom being the risk of medical expenses and support services to scrape you of the tarmac is much higher then with a car. So here the goverment says why must the rest pay for it? So the bike license and insurance is higher due to the higher risk.

  ok ok @immigrant you win

[Sylvester]

Nothing like taking in the tail pipe.... 
We have 2 cars and 1 bike. They all fall inline Aug, Sept,Oct.
The bike is no cheaper.  AND the coppers here are RUTHLESS.
Give an Aussie a ticket book and they will bitterly / literally write you up for breathing.... takes "keeping an eye on things" to a whole new level..

.

Ruthless towards the people wanting to obey the law.

When it comes to breaking up a Sudanese teenage racket, you will find the coppers pretty useless.

Look, ill admire any sort of efficiency at this point and time.

I am with you on that one mate.

My point is - sometimes the strengths of the first world can also be it's weakness. Too many human and individual rights rendering the authorities powerless.

I remember a story in the news about a year ago - a party one night in a rental property in Melbourne that became ugly and violent with furniture flying through the windows and walls and doors getting bashed in, etc.

The landlord and coppers were standing on the pavement watching it all but unable to move in and stop it because of tenant rights, etc.

[DUSTRIDERS]

When it comes to breaking up a Sudanese teenage racket, you will find the coppers pretty useless.

Do they cause any problems?

[BOZO]

Pre 95 the White Spietkops in SA were the same, I remember one frothing at the Mouth and trembling uncontrollable while writing a Ticket because my reverse Light was not working.

Yep, But they also had a sense of humor. About that time was was on my bike on my way someplace. I was pulled over for not coming to a complete stop.
When I handed over my green ID book with my license in he looked at my picture and just started laughing at me, he called over his chommie and the two of then had a good giggle.
After about 5 minutes they let me go with the following comment.... (in Afrikaans,) "Thanks for making my day. Dont do it again. And this is illegal by the way."

I had cut out he face of Jim Carey from Ace Venture and sticky taped it over my face in my id-book. (its the small things in life that make me laugh)