on australian currency

okay. when my family sat down and worked out the fine print of me coming to australia, you know, eletricity, health insurance et cetera, we decided that the best way for me to have access to money was travelers checks, acquired in the states and transferred to australian dollars at an obvious moneychanging facility. that way, one could avoid credit card financing charges (which your card may or may not have), and atm charges (which your bank may or may not have), or worries that one might run out of resources without realizing it.

now, don't get me wrong. this is a good plan, and for anyone travelling to australia, do consider it. however, it can be inconvenient at times. banks aren't always open (meaning hardly ever), plus i've experienced in both banks, currency exchanges (which are more common downtown, but also not always accessible) charge an $8 AUD. now, if you're changing $100, it's not a huge deal. $100 gets you somewhere around $110 AUD, so when they take away eight of them, it's like breaking almost even. prices in australia aren't too much higher, maybe only by a couple bucks--depending on where you go and what you buy. and stuff.

what i suggest, to any future ASCers, is to find a way to make use of ATMs. they're all over. there are two banks i've seen in almost every suburb i've been in thus far (okay, i'll give, it's only been about two weeks), are national australian bank and commonwealth bank. some banks in america (like, i've heard bank of america, but that's just hearsay) are affiliated with these two banks and you can find a way to access your funds fairly easily via atm, maybe without charge? check it out before you get here to see if your bank is afflilated with either of those two. or look into opening an account with one. or consider travelers checks. your call.

but be sure that whatever you get here and try to do anything electronic, you call your bank or credit card company and tell them you're going to be using their services overseas. apparently when your account, usually receiving charges from somewhere in the midwest (or other region, what have you) starts to get charges from the other side of the planet, it's high-profile fishy. your account provider can/will keep you from withdrawing more, or anything at all. and trust me, it's easier to make calls to your company while still in the states. so just do it.

nothing too much new today. i'm finding that my photography class might be more challenging than i thought. but at the end, i'll know how to take a picture of a penguin in front of a mountain while the sun is setting behind it. (this particular setup almost made my mind explode today. it was hilarious.)
thanks.