Brit shocked by Aussie beach trend that 'everyone does': 'Makes my day'
An Aussie wouldn't think twice about this sandy act, but for Poms, it's clearly come as a surprise.
A British expat has revealed one major difference that surprised her down under after a trip to the beach on the Sunshine Coast.
“Things they need to tell you before travelling to Australia,” Jordana Grace, known as That British Girl online, told her TikTok followers in a video which has since gone viral, racking up more than 14,500 views. She went on to explain that the hack was “a little beach thing that just makes my day”.
“Okay, so you’re heading to the beach,” she says while walking across a beach carpark. “You’ve got your flip flops on and you don’t wanna carry them on the beach. So this is what everyone does.”
In the next clip, three pairs of thongs can be seen scattered across the ground, where the concrete footpath meets the sand. “Everyone just leaves their shoes by the beach and they’re here when you come back,” Jordana says while kicking off her own shoes.
“I don't know if this is the same around Australia but here on the Sunshine Coast you leave your shoes by the beach and they’re still there when you get back and I just love it.”
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The video ends with the TikToker returning to the footpath. “Just finished my walk and…,” she explains, before cutting to the pile of shoes, “there they are!”
Aussies divided over beach tip
More than 70 people have already commented on Jordana’s video, but followers are split over whether or not this beach behaviour is considered typical across the country.
“Yup, it happens all around Australia,” one person wrote. “Can confirm, it’s a fact,” said another. “I’ve lived on the Gold Coast and Central Coast and South Coast of New South Wales and yes people leave their thongs and flip flops at the entrance to the beach.”
But others denied that it was a thing. “Never seen or heard of this,” one person said, “I’ve been in Melbourne for nearly 10 years and I’ve never seen this,” added another. While others said it would be “risky doing that in Adelaide because people steal them” or that “in Queensland summer time the sand is hot as lava and you need something to walk on so you can get to the water”.
Aussie cultural shocks
The Aussie culture shocks didn’t end there for Jordana. In another TikTok video, the content creator explained her shock at swimsuits being called togs in Australia and that Aussie lingo can be different in each state.
Driving barefoot was another local behaviour that Jordana failed to comprehend, until she found herself at the wheel without shoes six months later. “It’s so normal here, everyone does it,” a caption on the clip read.
While many Aussie followers argued that togs was only a Queensland term, people in Perth and Adelaide said they call them bathers, and those in New South Wales referred to them as swimmers.
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