USNR

What type of outlets will we find in Australia? That is, the shape or number of prongs. Thanks.

Judy_in_Calgary

Three cylindrical prongs, arranged like the 3 dots that are used as an abbreviation for "therefore". The plug is larger than the one in North America. Voltage is 220.

Neil_Oz

Er, sorry, Judy, that must be someone else's socket. The Oz plug's pins are flat, and as I peer at one now they look to be about 5mm wide and 1mm thick. They're arranged as you describe, like a "therefore" symbol; the top one is angled straight up-down and the two lower ones are angled out at what looks like 45 degrees. (USNR, now you're thoroughly confused, I guess the short answer is that if your gizmos have American plugs you'll need to buy an adaptor. You can buy them in Australia at duty-free stores and travel goods stores.)

Judy_in_Calgary

>>>>>>Er, sorry, Judy, that must be someone else's socket. The Oz plug's pins are flat<<<<<<

Arghhhh! That's what comes from having lived in too many places. What I described was the South African plug! Thanks for the save, Neil. Anyway, as you said, it doesn't really matter what the plug looks like. The bottom line is that someone taking a North American electrical appliance to Oz is going to need an adaptor.

benderbabe

Hi. Originally from San Francisco, but I've been living in Sydney, Australia for about 10 years. The power plug configuration here is two flat prongs which are tilted in at the top 45 degrees and one flat prong underneath, running vertically which is the ground.

You can view a photo of an Australian power plug here...

http://creativestock.com/stock/idp669.html

It doesn't look dissimilar to an american plug except that the top prongs are turned in, and they almost ALWAYS have the third grounding prong these days.

And yes, the voltage here is 220-240v, so since the US uses 110-120v or thereabouts, you will need some sort of converter to use your appliances here...otherwise your appliances are likely to blow up!

Some hair dryers and things have a switch on them which can be adjusted to 240v when over here, so you might want to check.

If it's a computer you're wanting to use, then check the power supply...if it has a little box in the middle of the cord, that's probably a box to convert the power to something like 9 or 12 volt from whatever the wall power is, and it will probably just be able to be plugged directly into the wall here.

In any case, it should say the input and output range on it...if it says the input is 110 - 240v then it covers the whole range, and will be able to convert so is not a problem. In fact, your computer manufacturer may very well have included a part of the power cord with an australian plug on it, which was provided with the unit. If not, you should be able to pick up an adapter pretty cheap...if not there, then at the airport as you're leaving.

Good luck!

P.S. - Things are cheap here, if it's a problem with the power conversion, I'd say just go to a supermarket when you get here and buy a cheap version of whatever appliance you need, and throw it away when you leave. It's less hassle.

USNR

Thanks to all for this abundance of good information. We're really looking forward to our month in Tasmania and on the mainland. The wife is much more at ease -- now that the curling iron questions are answered.

MD

We had both the 2 prong and 3-prong adaptors. I don't recall an instance where the 2-prong didn't work.

Most electrical supplies for electronic equipment will say on them, 100V-240V 50-60Hz (As the input voltage). If they say this they'll work with A-NZ's power. My camera battery chargers, Archos MP3, and other devices worked fine. (Just like my laptop worked OK with the 240V in Europe.)

himejichild

On the subject of plugs/voltage, I have a few small appliances from Japan (digital camera and cd walkman) that need small adaptor plugs. I'm wondering if there could be any problems with voltage, as it's about 110 in Japan. Help!