Saturday, October 31

Halloween. There's been a few articles in the paper lately about the need to crack down on teenage pranks, as last year they had some problems down by the beach. Sounds very similar to the US with eggs being thrown, pumpkins smashed, that kind of thing.

Well everyone is talking about the Melbourne Cup, which takes place on Tuesday. Sounds comparable to the Kentucky Derby, if you live in Kentucky; but although Melbourne is on the East coast, everyone really gets into it here as well. People get really dressed up (must wear a hat) and not a goofy bird watching hat either, those don't look good with a dress and heels. Then everyone goes to a restaurant, where the prices are pretty much doubled, to watch the race on big screen TV's. There is betting, which is apparently government sponsored? or at least allowed, and it sounds like everybody gets off work to do this. Someone even said it's a public holiday, but I'm not sure about that. Bill's office sent him an invitation to attend, which he ignored as he figured he has way too much work to do, but he was told that everyone goes, so I told him he'd better plan on wearing a suit to work that day. I guess I'm invited too, but all I have to wear are blue jeans or hiking pants, Bill's ratty old sweatshirt and of course one of my bird watching hats. Better plan on staying home.

Well I actually found Travelzoo, the Australia version, on line, even though the US version told me they were still working on getting a site that specialized on travel deals originating in Australia. So it will be great to see what kinds of deals they offer here.

Picked up a few more aussi terms, like "moggies"means cats, "dodgy" is shoddy, and "grotty" is unpleasant or offensive.

One of Bill's coworkers loaned us a small T.V., but without cable you only get 4 channels. Cable sounds pretty similar to what is offered in the US, with various packages offering movie channels, kids programs, an aussie version of HGTV etc.

Friday, October 30

In today's paper, an article on Sunday trading hours, and the mayor of Subiaco says starting January 1, 2010, stores will have the option of being open on Sundays and staying open during the week until 8 or 9:00 p.m. This is really a big deal, and there are lots of letters from people who say "Just leave things as they've always been." One of the letters read "No one needs to shop on Sundays or after 6:00pm during the week." Another letter claimed that the labor party, which would be comparable to our democratic party, was voted out in the last election because "they pushed for day light savings time" and that the "liberal party (comparable to our republican party) are pushing for Sunday hours and this will be their downfall." It's a very controversial issue, but it looks as though things are changing and the hours are going to be extended. Of course, this won't happen until after the Christmas shopping season is over, when you would expect stores to be open later.

Thursday, October 29

Bad day to leave my camera at home, saw lots of cool birds and even some wildflowers that I'd not seen before, erghhhh. There were two galahs on the ground, eating flowers, and they let me get really close, which they ordinarily don't do. Then I ran into the family of ducks I've been watching, the babies have grown a bunch since I last saw them and there are still 13 left, from the 14 they started with. There was also another new family of 6 babies, they look like they're only about 2 weeks old, so cute. Although I've seen kookaburras before, I'd never heard one until today, and it is easy to see why they're called laughing kookaburras. The best way I can describe the call is a oh-wah, oh-wah, hee, hee, hee. Very strange, and really did sound like he was laughing. There's another bird that sounds like a car alarm, haven't figured out what they're called yet, but Oz definitely has some strange sounding birds.

Well we got a new car today, halleluja. The one they gave Bill initially was called a Commodore, big old thing with super heavy doors that nearly takes your foot off at the ankle if your leg is out as the door swings closed. Which it does all the time. The best way to describe the car was "clunky" and it had some major blind spots. So, Bill mentioned that he would really prefer a much smaller car, and something that wasn't 11 years old, and they seemed shocked and embarrassed that he had been given such an old car. So, they gave him a 2007 Ford Focus and he is now a happy camper.

Wednesday, October 28

I think I am turning into a birder. I used to think birdwatchers were old people that wore funny hats, but I do have a couple of goofy hats I brought with me...hmm.... Today I came upon a magpie, having a confrontation with a kookaburra, and although I took a lot of pics, they are locked in the camera until our stuff arrives, since I forgot to put the card back in the camera. Basically the kookaburra (who has a very long beak) kept pushing dirt at the magpie, who ended up calling in 3 of his buddies to help him out. When it ended up 4 against 1 the kookaburra gave up and flew off, and the magpies were left with all the dirt they wanted.

Did something yesterday I haven't done in a very long time - hung sheets out on the clothesline to dry. The last time I tried that in CA (many, many years ago) they came out as stiff as a board, but here, even without any fabric softener, they felt great. So does that mean it's the water, or the air, or what is it that's so different?

I do laundry most days of the week, since the washer and dryer are hobbit sized, and the washer only holds one sheet at a time. See the above pic - tiny little things, as is the frig.

Speaking of hobbits, they have shires here, seems fitting, somehow.

People here take the sun very seriously, as they should, and there are more dermatologists than just about anywhere else. School kids are not allowed to go outside for recess without a hat, and they must use sunscreen as well.

Well, we're hoping to get our internet hooked up by the time our stuff arrives, but Bill thinks it must be coming by way of donkey, since he ordered it 4 weeks ago. At first we were told we'd have to have dial-up, but apparently there are other companies that do provide high speed internet. Hallelujah.

Tuesday, October 27

Was checking the classified ads last night for a BBQ, and there was an ad for a book, "Windows 98 for Dummies" and the asking price was $20. Yikes. In computer years that's probably about 30 years out of date.

Well we've had our first encounter with Australia's infamous insects - Bill got a tick. It was actually in there for about a week, and had become quite engorged with blood, but it came out easily and he's suffered no ill affects. The worst tick illness here sounds like it would be tick paralysis or something like that, I forget the exact name, but it's pretty nasty.

When we were here house-hunting, the relocation lady began talking with one of the realtors who was showing me a house. Donna said to the realtor, "I'm sure Vicki's heard all kinds of stories about our red-backed spiders but honestly, have you ever heard of anyone being bitten by one?" After a bit of a pause she answered, "Well, yeah actually, my husband." After learning that he had, in fact, survived the bite, Donna assured me that this was very unusual. Then she asked the lady, "Well, everyone always talks about tiger snakes, and I don't know anyone that's ever seen one of those." Again the lady paused and replied, "Well we have them in our yard." Donna was flabbergasted but was quick to assure me that this lady lived out in the bush and no one ever sees snakes in the city, where we would be living.

We saw this tree while walking in Kings Park and I told Bill, "Looks like we're not in Kansas anymore Toto." We've both said that to one another a few times since, as well.

Saturday, October 24, continued...

As we were getting on the freeway, a sign said, "No livestock to be riden or driven on highway." Not something you'd typically see on a CA freeway. We saw a great sign last weekend, it was a picture of a dinosaur, and underneath it said, next 7 kilometers. After our hike we stopped at a fish and chips place and while looking at the local paper, there was a picture of the dinosour sign. The article said local police had no idea who had posted the sign, which they believed was "a stab at the local residents" and they promised to have it removed by the end of the month. (Nothing ever gets done quickly here.)

When we got to the wildlife park, Bill pulled over and said "You drive." I was NOT prepared (figured I needed to get mentally ready) but I guess my lame attempt to get out of it didn't get me too far when I asked him what would happen if I didn't have my license with me. Anyway, I felt like a brand new driver, and kept turning on the windshield wipers everytime I tried to put on the turn signal, like everybody else does. I did O.K., but kept feeling like I was going to hit the curb.

Saturday, October 25

Went to Caversham Wildlife Park and took about 250 photos! Amazing to be able to get right up to the koalas and pet them, and to walk around with a bunch of kangaroos. We'd never even seen a wombat before, but got our picture with one, and this was the first time we'd ever seen tasmanian devils that were not sleeping. It was feeding time just as we were leaving and the devils had a tug of war over the meat that was thrown to them. Noisy little buggers.

They had a very interesting farm show, where they demonstrated how the sheep hearding dogs work, and then they sheared a sheep. The guy doing the narrating invited everyone to come down and rub their hands on the newly sheared sheep, to get the lanolin which can then be rubbed all over your skin for a smooth, silky feel. He then admitted that you'll stink like a sheep but your skin will be very soft. After the show Bill chatted with the narrator for a while as I waited in line to try milking a cow, pretty easy but I imagine your hands would get tired awfully fast.

When we were in with the kangaroos, a woman actually laid down with one of them to have her picture taken, and lets just say she was wearing kangaroo poo on her clothes for the rest of the day, cause it was all over the ground. Bill was concerned they might smell it on his breath, since he'd just had a "skippy burger" before going into the park. He couldn't decide between the kangaroo burger and the emu burger, but liked the sound of the skippy burger.

Before leaving the park, I filled out a volunteer form, so maybe they'll call me and I can work there, probably cleaning up some of that kangaroo poo.