Good bye Australia

If I ever went back to Australia, I'd see a platypus and the penguins again. Kuranda was fun. I'd try to go to the Outback. BYE AUSTRALIA!!!!


Pam/Mom says:

The next day we headed to the airport to return home. Although, we were happy about going home to see Jack & Colby. We were sad to leave. There was so much more to see and do. And I was relieved that Chad hadn't succumbed to some poisonous creature! We'll miss Amanda, too, but she'll follow us home in early Dec. I truly hope we get back to do some more exploring. I've always planned on Chad & Colby doing a semester aboard in college - so here's hoping! It was a great experience and I recommend it for any and all. Yes, the flight was dreadful, but oh the payoff!

If you're interested in learning more about Australia, check out Amanda's blog at http://amandasaustraliatrip@blogspot.com. She was there from July to early December as an exchange student w/Penn State and traveled very extensively.

While we were in Australia, we kept track of different words and little oddities. Here they are:

Maccas = MacDonald's
Milk Bar = Cheap Fast Food (I 1st thought it was chocolate & then I thought it was a WAWA type store - they do have 7 11's & woolworth's there.)
ta = thanks
No worries = a common response to many requests
nasties = general term for all the venomous creatures
stingers = jellyfish
lemonade = lemon soda w/actual lemon juice
mozzies = mosquitoes
cossies = swimming costume = bathing suit
biscuit = hard cookies (like an ANZAC), but there are no American biscuits even at the KFC's here
lots of pumpkin, but no pumpkin pie
lift = elevator
koala = Aborigine for "no water" They meet their water needs from the leaves
kangaroo = Aborigine for "I don't understand" after the English asked, "what's that?
they add o's to lots of words, ie aggressive = aggro
Melbourne is pronounced Mel-bun.
Philly = cream cheese
FAIRY FLOSS!!!! = cotton candy
Period (as in punctuation) = full stop
rice bubbles = Rice Crispies
tomato sauce = ketchup
tea = can mean tea or a meal
bin = trash can
coke is any soda
Aluminum is pronounced very differently and I think only children can pronounce it both ways. An adults' brain won't let you do it both ways.

All school children wear uniforms which include a hat for sun protection.

People sit in the front of a taxi with the driver!!!!! Especially when there's only 1passenger. I was absolutely floored by this. I can't imagine any New Yorkers doing that.

The water swirls down the drain clockwise & in the US its counterclockwise.

The Penguin Parade

Chad & the penguins! The excitement is building!

The Nobbies

They don't exactly encourage you to swim.
Today we went to see penguins. First, we got on a bus and picked up other people. Then we transferred to a big bus. Our first stop, I got a pizza. Turns out it was pineapple and ham. We gave the bus driver my pizza. After that we drove to a winery. I sat outside with the dog. Then we drove to other stops then the PENGUINS!! We watched them come in and they were so small and cute. After that we drove home. I got a PSP. Penguins are better than PSPs!

Weather: Sunny in Melbourne, cooler as we headed south.

Mom/Pam says:
Chad & I set out in the morning to find opals for his grandmothers. They were back in the states doing all the hard work taking care of Colby & Jack, so we could have this great experience. After a few missteps, we finally found Lightning Ridge Opals. It's named after the town where they mine opals. The owner actually used to mine the opals. He gave us a short lesson on opal cutting & quality. He left me to shop, while he showed Chad his backroom of venomous spiders, scorpions & blue tongued lizard. The owner was quite complimentary of how Chad handled himself. It was nice to hear. After some successful shopping, we headed out for our longest trip yet. Chad choose to sit outside in the warm sunshine with the dog and some beautiful rosellas (birds) and not listen to the boring wine tasting. He also stopped at a little zoo. The poor keeper dropped a baby wallaby in front of our group & was quite frazzled after that. I thought we discovered a new animal here "an albeeno," but they were actually talking about the albino wallabies. Quite funny. The we headed to a town for an early dinner, a beach and then the Nobbies. Alas, we only saw 1 seal & 1 penguin there. The place was overrun by seagulls & their babies & their poop, but it was very scenic albeit smelly. On our way to the Parade, we saw our 1st wild wallabies! Finally, we were off to see the fairy penguins, now called little penguins b/c little is more correct b/c they are the littlest penguins. Their biggest threat is foxes and 2 men have the job of making sure no foxes get out to Phillips Island. They are just so darn adorable. No pictures are allowed, so it's all in our heads. You can YouTube them. They come in from the ocean every night at dusk and nest in the hills. They're barely a foot tall & noisy & just adorable as they waddle about - you can't help, but want to pet 1. We were that close. Seeing the penguins was truly a highlight of the trip. Then it was 1 long trip back to Melbourne.