Land of Oz!

First and most importantly, Happy Holidays!!!  Hope this season finds you savoring  time with folks you love or doing something you adore!

Tony and I arrived in Australia 9 days ago!  We started in Sydney, then made our way west to the Blue Mountains….  It’s been odd to see strolling carolers donning cut-off-shorts and a santa-hat, Christmas trees in leafy gardens surrounded by bright, blooming flowers and children queued to sit in Santa’s lap in an outdoor courtyard.   As this is the year of Chasing the Sun all is as it should be with us.

Other than recognizing the Sydney Opera House (which we toured) and the Sydney Harbor Bridge (whose arches we have climbed), I didn’t really know much about the Antipodeans!

First impressions….

It’s big! Australia is the size of the continental US with a population of slightly more than Florida.  That means, like the US, it has a car culture.  They have even adopted the same practice of affixing little stick likenesses to the rear windows of their vehicles illustrating each family member’s avocation.

It’s casual!  Women wear flat shoes, flip-flops and hiking boots!  Happy feet!

It’s expensive!  In a mid-range casual italian eatery a liter bottle of still water was A$12.50 – that’s GB£ 7 or US$ 11 – “tap please”.  By the way, that “paper” money is plastic.

The people…

Are way honest! I tried-on a dress in a little outdoor market.  I commented, “It’s a little tight”, thinking to myself, it’s not toooo bad.  The proprietor commented, “It’s waaay too tight, you can’t sit down in that girl.”  Ouch.

Very proud of their killer wildlife! They are quick boast the world’s deadliest snake, spider, crocs, sharks…  What they don’t prepare you for is the flies.  Big flies, little flies, always there are flies.  Even in an upscale restaurant in the Blue Mountains, there were flies.  Tony and I  were eating and swatting.  A British diner insisted the flies be eliminated.  The Australians sitting next to us began to defend the flies, saying in that voice that’s intended for other patrons to hear, “It’s impossible to fight the flies.  What are they going to do, run off the kangaroos too?!?”

Kinda’ interesting things I’ve learned so far….

• When we toured the Sydney Opera House, I learned that when ground was broken and building began for this iconic building, no one had any idea how they would build the roof.  The technology didn’t even exist yet.
• When the Sydney Harbor Bridge was under construction, the residents were totally disappointed as they knew their horses would never climb the arches to get to the other side of the harbor.  The builders of the bridge took out full-page ads in the city newspapers encouraging everyone to take heart, the arch was not the road, the road would be added next.

• The Blue Mountains are called that because, wait for it, they look blue!  That is due to the all the eucalyptus trees.  The oil they release has a blue tint.  This oil also makes them combustable, which is why fires are common in the Blue Mountains.

Next the Hunter Valley…..