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Saturday, December 4, 2010

Memories of Australia

I popped over to Dribble to visit Mynx and saw her beautiful pics of Christmas shopping in 97 degree weather and it took me on a pleasant trip down memory lane.  I had the good fortune of living in a little village (about 2000 people) in South Australia for a couple of years in the early 1990's...it was a great experience and I love Aussies!!!



My favorite things about Australia:

1.  The people...very down to earth, unpretentious, "what-you-see-is-what-you-get".  I was very fortunate that several Aussie's "took me under their wings" so I could truly experience Australia and not just the tourist aspects...I will be forever grateful to them.

2.  The Aussie sense of humor...the people I got to know had a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor....much like mine...I fit right in :-)

3.  The weather...where I lived the forcast was the same every day...hot and sunny...no humidity!  It only rained twice the entire time I was there...bad for plants, great for Dad :-)

4.  The slang....a blue = a fight, POME = Prisoner of Mother England, thunderbox = outhouse, arvo = afternoon, pissed = drunk, smoko = break time, loo = toilet...they have a million of them...fair dinkum (honest).

5.  The beer.....I was never a beer drinker...until I went to Australia...West End Export and Victoria Bitter were the two I liked best...stay away from XXXX beer, it results in farts that will peel paint off the walls!

6.  Imparja Television..we only got two tv channels...Imparja is owned by Aboriginal tribes...some great programming about living in the outback.

My least favorite things about Australia

1.  Vegemite....a dark brown Australian food paste made from yeast extract...one word...yuck!!!  I had a mate explain that one had to be introduced to vegemite before the age of two in order to tolerate the taste :-)

2.  Cricket...booooooorrrrrrring and it seems to go on forever!!!  With only two tv channels, when the 7 day matches were on...I didn't even bother turning on the tube.

3.  Grudges...never met people that could hold a grudge for so long....I knew some guys that had been mad at each other for so long they couldn't even remember why they got mad in the first place!

4.  Flies...never seen so many friggin' flies in all my life!!!  Little bastards are everywhere!

Well I've gotta go be Dad...JM needs me to relocate the wire for her tv cable...it's great to be needed :-)

11 comments:

Rebecca said...

i have always wanted to visit Australia it looks to be a beautiful country. sounds as though you truly enjoyed your time there

SSW said...

Beautiful post...I would like to go there one day. My sister and bro-in-law have a planned 14 day trip there the summer my nephew graduates! Their calling it their Empty Nest Celebration!

Jumble Mash said...

Can't wait to see what our Aussie friends say to this!

P.S. Thanks for helping me. And buying me Eclipse. And going to lunch with me. And for being awesome.

Lyndylou said...

never been to Australia but have a few friends that have emigrated there over the years. Always said I would visit but just never had the money.

Very lucky JM for getting Eclipse, I have to wait for Christmas!

BB said...

Many moons ago whenI was young, I drank peppermint schnapps and chased it with Fosters Lager! Smooth and ass kickin'. Nice post.

Bubbles said...

I wouldn't mind being there with the way the weather here is right now.... brrr... I could survive not watching TV as in Pakistan they have a electricity saving time and can pull the plug at any point to leave you hours without but you never noticed... the flies are bad there too as well as ants... urgh! Then Mosquitoes in the 1000... this side of things didn't suit me at all.

not displayed said...

Now i want to know just where in my amazing state you where. Thinking north considering imparja tv. Can I hire you to interperate for me at times lol. I tend to chuck in a bit of strine now and again.

Oh and Vegemite is good for you. And so is West end beer, although I am mre of a Coopers girl these days

Chief aka Dad http://unsoundreasoning.blogspot.com said...

@becca...well let's go!!! It really was a good time...could only have been better if my girls were with me.

@SSW...can't you sneak yourself into their luggage??? Oh, your icon rocks...love the butt ;-)

@JM...you are always welcome and you know that!!! Not real sure how you talked me into the candle-making bonding exercise but it was fun :-)

@lyndylou...you should have told me you wanted Eclipse...I could have got it at the same time I got JM's

@Barb...I can soooo relate to the many moons ago when I was young!

@Bubbles....I'm with you, while I'm sure flies, ants and mosquitoes play an important role in our ecosystem...I could live without them

@Mynx...you know I'm at your beck and call anytime you need me....it's been a while so I might be a bit rusty on the translations! Let's see...if you're from SA, my guess would be Adelaide or with your love of wine...the Barossa Valley??? I lived in the lovely little hamlet of Woomera. Never heard of Coopers when I was there :-(

hed said...

These are all perfect! XXXX is a Queensland beer, and, seeing that the States are highly loyal, it would probably be mocked or frowned upon in SA (much like VB is mocked up here).

My hubs says the same thing about Vegemite-that it's the first food our baby will be trying, lol. Gross!

hed www.hedabovewater.com

not displayed said...

I was guessing Woomera given your military history. I am an Adelaide girl. Live closer to the southern vales than the Barossa but I make regular trips to top up my wine rack. Can't beat a great barossa Shiraz

KJ said...

As soon as I saw that photo, I knew it had to be Woomera.

I was born there in the 70s. Dad worked on the rocket range. Best damn place. Ever. :o)