Things I've learned.

Here are some of the differences between the US and Australia.

1. They call cookies, biscuits.

2. Its Celsius not Fahrenheit, and Kilometres not miles.

3. Fries are called chips. This took some getting used to. Sometimes I still expect potato chips when I see the word chips on a menu.

4. Australians like to abbreviate. 

    Examples: McDonald's= Macca's.  Breakfast= Brekky. Central Business District= CBD

5. Things are not pronounced how they are spelled. 

    Examples: Melbourne=Mel-bin. Brisbane= Bris-bin. Canberra= Can-bur-ah or Can-bruh (still not entirely sure which) Cairns= Cans

6. No one says G'day mate. A few people do say mate... but not many.

7. Tim Tams are the best biscuit ever... but I've already told you this.

8. It is not shrimp on the barbie, its prawns on the barbie. 

9. Kangaroos do not hop everywhere. (See my video below) Also people do not ride kangaroos to school or anywhere for that matter. (I didn't think this, but I just thought I should clarify since I have been asked)

10. Alligators are squishy, not scaly and rough like you think. 

11. Canberra weather is completely wacky. I think that's why people say its so horrible. 

12. People actually really love vegemite here. They eat it on toast with butter. 

13. Everyone wants to know about Jersey Shore. They are a few episodes behind here, so when they find out you're from the states they want to know what happens next. 

14. They call it America here, not the US, not the United States, just America. 

      Example: "I'm going to America next year." or "O, you're from America?'

15. They don't say fall or spring. They just say the month. 

       Example: "In September I am going to America."

16. Bandicoots are actually kind of cute. They only live on Northhead which is where my school is. 

17. Students wear uniforms all through elementary up to high school. 

18. Highschool is called college. College is called uni.

19. Everything is more expensive here. Chicken Mcnuggets will set you back at least $8 for a whole meal.

20. The seasons are backwards. If its winter at home, its summer here. 

21. They drive on the left hand side of the road. Not the wrong side, the left side. 

22. Pancakes are hard to come by, and unless its breakfast they are served with ice cream.

23. Whip cream= cream. 

      Example: Do you want cream on top of your ice cream?

24. They love techno music. 

25. Sunscreen is an absolute must, even if you're tan. There is a hole in the ozone that is right over Australia, so you must reapply!

26. No shirt, no shoes, no service doesn't apply. People walk around everywhere without shoes, into stores, around the mall, down the street, EVERYWHERE!

27. Koalas are just as cute as you think. 

28. There is no 42 Wallaby Way Sydney. 

29. Apparently I have a very strong Minnesota accent, and say Minnesota and boots weird. 

30. Everyone in Sydney goes to the beach on the weekends and everyone from the beach area goes to the city. 

31. They don't call Sydney by name, they just say the city. This is also true of other big cities.

      Example: I'm going to the city.

32. Surfing is way harder than it looks.

33. Australian accents are just as cool, if not better than british accents. 

 

TIM TAM TIME

This post is for those of you who don't know about Tim Tams.

     Tim Tams are one of the greatest things I have encountered since arriving in Australia. Tim Tams are an Australian biscuit, or as we say, a cookie! They are little sandwich cookies dipped in chocolate. They come in all type of flavors including, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, which chocolate, double coat, mint, black forest, and caramel to name a few. Double coat is by far the best of these all. My friends and I have even established "Tim Tam Time. " We have a rotation of who buy Tim Tams. Its become a highlight for all of us.

I LOVE TIM TAMS!

     The real Tim Tams are not available in the US. Apparently there is a super high tax on them for some reason. (When I heard this I was outraged and proceeded to tell my aussie friends I was going to call Obama about this! Needless to say they thought I was insane.) A form of Tim Tams are available at Targets in the US from October to March. I suggest you all go and try a box. However, their selection is much more limited and it just won't be the same as having an Arnott's Tim Tam. Lucky for all of you I plan on brining a suitcase full of them home (no I am not joking, I have an extra suitcase readily available) so you will all be able to enjoy some aussie culture, a real Australian Tim Tam!

Canberra: "The Booming Metropolis"

Friday 18 March
     This weekend my friends and I decided was the weekend to see the capital city. I was really excited to go and so were my friends. I've never been to Washington DC but I hear it has a lot to offer, and so I thought maybe it was the same for Canberra. After talking to some Australians and hearing about it in class I wasn't sure I wanted to go anymore. I was told there is nothing there, don't waste your money, and asked many times why would I even think about going there. My friend Jess has a travel guide book about Australia, its relatively detailed, and even that only had 3 pages about Canberra. Since it seems to be so small and boring we have come to call Canberra "the booming metropolis." So after all of this negativity we decided we would just go for a night.
    We took the bus from Sydney which is about a 3 hour ride. When we got to Canberra the first thing said was, "Wow, a building." and "Hey, its actually a city." Everyone had made it seem so bad we were pretty much expecting a big empty field with maybe 2 or 3 buildings around.

Right off the bus at the hostel, making a PB&J with my fingers. 

Bondi Beach Bum

Saturday 12 March

Bondi Beach (This is not just because of the surf comp. It's always really packed. )

     Today there was a surf competition at Bondi beach (this is a really famous and popular beach), so my friends and I decided to go check it out. We started off the day early by catching the 9 o'clock ferry. Then we had to get a bus ticket to Bondi. It took about 45 minutes to get there from Sydney and once we were almost there the boys in front of us told us there would be a bunch of free stuff from the sponsors (that was the sole reason they were going.) And they were right. We got free hats, a t-shirt, ice cream, and snow cones. A couple of my friends also got those blow up plastic guitars.

Midterms yay!.... not so much.

Hey everyone,
Sorry for the few and far between posts. Last week I had a big project due (a 22 page report). And this week is midterm week. Yes, I actually have to do work here. Its the one speed bump on my perfect vacation. I had one "quiz" Monday (for whatever reason they aren't allowed to call them exams anymore), a 1000 report due yesterday and another "quiz" in about 2 hours. I will try to get up to date by the end of the week. Hope all is well at home, apparently there is a bizzard coming? Good luck with that and stay warm! =]

Love,
Dani

Blue Mountains

Sunday 6 March
     Today I went to the Blue Mountains. The mountains are about 3 hours outside of Sydney so we took a mini coach bus for the day because there were only 12 of us going. We started off by stopping at Featherdale Wildlife Park.

Baby Wallaby! He's only 8 months old!

Here we got to see all kinds of Australian animals. It was different because a lot of the animals weren't caged. We were walking around the Koala area and suddenly there was a Wallaby right by my leg. I got to feed wallabies and kangaroos again!

Feeding Kangaroos. 

These ones were more in your face though... and there were emu in the same area and one almost poked my eye. Yikes! It was really fun though, I got to see a tasmanian devil up close (he went back in the shade too fast to get picture though) and a some wombats.

Wombat

  

















 After an hour at the park we got on the bus and headed up to the mountains. We arrived at about 11:15. We started by going to a lookout and I have to say, the pictures do not do it justice. Everything was so beautiful!

First lookout.

Stringy eucalyptus.

     After the lookout we headed on a mini hike down to another lookout, and on the way our guide told us about the different trees and the mountains. He told us about this one tree which is a called the stingy eucalyptus. This tree is very unique in that the bark is stringy, its hard to explain but there is a picture below. Anyways, the leave on this tree give off a specific oil and smell that linger near the leaves and when it gets hot it catches on fire. This is the only way to open the seeds of the tree. So the bark also  catches and falls away from the tree and covers the opened seeds so the tree stays alive, and the ash helps the seeds grow. These trees have been imported into California and have become a huge problem with the wild fires.
     After this we made it down to the second lookout and it was so beautiful. There was a little waterfall and we could see all kinds of walkways. We took a so many pictures! There was apparently a snake near one spot, but I stayed far away from that.
     Once we were done taking pictures we headed back to the bus and went to the town Katoomaba for  lunch. My friends and I found a little bakery that was cheap. (Its really hard to find anything cheap here so we were really excited and stocked up!)

Mardi Gras 2011

Saturday 5 March
     After going to the aquarium and Wild Life World, my friends and I made our way over to the Mardi Gras parade. One of our teachers at school was holding a place for students and we got there just after 4pm. You have to get there early because they shut down the street at about 4:30 and you can't cross after that. Our teacher had been at the spot since 6AM!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that is dedication. Once we got there we waited around and just talked since the parade didn't start until 7:45! Yes, we waited almost 4 hours for it to start, and it didn't end until after 10 pm. It was very long and very crowded but it was also a ton of fun!

Here is my favorite float from the night. 

     When you think of Mardi Gras what do you see? I think purple, green, and gold, everyone in masks and wearing beads. Well, just about the only thing Mardi Gras about this parade was people wearing beads because this wasn't just normal Mardi Gras it was Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Here everyone is very accepting and open about it. It was really refreshing, I didn't even see one protester during the 6+ hours I was there. And there was someone from every group in the parade including, the firefighters and police, all different religions and races, and a bunch of clubs from around the area! There was plenty to see, as I'm sure you can imagine. I won't go into detail except to say it was definitely a unique experience and I'm very glad I went!

My friend Jess and I showing our support for gay pride! 

HAPPY BELATED MARDI GRAS EVERYONE!!! 

Sydney Aquarium & Wild Life World

Saturday 5 March

This is mural made completely from legos! 331,776 legos total.

     We started off the day by having brunch at school and then heading over to Sydney to see the aquarium and Wild Life World. We have to take the ferry to get Sydney and today the water was really rough, so I had my first experience with sea sickness here! Now I don't actually throw-up but I got very nauseous and had to move inside, which really didn't help. I decided to visualize myself on a hammock in Fiji, this didn't help much either. Then we almost got hit by a sailboat, and so that distracted me until we got docked at Circular Quay (pronounced key).

Little penguins that are native to Australia and can even be found by Manly Wharf!

     After we got off we decided to walk to Darling Harbour because the ferry there wasn't coming for a while. It didn't take very long and soon we were at the aquarium! It was huge! We got to see everything from jellyfish to sea horses. There were also all kinds of big Lego figures and murals everywhere! And I even heard someone talking about Lego Land at MOA! They even mentioned MN!!!

DORY!

NEMO! Only one in the whole aquarium!

Jellyfish! They change colors when they are mad. There are red ones in the back that are angry! 

WILD LIFE WORLD

     After the aquarium we went next door to Wild Life World. We saw kangaroos, wombats, snakes, and a ton of bugs. YUCK! They even had more of those Lego figures!

Wombat

Legos!

12 of the 30 most venomous snakes live in Australia! YIKES!

Hunter Valley Wine Tour

Map of Hunter Valley Wineries! 

Saturday 26 February
     Today I had the Hunter Valley Wine tour. On the tour we went to 3 different wineries, a cheese factory and a little village where, of course, I went to the chocolate shoppe! I'll start the story of my day off with a disclaimer. 


DISCLAIMER: The drinking age in Australia is 18. 


     Ok, so now that we all know I'm not breaking any laws I'll tell you about my trip. Hunter Valley is the wine growing region of New South Wales, the state in Australia where I currently reside. This area is about a 2.5 hour drive from Sydney, so we started off by meeting down at the gate as usual for these trips, but this time at 8:15 in the morning. When the bus got to ICMS we all jumped on and were on our way! 

     Our first stop was Drayton's Family Wines. Here we tried 8 different wines! (They also had yummy cheddar cheese and crackers! My real favorite of this winery!) A Semillon Sauvignon Blanc, a Verdelho, a Rose, a Shiraz blend, a Cabernet Merlot blend, and 3 desert wines: a white port, a dark port, and a white chocolate liqueur. I can't remember which was my favorite here because we weren't given a sheet to mark like the others. However, I do remember liking the red wines more than the white. The port wines we extremely sweet, it reminded me of a syrup, and the liqueur smelled amazing but was way too strong for me. 
Actually most of them weren't my taste but I  handled it with class. Most of my tastings went like this: 
Sip 1: Whew! That was really sour. 

Drayton's Wines

Sip 2: Hmm... assessing the taste inside my head. If I liked it I moved to sip 3, if I didn't I moved to step 4.
Sip 3: Decide how much I like it. 
Step 4: Decide who to give the rest to. 
Step 5: Pour remaining contents of my glass into a friend's glass! 

At McGuigan's

     When the tasting was over we had lunch just outside on their property. Then we moved on to our next winery.      
     The next winery was McGuigan's. Here we were rushed inside and started tasting straight off. Here we tried a Semillon, a Pinot Grigio, a Muscato, a Merlot, a Cabernet Shiraz blend, their personal reserve (P/R) Shiraz ’07, and two desert wines: a Late Picked Traminer and a Tawney Port. My favorite of this bunch was the P/R Shiraz '07. Usually they don't even allow tastings of this but for some reason they let us and it was so delicious. There is a reason this one if $50 a bottle! 

     After this one we were rushed next door to the Hunter Valley Cheese Factory where we tried 5 different cheeses! We had a Fromage Spread with Olive Oil, Herbs, & Sun-dried Tomato, Brie, a White Cheddar, a bleu cheese, and a Limburger cheese.  I wasn't too fond of the Brie or Limburger cheeses, but I loved the rest! 
   Our next stop was the Village. Here we had a choice to roam the shoppes or go to another winery. I chose to go to the Hunter Valley Chocolate Company. It was so cute and had all kinds of different candies.  I even found Reese's! But didn't get any because they're expensive and I can get them at home. I did end up getting 3 little chocolates though. I got the "3 sisters" Which was 3 toasted hazelnuts in milk chocolate, a caramel chocolate frog (it looks just like the ones from Harry Potter!), and a "scaredy cat" which was a hallow milk chocolate cat. 

Golden Grapes Estate

     After this we moved on to our last stop of the day. The Golden Grapes Estate Winery. This was my favorite of the day. Not only did they have the best scenery but they had the best tasting drinks. Here we only tasted fortified wines, this just means they are wine liqueurs or liqueurs with wine as the base. We tasted a Strawberry Champagne, a butterscotch schnapps, “love in a bottle” which is a coconut caramel liqueur, a coffee liqueur, and their staple item, Dragon’s Breath Chilli Schnapps. The "Love in a Bottle" was my favorite, but I did finish all of these myself. Yes they were that good! The chili schnapps was pretty hot, and I only finished it because they have a rule, that if you don't, you have to walk to your next stop. And our next stop happened to be home, about 3 hours away. 

Wine Wine Wine Wine Wine Wine

Fortified wines tried at Golden Grapes Estate

   At the end of the day we headed home where we went to dinner at Ivanhoe's. Here I had a delicious steak with honey mustard red wine sauce, garlic mash potatoes and salad for only $10! 

My first "Bushwalk"

Tuesday 22 February

Sydney Skyline

Last week I went for my very first "bushwalk." I bet you're wondering what exactly a bushwalk is. Well, I'll tell you, its where you walk in the bush, aka nature. Basically its a fancy name for hiking. Now as I'm sure you've noticed I put bushwalk in quotes when I said I did it. Why? Because I'm using the term very loosely. See there are a lot of really big, really nasty spiders here. So my "bushwalk" was down a road, and on a very well groomed trail. But hey, it was through a national park so it counts.

The edge of the world.

Mini Cooper NO BACKS! HAHA Mom!

Sydney

Saturday 19 February

 This was my first time to Sydney! I was very excited and my expectations we huge. I'll tell you now I was not let down. We started our day with brunch at 10:30, so we wouldn't have to buy more food in the city. After that we headed down to the ferry. I bought my first ferry pass and we waited to catch the 12pm ferry. The ferry station is so cool. There is a little candy counter and restaurants and stores. Its kind of like a mini airport, which I definitely wasn't expecting. When we got on the ferry we decided to sit at the back. As we scooted along I just relaxed and took in the scenery and then we started to turn into the harbour and BAM! Opera house!

From the ferry

It is right in your face and it is amazing! Once we were docked we headed for the Sydney Tower. It took a while to get there and we did get a lost, but only for a few minutes. Finally we found the right mall and got lost in there, but then we really did find our way up. We each got an explore 4 pass, which gives you unlimited access to the Sydney Tower, Aquarium, Wild Life World, and Ocean World for 6 months. We were squeezed into a tiny wedge shaped elevator and up we went. 309 meters to the top.

This is the shape of the tower.

When we got to the top it was breathtaking! You can see the whole entire city, 360 degree views. We walked around, looked out the binoculars and took pictures. We could even see our school which was miles away across the harbour. 

View of harbour bridge(left) and opera house (between buildings on right)

This is pretty much a straight shot down, and yes that is a crane down there. 

After we were done at the top of the tower, we piled back into the tiny elevator and went down. We stopped and did the 4D ride, which is a movie, with the the moving seats. It was about Australia and it was really fun. After that we decided to go over the rocks which is right near the harbour. On the way over we stopped at a little souvenir shop and also looked at UGG boots! When finally made it back to the harbour there were some street performers, and one of them was playing the didgeridoo! Check the video to hear/ see it! We finally made it over the market place and walked through all the booths. We found some really cute little souvenirs here as well! After a long day of walking we decided to go eat. Well as I've told you their breakfasts here are nothing to rave about so we all have been craving pancakes, so we went to Pancakes on the Rocks. These people do pancakes right! I don't remember the name of mine but it was buttermilk pancakes with grilled bananas, walnuts, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and chocolate ice cream!  

My dinner... or I guess dessert is the better word here. 

After "dinner" we decided to head back because we were exhausted! But before we got on the ferry we took some pictures!