Q&A

Our good friend Cor sent these questions about Oz, which I had to post full answers to.  This way, we all benefit from my learnin':

1. does the toilet/sink water drain in reverse?
I just tried to confirm this for you, but I have to admit my experiment failed.  Its really hard to tell.  I haven't gotten any good whirlpool action in the sink and the toilet water goes straight down.  That said, some very triangular shit happened in my brain the first week we were here.  I was consistently confusing left & right, north and south, and continue to wake up in the middle of every night for no apparent reason.  There are definitely gravitational/hemispheric forces at work.

2. are the animals nice?  i have heard that aussies think of koala's as we do pigeons.
The animals are so rad and seemingly friendly.  I'd say that the analog to pigeons at home are parrots here.  I've seen people feeding parrots and cockatoos from their hands and old people throwing seed for them from park benches.  The birds are, literally, the breeds sold in pet stores so its both amazing and disconcerting to see them perched on telephone lines.  Initially I kept thinking that the entire country's pet parrots had staged a massive jail break. 

Most of the Ozzies we've talked to about them are pretty infatuated with the koalas, so I think they're more synonymous with badgers or a hedgehogs or something furry like that.  Koalas don't really do anything except eat eucalyptus and nap.  They're basically cuteness professionals, which I think makes them universally lovable. 

3. are you safe from the crazy weather that seems to be on that continent?  I have no concept of the geography there or size.
The weather here is as extreme as the sports.  Cyclones, typhoons, bush fires, flooding, plus a 10 year drought - it seems like something nasty crops up daily.  Its the only place I've traveled where I have to watch the news to avoid meandering into a random cataclysmic act of God.  Thus far we've been lucky to avoid anything major.  Though we have had cyclone-related rain and non-cyclone related bush fires for the last 9 days.  Which hasn't been ideal for touring the coast line.

Thanks for reading, Cor.  We miss you guys!

BINGO!

To say the wildlife here is notable would be an understatement the size of the indigenous saltwater crocodile.  The creatures that roam Australia are like mutant versions of recognizable animals.  Alien beasts thrive here and they're specialized; the cutest animals, the killingest animals, the highest hopping, the strangest looking - the critters are the yearbook superlatives of zoology. 

Last night, driving along the 90 mile beach road looking for a motel (which there wasn't because despite our assumptions, not every beach town on earth is like the Jersey Shore) I completed Australian animal bingo when we nearly ran over a wombat with our shiny new Mitsubishi Lancer.

I'm not counting anything I've seen in captivity, so... I've got:
Koala
Kangaroo
Poisonous Snake (...)
Echindna
Wombat
Parrot
Black Swan
Wallaby

No dingos or emus yet, but I'm on the hunt.  The one I'd really heart to spot is a platypus (its got feet like a duck but its furry) but they're squirrely little guys. 

My heart gives out from a saccharin overdose:

Oh, and just FYI, Australians don't have a very self-deprecating sense of humor.  I haven't made a dingo-ate-my-baby-joke, but its not for lack of want.  I just don't think it would kill.  And while I'm dispelling myths from down under, Foster's is NOT Australian for beeeyah.  Served.

Great Ocean Road Continued. And continued.

Days 3-5 on the GOR, we tried to mix it up between the coastline and inland roads.  The area is known for farming and has a self-proclaimed "gourmet trail" running inland from the Tasman Sea.  On Day 3 I aimed to agendize us with something for everyone: a hike for me, koalas for mom, an epicurean moment for Eduardo.  As it turned out, I was easily as obsessed as Penny with the marsupials, my Mom hasn't stopped raving about the lunch, and Ed happily lead us (to scare away the snakes) on our romp through the woods. 

Gentle Annie's is a farm and cafe that we stumbled upon while driving after our hike to Erskine Falls.  We were starved and followed cutie hand painted sandwich boards perched along gravel roads in the middle of cow-grazin' land.  By the time we arrived none of us was picky, but we could have been because we were served one of the best meals we've had in Australia.  And while I'm on the subject, may I just say that this place is pretty effing hit or miss food-wise.  Huge portions and price tags can be counted on, but its a small number of meals we've had that surpassed mediocre.  Oh, and never go to a "Mexican" restaurant here.  We've tried twice and the food has been borderline inedible.  At $25 for a vegetable burrito, I'm thinking that Chef Ole could dress it up with something superior to tomato paste.  Blergh. 

Oh, but Gentle Annie's!  A cafe tucked into a working berry farm, serving locally sourced dairy, wine and produce and baking the roof off in-house.  I ate a beef burgundy meat pie with a local shiraz and happily/stuffedily nodded off in the car before we reached the end of the driveway.  At 3:30 pm.  A moment of sheer travel kismet.

 Country Sweetness

The Ploughman's Lunch.  Bet you can guess who the ploughman at our table was...

Later that afternoon, we reported to Kennett river for koala watching.  True to Australian form, the koalas were in the trees noted in the brochure from tourist info at the appointed time.  They were pretty high up and a bit hard to see, but for tiny-brained animals, I had to applaud their punctuality.  Those little guys hit their mark more reliably than a chorus line.