Throw Some Shrimp on the Barbie

Australia Day...

Australia Day is a national public holiday on January 26th.  Since it is a public holiday, everyone has off and most things shut down.  It happens to come at the end of summer vacation.  So its a big party to sit with your mates in your garden and have a BBQ.  This year, my parents were visiting so we went to a local nature reserve and then had a BBQ! Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve is a 54.5 square kilometer protected area, on the fringe of Namadgi National Park, that is a short drive from the city of Canberra. 

Australia Day!

Watching the Roos at Tidbinbilla.

Big Gum Tree with a Kangaroo

At the nature reserve is this awesome park.  Here is Charlie on a flying fox.  It's basically a zip line and a lot of parks around Australia have them.  Behind the flying fox you can see a huge slide.  The kids love this park!

Charlie enjoying the flying fox.

Chaney enjoying the slide.

The awesome rope jungle gym.  These are also popular around Australia.  The kids' school just got one.

I've waited over two and a half years to see a kookaburra.  I finally saw one on our day to the nature reserve!

 

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• An Aussie phrase is "fair dinkum" which means true, genuine; an assertion of truth or genuineness. “It’s true, mate, fair dinkum.”
• It never ceases to amaze me how some Aussies walk around barefoot.  I was in Macca's (McDonalds) the other day and there was some dude waiting to order who was barefoot.  I've seen barefooted people in the mall, the grocery store, at the chemist (pharmacy), etc.  Yuck!  I don't need to see bare feet when ordering a happy meal!
• Speaking of McDonald's, they have a new lamb and feta wrap...  At McDonald's... 
• In Australia, it's not a closet.  It's a wardrobe.
• In Australia, you wouldn't say you are going on vacation.  You would say you are going on holiday.
• They like their meat flavored chips and biscuits.  And when I say biscuits, I mean crackers. This flavor doesn't appeal to me AT ALL!! I mean, I am a tad curious how they pull off a beef flavored potato chip.  But I definitely don't walk up to a chip aisle and say to myself, "Yummm! Beef chips!" Here are the Tasmanian Mountain Pepper & Braised Beef deli style potato chips. Umm, NO THANKS!
  
  
• The word "ripper" (pronounced "rippa") means something that is particularly good or excellent.  My husband is a "rippa" mate. Ripper.  (you just pronounced the R sound, didn't you?)
• In Australia, it's not a diaper.  It's a nappie.
• Instead of saying $4.52 like, "Four dollars and fifty two cents," Aussies say, "Four dollars fifty two."
• The Aussies use their savings account for their everyday spending.  Their checking account is where you put money for the longer term.  Ummmm...  Seems backwards to me!
•  French dressing doesn't look or taste like the French dressing in the U.S.   I wonder what the French would say about this... 
  
• If you order a milkshake, you are going to get something similar to chocolate milk.  If you want a proper American style milkshake, you need to order a "thickshake."
• Down under it isn't rush hour.  It's peak hour.
• Your choices of antiperspirant/deodorant in Australia consist of roll-on or aerosol spray.  That's it.  No solids.  No gels. I stock up on U.S. stuff to keep me from smelling.  Can't do the roll-on or aerosol.  I was told only old people use roll-ons.  I guess aerosols is where it's at. 
• Do you know that there is a type of grass down here that is called cooch.  It's true.  We couldn't stop laughing when watching a home show and the guy said, "I'm just laying down some low maintenance cooch."
• It's almost Easter time!  In Australia, they don't have those plastic eggs you stuff with candy and trinkets to hide around your house and yard.  Down here they have these foil wrapped chocolate eggs the size of a real egg.  They hide these.  In the summer.  Outside.  Every year, I'm glad the Easter bunny knows we are American and delivers our jelly beans and candy in plastic eggs instead! 
  

• The Aussies do not refer to their country as "down under."  I had to explain it to an Aussie...
• The Aussies would never say, "We are going to grill out."  They don't get it and I've had some confused looks when I say that.  They would say, "We are going to BBQ."
• They also do not say "Let's throw some shrimp on the barbie."  They never call shrimp shrimp.  They call them prawns.  They laugh and say "throw some shrimp on the barbie" is what the silly Americans say to us when they arrive.