Wysiwyp (what you see is what you pay): Prices marked in stores here in Australia include GST (Goods and Services Tax). At the register, there is no additional tax added, so what you see marked on the shelves is what you pay. Another oddity is that the 1-cent coin was phased out about ten years ago. When you go to pay, if the price reads $15.48, the clerk will tell you, “That’ll be $15.50.” Does everyone remember the rules of rounding? Well, that’s good, because they come into play here. Anything that ends in 3-5 or 8-0 rounds up to the next 5 cents, while anything else rounds down. $12.31 is $12.30, while $12.34 is $12.35. I’m sure that Oz has saved plenty of money by not making 1-cent pieces. It seems like the US should follow suit. When was the last time you were able to buy anything for a penny? The only thing they’re good for is squishing in the penny flattening machines (the ones at tourist sites that put a design from the place on them).
No tips required: In almost all case, the service charge is included in the cost of the meal. There are pros and cons with this idea: on the good side, you’re never rushed out the door, but on the bad side, service can be rather hit or miss, erring on the side of miss most of the time.
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The Blue Mountains: This weekend LJ and I went to the Blue Mountains, which are in the Blue Mountains National Park about an hour or two outside Sydney. I caught the train down to Sydney (an act I will repeat many times over the coming weeks) and we had dinner that night in the Crows’ Nest area with Eddie, LJ’s Aussie friend from Cisco. (You might remember him as the guy who let me borrow an old mobile phone.)
LJ and I got up a bit late on Saturday (he’s still on Singapore time from his trip to Asia last week), caught a taxi to the Avis place and got our car. LJ almost got in on the wrong (left) side of the car—I’m sure the car rental place was a bit concerned to see that. (I know that I was.) Driving on the wrong side: Riding with an American driver was an experience. I didn’t really fear for my life at any point, although there were a few times that I was a bit concerned about my immediate future. According to LJ, the hardest part was checking the rearview mirror to the left of the drivers’ seat. He also had trouble with the windshield wipers and blinkers. The foot pedals are the same as in the US, but the wipers and blinkers are opposite. Often he would turn on the wipers when trying to signal a turn. Another hard bit was making right turns to the correct (left) side of the road. At every right turn, I reminded him (at his request) to stay on the left side of the median. I tried driving myself on Sunday (shhh! Don’t tell the rental car people) at the Olympic Park parking lot (LJ put the car at that crazy angle). I can say that I’m very glad that he’s doing the driving. I’m sure I would get really tired from it.
We got to Katoomba, the main town in the Blue Mountains, around one o’clock on Saturday, after sitting through some traffic. (The Blue Mountains have traffic going out to there early in the weekend and coming back on Sunday afternoon, much like the ski traffic in Colorado or the weekend traffic out of the SJ area in California.) Luckily I had thought to pack sandwiches in the car for lunch, which prevented me from turning into a raving lunatic. (Okay, at least any more of a lunatic than normal.) That afternoon we parked near the Three Sisters and the Echo Point Lookout and hiked along the cliff edge almost to Scenic World, the location of a cable car and train that traverse from down in the valley to the rim. We wandered down the valley wall in time to catch the second-to-last Sceniscender (the large cable car) up the valley to the top. Then we walked back along the rim to see sunset from Echo Point Lookout. I got some nice pictures of the Three Sisters at sunset, and some pix of the sunset over the valley (note the thickening clouds in the pictures—we’ll hear more about them).
We drove back to the Katoomba Mountain Lodge, the hostel we were staying in, and walked to dinner. I had kangaroo meat for the first time in my life. It was a bit gamey for my taste, but not very fatty. I’m not sure that I’m going to have it again.
This morning we woke to the sounds of the water pipes squealing way too early in the morning. When we finally dragged ourselves out of bed, we found, much to our dismay, that we couldn’t see 5 meters away in the thick fog enveloping the lodge. The fog never burned off during the morning. We tried to go to some of the lookouts over the valleys, but all we could see was a wall of white with some small bits of trees here and there. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to hike the Grand Canyon here in Australia, but there was no way I was going out in the 50-degree rain that was falling just so I could say I did it. We drove back to Sydney and stopped at Olympic Park before coming back to the Saville Suites in Chatswood, where LJ is living. For dinner we caught the train into the Circular Quay area, so I could get some twilight pix of the Opera House.
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Time zones get even screwier: We’re about to go off Daylight Savings Time this coming weekend, and just like in the US, we would fall back for fall (which is now). So we get an extra hour of sleep Saturday night. (LJ, are you reading this? I’m sure if you are you’re happy about the extra sleep.) This coming weekend it will now be a 9-hour difference from the East Coast, and a 7-hour difference from Colorado. Then, a month from now, when the US goes ON Daylight Savings, there will be a 10-hour difference from the East Coast and 8 hours from CO. I think my brain is starting to hurt again.
Aussie abbreviation rules: The general rules are that you take any word of interest, cut off every syllable before the last one, and add an “o”. Registration becomes rego, derelict is derro, journalist is journo… If it isn’t abbreviated with an “o”, it’s with an “ie”: brekkie, sunnies, trackies… My favorite is arvo for afternoon, though—there’s no v in afternoon!
Cheap enchilada night: Tonight the Mexican place just above Cold Rock on Beaumont St. has its $6 Enchiladas, so a few of us (Katie, Timmy, Kendal, Luci and I) went there for dinner. Unlike the last time I met up with people on Beaumont St. (about a month ago), it was not pouring down rain, which was a nice change. The cheap enchiladas were rather tasty, as were the dips that we got as an entree. ASIDE: Here in Oz, appetizers are called entrees and entrees are called mains. The name switches are a bit confusing for an American sheila like me.
Smith’s Barbeque Sauce Crisps: Taste just like Lay’s KC Masterpiece Barbeque Sauce chips. ‘Nuff said.
Howdy, partner: Just another little oddity here: No one has “boyfriends” or “significant others”—they all have “partners”. It’s rather strange hearing LJ called my partner, since in the US that term is generally reserved for same-sex relationships.
Thank goodness the rain stopped yesterday. We’ll be able to play ulti tonight, and I definitely need the exercise. -Michelle