True Ozzies....oh I mean Aussies

Hey Everyone!

We are on the count down for leaving Perth...one and a half weeks. It is going to be very hard to leave this place. This summer has been great, we had 50 days with no rain and that day of rain was about 2 weeks ago. I never thought I could get used to the heat here but it has happened. I am now one of those wierdos wearing pants on a cool 26 degree day (which feels surprisingly cool after 2 weeks straight of 34-38 degrees!). I also never thought of cricket as much of a sport but Sar and I are hooked! I even bought a set to bring the game to all of our friends back home. Australia is a great place to live and I have to say we have loved being Australians.

Australians love their beaches, barbeques, sports and the 1980's. Sar and I are amazed (and confused) with the younger generations return to the 80's. Here is my top 10 reasons why Australia is stuck in the 80's:

10: Neon, neon and more neon: hats, shoes, shirts, bags, pants, flip-flops...all neon

9: Extreme v-neck shirts on guys...one word: hideous!

8: 80's shades (if you remember the old oakley frogskins you'll get the picture)

7: short shorts are everywhere...on all the kids, male and female! They even have short short boardies (neon or animal print of coarse)

6: They dedicate one month a year to growing mustaches, aka Movember. It looks like an 80's cop convention has hit town

5: Gladiators is still on (a version of American Gladiators)

4: Sleeveless or short sleeved hooded sweatshirts

3: The rat tail: if you remember it looks like a regular hair cut until you look at the back and see that long thin tuft of hair...and it even comes braided on some of the guys

2: The El Camino lives! Yes the infamous CaTruck (half car half truck) I am not talking ones that have survived since the 80's, they're still making new ones and they are hugely popular

1: The Mullet is in full force. And like the short shorts this one is for both sexes. I have never in my life seen so many she-mullets and nasty looking half dyed faux hawk-mullets my life

Australians also have some great ideas which we could probably benefit from in Canada. I thought I better put it into another top 10 because people love those:

10: No pennies: everything is rounded to the nearest 5 cents (10 cents in New Zealand)

9: Toilets with the option of full or half flush for water conservation

8: Free public barbeques at all of the parks

7: Majority of people actually using the re-usable shopping bags

6: You can bring food and drink to almost all events: concerts, sporting events etc...

5: You can bring your own booze to almost all restaurants and to your family picnics, fireworks, horse races, concerts, well basically anything outdoors!...etc without anyone giving you grief as long as you are not making a scene.

4: Switches on all the electrical plugs

3: Park wherever you want...side walks, lawns basically where you like with no tickets!

2: Tipping is not necessary, only if you think the service was great...you never tip when you buy a beer

1: Sun safety: zinc actually isn't dorky, they have made it cool to wear (some radiculous things written in zinc on a lot of teenagers backs and bellies! I often sport the white nosed zinc look and occionally the whole white faced look in the water

Hope you enjoyed this small insight into the laid backed Aussie culture. We will be more regular with our blogs now that we are going to be on the road with tons of new experiences!

Miss you all very much,
Love

SarahandRoo