Jan
11
Cheers All Around
Filed under Australia/New Zealand 2009-2010
Minneapolis, MN
January 10, 2010
6:42pm
Even though I haven’t been home for very long, I’ve already spent some time thinking about what my favorite part of the trip was. I think my answer is the people I met and made friends with. I miss the company of Susie and Michael during my time in the Outback, along with Lorenzo giving commentary on all sorts of things. I definitely miss Elizabeth along with Carl, Ethan, Connor, Gary, Lyn and the rest of the Costigan family. Meeting my pen pal after 18 years of correspondence was a very special moment, and I wish we could visit each other more often and easily. I miss Joanne’s company; she’s a very helpful and caring person. I’m glad we’re third cousins once removed (we spent part of our eight-hour wait for the Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks figuring out our exact relationship)! And I miss the friends I made during the Connections tour around the South Island of New Zealand: Fredrik and Henrik, John, Paolo, Surena, Christina and Mike, Jo, John, Joakim, Christine, Sam, Antony, Chris, Leanne (I could go on) Everyone! I’m amazed at how people from all over the world can come together to enjoy a foreign country in each others’ company.
Thanks to Craig and Lana, our fearless tour guides, my memories of New Zealand are forever tied to the Black Eyed Peas’ song “I’ve Got a Feeling.” Every morning when we set out on the bus, and sometimes in the afternoon, they played that song over the bus’s PA system. I had a love/hate relationship with that song, but now I just love it and reminisce. Thanks to Did and Carl, and with Shaun’s help, I have the music of John Williamson to tie me back to Australia. The singer/guitarist/songwriter is a well-known folk artist who writes about his home country (my favorite being “Old Man Emu”). You can liken Williamson to John Denver, except that he’s still alive.
About three weeks into my trip, I had finally internalized which way to look when crossing the street. Now I have to readjust yet again. After picking up my car last night, I got in on the left side behind the wheel and could simultaneously imagine myself as a passenger on the same side. I have to remember that the up escalator is back to being on the left side rather than the right. I do NOT miss walking on a sidewalk in Australia or New Zealand. Walking on the opposite side was the hardest thing to adjust to.
It might take me awhile to stop saying ‘toilet’ and go back to using ‘restroom.’ I miss the option to choose the light or heavy flush. When I used the toilets in LAX and MSP, I realized that I had not been around an automated flushing toilet since leaving the U.S., and I actually don’t like them because they flush at the wrong time!
I definitely miss fish and chips. I’ve already vowed to make it here, although I won’t be able to find barramundi fish, the common choice Down Under. I already stated that I crave Bundaberg Ginger Beer and Lemon Squash. Luckily, I found the Australian Catalogue Company online which sells all sorts of Aussie goodies. I didn’t try Tim Tams until very late in my journey and will need to order some of those. I also need to find more 2% beers in this country and will need to purchase some Central Otago and Marlborough (New Zealand area) wines.
I miss not having to deal with pennies and dollar bills. Aussie and Kiwi coins start at 5 cents, 10, 20, 50, $1 and $2; bills are 5, 10, 20, 50 (if there’s anything larger I wasn’t rich enough to come across them). This means that all prices are rounded to the nearest 5 or 10 cents which is awesome. I’ll also miss not having to factor in tax; they already include it in the listed price. And although not having to tip was great, I won’t miss the corresponding slow/bad service that resulted from it when eating out. I will no longer complain about soft drinks being overpriced in the U.S. The cheapest bottle I found while abroad was A$3 or NZ$3; shocking, even if you factor in the exchange rate. By the way, check out Target Australia’s website to see how closely it imitates Target Corp USA.
The accents and slang words are two things I’ll miss hearing. I’ll have to start shortening my words and adding ie on the end. I wish I’d gotten a recording of Craig pronouncing Maori-influenced places because they’re just fun to hear: Lakes Hawea, Pukaki, Tekapo, Wakatipu; Te Anau, Hokitika, Ruataniwha.
There’s my list; I’m sure I’ll think of more, but for now it’s time to put my travelog to rest until my next big adventure. I hope you enjoyed reading! Please don’t forget to turn your attention to my photo blog (sign up here to receive my daily photo via email) as I’ll be picking that up again and posting daily. I took more than 2,600 photos on this trip, so you can be sure I’ll be displaying them for quite some time!
Cheers, mates!
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What a wonderful way to reflect and remember, and share it with us. Thank you so much.
Hey Kat! I just finished reading through your travelog (I obviously got behind and took it slowly) and it was so interesting and full of great little details! I’ll be looking forward to seeing more your photos on point.click.
I think you’ve given me the travel bug. Time to go renew my passport!
Wow, Alissa, thanks for reading! You read about 28 pages worth, according to MS Word.
I’m so glad you’re inspired to travel! Do it while you can; there’s no time like the present!