Speaking Like an Aussie
Americans say:
No problem.
Aussies say:
No worries!
i.e. "No worries, we can always catch the next train."
Believe it or not, I am still alive!! During the transition back to the US I’ve found myself a little short on potential-blogging time. Hopefully as things finally start to slow down I’ll be able to pick myself up by my bootstraps and revive my website.
Australia is, for the most part, a ridiculously flat country. There is only one significant mountain range in the entire country; in fact, although I lack a scientific source for this, I was told by a backpacker that if you took an average pancake and enlarged it to be Australia-sized (wow), it would be more mountainous / hilly than Australia is. So there you have it: Australia is flatter than a pancake.
Here it is, the night before I leave Newcastle, and I hadn’t put a single one of my belongings into a bag until an hour or two ago. Fortunately for me, packing was a simple process of moving Pile of Clothes #1 into Bag #1, Pile of Clothes #2 into Bag #2, etc. When you arrive in two suitcases, your room doesn’t tend to be lavishly decorated, so compared to moving out of the dorms this was a day at the races (as the old saying goes).
Another successful trip, another spectacular part of the world to check off my list. Not too many hours ago (around 5am this morning, in fact) I got back from an eagerly-awaited camping trip to the famous Whitsunday Islands National Park up in Queensland. This is very likely my last major trip of my Australian experience, but all-in-all I’d say it was a pretty darn strong note to end on.
Rugby is a sport like no other. Once you have seen it, even the roughest, strongest football players look like they’re playing hopscotch by comparison. There are actually three types of rugby that are played here in Australia, depending on the area that you’re in. In order to make you respect the atmosphere of the games here, I will tell it in terms of something equally regional back home: tea.
