Gee Whizz

My stamp didn't wash off my hand so I was able to make it back into the Showgrounds. The cute families with ShowBags were replaced with Drunken Teenagers with Smokes. The Aussies sure know how to put on a fireworks show. They realize that if you just set off 50 at the same time, it results in magnificent beauty, and you do it over and over and over. Wow!

More photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/australialiterally/ShowgroundsNight

Off to bed!

Perth Royal Show

The sea of people

Seeing as how the Perth Royal Show is right next to my place, I decided to go have a visit today (and may go back for the fireworks tonight ... depending on if the stamp on my mind doesn't wash off.). It was quite the adventuresome day.

Nothing as crazy as Pedology

Highlights include:

• ShowBags
• The Scuba Band
• The Exciting Chairlifts
• Blue and Pink Sheep
• The Horse Competition.

The Show Bags Guys

The adventures can be viewed with sufficient commentary on my picture site. http://picasaweb.google.com/australialiterally/PerthRoyalShow

I'm now off to Meekatharra bright and early tomorrow. It's a "town" of about 1000 or so in the Outback. Should be an interesting 5 days. I'm sure I'll have some great photos and stories on Friday. Catch ya on the flip side!

MAJOR injury

Today I had my first major injury since coming to Australia. And no it's not my leg that got hurt, that's just where most of the BLOOD ended up! It all happened because I decided to go for a run to check out the carnival (more on that later ... the "PNE-like" event opens tomorrow and I can see some of the rides from my kitchen!!!). Ok, what was I talking about? Oh yah, the PNE... I didn't get a chance to go this year because I wasn't in Vancouver, but hopefully this Perth "Royal Show" will make up for it. I'm really excited, to allow for all the extra passengers on my train line, they are going to CLOSE my "home" station. Isn't that Great!!! Now I'll get more exercise by walking even further to the train!

Ok, so I was running, it was dark, I was having that awkward moment where you aren't sure if you should keep your hands high and close to the chest, or swing them low, or somewhere inbetween, so as I ran I reached out to grab a piece of long grass. [Running and grabbing things like branches, poles, fences can be pure excitement]. Let's just say Perth-grass is much more sturdier than BC grass. The grass did not budge, so my hand pull up along it to produce one major paper-cut-like "Grass-Cut". I started feeling woozy, and light headed. The blood was pouring out. The sounds from the carnival had me confused and disoriented. But I made it home ok, and now have the band-aid and polysporin on the old wound.

Cereal Blog #2 - Sultana Bran

Well, do to the OVERWHELMING success of Cereal Blog #1, I've decided to keep the blogs coming. The day I published the original blog had a daily site visit of 26. Smashing the previous top three days of 15, 14, and 12 visits.

Back to business.... So in Australia, they have Raisin Bran, but instead of calling it Raisin Bran, they call it Sultana Bran. The raisins they use in the cereal are called Sultana Raisins ;). As you can see from the picture below, there certainly aren't "Two Scoops of Sultanas in Kellogg's Sultana Bran". It'd be lucky if there were two teaspoons. Also, notice how naked the sultanas are! Where's that delectable sugar coating??? This cereal is Boring and takes the fun out of eating bran. I might as well just stick with eating All Bran.

Final Verdict: "Two scoops of Raisins in Kellogg's Raisin Bran"

Cereal Blog #1 - Just Right

Well, the true colours are finally coming out. The real reason I created this blog.... to talk about Breakfast Cereals! My mind has been blown away by the Australian cereals. Here is Feature #1.

Just Right ... Probably the greatest product name in history. What are you eating? Just Right! How does it taste? Just Right! How's the mix of wheat, corn, oats, and rice? Just Right! BUT WAIT , Australian Just Right is completely different!!!! It consists of wheat flakes, rolled oats, triticale (what's that?), sultanas, apricots and honey. It's totally sorta like a kinda mix of different things completely. Taste wise it's not that bad. Not regular Just Right good, but so far it's my fav Aussie Cereal (behind Wheet-a-bix...more on that amazing product another day). Australian Just Right does include the little puffs you get in Sugar Crisp, but they are "sugarless". Man... I can't get enough of that Sugar Crisp.

Final Verict: Australian Just Right, is alright, but not just right like Canadian Just Right.

In other food news..... after a hard target search of every bakery, cafe, market, supermarket, grocery store, general store, and food store in a 10 km radius. I have FINALLY found BAGELS!!!! Wahoo!!!

Guitar Hero

Another shot of Guitar Hero night.... too funny not to include

Have you ever really, really, really, really, ever, really, really...

loved a woman!

Well BIG news!!!! I met my neighbour the other day, and his name is B.A.... Hahahaha, I couldn't stop singing in my head. "Look Into My Eyes, You will see..." "Those were the best days of my life" "Please Forgive me, I can't stop loving you!" BA = Bryan Adams!!!!

Matt & Valentina (featuring Laura jumping out of the picture)

In other news, my brother Matt, and his gf, Valentina, got engaged over the weekend! Congratulations guys. I wish I could have been there for the festivities! I don't think you could have given our grandfather a better birthday present!

I had one of my biggest disappointments of the trip yesterday. Amy and I went for a walk up to Swanbourne beach and stumbled upon the "Nudie" section. The dream of 20-something blonde babes bouncing around with beach balls turned into old, hairy, european men, sprawled out in the grass on the dunes adjacent to the beach. Fortunately we were far enough away, so we didn't see anything.... or did we??? we did .... not [cue the City Confidential music]

Matt playing Guitar Hero with JP & Dad (featuring Jeff's head)

The Special Holly and Mark Tribute

Well it's been a couple weeks since I moved to the new digs, but due to travel schedules, I hadn't actually seen Mark & Holly for even longer than that. Anyhow, I just wanted to send out the big thanks to both of them for helping me out for the first 3 weeks. I was very lucky to have such good friends who opened up their home to me and helped get me on my feet. For those who don't know, I met Holly last summer working at BC Hydro. Her and Mark were doing a one year work exchange in Vancouver (similar to me, but opposite).

As a thank-you to them, I brought a couple Vancouver Canucks jerseys. Mark got pretty keen into hockey when he was in Van, and actually probably knows more than me... One of the most difficult things was leaving hockey behind. I hope I will be able to survive without it.

Ps. I know that the Canucks have changed their jerseys, but they didn't change them until I was already in Australia. I found this funny comic strip while doing a little surfing around the other day. Worth a good laugh to those who weren't too happy with the changes. Enjoy!

The 3 Saga Continues...

Fingers are crossed. I hope the '3' Internet issues are over. I decided to actually "CAT" it down to the city at lunch break and hand my bank statement over personally to the girl there. I was trying to get a pick of her, but she saw me as I was standing outside and screamed "YOU!". Busted! Here I am with a camera pointing at her, pretending like I do it all the time. I chickened out and didn't take any shots of her. Oh well. Then off on the CAT (Central Area Transit) back to west Perth. All buses inside the city limits are free! That means they are PACKED! and have a rather BO smell to them. It felt like there were 200 people on it.

Major issues with TransPerth are arrising. I have a "SmartRider" card that lets me swipe on, and then swipe off and then charges me for how far I've gone. Well if you forget to swipe off, it automatically charges you the max (~$5). For some reason, my card is acting up, and sometimes won't let me swipe on, or swipe off, it's very frustrating. I've actually had to seek out the Transit "Police", and they give me obscure reasons for it not working. "It's cause you are using it during Peak hours". I have a feeling I'm going to have a major issue in the next couple weeks.

Amy and I headed to Freo this evening to see "Hairspray". Actually, our intention was to see "Superbad"; however, we soon realized that we were watching the wrong movie!!! Amy was set to just stay and play it out, but I wanted the get the heck out of there. It would have been ok, if Amy hadn't gotten up while I was walking by her. She tripped me, then started running up the aisles. Embarrassed, I too had to run up the aisle. Fortunately, we found the correct theatre (the one with no one over the age of 30 .... originally we couldn't believe how many gray hairs there were to see Superbad). Despite now being 20 minutes late, the promos were still going on (they are about 30 minutes here), so nothing was lost. Good times.

Experiencing Sunset while waiting for the train

Incomp3t3nt with a capital "3"

Well, the staff at "3" called me again today. Refresher: 3 is the internet provider that made me jump through hoops to get access. Well, last week I had to fax in my bank info to them.... They never got my fax.... surprise surprise. So they need me to send it again!!! If I don't "It's going to be really bad". Exact words from the stupid clerk. I wouldn't be surprised if there is another "Jonathan Boyd" walking around Perth with all my money. They told me to fax again, but I think I'm going to go in myself tomorrow, maybe I'll get a picture or two of the store.

1 Month in Perth

Well I've now hit the 1 month stage for my time in Perth. Where did the time go? Let's see, kangaroos, stubbies, beaches, driving, rain, cold, buses, trains and bikes.

Exciting news today.... Australia felt I deserved a credit, but instead of giving me one.... they gave me 2!!!! and one is a miniaturized version (pics to come). It even came with some gadgets (clip, rope, lanyard). Ever heard of someone wearing their credit card on a lanyard around their neck??? You have now!

Bad news today.... I bought eggs at the grocery store, got home, unpacked, realized something was missing.... NO EGGS!!!! Checked the bill, eggs were put on, $3.50 down the drain. So depressing.

On the weekend I loaded up Google Analytics onto my blog site to start tracking how many people are visiting the site http://www.australialiterally.blogspot.com/ . I think that uploading my blogs on facebook screws up the stats a bit. Anyhow, looks like it's a battle between Vancouver and Victoria:

Vancouver (Siblings): 16

Victoria (Mom & Dad): 15

Perth (me): 5

Burnaby (Joe Sakic?): 1

Edmonton (Carv?): 1

Lisbon (Steve?): 1

Worcester, England (Prince Charles): 1

Dallas (Mike Modano?): 1

It may actually be how many separate computers have accessed it. Interesting stuff. If RFC are reading, might be something useful to add the website!

IATO's [Interesting Australian Toilet Observations]

Well I'm not going to write about the whole Northern vs Southern Hemisphere and the rotation of flow in the toilets. In actual fact, toilets in Australia seem to go straight down and have no circular flow at all! What is amazing about toilets here is there are TWO choices for flush. Choice #1 is the "Half Flush" and is designed for a "Number One". It gives the bowl a decent cleaning, but it's not the full thing. The reasoning behind it is to conserve water as Australians have been in a drought for the last 10 years or so! Choice #2 is the "Full Flush", and is designed for ... well you know ... "Number Two". This thing gives the full bowl cleaning. My motto goes back to my childhood days at Bowen Island "When it's yellow, let it mellow [Choice #1]. When it's brown, flush it down [Choice #2]".

Choice #1 - The Half Flush ..... Choice #2 - The Full Flush

Other bathroom things I've noticed is that urinals are urino-where in Australia. Reason again may be with the Water Conservation Strategy, most men's washrooms just have troughs. The big long ditch in the ground that you "Number One" in. It's actually really awkward as there are no set boundaries for men when they pee. Someone can come up and rub elbows with you. I'm not a big fan. "Give me some freaking space", "You can't pee in my part of the trough", "THAT'S MY SHOE!!!". The only troughs that I can remember in BC are at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, and the Boom Boom Room (aka Sketchy McSketchville) in Victoria.

One of the many "Troughs"

Oh yah, but don't ask for the bathroom or the washroom ... you'll get a blank stare. Just get straight to the point ... TOILET.

On another note.... Max stopped by today. Max was the kid who's cell phone I found on Sunday. He was about 15 years old, and was very very thankful. To show his gratitude, he got me a box of Swiss Chocolates. Nice touch! "Milk, Hazelnut, Dark and White Swiss Chocolates with Delectably Smooth Centres" .... Thank you Max!!! Kinda ironic that Max got me Swiss Chocolates

Kinda ironic that Max got me Swiss Chocolates..... (only a couple ppl will get that)

Jacques

Me and Jacque flashing the "W" for West Coast...... that's what they do here ..... literally!

Well, I headed out for about 2 hours on the bike today. The pedal has remained on.... for now. With incident #1 now behind me, I decided it was time to officially name my bike. I decided to name him after the previous owner ... Jacques. However there is one condition. I can only speak French to him "Por Favor". I'm loving Jacques. I can't believe how fast you can get around on a road bike with such little effort. I'm not sure why I was always wasting away on a mountain bike. What a waste.

While heading off for a bike ride earlier in the day, I came across a mobile phone (that's what they call cell phones) up near the curb in the street. I picked it up went through the address book, and snooped around for a bit. Found out the owners name was Max. Then figured the best person to call was "Linda - Mum". She was very happy to get a call from her "son". He had lost the phone a couple days ago when he headed off for a trip. Their home was exactly where I found the phone. It was lucky that batteries weren't dead yet.

The only guy who could get on his board

I biked down to Cott Beach in the afternoon and spent a lazy couple hours there. Took some photos of surfers. After looking through the photos, it seems like there is one guy who just keeps repeating. There were about 30 surfers out there, but I guess only the good ones actually get up on their boards.

I headed back in the evening to catch another sunset. Life is tough.

Bills, Bills, Bills

In follow up to my coins blog, I've decided to have a quick look at Australian Bills. Nothing too exciting here. Lots of colours. Interestingly, the physical size of the bill increases as the monetary value increases. (helpful for blind people).

My major issue with the bills is the colour of the $5 and the $10. They are opposite to Canada. When I think I have a $10, it's only a $5, and vice versa. It's lead to some awkward moments where I had over only $5 for a $10 item. Woops!

*edit* - Well, after discussing with some friends, there are some more interesting things to Australian money. You cannot rip the bills!!!! I tried.... and it's true... If you use scissors, then yes, the bills do rip. The bills are also waterproof. A little teflon layer. Just like my Dockers Stain-Defenders

Also, just survived my BICYCLE INCIDENT #1. A pedal fell off on my home from the beach. I enjoyed a nice, peaceful ride only use my left leg. So much fun. Got the pedal back on. Hopefully it stays on .... my guess .... no, it won't

Just that easy

Well I had an exciting Friday night. Amy and Matt were planning to head to Circue du Soleil, so I met up with them for Dinner at an Indian restaurant. We ended up sitting beside a couple, and they were from France and Argentina. Surprise surprise, they were also geologists. We had a good laugh, and joked about it the whole night. As we ate, a guy comes up "I couldn't help but overhear the word "geologist"... my company is looking for qualified geologists", as he hands us his card. Rizwan Syed (rsy@activeselection.com.au). It's just that easy to find work here, you get recruited at the dinner table. I don't think the guy's girlfriend was too happy with him. You can imagine the second he heard what we were talking about, he just ignored her and listened to us.
I found this amazing Outlet Mall near my work. It's just your average mall, but everything is cheap. I can't believe it, it's amazing!!! I don't think I'm going to shop anywhere else... ever. Gotta love the Outlet malls. Are these things legal?

In Footie news, the West Coast Eagles (Perth based team) lost in Overtime to Collingwood (Melbourne team). I watched the last 10 minutes and Overtime, it was very exciting. I'm still trying to figure out Aussie Rules Football, but it's growing on me.

Stupidi3

Well, I got a call again today from guess who??? 3 ! or Three ! My internet service provider. Turns out the bank letter I used as my address (even though it's not my address) wasn't valid, and I had to provide another one. Back to the bank again. This time, to get the bank to print out my statement, it cost $4. Banks in Australia have fees for everything. Even walking in the door. When I signed up for an account, the Banker asked why I chose a certain plan? "Because there are less fees!"

Anyway, I hope I don't lose my internet. Useless 3. Still haven't run into my arch-nemesis again.... maybe he was just a 2-day thing.

First Day of Work

Well I made it through the first day of work. The great thing about the first day of work is that you know it's the one day you can get away with anything. 2 hours late? I got lost, it's my first day. 3 hour lunch? We only get an hour, oh sorry, it's my first day. Physical abuse? You can't strike co-workers... well it's my first day.

The highlight of my first day was being taken shopping .... for more shoes!!!! I think I now have more shoes in Perth than I ever did in Victoria. These were steel-toed hiking boots. Also, got 2 new khaki shirts, 2 new khaki pants, a pair of sunglasses, and a new hat (not as cool as my other aussie hat, but this was has a draw string so it won't get blown off my head .... so cool). When I was all dressed up in Khaki, I thought, "Wow, does this look bad or what?". Well it's better than wearing All Black in the middle of 40 degree weather.

Tonight I learned the joys of Perth's shopping hours. I went to the local (train ride away) grocery store and it turns out it closes at 6:00PM. It was 6:05. That's 6 hours earlier than Safeways stores close. Not very good customer service Coles Grocery. They made me short on food, so I was forced to eat at Hungry Jack's (the equivalent of Burger King). Now I'm feeling light headed and my total health is in question....

Amy did a little ASI (Apartment Scene Investigation) work and found out why I didn't get the apartment on the beach at her complex. Turns out, some guy just gave them 1-year rent on the spot, and was ready to offer 2 years. If it wasn't for him I "had it in the bag"....

I've been unsuccessful in adding videos to the blog, so I uploaded it to youtube. This is a still-frame video of the sunset on Monday night at Cottesloe beach. It was taken over 30 minutes. I added some action to it, and used William Hung's Circle of Life as inspiration! Enjoy, click here.

Junior!

Well I took the necessary, and lengthy/overly-annoying steps in getting set up for the internt. I decided to go for a company called 3 (Three). That may have been mistake #1 .... never pick a company that by name is already the 3rd best choice. What was advantageous about 3 was that it was A LOT cheaper ($55/month) for 2GB compared to other carriers ($100+/month). Plus the little modem was included. The other carriers (Telstra) made you pay another $300 for that. I'm hoping the 2GB will be enough. Hopefully downloading this 3 hour movie won't put too much of a dint into it.

Anyhow, the day started with me facing off with my new arch-nemesis. This crazy guy in his mid-40s or so. He wears an Australian Hat (like me), and mumbles very loudly (like me), however, he seems to be mumbling and pointing at me. We faced off on opposite sides of the train station. He just sat there laughing at me. He may have a mental disorder, or I may have had my underwear on outside my pants... It was the 2nd time I've seen him. Where will he be tomorrow? Will I ever get a picture of him? If I do, will I be able to out run him?

So I make it to 3, find a polite "Customer Service Cutie". She helps with the decision process but informs me that I can't do anything unless I have my passport with me. Also, I have to prove my address by showing an official letter sent to me. I of course don't have one with the new address as I just moved in on Saturday. Back home on the train.

I got the stuff, time to train back. I go to my bank, and ask about this whole "Address Issue". Can they print off something official for me with my address on it. That request seemed like the equivalent of asking them to give me the moon. 20 minutes of standing around and managers coming back and forth, they finally print off a sketchy internet address thing. "Oh geez".
So I get back to the 3 store, and this time I get "In-Your-Face Rude Girl" as my salesperson. Next thing I know I'm providing every piece of ID I have on me. Passport, Driver's Licence, Bank Card .... does she want a full body cavity search as well? When it comes to the sketchy address sheet I got from the bank. "Sorry, not official, you'll have to go back". Not wanting to spend 20 minutes doing nothing at the bank again, I ask if I can use the address I don't live at, but is on an old bank statement. "Sure!". But I can't use my REAL address??? "Nope, sorry". So now my bloody bills are going to my friend's place and not my own (Sorry Holly!).

Finally, they have to do the Credit Checks and Personal Reference Checks. "So your name's Junior right?"..... "Excuse Me"... "That's your name, Junior - Jr" .... "No, those are my initials [my bank statement was for JR Boyd], that's my name" as I point to the Passport she has open. I pass the credit check, now it's time to call my work to check if I'm employed. What? I thought I was just trying to get internet access. I remember in Canada getting a Credit Card when I was 18 and unemployed, so much easier back home. "We just have to make sure you're not some Dodgy Traveller".... "You mean I'm not? ... that's news to me". That process took about an hour (making me miss my train transfer), but I finally succeeded, and am back online blogging.....literally

Shopping For Shoes

So I'm all settled in to the new digs. The roommate is a friend Holly & Mark know through Triathlon. The place is located in the suburb of Mt Claremont, which is halfway between the city and the beach. A nice location as it's easy to get to work, and also easy to watch the sunsets in the evening on the coast. It's just a 5 minute walk to the train, which means it's always easy to get home from anywhere as long as it's not after 2am..... Unfortunately, I noticed an ad yesterday... A 20-something Swedish girl was looking for a roommate for her place near the beach.... why now? why? when I had already found a place... SWEDISH!!! :) A couple pics of the place below (more at my photo site):

Outside View

1 of 2 baby rooms I get to use.

Also hit a few of the malls this weekend to go Shopping For Shoes.... and other essentials. For those who know me very well, know that the hardest thing I had to give up back in Victoria, was my Magic Bullet. But wait .... could I have found the Magic Bullet....

Not quite the Magic Bullet, but the Australian equivalent.... the Gourmet Wizard! I found the Aussie version to be safer, cheaper, and it included MORE! I LOVE AUSTRALIA!

Freo & a Bike

Well I'm moving in to my new place tomorrow. I'm not sure what I'm going to do on the internet front, so we'll see what happens. Posts may become infrequent until I figure that out.....

Anyhow, I headed down to the port city of Fremantle yesterday. The locals call it Freo. It's a trendy cafe, shopping district built in an area that used to be just brick warehouse. It was some fun times. I walked around a bit and thought I saw the Sydney Opera House. I was very excited.

Unfortunately it was just the Maritime Museum..... Crikey! Major Disappointment. So I then headed off to meet up with my new girlfriend....

Ok. Well technically not. Replace "girl" with "television" .... and "friend" with "host". She still smiled at me. Mind you there might have been another camera directly in front of me. After that disappointment, I headed to the Bourne Supremacy. It premiered last week. I thought it already premiered when I was in Canada a month ago??? Anyway, good movie.

Today, I made the trek out to East Perth to look at a road bike for sale. Based on the RADAR i tried to time my trip so I could bike back in sunshine and not rain. On my way there it looked more like Vancouver, than what I thought Perth was going to be like.

I only got hit hard with wind and rain or about 1/4 of the trip, so not bad, and broke in the new "used" bike. I just hope it doesn't break :)

The balls are starting to roll

So things are beginning to happen in Ol' Perth City. Through Mark & Holly, I met a guy with a spare room (actually 2) for rent. It's a really nice place in a really nice area. Not super close to the beach, but not too far away. Also close to the train line so it's an easy commute into the city. I'll move in on the weekend, and upload some pics of the place when I get a chance. The 2 rooms are little kiddie bedrooms, big enough to fit a bed and that's it. But I do have my own bathroom!

On the job front. I met up a couple times with one of the Directors of a junior mineral exploration company. They were interested in bringing me onboard. So right now, I've agreed to a 3 month contract, and we'll see how things go. But I'll get plenty of time in the Outback (oh my it's going to be hot), so I'm excited. They said I was going to be employee #7, so there is plenty of growing available for the company. I'm going to start work mid-next week.

With the job and a place to live, I also went for a phone. Vodafone! I got some cheap, basic phone and am on the pre-paid system. In Australia, there's no charge to any incoming calls, so if you want to give me a shout, I'll pass on my number!

My new place doesn't have internet, so I'm not really sure how I'll get that going. Hopefully figure something out. Anyhow, might not update as regularly after the weekend.

The Australian Roonie

Well I've held off long enough. Australian coins intrigue me. There are many similarities to Canada (ie. the Queen is on the back of every coin), but Australians also have some neat differences. Unfortunately I don't have a Canadian Nickel to do the full comparison (sorry beaver). Starting from the left, the ingeniuos Aussies have completely gotten rid of the Penny. All purchases are rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents. That penny jar containing $20 at home could just disappear! Not to mention the 20 pennies you always find in your wallet.

The Aussie Nickel is about the same size as the Canadian, it features an Echidna. Since I don't actually know to pronounce the name of that animal. I'm going to go with the Cdn version, and just stick to calling it the Nickel.

The Aussie Dime grows significantly. In Canada the dime actually shrinks to the smallest coin (a little bizarre ... no respect given for the poor Bluenose). I like the increase. .... I'm not entirely sure what the coin depicts..... internet research tells me it's the Lyrebird??? what the heck is that? I can't think of anything clever for this coin, so I think I'm going to stick to the Cdn version again, and call it the dime!

Uh oh, Australians have 20 cent coins! Goodbye Canadian Quarter, Caribou-hoo. Again, the 20 cent grows quite large and is actually larger than the Canadian "Toonie". The coin has a Platypus depicted on the front. A Platty, a Pussy .... oh ..... I don't think I should be asking to get my spare pussy back from a cashier. Doesn't sound very good. I'm going to follow Canadian tradition. Instead of a quarter, I'm going to call this one, a Fifth!

Woah Coin .... woah coin .... woah coin! Holy jumping jawillickers. Not only does Australia have a 50 cent coin in circulation (I think Canada does.... although it might be a myth), but it's jacked up on as many steroids as Barry Bonds. This thing is a monster. Can you imagine when you have 3 or 4 of these in your wallet. I've had to get a new notch punched into my belt just to keep my pants from falling down. The official coin has the Australian Coat of Arms.... come on let's come up with something a little more creative. I've decided to nickname this the "Fitty".

The $1 and $2. The Loonie and Toonie back home. The two biggest Canadian coins, the two most valuable. The toonie is so valuable that its made of two colours. The Australian $1 and $2 coins have some serious shrinkage issues (and I'm not talking about laundry). The $2 coin is actually the 2nd smallest Australian coin, yet it's the most valuable. The $1 pictures kangaroos, while the $2 has an Aboriginal Elder. I've started a trend by quickly nicknaming the $1 coin the Roonie, and I'm going to stick with Toonie for the $2. There are options for a different $2 coin name, but I'll leave that to imagination!

Happy Father's Day???

Well Happy Father's Day Dad!

I thought I already got you a card and gift back in June. I also seem to remember going golfing with you to celebrate the day. But it seems that was all for nothing, as it's Father's Day again here in Australia. It makes me wonder what other days are different. Is Christmas in June? New Years Day in March? Is everything backwards here. I'll have to do some more investigative work.