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Some Details That May Or May Not Interest You

AUSTRALIA | Tuesday, 16 September 2008 | Views [610]

Down the street from the Ahern’s is a front yard with a walkway lined with lavender.  Every time I walk by it, I lean through the gate and run my hands along the leaves so the scent stays with me all morning.

 

The bike ride from the Ahern’s to Pat’s hostel takes about an hour along the Yarra River.  It once took me an hour and a half to take the train home.

 

A while ago Adrien and I made pain au chocolate from scratch.  It took us over five hours.  Our current mission is creating the perfect stir fry.

 

During the road trip with Pat, I consumed three jars of peanut butter... usually directly from the jar.

 

In both of Sally and Steve's houses — in Melbourne and in Lorne — the primary purpose of walls is not to hold up the roof but to provide room for fine art.  Their collection is quite extensive... and if you ask Steve about any painting, he can tell you the artist’s inspiration for the painting as well as her or his life history.

 

Every night for dinner at S&S's, I have two or three glasses of fine Australian or New Zealand wine.

 

Numerous people have remarked that I don’t have a strong American accent.  Several times Sally has even mistaken my voice for her daughter Phoebe’s.

 

Almost everyone who smokes here rolls their own cigarettes.

One of Sally and my traditions is playing Scrabble after dinner.  We’ve played over ten games and at times get quite competitive!

 

They call Melbourne "the city of suburbs"... or if they don't, I'll coin the phrase; beyond the tall buildings lie small suburban streets lined with small suburban houses, each one-story, with a front yard and driveway.

 

Due to the trolleys, there are times where I’ll be riding in the heart of Melbourne city with no cars or traffic of any kind around me – I’ll have the road completely to myself!  That’s why it’s so easy and stress-free to ride in the city.

 

I have yet to become jaded by the beauty of Eculyptus trees.

 

I was finally awarded the opportunity to see kangaroos!  Last time I was in Australia I saw tons of wallabys, koalas, wombats, goanas, an emu, and the shadow of a platypus, but not a kangaroo!  The largest one I saw was in a mob of about twenty 'roos, and standing up s/he was certainly taller than me!

 

Patrick's brother had a Zoolander themed party a couple weeks ago... To pay hommage to the state I know and love, I dressed up as a coal miner from South Jersey.

 

Australians say "I reckon" more than a midwestern corn farmer.

 

Cookaberras' calls sound like monkeys’.

 

Fly bites don't itch here.  (Mosquitos "mossies" excluded.)

 

It has yet to rain in Melbourne without there being a visible patch of blue. In addition, this corner of Australia houses the phenomenon of rain falling from practically clear skies, lasting, at most, fifteen minutes.

 

 

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