Coral Bay to The Pinnacles Desert

I left my last post just as I had met up with my fellow travellers in Exmouth and embarked on the coastal journey back to Perth. The group of 9 really was a little something of everything. 2 Swiss-German girls travelling together, a Canadian girl, an Irish girl, an Italian guy from Switzerland, a German couple, and a man from Tasmania. Our guide was also Australian born. And then me, the token American.  I had a lot of fun with the group and hoping to catch up with a few of them in the future; here in Perth, other parts of Oz, or perhaps in other countries??? I love inviting myself overJ

Backpacking groups aren’t something that most Americans are too familiar with, so a brief overview to start. It’s sort of like a guided tour that some of us may do when we go to Europe, as in there is a guide taking you places and you get driven around. But all the meals are prepared by the group; everyone pitches in to prep, cook, and clean…generally this is all done together in the kitchens of hostels or at public areas (or on the side of the road…it happens). You carry your food with you in the vehicle for the most part, except when the guide needs to top off a few supplies when we actually get to a place that has a store. Lunches are generally sandwiches you make yourself, with fruit and cold leftovers from the night before. Everyone pitches in to carry supplies from the truck upon arrival. And in the hostels or backpacker inns, you sleep in one or a few rooms together (or camping….this tour did not camp but others in the group had just finished a camping tour and I will likely be doing that in the future). My American friends might think I’m crazy at this point, but I promise you there is this whole other culture of backpacking in most countries. It’s seriously fun and a great way to safely (and cheaply) see lots of places and meet lots of people.

OK, back to the trip. I had enjoyed my time alone for a few days de-stressing from work and was ready to be in the company of others.  After leaving Exmouth we travelled to Coral Bay, where I had another relaxing day on the beach. Coral Bay has some fun activities like swimming with Manta Rays and quad-biking (aka “4-wheeling” in American), but I had just swam with the amazing Whale Sharks and practically grew up driving a 4-wheeler (they charge a fortune and don’t let you go very fast, so pointless for me).

Travelling the next day, we passed through the Tropic of Capricorn and made a pit stop in the fruit-producing town of Carnarvon, where we had amazing chocolate-covered frozen bananas. The Shark Bay World Heritage Site area has some very interesting things happening.

·    Shell Beach is a 50 mile beach made completely  of shells of the cockle species. It has something to do with the extreme saltiness of the seawater here that allows the cockle to flourish – and it is quite a beautiful sight.

·    At Hamelin Pool, at the base of the Peron Peninsula, there are stromatolites, which are over 3 billion years old. They’re not exactly exciting to look at, but they are very special. This is one of only 3 places where they exist in the world (the other two in the Bahamas I am told).

·    The town of Denham where we spent the night and went out for a drink had some pretty interesting locals. Think “Deliverance” banjos. Denham is the western-most town in Australia.

·    Monkey Mia is most famous for the wild Bottlenose dolphins that have been coming to shore multiple times daily for feedings for 40+ years. I can’t believe how close they come.

·    Dirk Hartog Island is named for a Dutch captain who first landed there (debatable with some French dude) in 1616. He nailed his plaque to a tree, said the land was inhabitable, and moved along. Then in 1697 another Dutch captain, Willem de Vlamingh, landed on the island and spent some time exploring the west coast of Australia. It wasn’t until 1770 that Captain James Cook landed on the east coast, outside of Sydney, and the first British settlement began in 1778 - over one hundred years from when the Dutch first landed on the west coast in 1616!

·    An abundance of sea turtles, dugongs (manatees),  and the largest known area of sea grass in the world make this a truly special place.

In the Kalbarri area, we took some short hikes up to Nature’s Window and down to Murchison Gorge. Kalbarri is also famous for the Batavia ship of the Dutch East India Company, which is a story in itself. If you’re curious, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batavia_(ship) for a truly fascinating tale. Kalbarri is really beautiful and I’d like to come back and spend some more time here. There are also really stunning coastal cliffs to gaze out over the Indian Ocean and search for humpbacks and dugongs!

We also stopped for a bit of sandboarding on the dunes near Geraldton. Geraldton has a population of about 30,000, making it the 4^th largest city in the state of WA – and it is also the first traffic lights coming from the north top of Australia! While “attempting” to sandboard, I took quite a digger and ended up completely covered in sand sand sand everywhere, even in my ears! We then headed, sand and all, to Nambung National Park to check out the Pinnacles Desert. The Pinnacles were unknown to most of the Australian public until the 1960s when they were added to Nambung (which was originally a National Park due mostly to the wildflowers). You can also see them in the Empire of the Sun music video for “Standing on the Shore”.  

All in all, it was a great trip and I can’t wait to do some more exploring in Australia. I’d love to get up to Broome or even Darwin and do some camping. That will probably have to wait until next winter (June-August 2012) as the weather is pretty unbearable up there in summer. Oh so many things to do!! Now back to the daily grind.

Shell Beach

Sunrise over the Outback

A wild dolphin at Monkey Mia

Coastal cliffs overlooking the Indian Ocean

One of many "Leaning Trees" near Geraldton

The Pinnacles Desert, Nambung National Park

Nature's Window, Kalbarri

Exmouth, WA

I recently spent a week traveling from Exmouth back to Perth along the west coast. I originally booked a Skywest flight up to Exmouth with the intention of driving by myself in a rental car / SUV back to Perth over a week, sleeping in the car / caravan parks / under the stars or a swag. The trip is roughly 800 miles / 1300 km, or the distance from Seattle to San Francisco. My better judgement finally won (assisted by some prodding from coworkers) and I ended up finding an adventure backpackers group to travel with for the roadtrip portion.

To explain my decision, we must cover both the size of WA and secondly (and most importantly), its isolation. I don't think most Americans would have an appreciation for the vast size of Western Australia. The state of WA covers 2.5 million square kilometers (approx 1 million square miles). That’s four times the size of Texas and larger than Western Europe. However, WA's population is a mere 2.3 million people, 1.7 million of which live in the Perth metropolitan area.

To further explain, I'm going to use an something I found online to capture your attention: "Take the western portion of the US all the way to the eastern borders of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana and add in, say, Kansas for good measure. That’s roughly the size of Western Australia. Place a metropolitan area about the size of Austin, TX somewhere in the vicinity of Los Angeles and then scatter another 600,000 people primarily along the coast. Separate Canada and Mexico by vast oceans, and you’ll have WA."

The rest of the Australian population (20 million) reside primarily along the east coast, separating West Australians from their neighbors by thousands of miles of outback desert. WA is truly isolated. It has been said that it's the most isolated city in the world. This claim has been disputed with Honolulu, Hawaii and Auckland, NZ....just depends on the measures you want to use. But you get the picture.

So there were obvious reasons for me not to travel alone. If it were the US or Europe, I would think nothing of it. In WA though, towns are few and far between, with no mobile reception between them. And considering I can't even change a flat tire, I think I made the best choice. (And I know my parents would be nodding their heads furiously as they read this).

I flew up to Exmouth on a Saturday, and had a few days to enjoy relaxing on my own. The town of Exmouth is a 13 hour drive (or a couple hours flight) on the NW Cape Peninsula with the Exmouth Gulf to the east and the Ningaloo Reef to the west. The Ningaloo Reef is a 260km fringing reef - the longest fringing reef in the world, and the only reef positioned so close to a land mass. The reef was just recently World Heritage listed. Although not as popular (or as big) as the Great Barrier Reef, the Ningaloo Reef is so close to land in some places that you can just walk out into the ocean and start snorkeling. The GB Reef is separated by a deep lagoon / channel and requires an expensive boat trip to access it. Not fun in rough waters or for people who get seasick....imagine me ralphing for 12 hours straight. I think I lost 14 lbs in one day back in 1998. So I'm a big fan of this fringing reef business!

In addition to the Ningaloo Reef, Exmouth is also famous for migrating Whale Sharks. The coral spawning of the reef produces an abundant amount of plankton that draws in the whale sharks on their migratory path. The whale shark, a slow-moving filter feeder, is the largest living fish species in the world. The largest one confirmed was 12.65 meters (41.5 feet) and the heaviest weighed more than 79 tonnes (79,000 lbs). Their average life span is 70 years! And I swam next to one (mine was estimated to be about 5 meters or 16+ feet). It is not cheap, but it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For about $400, various tour operators will take you on a full-day Whale Shark experience. Several kilometers out to sea, their spotter planes spot the Whale Sharks and you get in and swim with these gentle giants. Whalesharks are still relatively mysterious and much research is being done. (Note: the picture below is from wikipedia as I did not take any photos on the day. The image is at the Georgia Aquarium and uploaded by Zac Wolf.)

A little about Exmouth, where I spent 3 days enjoying life and sun. This little town of 2,000 has a bit more history than you'd think. After the retreat from Java in March 1942, Allied naval forces needed a base for replenishing submarines against the Japanese. Both Darwin and Broome were too exposed to air attack. Code-named Potshot, the base was also a rest camp for submariners. An airfield (now Learmonth, where I flew into) was constructed to provide fighter defense for the base. Z Special Unit used Potshot as a staging base for Operation Jaywick in September 1943 in which 7 Japanese boats were sunk in Singapore Harbor. The town was basically abandoned after it wasn't needed anymore. Then, in 1967, the Naval Communication Station was built after an agreement was established between Australia and the US. Its primary mission was that of a radio relay station, passing messages between Australian and US command centers, submarines, and surface ships. The 13 large antennaes (numbered 0-12), are Very Low Frequency (VLF) transmitters. Tower Zero (in the center) is the 2nd tallest structure in the southern hemisphere (387.6 meters high or approx 1300 feet).

My first 3 days were on my own before joining up with the group. I had a rental car and took a look around, did some nice walks, spent a day at the beach, etc and just generally took in the sights of the area: 

• Cape Range National Park; Thomas Carter Lookout over the Charles Knife Gorge
• Pebble Beach
• Potshot Memorial (commemorates Operation Potshot 1942-45)
• Krait Monument (tribute to Operation Jaywick)
• SS Mildura Wreck (1907 cattle ship wreckage visible from shore; later used in WWII for allied planes bombing practice)
• Vlamingh Lighthouse and the view! (named for Willem de Vlamingh, who explored the coast and named Rottnest Island and the Swan River in Perth)
• Migrating humpback whales....so many it got a little boring! "Oh look, there's the 40th humpback." "Eh, think I'll have some more chips."
• Dolphins

Tuesday, I met up with the backpackers adventure group and spent the day snorkeling at Turquoise Bay. We set off for our first destination on the drive back to Perth, Coral Bay, on Tuesday evening. The rest of the trip will be covered in the next post. Hope you enjoyed reading about Exmouth as much as I enjoyed visiting!

The VLF towers

Sunset over Indian Ocean

Emu in Cape Range National Park

Master Planless

Because I'm new here and want to experience as much as I can, I find myself constantly booking myself up practically every minute of the day. If I don't have something planned, there's all these things I "should" be doing. I actually had last Saturday free, so I wanted to do something fun. The original plan was to head to Lancelin to try my hand at "sandboarding" (snowboarding on sand dunes), but it was raining so I thought I'd instead take a little country drive to see what I could find.

I drove up the Great Northern Highway about 2 hours to New Norcia, which is the only monastic town in the entirety of Australia. The town is named after Norcia in Italy (the other namesake of the town is apparently in Arkansas). Two Benedictine monks settled the town in 1847.The buildings do have a Spanish style, and there was a machinery shed that displayed a lot of old machinery that the monks used to make their famous bread and olive oil (both of which I bought), as well as tend to the land. The port they make is also quite good. There is really not much else there, but as with most of what I do, the trip was more about the journey than the destination.

As I drove out of town to the south admiring the beautiful scenery, I had a WTF moment. Something in the hills that I hadn't heard about, and just didn't fit in with the rest of the spanish architecture in town. As I was blinded by the sun, the thought crossed my mind that this was a UFO. Or a weather satellite. One of the two for sure.

The New Norcia Space Station is a 35 meter (40 yard) antenna and was built by the European Space Agency in 2003. There is a similar station in Spain and one in progress in Argentina, so there will be 360 degree coverage of deep space missions. Apparently this site in WA is a key place because it is at the perfect latitude and is remote from big cities to prevent any radio interference (no wonder I couldn't get any radio stations). Of course I knew none of this at the time. After New Norcia, I lazily spent the afternoon driving back through the Chittering Valley. There are several wineries and a very beautiful landscape. I mostly just stopped when I saw something I wanted to take a photo of, or a swing I wanted to swing on, or a trail I wanted to explore. Sometimes it's so nice to not have a plan.

Wherever you go, there you are

I've been informed several times that I haven't been very good at keeping this darn thing updated. In response I usually joke about how I'm having too much fun to write about it. That's partially true. But also true, and what people may not want to know, is that my life is actually a little boring (well at least during the week). Yes, it is exciting that I'm here and get paid (well) to be here. But let's not forget that I still have the same work, career, social, romantic etc pressures and concerns - one might say they've been compounded in a way. One thing I've observed in my travels is that life is essentially the same everywhere (at least in developed countries where our basic needs are met...let's not go there for now). One of my strongest memories capturing this sentiment was walking back to my flat in London, in the rain of course, looking at all the faces passing by. They all looked the same; had the same things and pressures on their minds. It brings to mind the REM music video to "Everybody Hurts". I remember my 21 year old self thinking, "How can they be so sad? Don't they know they live in LONDON?!" And I know that's what you must be thinking of me now.

 

Let's not feel too sorry for me though:) I have been very lucky to have done a whole lot of traveling in my life. (Well, luck is only one component, the rest is making it happen.) My dad laughs at me when I talk about my ever-growing list of places I want to see. He says that most people have a bucket list, but that my bucket list is only one item - I want to do and see it ALL! It's true - the more I see the more I want to do, but it gets me thinking. What a reflection of society, but particularly I think of people my age. And particularly of women my age. I don't mean to leave the men out, please don't stop reading guys. You might learn something. I'm having a hard time putting this in words, but I want to make some sort of commentary on this culture of "more more more" in which I've been an active participant. For some people it's about money, but for me it has been more about experience - particularly for the last 5 or 6 years I have been running around trying to make up for time that I thought I lost. Turns out you can't really make up for lost time, because there is no lost time. It's just time. But this general idea that women (or anyone) can "have it all" is a little concerning, even arrogant and selfish. Choices must be made somewhere along the way. I wouldn't give up my experiences for anything (and wow have I had some awesome ones!) but it also gets me thinking about what I want out of life....no clear answers yet....but here's to hoping that someday I find myself wanting to be exactly where I am. Even the fact that I am longing a little for "contentedness" (if that's a word) says a lot about how far I've come. Now let's not pretend I had to go across the globe in search of clarity; sounds a little too "Eat Love Pray" for me, and I hated that damn book. I'm just saying we can all use a little kick in the ass once in awhile, have you had yours lately? The best and most meaningful ones are from yourself, by the way. For now, signing off as a stranger in a not-so-strange-but-different land.

PS In all seriousness, I started this blog with the intent to write about my experiences and the fun things I'm doing, and it has turned very introspective. But a blog is a somewhat self-centered by nature.  I don't blame you if you don't want to read about me me me me me me.....so then don't read it! It's my blog and I'll do what I damn well please!

Food for Thought in Margaret River

I'm having a hard time keeping my blog up to date with all the fun things I've been doing! (You know, I actually have that pesky thing called work that takes up my time as well). Earlier, I spent a week on Bali, an Indonesian island, which is a whole different topic for another time. Back in WA, last weekend I drove down to Margaret River for a few days. I had intentionally kept the weekend free of plans, hoping that I could take a trip out of the city. I'm the type of person that really needs to get away in order to keep myself sane, even as much as I love the city. I guess it's the small town / country girl in me. So I booked a last minute B&B near Dunsborough, threw some clothes in a backpack, and drove off early on a beautiful Saturday morning.

Ahhh, Margaret River. I loved this section of WA. Although it is a city, Margaret River refers to the entire region of southwest WA that is a wine and food lover's paradise. Beautiful Mediterranean climate, amazing rolling field after field of vineyards and wineries with tastings galore, and stunning coastline from end to end. A place like this would surely attract hoards of tourists in normal situations, but given the isolation of the region, the numbers are enough to keep it busy but not overcrowded. 

On the trip from Perth, the landscape gradually but dramatically changed until I realized I was smiling a whole lot just from looking around. I made a stop in Busselton to stretch my legs. I had no problem getting a nice walk in, since at 1.1 miles, the Busselton jetty is one of the longest in the world (jetty means pier / dock to my American readers). The jetty was built to assist in the export of timber (due to the shallow waters), as the city had become a major port for the tall timber industry. Thought my dad would like that part. Now it is a tourist attraction and has an underwater observatory at the very end.

The entire coast is riddled with caves as well. I decided to visit the Ngilgi Cave, just west of Dunsborough (pronounced Neel-Gee). The cave is named after a good spirit in Aboriginal stories of the area, who won a battle against an evil spirit (Wolgine) and saved the local people. The Wardandi aboriginals in the area still come to the cave before it opens to the public to honor the good spirit.

I then drove down Caves Road, which offers beautiful sights of many vineyards, and made it to Prevelly Point about an hour before sunset. Prevelly has a popular surf spot so I settled in and watched the surfers ride some waves. The point is popular for sunsets over the Indian Ocean and soon the park had groups of people (locals and tourists) with bottles of wine or a few beers on their blankets. Unfortunately, I personally did not come prepared. The thought crossed my mind to flirt my way to a Heineken from the guys next to me, but it was soon to be dark, with me driving on the opposite side of the road through an unfamiliar and very wooded area, so I refrained.

From there I drove into the actual city of Margaret River and had dinner....probably the best burger of my entire life. I might actually drive the 3.5 hours back there just for dinner one night (a restaurant called MUST Margaret River). I did finally allow myself a glass of Cab Merlot from the region, which was superb. Sure wish I could remember what it was.

Sunday I started the morning shopping at the Margaret River Olive Oil Soap Company and the Margaret River Chocolate Factory. I was informed that there was an old fashioned wine stomp happening at Voyager Estates, a winery just south of Margaret River. All that flashed in my mind was that "I Love Lucy" episode and I was officially hooked. The wine stomp was a great time and a nice community event, although I didn't stay until late afternoon when the actual stomping was to occur. I had to get back to Perth to prepare for the coming week. However, I plan on visiting the area many times - next time, I'd like to drive farther south to Augusta, which is where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet, and watch the whales migrate. Next time I will also hopefully do a wine tour or be with others so I can partake in some wine tastings!!

It really makes me sad to think that I only visited Napa Valley once, and that was 10 years ago before I had a real appreciation for wine and food (now it's pretty evident on my waistline!) The trip also made me think about all the places within 3 hours of <insert city I've lived in> that I never took the time to visit or seldom went there. A few examples I can think of are Devil's Lake near Wisconsin Dells, Galena, IL, or pretty much anywhere in northern Wisconsin. So for my readers - if you've read this far - why don't you take a trip in the local area you live in? I know there are always a million excuses; work, kids, "I'm tired"...I'm sure I've used them all (well not the kids one). But try to make it happen before the opportunity isn't there anymore. Just food (and wine) for thought.

Day Trippin'

I was able to spend a fun Sunday on Rottnest Island with two lovely ladies, Anna and Iveta. Rottnest (aka “Rotto” in typical Aussie style of shortening everything!) is located 18 km (11 miles) off the coast of Western Australia, nearest to Fremantle (south of Perth). We took a ferry with many other people headed there, which took about 30 minutes on a very windy and wavy day. (No worries, I didn’t get sick....but someone else did, which smelled lovely!) Rotto is a very popular holiday destination for West Australians, and many go over for a day of relaxation, like we did. Note: All of the information contained in this blog is a combination of online research, personal experience, and from my own personal tour guide, Anna.

Along with day trippers, Rotto is also popular with school leavers (graduates) who celebrate at the end of their exams in November (called “Leavers week” or “Leavers”).

Rottnest got its name from a Dutch captain, who called it “Rattenest”, meaning Rat’s Nest in Dutch. The rats he was referring to were not rats at all, but Quokkas. Quokkas are small marsupials in the macropod family, same as kangaroos and wallabies. I have never seen one before this, mostly due to the fact that they are pretty rare, only found in southwestern Australia and mostly just on a few islands such as Rottnest. To me, they kind of look like a cross between a tiny kangaroo and a rabbit.  They are nocturnal so we only saw a few, but they are really not afraid of people.

The Dutch were not the first to find the island though, as is usually the case. The Noongar Aboriginals called it “Wadjemup,” meaning “the place across the water.” 

The island also has more history than just a tourist destination. It was used as an Aboriginal prison for men and boys up through the 1930s. It also has quite a military history in both World Wars in housing enemy aliens (WWI - German and Austrian, and WWII – Italian). Also during WWII, several sites were manned with large guns for defence of the Fremantle Port. Fremantle was the major base for the Allies in the Indian Ocean, and any enemy could be attacked from the island before coming into range of the port. We didn’t take a look at any of the guns or military sites, but maybe next time I’m there. We did have a laugh about the railroad, wondering why such a small island needed one….turns out it was to transport ammunition to the guns.

Now the island is mostly recreational. No cars allowed (except for a few delivery trucks for the businesses, and buses). Basically it is for relaxing, snorkelling, swimming, and cycling. We spent the day riding bikes, looking for quokkas, taking pictures of the beautiful coastline, and swimming in the Indian Ocean – not a bad way to spend a Sunday!

How to speak (West) Australian

This is not the same English language that I learned in America (or should I say “learnt”). It can also get confusing because there are so many POMs or Pommies here (British – ya know, Prisoners of her Majesty) and they speak British English. I speak American English (Yank English). Aussies speak…..something else altogether, but more similar to Pommie English. Also there are many regional differences (I'm told); just like America, where north / south / east / west / city / country all have their own ways of speaking. The first basic rule is to shorten everything and put an “ie” or “y” at the end.

The basics:

·         H is hay-ch – hard to spell out my name!

·         Z is zed

·         Replace z with s (organisation)

·         Sometimes replace i with y (tyre)

·         Reverse r and e (centre, theatre)

·         Replace o with ou (behaviour)

·         Sch say like sh (schedule = shedule (no k sound in there))

People

·         Bloke = guy

·         Mate = friend

·         Mum = mom

·         Nanny or nana = grandma

·         Poppy or pop = grandpa

·         Bub = baby

Clothing

·         Pram = stroller

·         Nappy = diaper

·         Dummy = pacifier

·         Bathers = swimsuit * however there are regional differences – on the east coast they would call a swimsuit “swimmers” or “togs”

·         Boardies = board shorts

·         Jumper = sweater

·         Jumper (in sports) = jersey / uniform

·         Purse = wallet

·         Bag = purse

·         Mobile = cell phone

·         Thongs = flip flops

·         Jocks = men’s underwear

·         Knickers = women’s underwear

·         Frock = dress

·         Fringe = bangs

·         Fancy Dress Party = costume or dress up party (pretty common actually! They might base it on a letter, like you have to dress as something that starts with A (angel, apple, etc)

·         GHD = good hair day which is a hair straightener

Food

·         Tea = dinner

·         Brekky = breakfast

·         Morning or afternoon tea = snack

·         Lollies = candy of any kind

·         Long black = coffee

·         Short balck = espresso

·         Flat white = latte (coffee in general is way different here. There is no “drip coffee” like Americans drink to be found anywhere. It is also VERY expensive.)

·         Biscuit = cookie or cracker

·         Nibbles or nibblies = snacks

·         Eskie = cooler

·         Chips = fries (like French fries)

·         Capsicum = red bell peppers

·         Bottle Shop or Bottlo = liquor store (drinking age is 18 here!)

·         Champers = champagne

·         Shout = to buy a round of drinks

·         Maccas = McDonalds

·         Hungry Jacks or HJs = Burger King

Travel and other misc stuff

·         Bush = the country

·         Lift = elevator

·         Toilet = bathroom / restroom. It is commonly asked where the toilet is, which may be found inappropriate by Americans.

·         Car park = parking lot

·         Footpath = sidewalk

·         Petrol = gas (for a car)

·         Trolly = shopping cart

·         Boot = trunk (of the car)

·         Rubbish = trash

·         Rubbish bin or just bin = trash can

·         Holiday = vacation

·         Annual leave = vacation (in terms of taking days off work)

·         Superannuation = similar to 401k or retirement (referred to as “super”)

·         Surname = last name

·         Cyclone = hurricane

·         Hire = rent (as in “Hire a car”)

·         Jetty = pier / dock

·         Telly = TV

·         Footy = football

·         Pressy = present

·         Chrissy = Christmas

·         Barbie = bar-b-que

·         Mossy = mosquito

Greetings and other phrases

·         Ta = thank you

·         Cheers = thank you or good-bye or used when signing off on an email

·         Good on ya = good for you

·         No worries and no drama = no problem, not a big deal

·         Arvo = afternoon

·         Tomoz = tomorrow

·         Can’t be bothered = I don’t feel like it

·         Keen = want to, would like to (as in “are you keen for a concert on Friday?”)

Then there's the very common usage of words like brilliant, lovely, gorgeous, or you beauty (pronounced as youuuu beeuuuty!).

Adult stuff

·         Bloody (insert swear word of choice)

·         Pissed = drunk

·         Sunday session or “Sunday sesh” = Sunday Funday (drinking at the pub on a Sunday afternoon)

·         Bum = butt

·         Fanny = vagina (so NEVER say “fanny pack”, instead say “bum bag”….not that I’d ever have to worry about saying fanny pack.)

Also something unintentionally funny would be: Rubber = eraser (like on a pencil). If erasing something, one would say “rub it out” which a (young, silly) American may find hilarious.

School

Uni = college. In fact, college would generally refer to high school here (Trinity College is a boys prep school). High school is generally referred to in years – “year 12” would be senior year in high school. So when I say "I went to college at...." it doesn't mean the same thing. I should always say "uni" but it just sounds funny to me.

Well that's all I can think of right now! Needless to say, it's been fun (and funny). One night I was having a hard time and a friend pointed out that at least I didn't have to learn another language. I would argue that point, at least a little!