Wrap up
Trip Start
Dec 30, 2009
1
23
Trip End
Mar 01, 2010
Lutherville, Maryland
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
As for the few and sporadic blog updates - although we had an internet capable phone for the entire time down under, it's not so easy to write up entire travel blog entries on it, and finding free wifi wasn't very easy (people who know me well know that I am a fairly cheap bastard when it comes to anything but food and drinks). Although there was either free or very cheap internet access at public libraries (free if you were doing research, $2/hr if you were using email and personal stuff), we were in a lot of smaller towns where they didn't have a library.
Looking back on the trip overall I think the thing that sticks out the most and what we keep mentioning is how nice everyone in Australia is. One person's response to that was, "that's because you were tourists" - meaning that everyone is nice to people visiting their country. While I can see that being the case, I think that it's more than just that in Australia. Most Aussie's seem to truly live with a sort of "innocent until proven guilty" type attitude towards others - meaning that they are open and friendly first, not reserved and suspicios of others. They say hi to each other lot more, and it's easier to start up conversations with complete strangers down there who end up being very freindly for the most part. I've already written about our friend Tony who we met, who invited us to his house and drove us around for an intimate tour of northern Coff's Coast.
The other thing that really impressed us was how many things seem to be done much better down under - things seem to make sense and be beneficial to everyone. Great public transportation, free public rest rooms (even in the smallest towns), recycling everywhere, solar panels galore, free gas barbeques for public use, etc. The country is so young - the science of urban development was far more advanced when things were being built up, so the cities are very modern (relatively speaking) and seemed to be planned out much better with parks, walking/biking paths, and a decent respect for the natural environment where they're located (for the most part - there are obviously exceptions). Another thing that helps is that there's currently less than 30 million people living in Australie - and I'm guessing that it's a hell of a lot easier to manage things like recycling and waste, roads, public facilities and mass transport for 30 million people than it is back here in the states for 300 million. (On a side note: currently there is a large effort under way to attract immigrants there who have the high tech skills to help the country's economy continue to grow - I'm not sure how that's going to affect things.)
The only minor down side to our trip was how expensive things were. The US dollar being so weak plus the Australian dollar being so strong (almost a 1 to 1 trade while we were there - normally it's around $0.75USD to $1AUD) plus the fact that most things are just plain more expensive down there equals an expensive 2 months. However that really didn't diminish our experiences. We really only saw a small bit of the continent, however we loved all of it (except maybe Canberra?!? ;o)
Highlights for us:
-Joerg and Rachel's wedding - seeing them, meeting their family and friends, etc
-The towns of Huskison/Vincentia on Jervis Bay
-Wineglass Bay in Freycinet Nat. Park, Tasmania - all of Tasmania for that matter
-Brisbane - who knew?!?
-for Chad - going back to Sydney, seeing Sydney Uni and where I lived/hung out in '97
Oh yeah - I said it before and I'll say it again: nobody drinks Foster's in Australia...
Ozzy ozzy ozzy!
(OY OY OY)
