Deck the Sheds

We've been making the rounds at preschool Christmas pageants and community carol sing-a-longs (which are highly prevalent in Oz). I have been pleasantly surprised by the Australian versions of some classic carols:

Deck the sheds with bits of wattle*, fa la la la, la la la la,
Whack some gum leaves in a bottle, fa la la la, la la la la la,
All the shops are open Sundies, fa la la la, la la la la,
Buy you Dad some socks and undies, fa la la la, la la la la la.

Deck the sheds with bits of gumtree, fa la la la, la la la la,
Hang the deco's off the plum tree, fa la la la, la la la la la,
Plant some kisses on the missus, fa la la la, la la la la,
Have a ripper Aussie Christmas, fa la la la, la la la la la.

Say g'day to friends and rellies, fa la la la, la la la la,
Wave them off with bulging bellies, fa la la la, la la la la la,
Kids and babies, youngies, oldies, fa la la la, la la la la,
May your fridge be full of coldies, fa la la la, la la la la la.

Chop the wood and stoke the barbie, fa la la la, la la la la,
Ring the folks in Abudabe**, fa la la la, la la la la la,
Pop the stuffing in the turkey, fa la la la, la la la la,
Little Mary's feeling ercky***, fa la la la, la la la la la.

Rally rally round the table, fa la la la, la la la la,
Fill your belly while you're able, fa la la la, la la la la la,
Joyce and Joaney, Dave and Darryl, fa la la la, la la la la,
Sing an Aussie Christmas carol, fa la la la, la la la la la.

*Wattle = Mimosa Tree also known as Acacia
**Abudabe = A Faraway Land
***Ercky = Not too well

And then there's:

Dashing through the bush,
in a rusty Holden Ute,
Kicking up the dust,
esky in the boot,
Kelpie by my side,
singing Christmas songs,
It's Summer time and I am in
my singlet, shorts and thongs.

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia
on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.

Public Holiday

I'm working in my office on Good Friday. This means that I'm ignoring the public holiday--the first day of a four-day holiday weekend in Australia.  As I said last year, I'm just not used to observing this most religious Christian holiday by going to the beach, eating hot cross buns, and gorging on chocolate. Thus, to avoid the awkwardness of it all I ran to what is familiar--my desk at UQ! Besides, I'm hopelessly behind in my work anyway.

For a fairly non-religious country, Australia does wholeheartedly observe Easter. All the shops are closed today, just like on Christmas Day. They'll be open again on Saturday, when we'll fight the crowds to buy some groceries, but then everything goes dark again on Sunday. Easter Monday (what's that all about anyway--the day that Jesus recovered from his resurrection?) is unpredictable in terms of what services are available.  The major newspapers didn't publish an issue today, and I'm not sure whether they will do so on Sunday or Monday.  We have no mail for four days, as the Australian Post isn't open on Saturdays anyway. A $1100 charge appeared in our checking account yesterday, but I must wait five days for my bank to re-open to find out where the charge came from.  I keep muttering to myself, "Have patience, Eric. You don't live in the United States anymore!"

I was dying for a flat white this morning, so I was relieved to find an open coffee shop in Toowong--a Coffee Club full of Good Friday refugees.  However, signs were prominently posted on the door announcing a 15% surcharge on everything because it was a public holiday. As I understand it, this strongly union-dominated nation mandates something like double holiday pay for anyone who works on public holidays. It's the law! That may explain why even the newspapers are shut down too.  Still, the extra 50 cents for my coffee was well worth it.

Don't worry. I won't stay here much longer today. I can feel the spirit of the public holiday eroding my motivation with each passing hour that I sit here.  And, despite the federal law, I'm not receiving any extra pay. You will, however, need to pay a 15% surcharge for reading this post.

The Day of a Happy Father

I woke up today not remembering that it was Father's Day.  For the past two years I have been lucky enough to celebrate four Father's Days--I was in the U.S. last year and the U.K. this year for their June holidays, and then I got the bonus Australian holiday each time,celebrated on the first Sunday in September.  Anyway, after opening my presents from Will and his mum this morning, we loaded up the car and drove up to the Sunshine Coast for the day.  We had breakfast at a café in Mooloolaba, where Will had his usual "baby chino" and we all had waffles. We then drove further north towards Noosa, stopping a few kilometres short of there to go to Sunrise Beach.  There must have been no more than 20 people within a kilometre of us on the beach itself.  Will had a great time exhausting his parents by running around and threatening to drown himself in the surf.  We also had a chance to work on his sandcastle building skills.  Unfortunately, right now Will is more pleased with knocking down a pillar as soon as it's built rather than adding to it, so in the end there wasn't much to show for our efforts.  The weather was absolutely perfect, and V. and I sang along to '80s hits on the radio on the way home.  Once home I did a quick run to the grocery store while V. got Will ready for bed.  Our dinner was lamb burgers topped off with Greek-style yoghurt and accompanied by juicy corn on the cob.  Now, that's a meal that would have been a challenge to make (at an affordable price) back in the States. 

Yes, I had a perfectly happy Father's Day!

Fugitive Bunnies

It's Easter Sunday, so that means we are in the middle of a long, 4-day weekend here in Australia. In the U.S., I never had off Good Friday or Easter Monday, so I am enjoying this new way of celebrating the holiday. It feels a bit like the four days off during an American Thanksgiving, except that we spent the afternoon at a great outdoor pool with our friends yesterday. It also differs from its American counterpart because Australians have compulsions to eat hot cross buns and give chocolate eggs to one another. Maybe the latter happens because the Easter Bunny could be shot if he isn't too careful when hopping around this country.

You see, as the 'Rabbits in Australia' wikipedia entry points out, "In Australia, rabbits are the most serious mammalian pests, an invasive species whose destruction of habitats is responsible for the extinction or major decline of many native animals such as the Western Quoll," a cute cat-looking creature with white spots and brown fur. Although rabbits came to Australia with the First Fleet in 1788, their population didn't seem to really take off until Thomas Austin released 24 rabbits into the countryside in 1859 in one of those "be fruitful and multiply" moments. There were later attempts to control the expansion of rabbits with an 1800-km long 'rabbit-proof' fence in Western Australia in 1907 and a rabbit-killing virus that was introduced in the '50s, which eventually lost its effect and the rabbits came back again. Government researchers, however, are still working on variants of this myxoma virus to prevent conception in rabbits.

These days, whenever a rabbit does appear, there is an almost immediate reaction to get rid of the little creatures. I heard recently about some children in a classroom at a Brisbane school who were forced ten years ago to give up their illegally-held rabbit for slaughter. Although it is legal to keep pet rabbits in some States, it is illegal to do so in Queensland, according to this posting, where one can be fined $30,000 for harboring a bunny. Audra, an American ex-pat blogging in Sydney, posted a picture of a flyer announcing the mass poisoning of rabbits in her neighborhood last year. Poisoning seems to be the preferred way of getting rid of bunnies, as traps have been banned due to concerns about animal cruelty. Out in rural Australia, shooting rabbits is highly popular. Here's a posting from AusHunt, "The Australian Hunting and Shooting Directory," where there's a picture of 17 dead bunnies all lined up with the following caption underneath:

Rabbit shooting for an hour!

It was a still night and not a breath of wind so I decided to head out and bag a few rabbits off my Uncle’s property.

I grabbed my SAKO Varmint .22LR with it’s 4.5-14 x 40 variable scope attached, a packet of Winchester Powerpoints, my small battery pack and packed in my Lightforce spotlight which can be mounted directly onto the scope. An hour or so of walking around and the results speak for themselves.

As a wanted, shoot-to-kill criminal, I do wonder how the Easter Bunny is able to make his deliveries Down Under.

Happy New Year!

I’ve discovered that I need a routine. During the past week or so, our sleeping habits have gotten all out of whack. We haven’t been able to shop at the normal times. We haven’t seen anyone else. And I haven’t been blogging. Tomorrow I return to a nearly normal schedule, so perhaps finally I will be able to resume my regular blogging (and reading others’ blogs).

New Year’s Eve was quiet, but noisy. Australians seem especially crazy about big fireworks displays. We had the huge Riverfire display in Brisbane back in September. Then there were Christmas fireworks that lasted several nights. And last night there was a display at 9:00 (the family show) and another at midnight. We can see all these displays quite well from our upstairs veranda, so that’s where I was last night. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of a build up on the television networks for the midnight countdown. Here in Queensland they showed us the Sydney and Melbourne displays on tape delay (they have D.S.T. down there). Will and V. somehow slept through all the noise, including the loud shouts from the party next door.

Oh, since I have become a self-designated Master Water Watcher, I should let you know that we have had showers nearly every day for a week, and they are forecast to continue for yet another. We may finally get some relief from the drought.

Boys of Summer

V. has been in Melbourne attending a conference since Tuesday night, leaving me alone with the boy (and our temporary nanny on the week days) until tomorrow afternoon. Will has been just fine, but the toddler tantrums are more frequent now, and it sometimes feels like we're walking on a minefield in anticipation of the next outburst. I honestly don't see how single or stay-at-home parents do it all alone. I can only really manage basic household tasks when Will is in his high chair or taking a nap. On top of that, I would really like to finish this manuscript that I am working on, so I better keep this blog entry brief (Will just went down for a nap).

Today is the first day of summer, and also the beginning of the Aussie Christmas season. Starting today many families put up their Christmas trees (nearly every one is artificial) and some will even venture onto their roofs to string along some lights. It is difficult for me to get into the spirit of the season, as I don't have any of the normal cues to get me into the mood. I am afraid that we won't be sending out many Christmas cards this season, nor will my nieces get their gifts on time, as we didn't start early enough to compensate for the international mail. Maybe by next year I will have developed a stronger association of the holidays with the smell of sunscreen to keep me from becoming the Grinch.

Happy Turkey Day

In honor of my friends and family back in the United States, as well as the other American ex-pats living in Oz, I walked around the UQ campus today looking for a bush (or scrub) turkey to photograph for your viewing pleasure. We have many of these birds on campus, and every one of them makes a huge mess while they build their nests. Bush turkeys are a regular feature of life around Brisbane, but one hardly ever hears about them. And, no, you can't eat them, even if it is Thanksgiving.

In lieu of all our usual traditions, and especially because it was just another normal day of work, we celebrated Thanksgiving with the customary Old El Paso taco kit. Just look at the spread that awaited V. when I had finished cooking!


And for dessert we had an apple pie. Well, a very well cooked apple pie (originally found frozen at the supermarket). We still haven't figured out how to use the oven correctly...

Christmas in Oz: A Primer

Myer, a big department store chain in Australia, is now featuring a TV ad to get us all in the mood for Christmas shopping.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find the ad to show you here, but I did find similar images in the new Myer Christmas catalogue.  Keep in mind that this will be our first Christmas south of the equator, so I am quite eager to learn the local customs.

First, one gathers all the pretty blue ornaments to decorate the tree...on the beach:

Then, apparently, the former Miss Universe, Jennifer Hawkins, delivers the presents.  I like this custom!

 All the pretty kids then gather at their special kiddie Christmas table on the beach:

Meanwhile, the adults drink a nice Aussie wine while bathing in the sun:  

I think I'm going to like Christmas here...

Spring Break

Although no one here appears to use the term, it is now "Spring Break" in Queensland and much of the rest of Australia. The university has the week off, but all the primary and secondary schools have two weeks holiday, which is dubbed "school holidays" (how clever!). From what I can tell, these school holidays are concurrent for EVERY school in Queensland, and perhaps those in other states as well. I noticed a big reduction in the traffic in Toowong this morning when I went to drop off Will at daycare. Many families leave town for various destinations (including Mooselet, who is on an amazing journey to the Queensland interior). Later this week we are flying to Sydney for a few days to see our friends, but we got things started this past weekend with two mini-breaks. The first was a one-hour drive to the Gold Coast, where we had breakfast at Surfers Paradise. The Gold Coast looks a bit like Miami Beach, with many, many skyscrapers, including the Q1. At 80 floors high, Q1 is the world's tallest all-residential building, when measured to the top of its spire (according to Wikipedia). Australians are fond of complaining of the glitz of the Gold Coast, but for a guy who grew up in the Midwest, it's quite exciting. On Sunday, we took our second mini-break to Noosa, which is about a 2-hour drive north of Brisbane. Noosa is considered one of the most beautiful places in Australia, which also makes it a major tourist destination. During the school holidays it's jammed with families from the southern cities. In fact, our friends the Clarks are spending the week there with some of their Melbourne friends. They took us out on the Noosa river on their boat, and then V., Will, and I walked along the main shopping boulevard in Noosa Heads, before spending a little while on the Noosa beach. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and a bit drizzly, so we didn't get to see the place at its best. But, it is clear that it's still quite beautiful, despite the creeping urbanism. You can check out more pictures from our weekend by clicking on the album on the right.