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An American's Impressions
We have just returned from our 3 week cruise-tour of Australia and New
Zealand. We found the people to be very friendly and helpful. We tasted Vegamite (not as bad as it looks), ate quite a lot of yummy lamb and got to see some awesome scenery and lots of sheep and cows :-) In Australia we visited Ularu and did the Sounds of Silence dinner which was a wonderful experience. I snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef, too. One interesting thing I learned is that Australians don't drink that awful Foster's beer. They just export it :-) If they made it here, I'd export it, too. I did taste some of the local brews and found them to be very nice. The wines of both countries were fabulous, but that goes without saying. Sidney is a big city. It has some interesting architecture, like the opera house, but urban is urban, no matter where. Melbourne was a little more interesting. My impression was that the financial institutions were more grand than the churches, which led us to believe that money was definitely more important to the founders of the city than religion. Or perhaps money was their religion? The Olgas and Ularu are awe-inspiring. I have just managed to clean the red earth stains from my white walking shoes. The laces are permanently stained and will have to be trashed. We did a Liru walk with two Aborigine gents and an interpretor and learned quite a bit from them about how they managed to survive in the desert. We got to pet a live koala and saw fields-full of kangaroo. They seem to adore the sports fields as a habitat. We saw some crocs, too, not to mention tasting them and "skippy" meat as well. Our ship sailed through the fjords of the South Island of NZ and the scenery was breath-taking. It had rained for several days before we came so we were treated to a myriad of waterfalls. We took the scenic train in Dunedin through the gorge and I got the best souvenir ever on the train. It's a little purse that is made of lambskin and looks like a lamb's face. I had it on the ship and it was so unique that I was taped with it for the DVD that the cruise line sells as a rememberence of the voyage. We also went to Rotorua and the Maori village, the Gloworm caves at Waitomo (awesome!) and did some touring around in Christchurch and Wellington. Unfortunately the ship had a mechanical problem and we couldn't put in at Napier. We were in Wellington on the open visit to Parliament day so we took a tour of the government buildings. You Kiwis who haven't been should go next year. The library is very pretty. The "Beehive" in my opinion, was quite ugly. We looked at all the stuff that tourists are supposed to purchase but I'm not fond of opals so there wasn't much in Oz to tempt me. In NZ, the woolens were lovely but very expensive. The thought of possum fur being in some of the wool goods turned my stomach. To me possum is road kill. Ugh! The other gift shop stuff was exactly the same in every place we visited and it was too tourist-tacky to consider. I did get post cards of a kiwi and that wonderful tree fern. We did get to see live Kiwis on one of our excursions to the center where they are raising them. I also did the Antarctic place, but the Te Papa museum was the best. What a treasure you Kiwis have in that museum! Thanks to all of you for your hospitality. It was much appreciated and I hope that any of you who are visiting way-the-heck-south Texas will email me so that I can return the kindness. Kia Ora and G'Day, Janet -- Janet Wilder Bad spelling. Bad punctuation Good Friends. Good Life |
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An American's Impressions
On Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:37:29 -0600, Janet Wilder
wrote: We have just returned from our 3 week cruise-tour of Australia and New Zealand. We found the people to be very friendly and helpful. We tasted Vegamite (not as bad as it looks), ate quite a lot of yummy lamb and got to see some awesome scenery and lots of sheep and cows :-) In Australia we visited Ularu and did the Sounds of Silence dinner which was a wonderful experience. I snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef, too. One interesting thing I learned is that Australians don't drink that awful Foster's beer. They just export it :-) If they made it here, I'd export it, too. I did taste some of the local brews and found them to be very nice. The wines of both countries were fabulous, but that goes without saying. Sidney is a big city. It has some interesting architecture, like the opera house, but urban is urban, no matter where. Melbourne was a little more interesting. My impression was that the financial institutions were more grand than the churches, which led us to believe that money was definitely more important to the founders of the city than religion. Or perhaps money was their religion? The Olgas and Ularu are awe-inspiring. I have just managed to clean the red earth stains from my white walking shoes. The laces are permanently stained and will have to be trashed. We did a Liru walk with two Aborigine gents and an interpretor and learned quite a bit from them about how they managed to survive in the desert. We got to pet a live koala and saw fields-full of kangaroo. They seem to adore the sports fields as a habitat. We saw some crocs, too, not to mention tasting them and "skippy" meat as well. Our ship sailed through the fjords of the South Island of NZ and the scenery was breath-taking. It had rained for several days before we came so we were treated to a myriad of waterfalls. We took the scenic train in Dunedin through the gorge and I got the best souvenir ever on the train. It's a little purse that is made of lambskin and looks like a lamb's face. I had it on the ship and it was so unique that I was taped with it for the DVD that the cruise line sells as a rememberence of the voyage. We also went to Rotorua and the Maori village, the Gloworm caves at Waitomo (awesome!) and did some touring around in Christchurch and Wellington. Unfortunately the ship had a mechanical problem and we couldn't put in at Napier. We were in Wellington on the open visit to Parliament day so we took a tour of the government buildings. You Kiwis who haven't been should go next year. The library is very pretty. The "Beehive" in my opinion, was quite ugly. We looked at all the stuff that tourists are supposed to purchase but I'm not fond of opals so there wasn't much in Oz to tempt me. In NZ, the woolens were lovely but very expensive. The thought of possum fur being in some of the wool goods turned my stomach. To me possum is road kill. Ugh! The other gift shop stuff was exactly the same in every place we visited and it was too tourist-tacky to consider. I did get post cards of a kiwi and that wonderful tree fern. We did get to see live Kiwis on one of our excursions to the center where they are raising them. I also did the Antarctic place, but the Te Papa museum was the best. What a treasure you Kiwis have in that museum! Thanks to all of you for your hospitality. It was much appreciated and I hope that any of you who are visiting way-the-heck-south Texas will email me so that I can return the kindness. Kia Ora and G'Day, Janet Thanks for the trip report. It's always interesting to see how others see us. Frame the shoelaces and hang them on the wall as a memento:-) Possums here are actually a totally different animal and a bloody nuisance if you get them in your roof-space. The most common road-kill is roos. Cheers, Alan, Australia -- http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/ latest: Slovenia http://loraltraveloz.blogspot.com/ latest: Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest |
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An American's Impressions
On Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:57:04 +1100, Alan S
wrote in : On Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:37:29 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote: We have just returned from our 3 week cruise-tour of Australia and New Zealand. We found the people to be very friendly and helpful. We tasted Vegamite (not as bad as it looks), ate quite a lot of yummy lamb and got to see some awesome scenery and lots of sheep and cows :-) In Australia we visited Ularu and did the Sounds of Silence dinner which was a wonderful experience. I snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef, too. One interesting thing I learned is that Australians don't drink that awful Foster's beer. They just export it :-) If they made it here, I'd export it, too. I did taste some of the local brews and found them to be very nice. The wines of both countries were fabulous, but that goes without saying. Sidney is a big city. It has some interesting architecture, like the opera house, but urban is urban, no matter where. Melbourne was a little more interesting. My impression was that the financial institutions were more grand than the churches, which led us to believe that money was definitely more important to the founders of the city than religion. Or perhaps money was their religion? The Olgas and Ularu are awe-inspiring. I have just managed to clean the red earth stains from my white walking shoes. The laces are permanently stained and will have to be trashed. We did a Liru walk with two Aborigine gents and an interpretor and learned quite a bit from them about how they managed to survive in the desert. We got to pet a live koala and saw fields-full of kangaroo. They seem to adore the sports fields as a habitat. We saw some crocs, too, not to mention tasting them and "skippy" meat as well. Our ship sailed through the fjords of the South Island of NZ and the scenery was breath-taking. It had rained for several days before we came so we were treated to a myriad of waterfalls. We took the scenic train in Dunedin through the gorge and I got the best souvenir ever on the train. It's a little purse that is made of lambskin and looks like a lamb's face. I had it on the ship and it was so unique that I was taped with it for the DVD that the cruise line sells as a rememberence of the voyage. We also went to Rotorua and the Maori village, the Gloworm caves at Waitomo (awesome!) and did some touring around in Christchurch and Wellington. Unfortunately the ship had a mechanical problem and we couldn't put in at Napier. We were in Wellington on the open visit to Parliament day so we took a tour of the government buildings. You Kiwis who haven't been should go next year. The library is very pretty. The "Beehive" in my opinion, was quite ugly. We looked at all the stuff that tourists are supposed to purchase but I'm not fond of opals so there wasn't much in Oz to tempt me. In NZ, the woolens were lovely but very expensive. The thought of possum fur being in some of the wool goods turned my stomach. To me possum is road kill. Ugh! The other gift shop stuff was exactly the same in every place we visited and it was too tourist-tacky to consider. I did get post cards of a kiwi and that wonderful tree fern. We did get to see live Kiwis on one of our excursions to the center where they are raising them. I also did the Antarctic place, but the Te Papa museum was the best. What a treasure you Kiwis have in that museum! Thanks to all of you for your hospitality. It was much appreciated and I hope that any of you who are visiting way-the-heck-south Texas will email me so that I can return the kindness. Kia Ora and G'Day, Janet Thanks for the trip report. It's always interesting to see how others see us. As Bobbie Burns said [English translation] O would some Power the gift to give us To see ourselves as others see us! It would from many a blunder free us, And foolish notion: What airs in dress and gait would leave us, And even devotion! For both the original Scots dialect and the English translation, readers can check both at: http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/...ations/552.htm Frame the shoelaces and hang them on the wall as a memento:-) Good suggestion! Why not? Although the stains are probably mainly iron oxide. If she wants to restore the laces to their original pristine condition of "whiteness" she could try consulting http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...821cbd852a8a8e Or much more simply, http://tinyurl.com/yvjdqv Still, your suggestion is much more elegant. In either case, she could enclose the shoelaces in a elaborate glassed in frame for $100 or so. Sounds like something I might do. A visitor or a guest is psychologically likely to ask the reason for such a display of the original stained laces or the cleaned laces. Likely response from visitor or guest: "Why such an expensive display of a pair of shoelaces?" Perhaps needless to say, my response would probably be along the lines of: "Well, since you have asked, they are there to remind me of my experiences in Australia." 10,000 or 100,000 words later, they might grasp the essentials. :-) ....If they don't put their hands over their ears, and find an excuse to get away from me, of course. Possums here are actually a totally different animal and a bloody nuisance if you get them in your roof-space. The most common road-kill is roos. A totally different animal? Not all that different. See: [for a start] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/a_close.../opossums.html "The opossum, Didelphis marsupials, is the only marsupial found in the United States (the young are born prematurely and brought to term in the mother's marsupium, or pouch, in which she nurtures them until they are weaned.) The opossum has several relatives throughout Central and South America, but Australia has the largest number and the greatest variety of these ancient mammals, such as the koala, wallaby, wombat, kangaroo, and sugar glider." http://www.wildliferescueleague.org/report/opossum.html "The Australian opossum or phalanger (Trichosurus vulpecula) was first liberated at Riverton, Southland, in 1858 with the idea of starting a skin trade. Since then innumerable recorded and unrecorded liberations have been made all over New Zealand, in Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands and in the outlying islands. There are now few areas without opossums, exceptions being the high country and northern Northland." http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/M/Mamm...ianOpossums/en From a strictly scientific point of view, of course, you are correct. To the average tourist, kangaroos and wallabies are "identical" as they have several things in common. Perhaps they use a rough definition along the lines of "if it over waist high, it is a "Kangaroo". If under, probably a "Wallaby". From a strictly scientific point of view, many species of each. While in the U.S. wouldn't want to pick up a "black widow spider" with my bare hands. Most children can recognize that they are a hazard. ---------------------- Black widow spider From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia • Ten things you may not know about Wikipedia • Jump to: navigation, search Black widow Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Family: Theridiidae Genus: Latrodectus Species L. mactans Fabricius, 1775 L. hesperus Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 L. variolus Walckenaer, 1837 The black widow spider (Latrodectus spp.) is a spider notorious for its neurotoxic venom. It is a large widow spider found throughout the world and commonly associated with urban habitats or agricultural areas. Although the name 'black widow spider' is most commonly used to refer to the three North American species best known for their dark coloration, black hair and red hourglass pattern, occasionally it is applied to several other members of a the Latrodectus (widow spider) genus in which there are 31 recognized species including the Australian red-back, brown widow spider (sometimes called the gray widow), and the red widow spider. In South Africa, widow spiders are also known as the button spiders. Currently, there are three recognized species of black widow found in North America: The southern black widow (L. mactans), the northern black widow (L. variolus), and the western black widow (L. hesperus). As the name indicates, the southern widow is primarily found (and is indigenous to) the southeastern United States, ranging from Florida to New York, and west to Texas, Oklahoma and they run particularly rampant in parts of Arizona... More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_widow_spider For practical purposes, though, it doesn't pay to play with any of the above. :-) In Australia, we are more likely to encounter the "redback". Same genera, different species. --------------------------------- Redback spider The redback spider is one of Australia’s most recognisable species and they are commonly found in habitats ranging from bushland to urban areas. Description Redback spiders, Latrodectus hasselti, are almost too familiar to need description. Mature female redbacks are jet black spiders with a variable red stripe on the back of their spherical abdomen... [more at] http://www.csiro.au/resources/ps1rv.html When I first came to Australia, I knew nothing about "redbacks", but they looked and acted enough like "black widows" that I wasn't tempted to mess with them. [Sorry about that, Cath!] Nor was I aware of the "Sydney Funnel Web" spider. Interested readers, if any, can check on http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/funnelweb.htm In many ways, though, I am a pretty pragmatic person. If I encounter a spider that I've never seen before, the long and highly visible fangs are enough of a warning to me.:-) Ever been to the U.S.A., Alan? Or tempted to visit? The good news is that you wouldn't have to worry much about spiders or snakes, especially in cities. The bad news is that some of the animals, such as "Homo sapiens" are extremely prolific and some can be extremely dangerous. Anyway, enough for now, must have a look at other groups. :-) Cheers, Kangaroo16 Cheers, Alan, Australia |
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An American's Impressions
"kangaroo16" wrote in message ... 10,000 or 100,000 words later, they might grasp the essentials. :-) In your case I would suspect much closer to 100,000 if not more. :-) Gerrit |
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An American's Impressions
On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:01:20 +0800, "gerrit"
wrote in : "kangaroo16" wrote in message .. . 10,000 or 100,000 words later, they might grasp the essentials. :-) In your case I would suspect much closer to 100,000 if not more. :-) Gerrit Well, mate, I've spent most of my life in Oz, have accumulated a lot of new experiences, seen a lot of new things, done a lot of things, given them a fair bit of thought, and so on. It would be interesting to know how many words I could speak in an hour of conversation, actually. There might be a market for a compact electronic device that would actually count them, just to satisfy my curiosity. I suppose I could ask my wife how many words she has heard from me since we married a few decades ago. If she told be about a googolplex, I wouldn't know for sure if she was exaggerating or not, though! :-) It would be nice to have an actual count, or even a rough approximation. A nice addition might be if it sounded a beep every 500 words or so, but the constant beeping might become an annoyance.:-) My typing speed is around 50 WPM, and I can probably do 2 or 3 times better than that with speech. Hmm, wonder how good the current models of speech to text converters are these days? Perhaps should get one to speed up my Usenet posts a bit? I will admit that I am seldom at a loss for words. Took a public speaking class once at uni. Class members would have to reach into a box filled with an assortment of random small items, pick one out at random and talk about it for five minutes or so. It was great fun, actually. Think what I could have accomplished had I been born with a photographic memory...:-) For people who were having sleep problems, I could give a long boring lectures and have some of the audience asleep in minutes :-) Or I could turn my hand to writing pulp western or romance novels. Even at the old rate of a couple of cents a word, could bring in a nice income. I see from this weeks "Time" magazine, Nov.19, that a section dealing with new products, mostly technical. One is: [to quote Time] An ATM for Books The "Expresso Book Machine"--meaning "fast" not coffee--can churn out a 300 page paperback on demand, complete with color cover, in just 3 min. The $50,000 machine could transform libraries into minibook stores, making hard-to-find titles as accessible as cappuccinos. At $3 a book they might be cheaper too. Available Now www.ondemandbooks.com Oh well, enough for the moment, have been off doing some actual housework. Cheers, Kangaroo16 [Who happily hops from one subject to another, even within individual posts...] |
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An American's Impressions
On Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:37:29 -0600, Janet Wilder
wrote in : We have just returned from our 3 week cruise-tour of Australia and New Zealand. We found the people to be very friendly and helpful. Excellent post, Janet! IMHO, both this group and misc.immigration.australia+nz need more such feedback from both tourists and successful migrants. This group seems to get a bit more feedback than the immigration group, actually. There we get a lot of posts from people who are applying for a migrant visa, and when they get it, they let the group know about their success. After that, though, many seem to drop off the group, or even off the face of the earth. We seem to get little or no feedback about their first, and subsequent, impressions of Australia. Perhaps they are too busy? When I migrated to Australia from the U.S. decades ago, computers were rare enough, & the Internet as we know it now, was a distant dream. I kept in touch with family and friends by mail, but the net would have been far more convenient. We tasted Vegamite (not as bad as it looks), I can't say that am a great fan of Vegamite, although have tried it. Australians who migrate to the US are often disappointed that it isn't readily available there. For readers who have never encountered it, the product is probably very similar to English "Marmite". AFIK, both were mainly developed as a vitamin supplement. The main ingredient is "yeast cream", a by-product of yeast production. Various strains of yeast are cultivated, then pressed into cakes. The liquid exudates are known in the trade as "yeast cream". So why is Vegamite black? It is coloured by carmel, usually from burnt sugar. Why bother? Consumer acceptance, basically. The colour of the yeast cream varies from white to a shade of yellow. If the end product was marketed without the carmel, the colour would vary depending on the species of yeast, and the customers might get upset at the variation. The addition of carmel makes it a uniform black. Salt is added as a preservative. Various other flavors are added. Unfortunately, the carmel also makes it a bit bitter, and the end product is definitely an acquired taste. ate quite a lot of yummy lamb Can offer some info here as well. In the following quote, "ovine" is derived from the scientific name for sheep, which is "Ovis aries". "What is lamb, hogget and mutton? Lamb is the meat from the ovine that is less than one year old. It has a mild flavour and low in internal and external fat. Requires short cooking times Hogget is the meat from the ovine that is one to two years old. It has a more intense flavour than lamb, low to medium in internal and external fat. Requires longer cooking times than lamb and more suited to roasting, stewing and braising Mutton is the meat from the ovine that is more than two years old. It has a very strong flavour, is high in internal and external fat. Requires extended cooking times and more suited to curing, 2nd class roasting (slow and low heat), stewing and braising. These cooking methods will render the excess fat which may be spooned or scooped and discarded, they will also ensure the meat is nice and tender." http://www.hub-uk.com/tallytip01/tip0031.htm If the meat comes from an animal less than a year old, it can be legally sold or served as "lamb". Unfortunately, in many states in the U.S.A. the regulations are more lax, and what we would call "hogget" here is often sold as "lamb" there. Perhaps that is one of the reasons you were impressed by the flavour of Australian or N.Z. lamb. Farm animals are sold mainly by gross weight, so lamb meat costs more per pound [or kilogramme] than hogget or mutton. and got to see some awesome scenery and lots of sheep and cows :-) Australia has more sheep than humans. The human population passed 21 million not all that long ago. Last time I checked, about 100 million sheep. Plenty of kangaroos around too. Perhaps 50 million or so. In Australia we visited Ularu and did the Sounds of Silence dinner which was a wonderful experience. I snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef, too. Assume that you found it interesting.:-) One of our greatest tourist attractions. One interesting thing I learned is that Australians don't drink that awful Foster's beer. They just export it :-) If they made it here, I'd export it, too. Laughed at these lines, as totally agree with you. XXXX [a.k.a "Fourex"] is a pretty good brew. All "Aussie" beer is generally better than U.S. beer, of course, perhaps because most of it contains more alcohol than the 3.2% "beer" in the USA. :-) At least this was the standard percentage when I was last in the U.S.A. I did taste some of the local brews and found them to be very nice. The wines of both countries were fabulous, but that goes without saying. Yep, we export a lot of it. Probably a lot more expensive there than here. ----------------- Wine price falls despite record high in exports Tuesday, 09/01/2007 Australian wine exports set new records last year, but the price per litre has continued to fall. Exports grew by 8 per cent to 757 million litres and were worth 1 per cent more, at $2.82 billion. The average price per litre fell 17 cents... [more at] http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/con...6/s1823722.htm Sidney is a big city. It certainly is that. Of course, Los Angeles is a pretty big city too, but it isn't as pleasant a place to live, IMHO. Readers can check http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/ or various links from this site such as http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/A...on/Default.asp It has some interesting architecture, like the opera house, but urban is urban, no matter where. It was still under construction when I arrived. I had to ask a passing Aussie what the hell it was. :-) Yes, "urban" is "urban" but some cities are much better than others. In 2002, Melbourne, Australia and Vancouver, B.C., Canada were tops. Melbourne, Vancouver top city list Friday, October 4, 2002 Posted: 2:38 PM EDT (1838 GMT) LONDON, England (CNN) -- Melbourne and Vancouver are the best cities in the world for expatriates to live in, according to a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Both Australia and Canada fared well in the survey, with the west Australian city of Perth ranking third, and Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide tying in eighth place. Toronto and Montreal also made the top 10, while Calgary was 16th. (Full list) Links from the above site, but is: http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/e...ties/#fulllist In Australia, Sydney, Hobart, & Brisbane rated #8. In the USA, Honolulu, Hawaii rates as #21. / #28. Boston, Massachusetts./ #39. Houston, Texas. A search would probably provide a more current list. As you imply, though, urban areas are a bit of a drag, as have too high a population density. Wikapedia gives the population of the USA as 31 per square kilometer. [by population/area/density] Ranks 144 on list. 298,212,900 9,629,091 31 Australia is a bit smaller than the continental US, but much less crowded, especially once get out of the state capitals. 192 on the list. 21,050,000 7,682,300 2.6 Melbourne was a little more interesting. Will have to take your word for this. Never been there, let alone lived there. Haven't been in Hobart, Tasmania either. Have lived in others. [ Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin.] Have passed through Brisbane. My impression was that the financial institutions were more grand than the churches, which led us to believe that money was definitely more important to the founders of the city than religion. Or perhaps money was their religion? ROTFL! Not that Sydney is much better, though. Much more "Americanised" than it was in the sixties! The Olgas and Ularu are awe-inspiring. I have just managed to clean the red earth stains from my white walking shoes. The laces are permanently stained and will have to be trashed. White walking shoes in Australia? :-) Elastic sided boots are more practical. We did a Liru walk with two Aborigine gents and an interpretor and learned quite a bit from them about how they managed to survive in the desert. And they may have wondered how you manage to survive in the U.S.A., especially if you live in a city... We got to pet a live koala and saw fields-full of kangaroo. They seem to adore the sports fields as a habitat. We saw some crocs, too, not to mention tasting them and "skippy" meat as well. Congratulations for being an adventuresome traveler! Many wouldn't. I've been here for decades, and consider kangaroo equal,or better than beef. Lower fat content. For the ultimate tourist food, were you offered, and did you try a "wichetty grub". Bores into trees, can be fished out with a twig or a bit of wire. Sort of like a large hairless caterpillar. Highly nutritious, lots of protein. Snap off the head before eating. More seriously, though, don't tell me you have actually tried one. I've been here for decades, and I haven't. Before I left the US, did try canned rattlesnake, though. Much like chicken. Our ship sailed through the fjords of the South Island of NZ and the scenery was breath-taking. It usually is in less populated countries, especially those along the "Pacific ring of fire", with live volcanoes, lots of rugged mountains, and so on. Australia is a much older continent, with a lot less tectonic activity. Even a small earthquake makes the news here. It had rained for several days before we came so we were treated to a myriad of waterfalls. We took the scenic train in Dunedin through the gorge and I got the best souvenir ever on the train. It's a little purse that is made of lambskin and looks like a lamb's face. I had it on the ship and it was so unique that I was taped with it for the DVD that the cruise line sells as a rememberence of the voyage. Sounds like you are a very discerning tourist! Am sure that many visitors to Sydney take home a plastic or ceramic model of the Sydney Opera House. On the bottom, it will probably say "Made in China", though. :-) We also went to Rotorua and the Maori village, the Gloworm caves at Waitomo (awesome!) and did some touring around in Christchurch and Wellington. Unfortunately the ship had a mechanical problem and we couldn't put in at Napier. We were in Wellington on the open visit to Parliament day so we took a tour of the government buildings. You Kiwis who haven't been should go next year. The library is very pretty. The "Beehive" in my opinion, was quite ugly. I like your honesty! You don't worry about possibly offending readers! We looked at all the stuff that tourists are supposed to purchase but I'm not fond of opals so there wasn't much in Oz to tempt me. Not even the black opals? AFIK, only found in Australia. Solid ones can be more valuable, weight by weight, than diamonds. Even the cheaper ones, "doublets" and "triplets" with a thin layer of black opal would be sure to attract attention even in Texas. Had you bought an opal ring, you could walk around the streets of your home town and wait for a comment on it. This would give you a conversional opening to tell others about your trip to Australia and N.Z. :-) In NZ, the woolens were lovely but very expensive. The thought of possum fur being in some of the wool goods turned my stomach. To me possum is road kill. Likewise, but most of the native animals in Australia are marsupials. In the US, from memory, the opossum is the only "native" marsupial. The possums in N.Z. aren't really native, AFIK, probably came from Australia. Here we have a lot of imported mammals, such as dingos, rabbits, foxes, wild house cats, wild pigs, camels, and so on. Why foxes and rabbits? Well, an early English ["pommie"] immigrant missed the pleasure of fox hunting in "Jolly old England" Someone else thought it would be a good idea to import rabbits. No natural predators here, so they became a plague. Camels? Were used for early exploration of Australia. Were released into the wild when no longer required. As a consequences, AFIK, Australia is the only country in the world with herds of wild camels. One of our exports, actually. Ugh! The other gift shop stuff was exactly the same in every place we visited and it was too tourist-tacky to consider. You obviously have good taste! I did get post cards of a kiwi and that wonderful tree fern. We did get to see live Kiwis on one of our excursions to the center where they are raising them. I also did the Antarctic place, but the Te Papa museum was the best. What a treasure you Kiwis have in that museum! Thanks to all of you for your hospitality. It was much appreciated and I hope that any of you who are visiting way-the-heck-south Texas will email me so that I can return the kindness. Kia Ora and G'Day, Janet Far south Texas on the Rio Grande, perhaps? Ever met "Cath" who is a frequent poster on misc.immigration.australia+nz. She sometimes appears on this group. Apparently a N.Z. migrant to Texas. Name that she posts under is "Cath". Do a search on both groups if you want to contact her. If you manage to do so, give her my regards. She often criticizes me for what she perceives as my "long" posts, but almost willing to bet that she will read this one to see if her name is mentioned. Obsessive/Compulsive personalities often do such things. If she doesn't like my posts, she could choose not to read them, or with a cheap program could "killfile" them. I doubt that she does, though. Anyway, if you ever do encounter her, give her my regards. :-) Obsessive/compulsive types are a bit rare on Usenet groups, actually. Most Usenet users are pretty open-minded, and tend not to criticize other posters. Still, not worth discussing her. Again, I praise you for an excellent post, and hope that other travelers or migrants report their experiences. Their is a subtle difference between "tourists" and "travelers". You belong in the latter class, as far as I am concerned, as your post indicates that you were not a mere "tourist". What is a "tourist"? by one definition, one that takes an around the world trip, looks at his calendar wris****ch, checks his tour guide, and says to his wife or companions "This is Thursday, we must be in Belgium" If they stay in a well-known chain of international hotels, this is possibly understandable. I don't have to name the chain, except to mention that if I and my wife were staying in one, we might have to look out the window to try to find out where we were at the time. Anyway, thanks again for your post. It impresses me, and I am not that easily impressed. "Gidday" to you as well, although Tuesday here, 4:13 PM. In Houston, Texas, it is around 11:13 PM Monday. Cheers! Kangaroo16 |
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An American's Impressions
wasn't belgium on a wendsday
Ron (from belgium) "kangaroo16" schreef in bericht ... On Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:37:29 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote in : We have just returned from our 3 week cruise-tour of Australia and New Zealand. We found the people to be very friendly and helpful. Excellent post, Janet! IMHO, both this group and misc.immigration.australia+nz need more such feedback from both tourists and successful migrants. This group seems to get a bit more feedback than the immigration group, actually. There we get a lot of posts from people who are applying for a migrant visa, and when they get it, they let the group know about their success. After that, though, many seem to drop off the group, or even off the face of the earth. We seem to get little or no feedback about their first, and subsequent, impressions of Australia. Perhaps they are too busy? When I migrated to Australia from the U.S. decades ago, computers were rare enough, & the Internet as we know it now, was a distant dream. I kept in touch with family and friends by mail, but the net would have been far more convenient. We tasted Vegamite (not as bad as it looks), I can't say that am a great fan of Vegamite, although have tried it. Australians who migrate to the US are often disappointed that it isn't readily available there. For readers who have never encountered it, the product is probably very similar to English "Marmite". AFIK, both were mainly developed as a vitamin supplement. The main ingredient is "yeast cream", a by-product of yeast production. Various strains of yeast are cultivated, then pressed into cakes. The liquid exudates are known in the trade as "yeast cream". So why is Vegamite black? It is coloured by carmel, usually from burnt sugar. Why bother? Consumer acceptance, basically. The colour of the yeast cream varies from white to a shade of yellow. If the end product was marketed without the carmel, the colour would vary depending on the species of yeast, and the customers might get upset at the variation. The addition of carmel makes it a uniform black. Salt is added as a preservative. Various other flavors are added. Unfortunately, the carmel also makes it a bit bitter, and the end product is definitely an acquired taste. ate quite a lot of yummy lamb Can offer some info here as well. In the following quote, "ovine" is derived from the scientific name for sheep, which is "Ovis aries". "What is lamb, hogget and mutton? Lamb is the meat from the ovine that is less than one year old. It has a mild flavour and low in internal and external fat. Requires short cooking times Hogget is the meat from the ovine that is one to two years old. It has a more intense flavour than lamb, low to medium in internal and external fat. Requires longer cooking times than lamb and more suited to roasting, stewing and braising Mutton is the meat from the ovine that is more than two years old. It has a very strong flavour, is high in internal and external fat. Requires extended cooking times and more suited to curing, 2nd class roasting (slow and low heat), stewing and braising. These cooking methods will render the excess fat which may be spooned or scooped and discarded, they will also ensure the meat is nice and tender." http://www.hub-uk.com/tallytip01/tip0031.htm If the meat comes from an animal less than a year old, it can be legally sold or served as "lamb". Unfortunately, in many states in the U.S.A. the regulations are more lax, and what we would call "hogget" here is often sold as "lamb" there. Perhaps that is one of the reasons you were impressed by the flavour of Australian or N.Z. lamb. Farm animals are sold mainly by gross weight, so lamb meat costs more per pound [or kilogramme] than hogget or mutton. and got to see some awesome scenery and lots of sheep and cows :-) Australia has more sheep than humans. The human population passed 21 million not all that long ago. Last time I checked, about 100 million sheep. Plenty of kangaroos around too. Perhaps 50 million or so. In Australia we visited Ularu and did the Sounds of Silence dinner which was a wonderful experience. I snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef, too. Assume that you found it interesting.:-) One of our greatest tourist attractions. One interesting thing I learned is that Australians don't drink that awful Foster's beer. They just export it :-) If they made it here, I'd export it, too. Laughed at these lines, as totally agree with you. XXXX [a.k.a "Fourex"] is a pretty good brew. All "Aussie" beer is generally better than U.S. beer, of course, perhaps because most of it contains more alcohol than the 3.2% "beer" in the USA. :-) At least this was the standard percentage when I was last in the U.S.A. I did taste some of the local brews and found them to be very nice. The wines of both countries were fabulous, but that goes without saying. Yep, we export a lot of it. Probably a lot more expensive there than here. ----------------- Wine price falls despite record high in exports Tuesday, 09/01/2007 Australian wine exports set new records last year, but the price per litre has continued to fall. Exports grew by 8 per cent to 757 million litres and were worth 1 per cent more, at $2.82 billion. The average price per litre fell 17 cents... [more at] http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/con...6/s1823722.htm Sidney is a big city. It certainly is that. Of course, Los Angeles is a pretty big city too, but it isn't as pleasant a place to live, IMHO. Readers can check http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/ or various links from this site such as http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/A...on/Default.asp It has some interesting architecture, like the opera house, but urban is urban, no matter where. It was still under construction when I arrived. I had to ask a passing Aussie what the hell it was. :-) Yes, "urban" is "urban" but some cities are much better than others. In 2002, Melbourne, Australia and Vancouver, B.C., Canada were tops. Melbourne, Vancouver top city list Friday, October 4, 2002 Posted: 2:38 PM EDT (1838 GMT) LONDON, England (CNN) -- Melbourne and Vancouver are the best cities in the world for expatriates to live in, according to a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Both Australia and Canada fared well in the survey, with the west Australian city of Perth ranking third, and Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide tying in eighth place. Toronto and Montreal also made the top 10, while Calgary was 16th. (Full list) Links from the above site, but is: http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/e...ties/#fulllist In Australia, Sydney, Hobart, & Brisbane rated #8. In the USA, Honolulu, Hawaii rates as #21. / #28. Boston, Massachusetts./ #39. Houston, Texas. A search would probably provide a more current list. As you imply, though, urban areas are a bit of a drag, as have too high a population density. Wikapedia gives the population of the USA as 31 per square kilometer. [by population/area/density] Ranks 144 on list. 298,212,900 9,629,091 31 Australia is a bit smaller than the continental US, but much less crowded, especially once get out of the state capitals. 192 on the list. 21,050,000 7,682,300 2.6 Melbourne was a little more interesting. Will have to take your word for this. Never been there, let alone lived there. Haven't been in Hobart, Tasmania either. Have lived in others. [ Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin.] Have passed through Brisbane. My impression was that the financial institutions were more grand than the churches, which led us to believe that money was definitely more important to the founders of the city than religion. Or perhaps money was their religion? ROTFL! Not that Sydney is much better, though. Much more "Americanised" than it was in the sixties! The Olgas and Ularu are awe-inspiring. I have just managed to clean the red earth stains from my white walking shoes. The laces are permanently stained and will have to be trashed. White walking shoes in Australia? :-) Elastic sided boots are more practical. We did a Liru walk with two Aborigine gents and an interpretor and learned quite a bit from them about how they managed to survive in the desert. And they may have wondered how you manage to survive in the U.S.A., especially if you live in a city... We got to pet a live koala and saw fields-full of kangaroo. They seem to adore the sports fields as a habitat. We saw some crocs, too, not to mention tasting them and "skippy" meat as well. Congratulations for being an adventuresome traveler! Many wouldn't. I've been here for decades, and consider kangaroo equal,or better than beef. Lower fat content. For the ultimate tourist food, were you offered, and did you try a "wichetty grub". Bores into trees, can be fished out with a twig or a bit of wire. Sort of like a large hairless caterpillar. Highly nutritious, lots of protein. Snap off the head before eating. More seriously, though, don't tell me you have actually tried one. I've been here for decades, and I haven't. Before I left the US, did try canned rattlesnake, though. Much like chicken. Our ship sailed through the fjords of the South Island of NZ and the scenery was breath-taking. It usually is in less populated countries, especially those along the "Pacific ring of fire", with live volcanoes, lots of rugged mountains, and so on. Australia is a much older continent, with a lot less tectonic activity. Even a small earthquake makes the news here. It had rained for several days before we came so we were treated to a myriad of waterfalls. We took the scenic train in Dunedin through the gorge and I got the best souvenir ever on the train. It's a little purse that is made of lambskin and looks like a lamb's face. I had it on the ship and it was so unique that I was taped with it for the DVD that the cruise line sells as a rememberence of the voyage. Sounds like you are a very discerning tourist! Am sure that many visitors to Sydney take home a plastic or ceramic model of the Sydney Opera House. On the bottom, it will probably say "Made in China", though. :-) We also went to Rotorua and the Maori village, the Gloworm caves at Waitomo (awesome!) and did some touring around in Christchurch and Wellington. Unfortunately the ship had a mechanical problem and we couldn't put in at Napier. We were in Wellington on the open visit to Parliament day so we took a tour of the government buildings. You Kiwis who haven't been should go next year. The library is very pretty. The "Beehive" in my opinion, was quite ugly. I like your honesty! You don't worry about possibly offending readers! We looked at all the stuff that tourists are supposed to purchase but I'm not fond of opals so there wasn't much in Oz to tempt me. Not even the black opals? AFIK, only found in Australia. Solid ones can be more valuable, weight by weight, than diamonds. Even the cheaper ones, "doublets" and "triplets" with a thin layer of black opal would be sure to attract attention even in Texas. Had you bought an opal ring, you could walk around the streets of your home town and wait for a comment on it. This would give you a conversional opening to tell others about your trip to Australia and N.Z. :-) In NZ, the woolens were lovely but very expensive. The thought of possum fur being in some of the wool goods turned my stomach. To me possum is road kill. Likewise, but most of the native animals in Australia are marsupials. In the US, from memory, the opossum is the only "native" marsupial. The possums in N.Z. aren't really native, AFIK, probably came from Australia. Here we have a lot of imported mammals, such as dingos, rabbits, foxes, wild house cats, wild pigs, camels, and so on. Why foxes and rabbits? Well, an early English ["pommie"] immigrant missed the pleasure of fox hunting in "Jolly old England" Someone else thought it would be a good idea to import rabbits. No natural predators here, so they became a plague. Camels? Were used for early exploration of Australia. Were released into the wild when no longer required. As a consequences, AFIK, Australia is the only country in the world with herds of wild camels. One of our exports, actually. Ugh! The other gift shop stuff was exactly the same in every place we visited and it was too tourist-tacky to consider. You obviously have good taste! I did get post cards of a kiwi and that wonderful tree fern. We did get to see live Kiwis on one of our excursions to the center where they are raising them. I also did the Antarctic place, but the Te Papa museum was the best. What a treasure you Kiwis have in that museum! Thanks to all of you for your hospitality. It was much appreciated and I hope that any of you who are visiting way-the-heck-south Texas will email me so that I can return the kindness. Kia Ora and G'Day, Janet Far south Texas on the Rio Grande, perhaps? Ever met "Cath" who is a frequent poster on misc.immigration.australia+nz. She sometimes appears on this group. Apparently a N.Z. migrant to Texas. Name that she posts under is "Cath". Do a search on both groups if you want to contact her. If you manage to do so, give her my regards. She often criticizes me for what she perceives as my "long" posts, but almost willing to bet that she will read this one to see if her name is mentioned. Obsessive/Compulsive personalities often do such things. If she doesn't like my posts, she could choose not to read them, or with a cheap program could "killfile" them. I doubt that she does, though. Anyway, if you ever do encounter her, give her my regards. :-) Obsessive/compulsive types are a bit rare on Usenet groups, actually. Most Usenet users are pretty open-minded, and tend not to criticize other posters. Still, not worth discussing her. Again, I praise you for an excellent post, and hope that other travelers or migrants report their experiences. Their is a subtle difference between "tourists" and "travelers". You belong in the latter class, as far as I am concerned, as your post indicates that you were not a mere "tourist". What is a "tourist"? by one definition, one that takes an around the world trip, looks at his calendar wris****ch, checks his tour guide, and says to his wife or companions "This is Thursday, we must be in Belgium" If they stay in a well-known chain of international hotels, this is possibly understandable. I don't have to name the chain, except to mention that if I and my wife were staying in one, we might have to look out the window to try to find out where we were at the time. Anyway, thanks again for your post. It impresses me, and I am not that easily impressed. "Gidday" to you as well, although Tuesday here, 4:13 PM. In Houston, Texas, it is around 11:13 PM Monday. Cheers! Kangaroo16 |
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An American's Impressions
On Tue, 13 Nov 2007 08:49:14 +0100, "maxi"
wrote in : wasn't belgium on a wendsday Ron (from belgium) As am a curious human (some would say in more ways than one) I really do have to ask why! Are there no "Wednesdays" in Belgium? If so, this must be pretty confusing to European travelers. Does this apply equally in Wallonia, Flanders, and Brussels? A quick net search reveals the following: ----------------- As linguistic spats endure, Belgium nears record of 150 days without a government The Associated Press Published: November 4, 2007 BRUSSELS, Belgium: Belgium heads for a record this week — 150 days with no government — unless the Christian Democrat and Liberal winners of spring elections suddenly resolve linguistic spats deadlocking their bid to form a government... http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/...ment-Talks.php Golly gee, Batman! A nice quiet country in Europe with no government? Perhaps it should prepare for a truly massive influx of potential migrants! If no Government, this implies no enforceable laws. :-) Businesses and "spammer's" [if they aren't the same thing] should be rushing to establish a base there! :-) After all, if "no government", then no "laws", and no need for "migrant visas". :-) If you have "dual nationality" why are you bothering to reveal such information to this group? Perhaps you could return and become a "Minister [or Czar] of Immigration?" Can you still speak Fleming or Waloon? Fly there immediately, make ten friends, get the support of six or seven of them, and you could claim that a majority of those polled wanted you you in charge of immigration. :-) Don't get too excited at this possibility, though. Have a nice rest, or even sleep while considering the possibilities. It might be interesting to see a European country with no established government. Update: See: Bye bye Belgium? "With deep divisions between its French and Dutch speakers, not to mention a ludicrously complex administrative system, it's a wonder Belgium has stayed united for so long. Now, after 156 days without a national government, the country is heading for meltdown." Jon Henley reports Tuesday November 13, 2007 The Guardian [more at] http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2209988,00.html Regards, Kangaroo16 |
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An American's Impressions
On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:24:06 GMT, kangaroo16
wrote: On Tue, 13 Nov 2007 08:49:14 +0100, "maxi" wrote in : wasn't belgium on a wendsday Ron (from belgium) As am a curious human (some would say in more ways than one) I really do have to ask why! Are there no "Wednesdays" in Belgium? If so, this must be pretty confusing to European travelers. The OP was wrong, Belgium was on a Tuesday. And roo16, you've had a culturally deprived childhood. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/2429...lgium/overview Cheers, Alan, Australia -- http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/ latest: Slovenia http://loraltraveloz.blogspot.com/ latest: Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest |
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An American's Impressions
On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:34:15 +1100, Alan S
wrote in : On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:24:06 GMT, kangaroo16 wrote: On Tue, 13 Nov 2007 08:49:14 +0100, "maxi" wrote in : wasn't belgium on a wendsday Ron (from belgium) As am a curious human (some would say in more ways than one) I really do have to ask why! Are there no "Wednesdays" in Belgium? If so, this must be pretty confusing to European travelers. The OP was wrong, Belgium was on a Tuesday. And roo16, you've had a culturally deprived childhood. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/2429...lgium/overview You could be right, Alan. Depending on how you define "culture", of course.:-) My wife was watching the musical quiz show, "Singing Bee" I had never heard of most of the songs or the groups. Even as a child, I preferred Jazz & Classical. Never developed a taste for most pop music. When Elvis Presley hit the national scene, he didn't appeal to me at all, nor did the other rock or pop music stars. I often preferred early jazz rather than modern jazz. Have you ever heard a Bessie Smith recording of "Empty Bed Blues"? I did listen to some modern music, liked some of the early songs of Bob Dylan. I like songs such as "The Gamblers Song", "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by Eric Bogle. Some of the older traditional Australian songs are pretty good, and easy to listen to. Most pop music since the 1950's or so do nothing for me. Even some Country & Western is better than pop music, in small doses at least. On radio, I seldom listen to anything but various commercial free ABC stations on FM. ABC classical is good, Radio National often has interesting programs. A few months ago even heard one ABC station play "House of the Rising Sun". The ABC must have a huge library of old songs. I wonder how often it is played in the US these days? :-) Basically, though as far as music is concerned, I could get along quite nicely if I didn't hear anything composed after, say, 1955 or so. Perhaps I was born old? Even then, though, all music is more of a ''background" sound for when I'm doing something else. I am a bit of a news junkie, though. When 9/11 news was on T.V. I even slept in front of the T.V. If a radio is on in the background, programs will still be interrupted with important breaking news. I would hate to miss important items like the outbreak of WW3, the possibility of the first contact with extraterrestrials, a large meteor or asteroid strike, etc. :-) I posted an item earlier about the group of pilots in the USA who want the U.S. Government to start investigating UFOs again after a about a 30 year gap. I somehow doubt that they will though. See http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...l6ZR1ROk1DoR1A final line of above report: "When Callahan suggested the government tell Americans about a UFO, the CIA official allegedly told him: "'No way, if we were to tell the American public there are UFOs they would panic.'" As they did decades ago when the Orson Wells broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" was broadcast. Actually, though, a fear of an extraterrestrial invasion is probably the only thing that would ever unite the citizens of the world to work together to prepare to fight the alien foe. From memory, the first TV broadcast was of the Olympic Games in Germany in the late 1930s. VHF and higher frequencies, especially radar don't bounce of the Heaviside layer, but are broadcast into space. So if there was any race at our level of civilization or greater within 100 light years or so, they would know we were here.:-) To quote from "The Growing Problem of UFOs and Aliens" "Belief in UFOs and aliens is not just a fringe belief. USA Today says that their surveys show that 43% of all Americans believe in UFOs and aliens as being real. In 1977 a plaque was attached to a spaceship leaving the solar system that showed where we live in our solar system and what we look like. The justification for this was that aliens outside of our solar system would find the space ship and we needed to let them know that we are friendly and that we welcome them." http://www.doesgodexist.org/MayJun03...AndAliens.html I somehow doubt that the level of belief is anywhere this high in Australia, though! Have you noticed that a lot fewer sightings and "aliens" since people started carrying camera phones, cameras, video cams, etc. around in the bush? Personally, am pretty skeptical. I've yet to see any convincing proof of such encounters. There is or was a US female Psychiatrist who wrote a book reporting stories told by her patients, and she seemed to think UFOs were genuine. I'm not saying that there is no advanced civilization somewhere out there, but so far "Project Seti" hasn't found any intelligent signals from space despite decades of searching. If there was any alien civilization within 100 light years or so, we should have detected it. The universe, though, is a very large place, and when consider the estimated number of suns in it, it seems a bit odd that the earth, which is a minor planet in a solar system far out on the edge of our local galaxy would be the only place with advanced life. Perhaps they can't be bothered to come check us out? Perhaps we are "off limits" for some reason? :-) Given the total number of wars in human history, we may be considered as too dangerous for a civilized race to risk contact. :-) Cheers, Kangaroo16 Cheers, Alan, Australia |
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