Monday, December 26, 2011

There goes the Neighborhood...


Atop 'The Rock' 

Well that’s just it for the year folks and I have to say I’ve been enjoying the last couple weeks quite thoroughly. The weekend before Christmas my house-mate John took me hiking to NSW famous 'The Rock'. About a 6k hike with a elevation rise of 4500m. There were tons of stairs and steep rock faces. The view was worth it though and I was happy we did it. Finally my last week of work in Wagga Wagga wrapped up on the 20th of December. A bit of a bittersweet moment but I was quite excited for my journey ahead. From there I took the train onward to Bateman’s Bay, A lovely beach town along the NSW coast. Apparently the weather is quite mild for this time of summer but the sun and sand were wonderful. The water temperature was about 18 C and the waves were extremely fun. I thought they were big, but as a Saskatchewanian, I’m not very experienced in such things. The rips were also something very new to me. Its kind of scary feeling when you can feel your ankles being pulled by the water.

By the time Christmas rolled around I was back in Canberra, the national capitol. I must say it was pretty a anticlimactic holiday season. Just never really sunk in that it was Christmas time. No snow, +28 weather and shorts aren’t really what I’m used to in December. A skype chat home made me feel sad seeing my whole family celebrating without me. But at the same time I was happy to know that somewhere in the world I had a loving people that still cared about me on Christmas.

First Vegemite experience.... not pleasant. 

The next stop on my epic adventure is going to be Sydney on January 1 for a festival called Field Day. The lineup is stacked with artist like Justice, Calvin Harris, Example and Crystal Castles. I’m anticipating a day filled with amazing music and oodles of dancing. The plan after the festival was to stay in Sydney for a couple more days to see two of my favorite bands Fleet Foxes and Beirut. But sadly, they both sold out before I had a chance to buy tickets. So the new plan is to head south to Melbourne for a couple weeks. I received a lovely second hand tent from Vicki at Pioneer for Christmas so I’m hoping I can find a campground to live in.

After my time in the south I’m thinking of returning to Canberra on January 27 to see my favorite dj quo Zeds Dead. Another stop in my musical adventure. I’m actually seeing a lot more music than I expected I would in Australia. The summers are abundant with great tunes and I’m happy to soak it all in. The future after that is pretty vague. I’m thinking I’m probably going north to Caines and see the Gold Coast, Some of the best beach in the world. Hopefully get a chance to learn to surf and take a dive into the Barrier Reef.

At this point I am basically half done my trip and I have so much to look to in days to come. I am happy, safe and loving life! Oh and ¡ɐılɐɹʇsnɐ ɯoɹɟ sɐɯʇsıɹɥɔ ʎɹɹǝɯ

CP

Thursday, December 8, 2011

What was that?!

After being in Oz for exactly a month now, I thought it was about time to show a bit of the hilarious lingo that I encounter every day. Most of everyday life is alot the same but I am constantly asking people to repeat themselves. And they eat some strange stuff here too.... a burger with the lot (everything) usually comes with pineapple, beet root and an egg. Strange. But I hope this makes things a little easier to understand what the hell aussies are saying half the time.

g'day: hello
how ya going? : whats up? or how ya doing?
give way: yield
mate: buddy or friend
mozzies: mosquitoes
bonnet: car hood
peckish: hungry
woop woop: made up name for a small town (he lives in woop woop)
bloke: friend
figjam: f*ck i'm good, just ask me (nickname for pompus people)
bogen: think popped collar and white sunglasses or a figjam
ute: truck (utility vehicle)
cuppa: cup of tea
tea: supper (can also mean a cuppa)
never never: nickname for the Outback
knock off: quitting time
lippy: lipstick
rage: party ("rage on wayne. rage on garth.")
jumper: a sweater
corker: amazing (cricket might refer to a nice shot as a "corker of a shot")
boozer: a pub
mystery bag: a sausage
good onya: good for you
whacka or wanka: an idiot
greenie: hippie or environmentalist
vejjo: vegetarian
feral:  can also mean hippie
tucker: food
too right! : of course
sunnies: sun glasses
thingo: our equivalent of "thingamajig"
doovalacky: our equivalent of "whatchamacallit"
chips: fries
spewin' : angry
sheepshagger: New Zealander
earbashing: nagging
seppo: an American
rotten: drunk
piss: beer ("let's hit the piss")
grog: hard liquor
paddock: field with crop
lollies: candy
galah: fool or silly person
footy: Aussie rules football
raftie: someone in the navy
chunder: vomit
chewie: piece of gum


CP