Twenty Observations Over Australia

I spent roughly 17 days in Australia.....staying mostly around Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne.  So this is my list of observations.

1.  When you sit at a regular Aussie restaurant.....they let you know of a dozen-odd steaks that they have (Tasmania grass-fed, Tasmania corn-fed, Victorian grass-fed, New South Wales grain-fed, etc).  The thing is.....when they finally come out with the steak, you kinda have to admit it's some pretty fine steak....no matter what you selected.

2.  The typical Aussie guy is some guy with a wrench, hammer, and screw-driver....that you call with some big emergency situation, and after thirty minutes.....he's fixed the problem and caused himself a fair amount of sweat.  He'll turn to you....noting that he's a bit dehydrated.....and perhaps its' time for a beer.  You will ask where, and he will note there are sixteen pubs within walking distance and these are the five that he'd recommend.  You go with him and find yourself getting easy acquainted with the guy in a matter of minutes.

3.  Yeah, toilets once flushed.....do go the opposite direction of toilets on the top end of the planet.

4.  There's a Krispy Kreme operation on just about every street corner in Aussie towns.

5.  Aussies make about the worst coffee in the civilized world.  No one can explain this....except that they'd prefer a beer over coffee.

6.  Everyone has a snake story to tell....but I spent the whole time there and never saw a single snake.

7.  Most Aussies are charged-up and positive.  It's hard to find anyone who has some negative prospective.

8.  Mushrooms are served on a breakfast plate.  I've yet to figure this out except they have a major farm industry and can produce just about anything you desire.

9.  The Sydney international airport side.....once you exit the immigration area.....kinda reminds you of some third-world country.  The entry area to the airport?  Worth a million bucks and designed to impress you.

10.  About every tenth Aussie gal that you meet....is six foot tall and reminds you of that Xena warrior gal.

11.  If you walk around Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.....shooting black and white pictures.....the architecture and design would all remind you of the 1950s.

12.  You just don't find many homeless people.

13.  Aussies hate their politicians about as much as Americans.

14.  There are Chinese everywhere.....on vacation.

15.  The Coastal Road.....south of Melbourne....is probably the best scenic drive you can find in Australia.

16.  Aussies can make some fine beer, and they know it.

17.  Generally, Aussies hate their version of NPR (ABS and SBS).

18.  If you were graduating from some city-design degree program.....you really ought to go to Australia and observe their design of cities.  Their one and blaring failure?  Rapid transit and interstate roads within the major cities.

19.  It gets to being awful hot in Australia.  You need not ever worry much about snow or needing a sweater.

20.  Some of the best city parks that I've ever seen in my life.....are in Australia.