First Impressions of Australia

Thought I'd share with you some of the first differences I noticed between Australia and Canada.

1. The Birds!
This really was the first difference that kind of hit me over the head when I arrived. In comparison to Canada, Australia seems to have many more birds hanging around. Each type of bird seems to make very loud, very cheery noises, and the birds here are all so different in shape, size, and colour from those in Canada. The birds that I've seen thus far (and been able to identify) include:

The Australian Magpie

Some sort of green-coloured bird that could either be these, the Rainbow Bee Eaters...

...or these, Scaley Breasted Lerikeet.

Australian Wood Duck

 Silver Gull

Australian White Ibis

Australia Pelican

And also, the house sparrow, which looks just like our sparrows in Canada.

I love waking up and hearing the birds talking to each other. It makes me feel like I'm in the middle of the rainforest.

2. Aussie Greetings:
Instead of asking "How are you?" or "How's it going?", Aussies ask "How you going?", which made me stutter and mumble a lot at first because I wasn't quite sure how to answer, but at least I've got it better than the Danish friends I've made. Apparenlty in Danish there is no phrase equivalent to "How are you?", and in the English culture we tend to ask "How's it going/How're you going?" A LOT. My poor friends finally asked me what the heck they were supposed to say in response to the random strangers who would ask them how they were.

3. Internet Use:
In Australia, when you get internet connection at your place, you're not just automatically allowed unlimited access to internet but rather you have to pay according to how many gigabytes you use. This is unendingly frustrating for me because I've never had to think about how much bandwidth I'm using, and my habit of watching movies or TV online has come to an abrupt end.

4. The Water:
The ocean waves here are unlike anything I've ever seen. Being a mountain girl, for the most part, oceans are a novelty to me, and the waves here are at least 10 times as big as the ones I ever saw in Nova Scotia or B.C.. Also, there's quite a substantial rip-tide to deal with here, which can be a little scary.

5. Other Animals that Have Been Hit with Some Kind of Augmenting Ray Gun

I'm pretty sure this is the kind of bat that I saw the other night. However, as far as I'm concerned this isn't a bat but rather a F*$%ING DOG WITH WINGS. These guys freak me out a little.

Also had the pleasure of making acquaintances with some kind of large (to me, small to Aussies) spider of which I am not going to try to find a picture because I'm just about to go to bed and would rather not feel like bugs are crawling all over me. 

Don't get me wrong, the meetings I've had with weird and ray-gun augmented animals have always been moderately pleasant, never too freaky, and my life has never been in danger, so no stress.

Also, what good is it if you're not pushed a little out of your comfort zone when you're travelling, eh?!