It's been very wet around here lately, which is odd because its the dry season. Usually it never, or at least rarely, rains in the dry season here in North Queensland, Australia. About a week ago though, it poured. This word, "poured," is drastic understatement for what occurred here. There were literally sheets of water coming down from the sky that, in only one night, flooded Townsville. Now, I'm not talking a dangerously high flood or anything. I suppose that may have been a bit of an exaggeration, but after just that one night all of the creeks and streams that were once completely dried up were flowing with water again. The rainstorm managed to keep the flow of water in the creeks going for a about 5 days. After just one shower. That's pretty impressive.
Recently, the air has been exceptionally humid in my opinion. No rain, just muggy. It's not even all that hot out, but by the time I get to class I am already sweating through my shirt. I've been told that this is nothing compared to what summer, the wet season, will be like. Apparently, it is several times hotter and you can bet on rain everyday. The advice given to me was to not stick around for summer and head south like everyone else will do to escape the miserable heat and rain.
...I'm kind of curious to see what summer brings.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Penny for Your Thoughts?
Being in a different country and all, the currency is obviously going to be a bit different. Well, I've found that I actually prefer the Australian money system better. Of course it's not the same because it looks different, which is one thing that I like about it, but it also has a different value system.
For one, the notes here (they say notes, not bills) are much more colorful. Each value note has its own basic color, but within that there are also other colors. The ten dollar note, my favorite one, for example, is basically blue, but it also has yellows and greens in it. This gives a slightly Monopoly-ish, but very elegant look to the money. The sizes of notes change too. As the value of the note gets bigger and bigger, so does the size. This allows for easy organization. As well as the color and size differences, on each note there is a man on one side and a women on the other (excluding the five dollar note). I like this partly because it's a little less sexist, but mostly just because it's different.
I have yet to come across a note that has been ripped and it's not because they take them out of circulation. It's because you can't rip them! I've tried and tried and it does not work. You can somewhat deform the part of the note that you attempt to rip, but that is about the most successful you will get without the use of scissors. No, I didn't cut my money in half!
Do you remember all of those cool tricks you could do with American one dollar bills? Well you can't do them here because they don't have one dollar notes! They don't have one cent pieces either. Their lowest note and coin are both a value of five. I quite like this actually because you don't have to deal with those useless pennies that you have no idea what to do with. The only problem that you'd think of is that this lack of one cents would make things a trifle difficult when buying something that's not an even multiple of five. But, they've come up with a very simple solution to this: rounding. If something costs $5.43 then it just rounds up to $5.45 and it would also conveniently rounds down if it were $5.42. They do have one dollar and two dollar coins, which I was a bit apprehensive about at first because I was worried that I would lose them, but I've gotten used to it. To distinguish the dollar coins from the lesser ones they made the dollar coins gold and the smaller coins silver. The only thing that I don't understand is why the two dollar coin is smaller than the one dollar coin. Does that make sense to you?
So, the value amounts of coins are 5, 10, 20, 50, $1, and $2. Each of them usually has an animal on its back. There is everything from an echidna, to a platypus, to the famous kangaroo. I think that's what really won me over.
If I had the choice between American currency and Australian, I'd have to go with the Aussies on this one. The only downfall: it's worth less.
For one, the notes here (they say notes, not bills) are much more colorful. Each value note has its own basic color, but within that there are also other colors. The ten dollar note, my favorite one, for example, is basically blue, but it also has yellows and greens in it. This gives a slightly Monopoly-ish, but very elegant look to the money. The sizes of notes change too. As the value of the note gets bigger and bigger, so does the size. This allows for easy organization. As well as the color and size differences, on each note there is a man on one side and a women on the other (excluding the five dollar note). I like this partly because it's a little less sexist, but mostly just because it's different.
I have yet to come across a note that has been ripped and it's not because they take them out of circulation. It's because you can't rip them! I've tried and tried and it does not work. You can somewhat deform the part of the note that you attempt to rip, but that is about the most successful you will get without the use of scissors. No, I didn't cut my money in half!
Do you remember all of those cool tricks you could do with American one dollar bills? Well you can't do them here because they don't have one dollar notes! They don't have one cent pieces either. Their lowest note and coin are both a value of five. I quite like this actually because you don't have to deal with those useless pennies that you have no idea what to do with. The only problem that you'd think of is that this lack of one cents would make things a trifle difficult when buying something that's not an even multiple of five. But, they've come up with a very simple solution to this: rounding. If something costs $5.43 then it just rounds up to $5.45 and it would also conveniently rounds down if it were $5.42. They do have one dollar and two dollar coins, which I was a bit apprehensive about at first because I was worried that I would lose them, but I've gotten used to it. To distinguish the dollar coins from the lesser ones they made the dollar coins gold and the smaller coins silver. The only thing that I don't understand is why the two dollar coin is smaller than the one dollar coin. Does that make sense to you?
So, the value amounts of coins are 5, 10, 20, 50, $1, and $2. Each of them usually has an animal on its back. There is everything from an echidna, to a platypus, to the famous kangaroo. I think that's what really won me over.
If I had the choice between American currency and Australian, I'd have to go with the Aussies on this one. The only downfall: it's worth less.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Paradise...
These are just a few of the amazing sights that I saw on Magnetic Island this past weekend. It was paradise. The weather was beautiful and the sand was the softest I've ever felt. The sand reminded me of petting a chinchilla and they are REALLY soft (if you haven't ever pet one, look into it, it's incredible).
The first three pictures that you see were taken from up on the top of an extremely tall mountain that I had decided I had to climb. The height provided a breathtaking view of pretty much the entire island. The arduous journey up the rocky slope gave me quite a few cuts and bruises, but it was well worth it. From the top I could see what all the hype was about. The untouched wilderness was stunning.
I must go back. Firstly because I need to experience this blissful heaven once again. More importantly though, I did not get a chance to see all of the wild koalas that live on this island! There is actually a koala sanctuary on the island where you can go and hold them. I have been told that they can be rather mean, but I don't care. They're way too cute! I will have pictures of them up as soon as I return to "Maggie" Island Paradise.
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