Everyday Essentials

This posting is dedicated to giving the readers a perspective on the type of house we live in, the vehicles that we drive, and the appliances that we use.

First of all, we will give you an idea of our house. We live in a two story home with a "double lock-up garage" (2-car garage in American english). The house has 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a fenced in backyard. With a few pictures out from home and the purchase of a few things to decorate with, our house now feels like home.

Next, we have significantly downsized vehicles for Angie. We used to have the large SUV ("Beloved" as Angie referred to it) and now we have a small compact car ("Surf" nicknamed by the kids). The challenge with vehicles started with Angie learning to drive my work vehicle which had the turn signal on the right side of the wheel and the wiper control on the left. Shortly after she became accustomed to the new setup, I purchased her a vehicle which had European style controls and put the controls back to the way they were in the US. Other than turning the wipers on a few times while turning, there were no major dramas. The car gets excellent kilometers per liter and is easy to park in tight spots in the car park.

Finally, we wanted to share some of the differences in home appliances. Starting with the laundry. In Australia, they do not vent dryers to the outside. Therefore, it is very common for people to put their dryer in the garage (if you have one at all) in order to keep the lint and humidy level down. Additionally, we hang clothes outside on a small close line connected to our privacy fence. This is a nice way to get the laundry dry as there is rarely rain and the weather is nice...even in the winter.

The other appliance that took some getting used to was the Australian oven. I would compare the oven size to a large microwave and Angie had to get the directions out to understand the new symbols on it...also, the temperatures are listed in Celsius...luckily, so are most direction for meals that we cook. Angie has it figured out, but of course, I ask her what to do every time she asks me to put something in the oven. Hopefully, I will wear her out and she won't ask anymore (just kidding). Finally, we have had quite an adjustment going from a refrigerator with an ice make to now having to make ice. In the early days, when I was filling up the ice trays, Paige asked, "What are those daddy?" I explained with a polite, "Baby, this is how we will now get our ice...we have to make it ourselves." Hope you have enjoyed the pictures and some of the quick stories.

Australian Education

American's here would revolt over the swings in prices of "petrol" (fuel) from day to day. We have watched and consistently petrol prices go up as high as $0.15 per liter ($0.60 per gallon) overnight from Tuesday into Wednesday. They then stay up until about Friday and then start to slowly work their way down to normal Tuesday levels. Needless to say, we get petrol on Tuesday. Did I mention that petrol on Tuesday still costs $4.00 US per gallon. Think about $4.00 per gallon on a regular basis and then they raise it to $4.50 on Wednesday. Also, it is difficult to find pay at the pump so it is common to wait in lines of 2-3 cars on a Tuesday to get petrol. Not the end of the world...just something you have to deal with when you live on an island.