HOW DO I KNOW I'M IN AUSTRALIA?

Koala joey at Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Kangaroo Island, Australia

I love going to Australia. Since my first trip in 1983, I have been back five times, including my recent trip in December. Here are some of the things that tell me I have arrived in the land Down Under.

Clocks are five hours earlier and I have lost a day! (In the southern hemisphere winter, the time difference between California and Sydney is seven hours.) The trip across the Pacific crosses the International Date Line. On the way home, we gain a day.

Summer flowers at the Coriole winery in McLaren Vale, South Australia

The seasons are switched. When we arrive in December it is summer Down Under. Flowers are blooming and the temperature is warm.
At noon our shadows point south. While the sun still rises in the east and sets in the west, it arcs to the north in the southern hemisphere.

Late afternoon, looking east toward Remarkable Rocks on Kangaroo Island

At night the stars are upside down. Orion is standing on his head and there is no North Star. Instead, the Southern Cross points to the southern pole star.
Traffic is on the left and drivers sit on the right.  Each time I step off the curb I have to remind myself to look to the right for oncoming traffic.

It helps to be reminded to drive on the left in areas popular with tourists

Kangaroo crossing signs. Yellow signs warning drivers to watch out for wildlife (kangaroos, koalas, wombats and more) are common along highways.

Koala, kangaroo, Cape Barren goose and echidna signs--Kangaroo Island

In our rental car our luggage goes in the boot (trunk) and we fill the gas tank with petrol (gas). Although the language in Australia is English, it is full of British terms that take getting used to, not to mention expressions that are uniquely Australian (such as "putting a shrimp on the barbie.")
Everything is metric–road signs are in kilometers, petrol and milk sold in liters, and meat at the supermarket is in kilograms.
No pennies. It took me a while to remember that when getting change from a purchase, there are no pennies. Although items are sold for 99 cents and other odd amounts, the total is rounded off to the nearest five cents. Pennies were abolished a number of years ago. Over time, the difference evens out.
Electricity is 220. The electric kettle in our hotel room boils water almost instantly. And, all electric outlets have an on/off switch and need an adapter to use the American plugs on our phones, computers, etc.
The first floor of our hotel is actually the second floor, while what we consider the first floor in the U.S. is the ground floor. To get to our room on the 37th floor we take the lift (elevator).

View from our balcony at the Meriton Suites Hotel, Sydney, Australia

No tipping. Restaurant workers are paid good wages and, unlike in the U.S., tipping is not expected. If one does tip, it is typically a small amount.

Our delicious rhubarb meringue dessert at Coriole Winery Restaurant

And as everyone cheerfully says in response to any concern--
No worries!

Sicily, Part II: VOLCANOES and TRAFFIC. Guest Post by Gretchen Woelfle

Stromboli Explosion

My friend Gretchen Woelfle recently went to Sicily and sent me this report.  Part I, last week, focused on cathedrals and ancient ruins.  This week Gretchen visits Sicily's famous volcanoes.  Gretchen is a fellow children’s book author whose recent books include Write On, Mercy! The Secret Life of Mercy Otis Warren and  All the World's a Stage, A Novel in Five Acts.  Find out more at www.gretchenwoelfle.com .

Perhaps the most exciting parts of the trip to Sicily were our climbs up Stromboli and Mount Etna, two volcanoes very much alive.  Stromboli, the source of the island that bears its name, is only 3000 ft. high, but the climb nearly finished me off.  Hiking in a hot late afternoon, steep switchbacks all the way up – I wondered if it was worth it.

Hiking up Stromboli

It was sunset when we reached the summit, looking down into several steam-spouting craters, with the sea beyond, and as darkness fell we witnessed thunderous explosions about every ten minutes.  I managed to catch photos of one of them. Spectacular stuff, along with glowing stones that glittered on the rocks after the explosions ended.

 

View of Stromboli from the ferry

The walk down the gritty trail in the dark (with headlamps) was nearly as difficult as the hike up. The next day we spoke to people who had watched the same eruptions from a boat off the island, and from a restaurant halfway up the volcano.  Next time…..

Top of Etna

A few days later, when we reached Mount Etna (11,000 ft.) I was pleased to learn that we could travel nearly 9600 ft. by cable car and van.  The hike from there was a walk in the park – a moonscape park covered in black lava gravel. And at the top – a wild wind blew the sulfurous smoke in all directions as we stood on the edge of several steaming craters of unseen depth. Fantastic!

Gretchen on Etna

The most dangerous part of entire trip to Sicily though, was probably the driving. Two weeks of small Italian cars randomly creating an extra lane to the left or right of you as you made your way through traffic jams in the cities. “Streets” so narrow that you have to fold the side mirrors on your Fiat Panda to creep through. Cobbled village streets so steep you invoke all the saints for your eventual release. Cars passing on hills and curves with no regard for that solid white line down the middle of the road.  Cars double-parking at will, parking perpendicular to the curb, parking on the sidewalks, etc etc. And most perplexing of all, a lack of street signs that rendered useless my Google map directions. 

Enter friendly Sicilians who were quick to stop in the middle of the road to guide us on a bit further before we got lost again.  Or to call their Australian wife who could translate for us.  Or who jumped in their cars to lead us to the next part of the journey. Or who gathered everyone in the shop to study the online map and determine how to guide us to where we wanted to go.

Sicilian pizza

As for the food in general and the pizza in particular, experts say it’s the best in the world outside of Naples – but since we didn’t get to Naples, I was mightily satisfied.

On Stromboli we stayed in the Hotel Ossidiana http://hotelossidiana.com/en/index.php

and ate delectable pizza at Luciano’s.[ http://www.ristorantedaluciano.it/index_eng.htm] We spent two nights on Etna at the Rifugio Sapienza, [http://www.rifugiosapienza.com]

and ate risotto and pasta in their excellent restaurant, while watching a video showing Etna’s eruptions in the last ten years. They closed the mountain to visitors for three years, from 2010 until April 2013. 

Climbing down Etna

Mount Etna erupted again on October 26, 2013.  For some amazing video of the eruption, click here:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2013/oct/26/italy-s-mount-etna-volcano-erupts-video

Some good reading about Sicily:

Andrea Camilleri has written a long series of terrific mysteries about Inspector Montalbano.  See “Andrea Camilleri Montalbano series” at Amazon.com. Even better is the TV version, in Italian (!) with subtitles. http://www.ovguide.com/tv/inspector_montalbano.htm

Leonardo Sciascia is an acclaimed Sicilian writer, some of whose books have been translated.  I recommend

• The Wine Dark Sea (short stories)

• Sicilian Uncles (four novellas)

Daphne Phelps, A House in Sicily, describes moving to Sicily from England in 1947 and adapting to the local culture, including the Mafia.

Simetti, Mary Taylor, Persephone’s Island: A Sicilian Journal, tells the story of an American young woman who travels to Sicily in 1962, marries a Sicilian and makes a life there.