Observations.

*Please notice there are several new blog posts below.*

Here are some interesting observations about Australia with pictures when possible.

The door handles are much higher on entry doors of homes (approximately shoulder high) than we are accustomed to in America (waist high ). Not sure why yet.

It is common for there to be a solid fence or wall around the front yard of most homes in town.

Electrical plugs and light switches look different...and have different voltage, 220 to our 110.
I fried my flat iron the first day so bought an Australian hair dryer and flat iron as well as hair clippers for cutting Lee's hair.

For those of you with inquiring minds, the toilets flush with water going the opposite direction from what you see in the US.  I can't believe I even noticed such a thing! Also the toilet flushing handles are interesting.

We are Tillamook cheese snobs....it comes from having lived in Oregon all of our lives, near the cheese making factory, and it's the BEST without discussion. Australian Cheddar cheese is whiter with different flavor and consistency. We miss Tillamook cheese!

The mission presidents wife warned us that nothing in the grocery store is what you are used to, and its true. We can find everything we need, but it looks and tastes a bit different. I made our family favorite Lemon Jello Cake and though it was good and pretty close to how it turns out at home, it wasn't exactly the same. Still got rave reviews from the missionaries we had come over for dinner 

 The 6 missionaries serving in Mount Gambier

 The Blue Lake Elders

Elder Woodfield from Texas and Elder Paulo from Samoa

 The Mount Gambier Elders

Elder Reese from Morgan, Utah and Elder Dos Santos from Queensland

Wood burning stoves are more common here than in Utah, much like it is in Oregon. I love smelling the wood smoke from chimneys (weird I know!) and we love warming up by wood stoves in Australian homes. A red hard wood is the best wood to burn and is readily available in outlying areas.

There are lots of Mitsubishi automobiles in Australia as well as Toyota, Hyundai, and Mercedes. Most people drive smaller cars because of fuel costs, but there are smaller SUV types. I see several a day that look like Kacey and Dave's Montero. There aren't many vans here and no Tahoe or Suburban size vehicles that are so common in Utah.

There are 3 wood mills in Mount Gambier and we see several loaded log trucks every day, reminiscent of the old days living in Molalla.

Instead of saying " How are you doing?" Or " How is it going?" we are greeted with " How are you going?" "No worries" is a common phrase which we have picked up already. As I mentioned previously, "tea" is dinner and " fortnight" is two weeks. Napkins are "serviettes" and we have been offered "ginger beer" which is similar to ginger ale. Pumpkin or squash is used often at dinner...as a side dish and in salads. Roasted potatoes are a staple and taste yummy!

More observations upcoming...........