Observations.

We don't eat out often as high costs can take the fun out of it. We would love to see a Red Robin Restaurant or Longhorn Steak House, but since the only familiar restaurant name is McDonalds, Subway or Hungry Jacks (Burger King), we take a chance when we choose a place to eat. There are a million places to try though.....we just hope it's good when we do go out because you still have to pay the high prices.

For perspective, Lee recently grabbed lunch for President and the assistants at Hungry Jacks (Burger King). 3 Whoppers, 3 fries, and 3 reg drinks cost over $29.00!

We suffer the same kind of sticker shock at the grocery store. Apples are $5.00 per kilogram, a
24-pak of pop is $25.00, and a tube of Pringles regular price is $3.99. Milk is in a 3 liter jug (.659 gal) for $3.00 and an 8 oz (approx) Philadelphia cream cheese block is $4.00. 

In the Coles, Woolworths, or Foodland grocery stores where we shop, they don't sell food in bulk quantities like rice, noodles, or beans etc. The largest flour and sugar packages are 2 kg, which is 4.4 pounds. We can generally find what we need, but it looks and tastes a little bit different, and comes in much smaller packages. I miss Costco sized gravy mix, pinto beans, parsley flakes and other spices! On the store shelves are one or two choices/flavors rather than 10 choices in every brand of things like salad dressing, soups, jam, or jello.

Postage costs are another shock! Lee has stewardship over all mission mailings, ingoing and outgoing. Parents send missionaries care packages, and for customs, the contents and values must be listed on the exterior. Generally, the postage costs MORE than the value of the contents. Christmas boxes are arriving for missionaries from all over the world...England, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Canada, Tuvalu, the Philippines, Tahiti, US states such as Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, California, Nevada, North Carolina, Colorado, Kansas, as well as other Australian states.

Rent is advertised and charged by the week, and the flat utilities are billed by the quarter.

 People are fined if they don't vote. No need to tip at restaurants, hairdressers etc, nor is there sales tax in the state of South Australia. They have socialized medicine, but some people purchase 'private' insurance which allows them to be seen faster with perceived better care.

In the course of one week recently, four missionaries received infringement notifications or tickets for speeding......three were by mail at $700.00 each (camera) and one was on the spot in person for $750.00. I sent out a group email to all the missionaries informing them about the 4 tickets, and warned them to strictly obey the laws to avoid the heavy fines. Infringements are paid by the missionaries or their families so you can imagine the angst the infringements caused! Sydney notified us this week we have another $750.00 infringement. :-(  That means it was by camera and license plate identification rather than on the spot in person citation.

Australia doesn't have canned pumpkin or Crisco shortening or dry ranch salad dressing mix. Sister Carter cannot live without them, so her kids send packages from the USA to keep her in stock.

Australians are very proud of their fiscal responsibility and no national debt! There are several kinds of 'pensions' and we aren't sure how one qualifies, nor have we totally figured out the political structure yet. We find it all very interesting though and will share what we learn as we go.