Saturday!

Our first weekend here,and the agenda today includes a visit to the Melbourne Aquarium, where the highlight is the penguin display, and Santa, who does a daily scuba dive into the shark tank. Josh would also like to find a store with Lego, naturally. There is a large mall about 8 blocks from here, and we may return to do a bit more shopping, especially if we get the afternoon rain showers in the forecast.

Tomorrow we are taking an all day tour of the Great Ocean road, and Monday is another day to explore, before we head to Cairns and Port Douglas on Tuesday.

My list of odd things about Australia, to date.

Coffee - there is rarely drip coffee for sale. All coffee is a form of espresso. I have yet to figure out what a "white coffee" and a "flat white coffee" are.

Cream - no cream for coffee. Just milk. Even in the grocery store - no cream or half and half, just milk.

Milk - no white milk to purchase at a restaurant for Josh. Chocolate milk, maybe, but we have yet to find a place that sells a small carton of milk with a meal for Josh. He is drinking a lot of water.

Switches on outlets. Every outlet has a switch to turn it off/on. I keep forgetting, and plug in my computer, and then wonder why it isn't charging.

Coffee Part 2. No drip coffee means instant coffee on the plane, for $3.

Christmas trees - we spotted a shop with just trees, but it seems odd to buy a pre-cut tree when it is 25C outside. The big meal on Christmas day is seafood. Today's newspaper had a huge article on local seafood for the big meal.

Newspapers - 50% wider than at home, which makes them hard to read on an airplane. Two sections, of equal size. First is news, business, etc. and the second is sports.

Left/right. yes, they drive on the left, but they also walk left. I have to keep remembering to go down the left side of the sidewalk. Escalators are also on the left, when you have one going down and another up in the same place.

Last thing - before I leave, I have to try the double egg mcmuffin. Two layers of bacon, an egg and a sausage atty. I think it comes with a side of Lipitor.

More tonight!