Sandy Supposes....

Australia, Yes Please!

You've won a competition! Well, for the purposes of your blog entry, anyway. *Laugh* You and up to four other people of your choosing are going to spend ten days in a place of natural beauty of your choice, anywhere in the world! Where do you go? Who are you taking along? What's it like when you get there? Do you see any interesting wildlife? Any stories about your adventures that will be told for generations to come?

         Oohh, I won? I'd never turn down a free trip... If I'm choosing the destination, then I opt for a vacation down under in Australia. I believe the people there qualify as interesting wildlife. They have the exotic accent, and quirky vocabulary.

         Of course, flying to my country of choice will be an exercise in fortitude. It's located halfway 'round the globe, and I'll be airborne for the better part of a day. I suppose it beats travel by ship, and I most certainly cannot motor that expanse of major ocean. Hmm, I wonder how many in-flight movies will be shown?

         Okay, my adventure amigos will have to be my immediate family members, the hubby, the son, and the two daughters. They will make perfect and willing witnesses to anything I see, hear, taste, touch, and attempt to do. It goes without saying that I will reciprocate.

          Australia is sunny and extremely "warm", just as advertised. The locals are super-friendly and upbeat with their "G'day mates".

         Thank goodness not everyone is like 'Crocodile Dundee'. We fail to notice the carrying of large, sheathed knives, and the adornment with crocodile skin. Regular folk walk about in our idea of summer clothing. The life partner and the son happily ogle bathing beauties of the female persuasion in their various forms of beach wear. We females of the family do our own not-so-subtle staring. The beaches are incredible.          

There just happened to occur an incident at one beach.... in other words, something memorable happened. Our milieu is fresh water. The salty sea water surprised us. We were the weeping wonders clinging blindly to each other as the waves pummelled us. Oh, that salt stings the eyes! We may have appeared to be blubbering unnecessarily. We struggled to maintain our sea legs, but we stumbled and lurched. No, we were not drunken tourists.

          We attended a few safaris out into the bush. Yes, we spied kangaroos, wallabies, and crocodiles. Huh, they are so different than the moose, beaver, and wolves back home. The son's inadvertent wave was misconstrued as a jab, or feint. A blustering, alpha kangaroo assumed a solid boxing stance, and clearly challenged him to a fight. There was some thumping foot work, too, but the son ignored the bravado. We heeded the helpful public service announcements, and we did not poke, or provoke any crocodiles. Those that we observed lounged languidly in the sun. Let sleeping crocs lie...

         After our whirlwind ten-day tour, we learned to relax when we heard, "Throw a shrimp on the Barbie." We stopped looking for a poor woman named Barbie treated as a seafood sacrifice, and we stopped thanking our lucky stars that our names were not Barbie. It's strange, but the daughters and I were referred to as "Sheila" one too many times despite our introducing ourselves...