A-Z Challenge: Get ready for our Tour of Australia!

G'day,

     Starting tomorrow we are taking all of our blog readers on a tour of our favourite places in Australia. Throughout April we will start with the letter A and keep going until we hit the letter Z. It took some planning but we have a destination for every letter of the alphabet. You will have to visit the blog each day to find out what they will be as we won't be giving out any spoilers. It should be a great time so make sure to visit us every day so you don't miss anything!

Since we don't start our tour till tomorrow I thought it would be fun to provide a few fun facts about travelling to Australia.

Getting there: Australia is an island so driving to Australia is not an option. Although you can arrive by cruise ship or cargo ship the most popular way to arrive is by air. Most international visitors arrive at Sydney but the other capital cities also have international flights. It is also a long flight from just about anywhere. From most places in North America and Europe it will take 24-28 hours to get to Sydney. Airfares vary but will be somewhere between $2000-$3000 for economy/coach class.
 

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 Money: The unit of currency is the Australian dollar and is the only currency that is accepted by most merchants. The notes are made of a polymer plastic so it is more durable than paper money. Each of the notes is a different colour and a slightly different size and it is a lot easier to tell which note is which when there is poor lighting. Exchange rates vary from day to day but one Australian dollar currently buys about 78c US.

Driving: Australians drive on the left hand side of the road and the driver's seat is on the right side of the car. This takes some getting used to and it might be best to let someone else do the driving until you get used to it. 

Getting around: Australia is a big country and is almost as big as the lower 48 states of the U.S.A. Since most of the tourist destinations are along the east coast it is feasible to drive, take the train or bus, but if you are short on time it is probably easiest to fly.

There is a lot more fun travel facts but I will save them for another day. Hope you see you all tomorrow for our "A" post.

 

Her Mug 'O Comfort Swap Reveal

I participated in my first, but definitely not my last, swap through the blog Chaotic Goddess Swaps. This one centered around mugs and all the cool stuff you can drink from a mug.

I geeked out completely when I got the email saying who I was paired with. Darling Zane, my partner, is from Latvia. Yep, you heard me right, Latvia! I was so excited. She mentioned in one her emails that she loves to travel all over Europe and she has a friend who visits her from Finland. That is my definition of a magical life. :)

Zane is one of the sweetest and nicest people I have ever swapped with. I am so glad we "met" and I am looking forward to a continuing friendship.

Here's what was in my Latvian swap box:

Isn't it beautiful?!?

Geeking out! Geeking out! Geeking out!

So much fun to have a Latvian pen pal! :)

These are fun. I haven't tried one yet because I am trying to ration my treats.

Sean recognized these candies, but I didn't. I bet they taste good!

Chocolate covered raisins! Yummy! (I sent her some too - great minds think alike!)

These little penguins...

...hold tea bags. How awesome is that!

Zane tried to find a mug made in Latvia and she succeeded! Isn't it beautiful. :)

I let Sean have this one because it was one of his favorite candies in Australia. It's a chocolate egg with a toy inside.

What a beautiful gift. I am so excited about everything!

Thank you Zane for all the gifts and the thought that went into them. I am so grateful! :) :)


Happy Swapping,

His and Her TBT: Australian Roundabouts

What is Throwback Thursday? How does it work, you might ask? I get to choose a blog post from the past (either a few days or a few years) and repost it as a TBT. 

Today, I chose a post from February, 2014 where Sean explained a common road feature in Australia.

Roundabouts are used in many areas in Australia.

As I was driving around on my first trip in America I noticed a lot of differences when it came to traveling by car. Some were quite obvious like being on the other side of the road and car (don't ask how many times I tried to get in the wrong side of the car) but others were not so obvious for a while. After a while I did notice one thing that was missing on American roads that most Aussies use every day and that was the roundabout. 

Even large trucks can navigate a roundabout.

In many towns and cities across Australia, roundabouts are used in place of traffic signals or stop signs to keep traffic flowing and to assist traffic on the side streets to get through an intersection quickly. In most cases you could get through a roundabout pretty quickly and if volume was light you go through the roundabout without having to come to a stop. Using a roundabout was pretty simple as you yielded to the traffic that was already using the roundabout and you entered when there was a safe gap. Since you yielded to the traffic in the roundabout and they are all going in the same direction you only have to look in one direction which makes things pretty easy. Roundabouts are used both on suburban streets and highways and even the major highways so you don't have to travel far before you find one.

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       Roundabouts are also known as "traffic circles" in America and are not nearly as common. Many localities have very few if any at all. Roundabouts in America are normally in quiet residential streets where there isn't a lot of traffic and it is unusual to see them on a busy road. It is far more common to see either a 4 way stop sign (I wrote about them here) or a traffic signal. It seems that in the last few years more and more roundabouts have been popping up but there are still pretty much a novelty in a lot of places.

Roundabout in Narrabri, NSW

      So why are roundabouts not so common in America? I believe it is because a lot of Americans are not familiar with them and installing a bunch of them would cause a ton of accidents and increased insurance rates for everyone. Australia started installing roundabouts back in the 1980's and they had to spend a ton of money on TV ads to try and educate people on how to use them. It took a while for the Aussies to get used to them and they had a lot less people to train as well (16 million back then compared to the 300+ million in the U.S today). There are many intersections in Virginia that I would think would benefit from a roundabout but it would take a long time for people to get used to them. Maybe one day America will catch onto the roundabout craze like Australia did 30 years ago but I am not holding my breath.

    I am a huge fan of roundabouts as I feel that they keep traffic flowing smoother than traffic lights at many intersections. Do you agree or would you like to see them ripped up and replaced with a stop sign or traffic signal?

Pretty cool, huh? I love going through roundabouts and driving through them. I think because they are different to what we have in my area. Do you have roundabouts where you live?

Happy Driving,

Her Questions You Ask Yourself - Part 1

I was reading through some blogs a few weeks ago and stumbled upon this questions series. This blogger is where I found stole them. It seemed like fun so I copied and pasted the questions into four posts - two for Sean and two for me. We will each answer one set of questions this week and one set next week. Enjoy!

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1.) What are you addicted to?
I am addicted to quite a few things - chocolate, Gilmore Girls, competition TV shows, etc. Lately, I have become addicted to my Young Living essential oils. They are fantastic!

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2.) What’s the first thing you would do if you were invisible?
I don't know what I would do, because I don't think I would like to be invisible. Actually, that's my answer. The first thing I would do is become visible again.

3.) Pictures or Plants in your office?
Pictures - I have family photos, photos of former students. This year I added one of me in 8th grade (the grade I teach). My students love seeing and teasing me about that one.

4.) If you could magically change a part of your body, which one would it be?
I would love to have the arthritis and swelling removed from my ankles and feet. It would make sightseeing and travel in general easier. Not to mention the day-to-day life of a teacher who can't stand for long periods of time without pain. Oh, and wearing cuter shoes to work would be a nice bonus!

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5.) Which animal do you think is your spirit animal?
My spirit animal is a panda. Partly because my mom still calls me Amanda Panda, and partly because they are so stinkin' cute!

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6.) How often do you Google yourself?
Maybe once a year - maybe. It's not something I think to do often.
 

7.) What makes you happiest?
Spending the day with Sean. Add in my parents or other friends and I am ecstatic.

My favorite photo of my hubbie and I - on the ferry in Sydney Harbor.

 

8.)Type your name and the word *meme* into Google Images. Choose one and post it here.

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9.)Do you think that time heals all wounds?
No. I think time helps you forget the pain and I think wounds have scars, but I don't think that anyone really forgets pain that has been inflicted upon them. 

10.) Which words of wisdom from your parents do plan to or already say to your kids?
I have told my students, when they are whining or complaining about something trivial, "If you keep whining, I'm going to give you something to wine about." Then we have a talk about looking on the bright side and staying positive.

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Which question was your favorite? Answer it below in the comments. 

Happy Answering,

 

His Questions You Ask Yourself - Part 1

I was reading through some blogs a few weeks ago and stumbled upon this questions series. This blogger is where I found stole them. It seemed like fun so I copied and pasted the questions into four posts - two for Sean and two for me. We will each answer one set of questions this week and one set next week. Enjoy!

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1.) What are you addicted to?
Netflix! I love being able to binge watch TV shows and not having to watch commercials. Well worth the $8 I pay each month.

2.) What’s the first thing you would do if you were invisible?

Go visit behind the scenes of different places like casinos, airports and places like that so I can see how they work.

3.) Pictures or Plants in your office?

We have a few pictures that I took in Australia hanging in our office.

4.) If you could magically change a part of your body, which one would it be?

My beer belly. Yes I could diet and do crunches and stuff to change it but a quick spell would be so much easier.

5.) Which animal do you think is your spirit animal?

Not sure about this one. Maybe some type of bird as I like to be up high and seeing things from an elevated angle.

6.) How often do you Google yourself?
Not very often, perhaps once a year or so.

7.) What makes you happiest?
A quiet day at home or out at a disc golf course.

8.)Type your name and the word *meme* into Google Images. Choose one and post it here.

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9.)Do you think that time heals all wounds?
Not at all. Though apologies and trying to make up for it goes a long way. Its like getting a scar on your body, once you have the scar it will be there forever.

10.) Which words of wisdom from your parents do plan to or already say to your kids?

This one is one my mum used to say all the time: "Be careful or you will end up going a$$ over t*t!

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Which question or answer is your favourite? Choose one and answer in the comments so you can join in the fun.

The 2015 A - Z Challenge - Theme Reveal

Spring is here, so that means it's almost time for the A-Z blogging challenge! A group of over a thousand bloggers come together each April and blog about topics from every letter of the alphabet during the month of April. We participated in the challenge last year about random topics, but decided to blog with a specific theme this year. Today the participants of the challenge have been asked to reveal our themes for this year's challenge. After a lot of thought and discussion we have decided to make our theme for this year.....

  
The A-Z Tour of Australia!

So during the month of April we will take you on a tour of Australia and some of our favourite places in the land down under. Our tour will include some of Australia's more famous icons along with some of Australia's hidden gems that are off the beaten path. It will be a fun tour with something for everyone and the best part is that you can leave your passport at home! 

Grab a seat and get ready for day 1 of our tour on April 1st.