Subtle Differences Down Under

This section features the first few days of start of the last week in July (clear as mud, eh?). In fact it was a month ago this day that I headed off to Redmond in the afternoon to catch my first flight out. Time sure did fly fast. Must have been all of the fun.

Monday

Mondays. Everyone loves Mondays, right? Ha ha. Well, when you are on vacation Mondays can be Saturdays or whatever day you want it to be. I always find it odd of how you can be so oblivious to what the date is when you are away from your desk and your computer. Probably a good thing to do every now and then I reckon.

We spent a bit of time around the shop in Springs Plaza. I guess a vacation and a day off are completely different things, so I had to tug on the CEO's arm to get her away from the small tasks that seem at first to only take a few moments, but in the end take up much more time than you would like to admit.

Headed over to a swanky place called QC for lunch. Seriously from the dress and decor of the place it felt more like California than in the bush (or was it the outback?). There is the common debate about where 'the bush' ends and 'the outback' begins. Somewhere right over there I reckon.

For lunch we had some wraps with lemon-lime & bitters to drink. I think this might have been my first meal out, and one of the biggest differences Down Under, is not tipping. Huh? What? Seriously, here in the USA you get so used to 15% or 20%, no matter if the service is the best you've ever received or worst such as getting hit with a frying pan on your head as your eggs are flopped on your plate. Yep, no tips. The word is that the restaurants actually pay the servers a decent amount and price the food accordingly. What a novel idea. Oh yeah, the food and service is darn good too.

After lunch we headed out of town. The first stop was the camel farm where we inquired about a camel ramble. We wandered around outside the main building and I posed by a camel that was close by. I am just about the same height as a camel. I was able to look the camel straight in the eyes. I think we came to a mutual understanding about no spitting or horsing around. I mean, really, how can a camel 'horse' around?

There was a camel history museum as well on the grounds. Plenty of good info on how the camels got to Australia and why they were brought over. What might that info be? Well, glad you asked, because it's all right here. Camels these days are more of a tourist attraction, but a very good one at that. I was bummed that I missed The Camel Cup by a few weeks.

Next, we drove a little bit further out of town to check out Emily and Jessie Gaps. The weather was perfect for some casual outdoor exploring. Not hot bikini weather, nor snow parka weather, but perfect mid-80's with sunshine. Both sites are far enough out of town that you truly feel disconnected from civilization. There are Aboriginal paintings on the rocks at both sites, which makes you feel even more in the outback. Not a 7-Eleven or Starbucks in sight. Good stuff.

Tuesday

Shhhhhhhhh...don't tell, but this morning I headed into the shop with the CEO and did a little bit of 'illegal' work. Well, not really in the sense of working at McDonalds or anything, but it was fun to help out and put my computer skills to use.

The best part of the day came later after a tasty dinner at Sporties (which features lot's of Aussie Football League jersey's from players I knew nothing about). After dinner we walked around a bit, watching some street performers. One guy was juggling flaming torches. I had my camera with me, so I popped off a few shots. Of course, a handheld shot in the dark always gives mixed results, but I was happy enough.

Around 8:00pm we headed into the Sound of Starlight Theatre for the didgeridoo show. Andrew Langford was great with the didge and the performance had lots of percussion and a trippy video playing in the background. Trippy in the sense that sometimes you saw odd 3D computer graphics that seemed to be from trippy psychedelic blobs and at other times you saw scenery from the outback or dead animal carcasses. Truly an audiovisual spectacular. Andrew always had a story before every song, and it not only was entertaining, but also added a bit of historical knowledge. Edutainment Down Under.

Wednesday

Had to get up a bit early this morning for the TV service man. 'There's not supposed to be snow on the TV, because in Alice, it doesn't snow'. Made sense to me. A quick breakfast and then off to work.

What! More hard labor. Hmmmmmmmmm. At least we snuck off for cappuccinos at a swanky place called The Camel's Hump. Yes, they did have a menu specials board that talked about camel ribs. I think I might have felt guilty. I've never looked a cow in the eyes, so there's no issue of guilt there. No guilt either from the CEO about my labor even though we made eye contact on occasion. Explain that.

Okay, I did have dinner cooked for me. No complaining and no camel ribs. It's all good.

The Brave said: