2~16~01 to 2~28~01
Fun and Games Aussie-Style
It was the end of an afternoon of driving, and Steve and I were looking for somewhere to spend the night. I was driving, so Steve paged through our Lonely Planet guidebook and saw that Eumundi, a small town nearby, has a big market every Saturday. Always a fan of markets, we parked overnight in a quiet, empty carpark in Eumundi.We awoke the next morning to find that not only was the carpark full of cars, but so was a big field next to it! The market was huge. As we were having breakfast and preparing to hit the market, I had an idea. It was my theory that craft markets are similar the world over, and that in a Westernized country like Australia, we should find the same kind of items for sale that you would find at, for example, the Folklife Festival in Seattle. My idea was for a game: each of us would write a list of ten items that we guessed we'd see for sale at the market. Then, we'd approve each others' lists to make sure there weren't any items that were too general (i.e., "food"). As a final twist, each of us would choose an item on the other's list and add it to our own list, with an added level of detail.
As we walked around the market, we would get a point for each vendor that was selling an item on our lists. It made the market hold our attention longer than it might have otherwise, and we had a good time browsing through each stall, and appearing (to the vendor, at least) excited about finding koala-shaped magnets. The market also had some interesting food stalls, and I got a hair wrap. Here are our lists, and the scores:
STEVE'S LIST
1. Pre-arranged dry flowers = 0
KATE'S LIST
2. Crystal necklaces = 1
3. Carved wooden fish = 2
4. Rocks that look like koalas = 0
5. Tarot card readings = 3
6. Eucalyptus-based medicine = 1
7. Blue and green tie-dyed tank-top sack dress = 2
8. Satay chicken on rice with side salad = 0
9. Silk scarves = 0
10. Free range eggs for $2/dozen = 0Bonus Item from Kate's List:
Kangaroo-shaped wooden children's puzzle
Total = 11 points
1. Painted rocks = 0
2. Paintings of fairies = 1
3. Australian flags = 0
4. Hand-painted tea towels = 0
5. Those embroidered dresses (from India?) that they sell everywhere = 0
6. Koala-shaped magnets = 1
7. Children's puzzles made of wood = 4
8. Pieces of art using found objects = 1
9. Photographs of Aboriginals sitting on the ground = 0
10. Leather coin purses = 5Bonus Item from Steve's List:
Silk scarves with an Aboriginal print = 0
Total = 12 points
~ * ~ Australians seem to have a predilection for larger-than-life things. On our drive up the coast, we've seen several of these big representations (I hesitate to call them sculptures) of fruit and other things. So far, we've seen:
Each of these was at least 30 feet high (most were bigger). It is an odd phenomenon that I haven't noticed elsewhere. Although I haven't really spent a lot of time driving through the American midwest...
"The Big Pineapple"
another big pineapple
"The Big Banana"
"The Big Can" (of beer)
a big bottle (of rum)
a big bull
a big oyster
a big prawn
~ * ~ One of the most unusual things in Australia (a country in which most things feel familiar by now) is the birdlife. We are often surprised by the colours and sizes and birdsong of the birds that regularly swoop by. Steve has been playing a humourous little game by making up realistic-sounding names for them:
Lesser wallet
Cavers thrushfellow
Red-throated flippet
Grey springbit
~ * ~ While Steve and I were touring Fraser Island, our tour group had a few contests. The first was for the most creative nametag that represented something about Fraser Island. The prize was a jug of beer or carafe of wine, so we were motivated to actually try to win. I made a cutout map of Fraser Island, with the letters in my name representing its lakes. Since the key thing about Fraser Island is that it is made completely of sand, Steve formed his name with hundreds of tiny dots.
We both won.
Apparently, our tour group was especially creative, because instead of just one winner, there were two male and two female winners. (The other male winner was one of our roommates at the resort, and the other female winner was a Canadian.) Steve and the guy split a jug of beer, and the girl and I had wine. We felt kind of silly for being keeners, but happy to have won.
Later that night, after everyone was done with dinner and those wishing to stay and have a few drinks had already had a few, a guy from the resort led us into the bar for some stupid party games. Steve and I sat in the back through the first few games, technically on one of the teams but not really paying attention. But for the last game, all team members were required to participate. Everyone else went up, so we decided to join in.
The master of ceremonies placed a cereal box on the floor (the top was open and it was empty). The object of the contest was to pick up the box with your mouth, and only your feet could touch the floor. As the game progressed, the MC ripped an inch or two off the top of the box, so people had to bend closer and closer to the floor. By the end, the box had been replaced by a scrap of paper on the ground.
Here I demonstrate my winning positionIt turns out I have a completely useless talent for this, and I was one of the winners (there were four, declared when there was no way to make the game any harder). I was also the person who was able to do this with the most ease - the other competitors took longer. In addition, Steve, whose doctor has said has the flexibility of an oak tree, did far better than he expected and came very close to winning as well.
We felt kind of silly again, for having such a pointless skill, but proud all the same.
~ * ~ Last night, as Steve and I were driving into Cairns, we saw ahead of us the really bright lights you find at a soccer field. Our spidey senses tingled, and we followed the lights to see what was happening. As luck would have it, we had discovered an Aussie-rules football game about to occur. It was a second-round game of the Ansett Cup, a round-robin tournament that opens the footy season.
Luckier still, we had arrived an hour before the game, before most of the fans, so we got a decent parking spot and got to watch a junior game which was played beforehand. Then, we watched the Brisbane Lions and the Western Bulldogs play a closely-fought, low-scoring game.
Steve, who has watched footy on TV, explained the rules to me, so we were able to follow the action. The game was fairly sold-out, so we didn't get seats under the roof. Instead, we sat in the occasionally pouring rain under an umbrella borrowed from the nice people sitting next to us.
I quite enjoyed the experience. Not only do Steve and I think it is valuable to watch a sport be played in its country of origin, but footy is actually fun to watch. The field was wet and muddy, so the players slipped all over the place, and the ball constantly squirted out of the players' hands. The only drawback was that the field (an oval) for footy is very big, so when the action was happening on the other side, we could barely see it. Nonetheless, we had a great time, watching footy and drinking beer with the locals.
~ * ~ Finally, I have done something that I have wanted to do for years... something that has been on my list of "things I must do sometime in my life." I'm so excited about it, I saved it for last.
I dyed my hair blue.
As I said, I've always wanted to do this, but in the past, my job and other things made it inconvenient. At first, I thought I could do it while travelling, but thoughts of suspicious customs officers made me put it off again. But now, the perfect opportunity has presented itself.
Steve and I were discussing our impending trip to Asia (we leave for Indonesia on March 5). I was lamenting about always sticking out in a crowd with my blond hair, and Steve suggested I dye it. The more I thought about it, the better it sounded. I've had my hair black before, for almost two years, and I liked it. I only went back to blond to avoid the constant maintenance. In Asia, I would attract much less attention with dark brown/black hair, so I decided to do it once we got back to Sydney.
Then, suddenly it occurred to me that now I have a perfect window to dye my hair blue. My blond hair will take the colour well, and in a week, it will be covered by a dark colour. And as an extra added bonus, this means I can attend the Sydney Mardi Gras parade with outrageous blue hair.
I tell my hairdresser everything |
After this first dyeing |
Later, after three tries |
Last night, Steve played beautician and applied the dye. We didn't have quite enough dye, so at the moment, my hair is a little varied in colour. I hope to get some more dye today or tomorrow and make it even bluer soon. But I am so excited about it! I keep sneaking glances at myself in mirrors and windows.I'm interested to see if I am treated any differently with blue hair. I'll see how it goes, and maybe I'll write about it after it's over.
