Key takeaways from Australia

A couple of months ago, the OddFamily (really milking this odd-thing) went to Australia for a few weeks. Mrs OddFather is from Australia. I’d always been fascinated by Australia as a child, but didn’t expect to ever actually go there. I mean who would be mental to sit on a 27 hour flight? Me, it turns out. Though I didn’t have much of a choice after allowing an Aussie to become infatuated with me. No one needs to know it’s the other way.

Anyway – here’s a few things I took away from the visit:

Kangaroos

Usually when you think of Australia you think of friendly kangaroos hopping about their own business. And whilst kangaroos are everywhere in Australia, the truth is you wouldn’t believe where you’d see most kangaroos. And that is as roadkill lying at the side of freeways.

Kangaroos like to come out at sunrise and sunset, and haven’t quite cohabited with vehicles travelling at 110km/h just yet. Like most animals, when they step into the road to see an oncoming vehicle, they usually freeze – and then bang! I’ve heard stories where larger kangaroos would simply hop away after a collision where they write off a car. Smaller kangaroos aren’t so lucky.

Spiders (and snakes)

Let’s face it – this is the first thing asked by most people anxious about travelling down under. I have a bit of a fear of spiders. By bit I mean throwing the OddDaughter at a spider to give myself enough time to run away and call Mrs OddFather to get rid of the spider. I don’t believe in killing things so I can’t even bring myself to smash spiders with slippers/newspapers/concrete slabs.

I made the mistake of researching spiders in Australia to find November, the month we travelled, was spider season. Not an enjoyable read. I tried getting out of the trip on many occasions. I failed. When I got to Australia, I ensured to look under the toilet seat every time I had to go, to confirm there wasn’t a Huntsman sitting there.

But you know what? In the weeks I was in Australia I didn’t come across a single spider. Not even a tiny one (which turns out are the most dangerous). Same for snakes too. Nada. I’m probably luring myself into a false sense of comfort for my next trip there.

Weather

Australia – sunny days at the beach drinking beer and surfing? Not really. This is probably a Melbourne thing but the weather is completely random. Here’s a typical day in Melbourne:

• Wake up in the morning feeling chilly
• The sun comes out – actually feel skin burning
• Sun goes behind a cloud and it’s freezing again.
• Sun comes out
• Thundery showers
• Sun comes out
• Hailstones
• And then it’s lunchtime.

I dislike the weather in the UK, but at least we’re largely consistent over the course of one day.

Driving

And lastly, a quick one on driving. I drove a lot in Australia, the roads are bigger, the cars are bigger, and they drive on the same side as the UK so all good, right? Wrong. For some reason the indicators on cars are on the opposite side as in the UK. Meaning every time I changed lanes I would use my wipers instead! Frustrating.

And that’s it. It may help you plan a trip to Australia, or it probably won’t change a thing. But it’s there for you anyway.