As you descend the Coast, you get closer and closer to my brother in Brisbane. If you see a grumpy looking chap, ordering two kids about like they are soldiers, it just might be him.
You must have passed Australia Zoo on your way down. It was founded by Steve Irwin, who was killed by a sting ray. As a diver, you may have heard of that story. It's a cautionary tale that involves being very cautious around wild animals, of which there are plenty in Australia.
I think you visited Queensland at the right time, as it gets ridiculously hot later in the year. I don't fish, as I never liked the idea of the hook in their mouths, though I eat fish, so I'm a hypocrite, I guess. I do love a cooler of beers, though, whether the weather is hot or cold. :)
yeah man. I have fallen in love with the temperature here. I have determined that i need to find a place that has a temp like this is SE Asia. The search parameters have been redefined! I can't live here because well, i don't think i could handle everything being so expensive and there are a ton of rules here.
Oz is a lot like the US in terms of the look of their streets and the tv they watch, I thought.
Oz has two principal immigrant (as opposed to the indigenous aboriginal) cultures: the puritans and the larrikins, two cultures that are descended from British settlers.:-
The larrikins are like Crocodile Dundee, they don't give a damn about rules or what anyone says. Their culture comes from the prisoners that Britain sent to Australia in exile, as part of their sentences for stealing and stuff like that.
The puritans meanwhile, are i charge, and love making officious laws, like banning porn on the internet and stuff, and their culture is descended from the prison guards and military officers that Britain sent to oversee the prisoners in the colonies.
These two cultures are alive and well today, meaning that Australian laws are out of control crazy controlling, but Aussie larrikin defiance of being told what to do is equally tough.
We Brits have a lot to answer for! LOL