Thursday, September 25, 2008

Lecture Recess Here I Come!

"Brisbane or Bust!"

Next week we have "Lecture Recess." It is essentially Spring Break for us. I couple friends of mine and I just finished planning our Lecture Recess vacation to Brisbane and Fraser Island.

Here is a link to the wikipedia article on Fraser Island. It is really interesting.

Our Travel Itinerary
Friday: Arrive in Brisbane @ 11:40PM
Saturday: Rent a Car and attend Oktoberfest Fest-Brisbane
Sunday: Drive South to Nimbin, Australia - It's a city in New South Wales (The state south of Queensland)
Monday: Drive North to Hervey Bay
Tuesday: Rent a 4x4 Toyota LandCruiser to take to Fraser Island
Wednesday & Thursday: Camp and 4-wheel around Fraser Island
Friday: Greyhound back to Brisbane
Saturday: Flight back to Townsville, arrive 10:35 AM

We are camping and staying in backpacker resorts during our travels, so I am not sure how much internet access I will have. However, I will have tons of pictures to upload when I get back. I will try and make a blog entry or two letting everyone know that we're okay. Until then, as my Aussie friends say, "See yous lata!"

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Aussie Coins

"Wait! Hang on, I think I just dropped like 12 dollars!"

The coins here in Australia are unique to say the least. Like I said yesterday, they have a $1 and $2 coin. The only way to explain how they look, and their sizes relative to each other is to show a picture:


Notice their sizes compared to the three American coins at the bottom.

Also, notice the largest coin is the 50 cent piece. And the coin that is worth the most ($2, far right) is the same size as the coin that is worth the least. This causes a couple problems. There has been several times I have dropped some coins, and I would say, "Hang on, that could either be 30 cents, or 12 dollars!"

Aussie Money!

"Well ain't that interesting?"

First, I wanted to say, "I'm sorry for not updating." This is after I write a blog entry about how I hope to update more often... I'm really dropping the ball on this blog thing.

On the bright side, I am going to share some interesting things about Australian currency. First here is a picture of some Monopoly money.... I mean Australian money:

^The Australian 10, 20, 50, and 100 Dollar Notes^

At the time the first picture was taken, I didn't have a $5. So here is one next to a $10.

^The Australian 5 Dollar Note^

Notice how they progressively get longer in size as their value increases. I don't know what the money is made from, but they have a very plastic/waxy feel which makes them essentially waterproof. Also, their consistency also makes them impossible to tear. Just watch this video:



Now you may be wondering, "What does an Australian $1 look like?" Well , there is no $1 bill. Only a $1 coin, and there is actually a $2 coin as well. Tomorrow I'll publish a blog about the Australian coins. Until then, cheers!