They talk funny here

G'day!

Mudroom/greenhouse wall made of bottles

Here are a few sayings that I must share.  There's a saying here, "She's lost the plot."  It means she's gone nuts.  “He’s one sheep short in the paddock”, means he’s not quite all there.   "He's arrived on the planet."  means he's finally seeing reason.  “He's crook” means he's sick.  “She's a ripper (pronounced rippah)” means she's great.  And don’t say that you’re stuffed after a meal. Aussies will think you’re up a creek.  BTW, up a creek is up a creek.  "Spit the dummy" is spitting out the pacifier.  On a larger scale, when a sportsman "chucks a wobbly", it means that he is angry, mad enough to spit his mouthguard out.  I guess it takes a little time to spit it out and meanwhile, he is striding/wobbling around.

Across the street is over the road.  Cell phones are mobiles, pronounced mo-bi-uls.  And you ring someone instead of calling or phoning them.  Flashlights are torches.  Sweaters are jumpers, unless they have buttons; then the British call them cardigans.  Sneakers are trainers.  Pants are trousers unless they are denim, then they are jeans.  We use sun cream here instead of sunscreen.  Instead of figuring things out, you sort things out. And Aussies and Brits "reckon" heaps (a lot).

The Aussie drawl (some Brits do it too) is their habit of extending their vowels almost to an extra syllable.  It is most noticeable on words like no, so, do, etc.  The ends of their sentences tend to have an upward inflection, almost a questioning tone.   I've pointed out to several Aussies that they drop their R's at the end of their words.  Each one was surprised to find that they do indeed.  But they do pronounce their T's  clearly (Peter = Payta) whilst we say them like D's (Peeder) or swallow them (mountain = moun'in).

Bell peppers are capsicum to Aussies only.  Zucchini are courgettes to British and French only.  Cilantro is coriander.  The seeds are coriander seeds.  Jam and jelly are jam.  Jello and gelatin is jelly.  Chips are crisps.  Fries are chips.  Hamburger is minced meat or minced beef.  Ketchup or catsup is tomato sauce. Tomato sauce is tomato cooking sauce.  Shrimp are prawns.  So Aussies wouldn't put another shrimp on the barbie; they'd put another prawn on the barbie.  Maybe that's because their prawns are always large.  Cookies are biscuits; biscuits are scones (pronounced scons).  Aussies and British eat everything on toast.  You name it, they put it on toast.  When we would have bread on the side, they put it under the food.

Did you know that British and Aussies pronounce tomato to-mah-to but say po-tay-to just like us?   They do the song, "You say tomato, I say tomahto.  You say potato, I say potahto.  Let's just call the whole thing off." just for fun.   Aussies, Brits, and Germans pronounce oregano as or-e-GON-o while I say o-REY-gan-o.  How do you pronounce it?  How about basil?

Mudroom wall

Aussies often buy long-life milk in heavy waxy cartons that don't have to be refrigerated.  The full cream (whole) or 2% fat milk is pasturized at ultra high temperatures (UHT) with no preservatives and has a shelf life of 9 months.  Once opened, the carton must be fridged and used within 7 days.  I've heard that it tastes the same.   In Aussie, as well as France, Sweden and Germany (according to fellow wwoofers), the UHT milk is much less expensive and usually purchased.  I know we have the product in America but since I don't drink milk, I don't know how prevalent it is and the cost comparison.

Custard in refrigerated bottles or cartons is readily available year round; for some Aussies the thick liquid custard is a staple dessert/snack.  Aussies eat heaps of ice cream, probably rivalling Americans for per capita consumption.  There's a dessert here call chocolate pudding that I've had a few times.  It's homemade and has a brownie top but under about 1/2" - 1" of chewy stuff is warm chocolatey goo.  It's yummy!

Autumn (only Americans call autumn fall) officially arrived on 1 March.  Healesville held its annual Autumnfest this past weekend combined with the Dedication of its newly installed Labyrinth.  The labyrinth is made with a dark cobblestone path and a lighter color edging.  I was surprised at how long it took to walk into the center.  If the circular labyrinth was a simple spiral it would have been a very quick walk, but since the path wound in and out and then in again, never crossing itself, it was a good length to do some thinking or meditation.

The Lodge at Moora Moora - Home sweet home

All of the thick skinned cucurbits that we call winter squashes are collectively known as pumpkins. While they grow a very wide variety of what we call pumpkins (beautiful orange, red, white, green, blue, multicolored and differently shaped pumpkins), few hard squashes such as butternut, and less commonly, acorn and spaghetti squash are widely available.   Halloween is not widely celebrated in Aussie.  I've heard stories about trick or treaters getting $$ instead of candy because the home owners forgot.  One kid collected $30!  I had to explain to some kids what "trick or treat" meant; they didn't know what the trick part meant.  And they don't carve pumpkins for Halloween.  It might be too wasteful and Aussies often cook with pumpkin.  I've made pumpkin soup and roasted pumpkin myself since it was provided by my hosts.

It was a busy Saturday in Healesville.  We also attended the Healesville Music Festival.  Heard a lot of mostly good music and enjoyed some nice weather.   On Sunday, I helped to paint The Octagon meeting building a hot ginger color. I left Moora Moora today after a month's stay.  Had a good time there meeting heaps of community members, observing how they make group decisions, participating in co-op work and social activities, and learning about how to live a greener life.  I got a lift into Lilydale and took the Metlink train into Melbourne.  More about my Melbourne adventures soon.
Cheers!
Cyn
PS:  I went through Ferntree Gully National Park a couple of weeks ago.  My kids adored the movie Fern Gully a long time ago.