Day 5

Aussie-idioms:

Burger King is known as "Hungry Jacks" here because the name "Burger King" was already trademarked when the first one opened in 1971. "Jack" was the name of the first franchisee.

A "tank top" or "wife beater" t-shirt is called a "singlet"

You don't order food "for here" or "to go", you order food "to stay" or "to take away"

At McDonalds, you can get fresh, low fat sandwiches and a variety of fruit & healthy snacks. They don't pitch the "go large" with your meal and everyone seems to be more fit.

They have "flatmates" instead of "roommates"

Their sales tax is already included in things you buy so you know exactly how much the total bill is going to be.

They don't have pennies in their currency but yet things at the grocery store are priced at $1.98 for example. Don't expect change - you're just out the 2c.

You buy beer and liquor at a "bottle Shop" instead of a "liquor store".

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Today was the Extreme Shark Dive at Oceanworld on Manly Island.

There were 5 of us who were brave enough to get into the tanks with the nurse sharks, sting rays, eels and giant turtles. It's a special dive as we get to enter the park before it opens and are in the tank when the park visitors arrive.

We got suited up, signed away our rights to sue should anything go wrong and then plunged into the tank that is home to some very viscious creatures. We perched ourselves over the glass tunnel, through which visitors normally walk through to see the creatures swim all around them. Sharks swam all around us and a huge turtle even brushed the top of my head. It was quite exhilerating to say the least. Definitely another highlight of this trip.

The rest of the day was spent shopping the strip along the beach, taking pictures of surfers and volleyball players on the beach and then...a nice long nap on the beach for myself...boy I deserved it. It was nice and toasty warm. I must have napped for an hour before taking the 30 min ferry ride back to Sydney which provided some great shots of the harbour and skyline.


Tomorrow, I think I'll relax a bit and just do nothing....yeah, right.