Politicians Are Much The Same

Western Australia held its state elections yesterday. Voting is compulsory and they vote on Saturday. If Australians fail to vote, they are fined $25!

We were very intrigued to see how this system works. The incumbent premiere called the election about a year early. He made the announcement on August 6th, giving his opponents four weeks to prepare. The election resulted in a hung Parliament. Here' the story according to ABC:

"Counting is set to resume in the WA election today but it could still be several days before a result is known.The failure of either major party to win enough seats to govern WA means the National Party may hold the balance of power but it could fall to independents. Both Labor and the Liberals are courting the National party as the four seats they hold may be crucial in forming government.

Yesterday the Nationals leader Brendan Grylls met the Labor leader Alan Carpenter, and he will sound out the Liberal's Colin Barnett this morning.

He says whichever party supports his plan to return a quarter of royalties collected to the regions will get his party's backing.

The ABC's political analyst Antony Green says either way, WA will have a hung Parliament.

"The Liberal Party plus the Nationals may not even have enough seats on their own, this is a Parliament that will come down to the independents." he said.

Counting of preferences will not take place until the end of the week.

According to Antony Green's ABC election analysis computer, Labor is likely to hold 27 seats, and the Liberals 22.

The Nationals have won four seats, and independents three.

Three seats are still in doubt - Riverton, Forrestfield and Alfred Cove.

30 seats is required for victory."

Sounds a bit like our national elections. At least they have more than two parties here. We're just glad to have an end to the political commercials! Unfortunately, they also have succumbed to negative ad campaigns instead of sticking to the issues but at least it's only for four weeks.

A Photo with Kevin

Thanks to all who called or emailed to wish George a Happy Birthday. Even though he worked a double on the actual day (what better present for him than double-time?), we celebrated with a barbeque at our house with our new friends, Nancie and Chuck. I made carrot cake but it wasn't as good as my recipe so if anyone has my recipe, please email it!


I've already mentioned Nancie, but did I tell you what a character she is? She reminds me of Judy Smith, one of my craziest and funniest friends in the Fort. Nancie told us a great story I thought I'd share with you.

After only being in Oz for two weeks, Nancie met some Australian friends at a crowded restaurant in Perth. They were seated at a small table next to a large reserved table. Since they didn't have enough place settings at their table, Nancie appropriated a set from the reserved table. A group of men in suits arrived and Nancie didn't understand why her friends were making such a stir. Her girlfriends were whispering and pointing so Nancie finally turned around to have a squizz (that means look in Strine for those of you who skipped a few blog entries!).

Nancie finally recognized the guy sitting behind her, the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd! Can you imagine the US President being seated so close to someone who hadn't been searched and vetted previously?

Nancie being Nancie, tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me. I'm a new resident here and have only been here for two weeks. I have to tell you what a great job you're doing with the country. My sister and I absolutely loved your speech where you said you welcome new immigrants. " She quoted the speech verbatim and told him she'd vote for him if she could. He thanked her and turned around and continued his own business.

After they finished eating, Nancie decided she wanted to take a picture with him and her friends were telling her not to take out her camera for fear of being shot or arrested by the nearby security people. Nancie took out her camera anyway and snapped a photo of her friends.

Then she tapped Kevin Rudd on the shoulder again and asked him if he granted photo opportunities. He graciously agreed to the photo but that wasn't enough for Nancie; she wanted her friends in the photo so she asked the guy next to him to act as photographer. I'm sure someone who was lunching with the Prime Minister is fairly important in his own right but this man was very nice about it and even took his time framing the shot.

Want to hear the clencher? Nancie called her sister to tell her the story and discovered that the speech she went on about was not Rudd's but his opponent's! Poor guy, what could he say? - "Sorry, you don't admire me after all." I give him extra points just for being so gracious. I asked Nancie to email me a copy of the photo for the blog and will add it later if she remembers. Just wanted you to know we're hobnobing with friends with friends in high places. I'll be sure to let you know when he invites us all over to dinner in Canberra. : )

Polly, Want a Cracker?

Check out these wild birds flying around in our backyard. It's a cacophony of sound! Some sound like phones ringing; I can't count how many times I've picked up the phone before realizing it's the birds outside. The kookaburras sound like they're laughing and some other bird sounds like a baby wailing. I don't know if these are keas or parrots but they sure are gorgeous.


Don't worry! I won't turn into Bindi, the Wonder Girl. After all, I'm allergic to feathers and animals.

We also have a banana tree but, sadly, there are no ripe bananas at the moment. George did get some free lemons from a co-worker so that has boosted his spirits. He still is shocked whenever we go to the grocery store but he agrees the adventure is priceless.

American History Aussie Style

Nancie and I went back to visit Pat and Trish at the Roundhouse since we missed the cannon firing last week. We didn't see them when we first arrived so inquired about the whereabouts from the young man at the entrance. God knows what they told him but he said, "Oh! You must be the Americans who were here last week." I've been in the country a month and am already notorious. : )

Growing up in Colorado, my knowledge of the sea is extremely limited. Yesterday we learned how ships in the harbor used to synchronize their chronometers for accurate navigation. The Fremantle time ball was built in 1900 to provide the daily time check. When sailors heard the cannon and saw the ball drop, they knew it was exactly 1:00 p.m.


Do you know why New York City is known as the Big Apple? Andrew, the young volunteer we met at the gate, shared a bit of American history with us too. New York's time ball was red and sailors thought it resembled an apple so they nicknamed the city the Big Apple.



You can't see the individual flags on the yardarm too well, but the flags represented are Australia, Western Australia, Aboriginal, Fremantle, Port of Fremantle, the Fremantle Football Club and a courtesy flag to welcome foreign visitors. Fremantle is one of the few ports in the world who still flies a courtesy flag. They are so hospitable here!

Press 1 for English

Sometimes we're at a loss to understand our new mates here even though we supposedly speak the same language. One of their favorite things to do is to shorten words. My hairdressers here are Bec and Jac; Fremantle is Freo and Australia is Oz.

Aussies also like to add an ie to words; breakfast is brekkie, football is footie, Christmas is Chrissie and so on. I guess George is now Georgie or Geo - I'm not sure which!

However, some words are peculiar to Australia while some are shared with New Zealand and/or England but are still new to us. Here's an example of Strine for you:

Holy dooley, we wouldn’t be dead for quids! We are glad not to be crook and don’t want to spit the dummy and be whingers even if there we were up the gum tree. Fortunately, we haven’t had any Technicolor yawns.

We had mates over last night so we put on the tucker bag. It was so nice of them to bring George a nice prezzy of wine because it's worth bikkies here. Now I'm making spag bol for tomorrow.

Enough of this! Here's a partial list of Strine for you to learn before you come to visit:

Wouldn’t be dead for quids – doing very well
Wouldn’t have given it to a Jap on Anzac Day – negative
Furphy - false rumor
Like a curried egg fart – bad
Mickey Mouse – good
Oldies - parents
Fluking – finding
No show and glow – no reward
Crook – feeling sick
She’ll be apples – it will be OK
A bit of a spunk – Good looking guy
Fair dinkum – true, genuine
Give it a burl – to try
Knocker – someone who is critical of others
Whinger – complainer
Figjam – conceited person (F*!# I’m Great, Just Ask Me!)
London to a brick – certain
Have a naughty – to make love
Prezzy – gift
Spag bol –spaghetti bolognese
Stone the crows! Holy dooley! – exclamation, shows surprise
Stickybeak – nosy person
Technicolor yawn, chunder – vomit
Throw a wobbly – cause a scene
Yakka –work
Ta muchly – thanks a lot
Spit the dummy – get upset
Tall poppies – successful people
Dill – idiot
Worth bikkies – expensive
Budgie smuggler – men’s swimsuit
As busy as a cat burying shit – extremely busy
Come a guster – making a mistake
Give a gobful – berate, chastize
Kangaroos loose in the top paddock – mental or intellectually challenged
Have a lend on you – to fool you
Lair – in bad taste
Squizz – to take a look
Useful as an ashtray on a motorbike – utterly useless
Whacker, whacka – a jerk
Wowser – prude
Zack – a 5 cent coin, worthless
Up the gum tree – in trouble
Back of Bourke - a long way away
Bugger off - leave

Australians also have names for one another and other nationalities:

Sandgroper – Western Australians
Banana bender, cane toad – someone from Queensland
Mexican – those who live south of Queensland border
Crow eater – someone from South Australia
Cockroach – someone from New South Wales
Seppo – American
Taswegian – derogatory term for someone from Tasmania

It's time for this Seppo Sandgroper to bugger off for now. G'day mates!

Sights You Won't See in the Fort

Those of you who know George well won't be surprised that he checks out every nook and cranny when "on a hoof". His parents named him well although they had never heard of Curious George when he was born. Whenever we pass a building, he just has to know what's inside.

Last week we discovered a circus school not far from the Notre Dame campus (Yes, the Fighting Irish are alive and living in Oz!) in downtown Fremantle. Now I know what I can do in case I get bored. If I can't manage the trapeze or learn how to be a clown, perhaps there's a fat lady position open.

Today we were walking in the neighborhood where we'll be moving in a couple of weeks. Homes vary from the run-down to the sublime although nothing is cheap in Fremantle. The average home cost is $800,000. The area is full of cafes, restaurants, art galleries and the like. There is even a little chocolate factory.

Not far from our favorite Italian restaurant is a business George always wondered about named Ada Rose. There is a sign on the building listing the hours but there is no menu so we ruled out restaurant as a possibility. We had fun guessing what it was and had many theories including night club, private club, and workout place. Today the gate was open so we walked into the courtyard. There was a sign telling us to ring the bell and a lady answered the door in jeans and a sweathsirt, telling us they didn't open until 6 p.m. George then inquired, "What is the Ada Rose?" "It's a bordello, love!" Didn't guess that one!

I guess there are all sorts of opportunities for work here. I have a high school classmate who is reputed to be a madam in Nevada. Perhaps I should find her to let her know she has work opportunities here. I think I'd rather be the fat lady in a circus!