Australian Money

I'm a pretty smart girl, at least I think I can count money properly. So since I arrived here in Australia, I have been effectively counting cash and finding it much more difficult than counting American money. You might wonder why this is such a hard phenomenon for an accountant, so I will give you the brief version of my view on the American Dollar vs. the Australian Dollar.

First, if you are American like me, consider the moment when you began to recognize American money. It was probably as early as kindergarten or first grade. Then, if you were lucky your parents likely gave you a weekly allowance for doing chores and you were also given a piggy bank or somewhere you could store it.

Now consider how many times in your life you might have counted, recounted, added, divided, used or otherwise handled your cash money. I am sure it has been hundreds of thousands of times, and for me, I also handled other people's money as well as my own. Working in any form of retail as a cashier or working in a bank (both jobs I have done before) means you are counting money more times in a day than most other people.

I bet you are wondering why I went to great length to discuss this mentality... well, thinking about how I was "so experienced" at counting money, I thought the transition from an American Dollar to an Aussie Dollar would be simple. I mean, I can count from 1 to 100 and that is the basis of one dollar in america, right?

What I forgot was that counting money is not just about counting from 1 to 100, it is all about understanding the denominations that you are given and recognizing what the coins and dollars look like. The faster you recognize the size, shape and color of the denominations, the faster and more accurately you can count money in any country.

So here is a short version of the differences between American Money and Australian Money (from 1 cent to 100 dollars). In America there are coins penny (1 cent), nickle (5 cents), dime (10 cents), quarter (25 cents), half dollar (50 cents) and a Susan B Anthony dollar or a gold dollar (1 dollar). American dollar denominations are 1, 2 (if you are lucky enough to find one), 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100.

In Australia you have silver coins, gold coins, and colored money. The bills are seriously different colors for different denominations, the silver coins are denominations less than a dollar and the gold coins are 1 dollar or more.

So here goes... Australian coins are 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, 1 dollar and 2 dollars. Australian bills are 5 dollars (purple), 10 dollars (blue), 20 dollars (red), 50 dollars (yellow) and 100 dollars (green).

Did you notice the lack of a 1 or 2 dollar bill... and whatever happened to the penny and the half penny? Looks like the Aussies like to count by 5's when it comes to their coins. Why round down when you can round up?

Checking out the Land in Bustleton

So this past Sunday we took a trip to see the land that Daniel's mum and dad recently purchased and are planning to build their retirement home...

Here are a few photos that show the excellent view of the adjoining water way. This estuary does connect to the ocean, however it is blocked so you can't just boat out into the ocean from your personal dock.







Although this land is still only about 6 acres of undeveloped land, it is gorgeous and you can easily see why someone would want to retire here. All the neighbors (not sooo close together as to annoy one another) are aware of the people who should and should not be in the area. Definitely a lovely place to live.











It seems the bees also agree - Daniel's dad pointed out this beehive inside a tree near where they are planning their new house.

Bushfire - Kelmscott, 12 April, 2009

So... have you ever wondered what sort of determination it takes to fight a bushfire? I do.


In fact... I did my best to help during this fire which was quite close to the house. We helped to catch and move the horses that were in the greatest danger. The fire started Sunday morning near the house, but we didn't even know it was there until you could see the billowing smoke overhead and the helicopters that started buzzing the house. The woman who came to the house looked a bit frantic, and said her horses were in danger and they were spooked by the helicopters. Now if I were a horse running around my happy paddock and all of a sudden there is fire in the field next door and 6 or so helicopters flying low overhead dropping water on the houses and brushfire I think I might be spooked too.

Daniel and I walked quite a way across the field and through the pony club paddocks to get to the property where the horses were. there were 5 other people there trying to catch the last 2 horses and I looked over to see how close the fire was... less than 100 feet away the field was ablaze and the firefighters were working to get it out. Above us there was a big helicopter dumping water on the fields and houses nearby. Each time they dropped a load of water close, we felt the spray.


Although we didn't do a lot of work in the volunteer spectrum, we did make ourselves available to help out as much as possible. And from a volunteer prospective, it was quite an interesting process. Watching people suddenly all involved in making sure the residents and animals were safely moved out of the danger zone was like being backstage at a concert.

Long story short... the horses are safe, the people are safe, and the blaze is down to a dull roar - they were still watching and containing it at 10 pm. As for property damage, that is still questionable and probably unknown until sometime tomorrow. Night night... sleep tight.

The Beach(es)

Yesterday we walked on the beach, white sand running through my toes was the most relaxing feeling I think I have ever truly experienced (aside from a really good massage which put me to sleep in the first 10 minutes of the hour session I had purchased).

I said relaxing, yes... but have you ever really walked in sand? I mean really walked in sand, the kind of sand that you sink into because if you are like me, pregnant, heavy, and have tiny feet, your feet disappear into the sand as if you only have legs from the ankles up.

So here I am, enjoying the feel of the sand all over my bare feet, and it takes me three times as long to walk 5 feet in the sand as it would any other person. Sure I guess if I wasn't pregnant and off balance already or if I had bigger feet to spread out the surface area of my weight or perhaps if I was the correct weight for my size none of this would have even been an idea in my head.

But despite all the fuss I just made, I still made Daniel promise to take me to the beach more often... if nothing else but so I can enjoy the feel of the warm sand between my toes. ;-)

Do you know this business?

I am sure this sign looks familiar... I did a double take when I saw it.

I bet if you think about it you will know who it is too. Oddly they even have a nearly identical menu to their US identity, and the foods I have tried taste the same in the US as they do here in Australia. And that's saying a lot.

Some other places I have eaten in Australia that are also in the states are McDonalds and KFC. And although I haven't eaten there yet, Subway has a big footprint here too (nearly every other block).

..Birdies..

This was the very first wildlife I saw in Australia. A cheeky finch in the Melbourne airport... he was begging food from the people sitting nearby.




This Magpie was showing off in the tree at the parking lot at South Dandalup Dam.




I guess he was making himself pretty for pictures...





Another Magpie was showing off on the barbeque at the parking lot at South Dandalup Dam. This one actually watched us park the car and get out before he made his presence apparent.

Photos, Photos, Photos

So, I am posting today regardless of having pictures ready to upload. In fact... I have a couple hundred pictures that I took all within the first 3 days (I am thinking OMG what am I going to do with all these photos).

I spent most of yesterday reviewing, separating by day, deleting really bad photos, and naming the good ones for the places we went. I think it is quite possible that you can do too much in a couple short days, however I wouldn't change a thing because I am finally on a normal schedule ( I say finally... but it took lots of convincing on the first day and not so much convincing everyday thereafter).

I figure once I get the hang of blogging, and as long as I am not completely wrapped up in taking care of the baby once she is born, I might actually get some good things posted.

Point is... Photos are coming... I am planning a countryside section, wildlife section, and a new post for each location I have seen. Sooo perhaps I should think about taking pictures at the "office" today since Daniel and I stopped in to see his mum and dad at their business.

The Album Cover Art Game

Totally not about Australia... but it was fun none the less.

Instructions for creating your own Album Cover Art...

1 - Go to wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/special:random
The first article that comes up when you click the link is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Random quotations: www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr: www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop (or whatever app you prefer) to make an album cover!

Enjoy your Art.

Heading to "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"

On March 30, 2009, I left my home in small town, Ohio, USA to take on a whirlwind adventure in a new place. The trip via plane(s), was very comfortable for economy class. I hopped from Akron, Ohio to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Los Angeles, California. There I changed airlines and hopped from Los Angeles, California to Auckland, New Zealand to Melborne, Australia and finally arrived in Perth, Australia. Arriving in Perth my husband, Daniel (who had been here for 6 weeks already), and his parents were waiting for me to debark the last plane and meet them just before the baggage claim. Alan (my father-in-law) was videoing the entire event as I took the escalator down to give Daniel a huge hug and a kiss before I turned to greet him and Jill.

Exhausted as I was when I arrived... I hoped that the 2 day trip across the ocean would help me adjust easier to the 12 hour time difference between Ohio and Australia.