The Drought

Rachel:

I can't believe that I haven't written about the drought! First day I got here, I arrived at Lauren's house and I was so thirsty. Sitting on an 18 hour flight with recycled air will do that to you. So I asked for a glass of water. Lauren, being the funny lady that she is, yelled at me, "Don't you know there is a drought doing on here?!?!" I had totally forgot that Australia was having rainfall issues! I had forgot this when I was packing as well because I used valuable space and weight in my luggage to pack my wellies.

The drought is probably the worst in Victoria. In Melbourne we have water restrictions, which means we are supposed to use 155 L a day or less. This is because Melbourne's water catchments are running out. They say that the catchments have enough water for the next two years for the Melbourne area. That is pretty scary. Think about it. You only have enough water for two years! What happens two years from now if the rain doesn't pick up?

When Kurtis and I arrived, the water catchments were at 31%. Today they are at 25.6%. Frightening. Kurtis and I try to save water by taking shorter showers, not watering our plants or watering them using grey water (water caught in a bucket in our shower) and by trying not to flood our house. In Melbourne, you can't water your lawn, refill your pool, wash your car and a bunch of other stuff.

We really take water for granted in Canada. Can you imagine not being able to water you plants? Or wash your car? Crazy! We are extremely lucky to have our water, but just because we have so much, doesn't mean it will be that way forever. We should conserve our water where ever we are.

BUT! Melbournians do not recycle their water! I cannot believe this fact! If you are running out of water, why wouldn't you treat the water and recycle it? In Toronto, we recycle our water. Our treated waste water goes into Lake Ontario and then we pump it out again, treat it and then drink it. If I only had water for two years, I wouldn't be too picky about drinking clean recycled water....

Australian Word of the Day: "Creche" - means daycare. Some lady asked me if IKEA Smaland was a creche and I had no clue what she was talking about so I asked her what she said a million times and she kept saying creche. My co-worker had to excuse me because I was Canadian and had no idea what she was asking.

House Keeping and QV

Rachel:

House keeping - I've added a link to our pictures on the right hand side of the blog for some of our readers who do not have a Facebook account. Now you can see what Australia looks like! I wish house keeping the apartment was as easy as this....

QVM - Now, to figure out what QVM is, refer to number 4 on your

Guide to Australian Culture. QV aka Queen Victoria Market is similar to the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto but better. You can buy a wide variety of things from QVM like fake Uggs, live ducklings, organic nuts, sand pictures, churros, fabric, any and all produce, Aboriginal art, fake flowers made out of pop cans, Australian tourist souveniers, leather coats and a million other things.

Bottom line is that its awesome. We try to shop there when ever we can because it really cuts down on our grocery bill, but also because I love to shop. If you're ever in Melbourne, definitely stop by QVM and take a walk around. I'm sure you'll find something to buy.

Australian word of the day: "EOFYS" - Pronounced ee-if-iss, this word is Australian in every sense of the word. It is the short form of "End of Financial Year Sale" which the Aussie's have taken and made the short form into a work. The financial year is from July 1-June 30 here (makes sense right?!?!) and so throughout June, stores try to unload as much merchendise as possible before they have to do their taxes and the result is EOFYS sales across the country. So "Happy EOFYS" everyone!

Theaters in Australia are amazing!

Rachel:

Kurtis, Lauren and I went to see "I Love You Man" last night at Village Cinemas. I was so excited to go to a movie because I haven't been in ages.

First difference is that you pick what seat you want to sit in. Since Lauren bought the tickets a couple days ago, she picked the three seats in the middle of a row, back row! Cha-ching! Best seats in the house, reserved just for us!

So we wait for our food in line (like in Canada) go upstairs and head into the theatre. I was shocked how nice the seats were (suede!), they had huge armrests in between so you don't have to fight for arm space, huge space in front of you and carpeted floors (no sticky floor)!

Just when I thought that nothing could get better than that, they announced that they have a snack bar at the back if anyone was hungry! You didn't have to leave the room to get food. Amazing.

Now, this was a regular theatre. I found our that there is something called "Gold Class" theatres at Village Cinemas that have:

- reclining seats

- table in between seats so you can share food

- a blanket

- a personal waiter who will serve you food (nice food, like restaurant food) when ever you want

- a lounge to hang out in before you go in

My mind was blown. I am definitely going to the movie more often and I refuse to come home until I experience "Gold Class" movie watching.

Canada can definitely learn something about movie theaters from Australia.

Australian word of the day: "Booze Bus" - like RIDE in Toronto, its police looking for drunk drivers.