Tales From Down Under

Hello everybody!
Now, at last, it's my turn to write. As our computer access is more limited here in the "developed world", we have to share our precious Internet time, a difficult thing to do. So, here we are, back in the land of big cars, big fridges and big stores full of stuff that the entire population of Africa and Asia seems to survive without. For the past 6 months I had been waiting to be culture shocked, and it never happenend. Now I am shocked by our overconsumption and individualism. Having to choose between 48 kinds of cereal is a dilemma we've managed without just fine.
Upon arrival in Sydney, we spent two days with a lovely family who made us feel right at home and got us acclimatized to the "Ozzie" accent. We spent an afternoon buying a cheap tent and a couple of dishes and then headed off to the beach, where we watched some kids taking an afterschool surf lesson (rough eh?) The next day we took the commuter train downtown and strolled around the waterfront, dutifully admiring and taking obligatory photos of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. And then we headed south.
With only three weeks in Australia, we decided to limit ourselves to the Coastal route between Sydney and Melbourne, which, if you look at a map of Australia is only a very small snippit of the entire country. In fact, I learned that Autralia is about the same size as the United States, a fact that Americans apparently have a hard time acknowledging! So I can hardly attempt to give you a general overview, but the bit we did see was absolute camper heaven (except the first two nights where we ended up in overcrowded private campgrounds squeezed between trailers). After the local kids went back to school (yes, the end of January is the beginning of the school year) we had almost entire campgrounds to ourselves, only having to share with the resident kangaroos (see photos for proof), walabees, parrots, echidnas, possums, goannas, snakes, spiders and bellbirds (yes, they do sound like chimes!). We unfortunately did not see any wombats or koalas, but going to a zoo just seemed like admitting defeat after we had seen all these other exotic animals roaming freely around our tent. The weather was fantastic, allowing us to take full advantage of the vast golden (and surprisingly empty) beaches all along the coast.
We took the scenic route, driving through pretty towns with names such as Wollongong, Ulladulla and Mallacoota. Finally, we spent the last five days in and around Melbourne (pronounced Melbin by the locals), where Julien got to hook up with his friend Melisande, from Montreal (et nous avec nos amis Sylvie et Stephan, avec qui nous avons partage quelques bonnes bouteilles!) Together we wine tasted, we hiked, and we continued to gather data for my comparative beach study. And spent a day in the city, admiring the vary avant-garde architecture. As Stephan pointed out, because of the climate (i.e. no snow, no freezing temperatures), there aren't nearly as many constraints and architects can do a lot more wackier stuff than we do at home. I think I detected a note of jealousy when he explained this to me.
More wonderful people hosted us here (thanks Steve and Tasha, Lou and Yvonne) and even more than the beds and showers and laundry facilities, we appreciated the opportunity to meet people who actually call Australia home. (Not always that easy when you're on the tourist trail).
As you surely heard on the news, there were severe bush fires in southern Australia just when we were there. Although this is a fairly common occurence, this year was much worse than usual because of the intense heat during the preceding weeks. Apparently the flames were moving faster than anyone expected. 200 people died and hundreds lost their homes. We drove through some burnt out areas on our way back to Sydney; it was eerie and somewhat frightening to see all of these blackened trees, homes and vehicles, and experience the overwhelming smell. Just makes you realize that there are risks everywhere, even in a country where you least expect it.