Kyogle Part 2: Conversation with a local

After spending the morning seeing everything I could possibly see in Kyogle I decided to spend the afternoon reading. I chose a lovely shaded bench just off mainstreet. The bench, in length, was about the equivalent of about 4 or 5 park benches. I sat at one end. No one else was sitting on the bench. Imagine my surprise when a woman sat down so close to me she was in danger of sitting on me. I tried to keep reading my book but she bemoaned her sore feet and sore back, obviously looking to strike up a conversation. I stole a quick look at her. I would guess she was in her late 60s early 70s. She wore a large, brightly coloured muumuu. Here is a portion of our conversation:
Me: "Oh, that is too bad" (about her back).
LL (Local Lady): "Yeah, I will take it to the grave"
There was silence so I continued reading
LL: "Can I ask you a question?"
Me: "Sure" I was not at all prepared for what she was about to ask.
LL: "Are those false teeth?" Yes, she was refering to my teeth.
Me: "No, these are my own teeth"
LL: "Really?"
Me: "Yes" At this point I tapped on them thinking that might convince her.
LL: "Fair dinkum?"
Me: "Honestly, they are real"
This continued for about a minute and a half at which point I could tell she still didn't believe me.
LL: "Do you think these are my real teeth?"
During our time so close together on the bench I got a good look at her teeth. They were brown and chipped.
Me: "I'd say those are real" Could they be anything but?
LL: "Nope, they're false teeth" She exclaimed this quite proudly.

The conversation carried on. I was made to guess a few more things (such as her husband's age, Eighty-nine, if you are interested). She asked a few more questions such as "How old are you?" (She thought I was 16), "Where are you from?", "Where in the world is Canada?". We said our good-byes.

After the our conversation I had two thoughts:

1. How could those teeth be false teeth? I always thought false teeth equalled teeth that looked too perfect.
2. She thought I had false teeth. She thought I was 16. Who has a full set of false teeth at 16?

Kyogle Part 1: Holy bats, Batman!

Kyogle-bats3
Originally uploaded by ami_arsenault.

A few weeks ago Gavin and I visited the little town of Kyogle. Neither of us knew how little the town was going to be. He was to spend the day in a training course and I was free to wander. Five minutes and I had seen pretty much everything on the mainstreet. I decided to wander a bit further and eventually found myself in a park. It was a lovely park. I could hear loud chirping at one end near a rail bridge and decided to check in out. I thought perhaps I might see some interesting birds. As I rounded the bridge I realized quickly it wasn't birds chirping but thousands of bats. Honestly there were thousands. Most of them were hanging upside-down but some were flying around to find a new branch to hang from. When I returned home I checked my Encyclopedia of Australian Wildlife and determined they were probably Grey-headed Flying Foxes. Big bats.

Oz Observations #3: Eating out

1. When paying your bill you are not expected to tip (at most restaurants).
2. Tax is included in prices.
3. Many restaurants are BYO (bring your own...beer and wine)
3. Restaurants don't necessarily have bathrooms. The place we went to on Saturday night had one out back. To get to it I had to go through the kitchen and out the backdoor past the dumpster. Yes, that was through the kitchen where they were cooking.

But Trust me on the Sunscreen

Sunscreen
Originally uploaded by ami_arsenault.

Autumn has arrived in Australia. It is starting to cool down. I made it through the summer. I did get one wicked sunburn and quickly learned from that mistake. Checkout the size of the sunscreen container. That is what we Canadians must buy to avoid being roast Canucks.