Tag: australia

Belgrave

On By ambertravelingIn Australia, Backpacking, Couchsurfing, Pretty Places, Uncategorized2 Comments

James and I took a weekend trip up to visit our new friends Monika and Roderick in Belgrave, a beautiful forest town just an hour outside of Melbourne by train.

kora and harp jam session
James shears
beautiful sculptures at William Ricketts Sanctuary
he also teaches african drumming!
Monika in front of her house in the mountains near Belgrave
this was at a community jam session we got to go to!
cute teapots at fancy tea store
YEAH
Beautiful idea 🙂
tree cave
steam train! a popular tourist attraction.
Us and our new friends, wearing hats! Teehee
Gum trees
tiny tea set
Roderick playing his kora, a beautiful african harp type instrument

Hanging Rock

On By ambertravelingIn Animals, Australia, Backpacking, Pretty Places, Uncategorized3 Comments

Last weekend I went to Hanging Rock, a popular weekend destination for Melbournites, located close to the Macedon Ranges. It’s a geological site over 6 million years old called a mamelon, created by stiff lava flowing out of a small vent and stacking to create a hill with vertical rocks.

It’s only an hour train ride from Melbourne, although you do have to take a taxi or hitchhike to where it is from the train station. I went with my new Israeli friends Michal and Rani and my partner James. It was a fun day outing, nice to get out of this city and climb on some rocks outside.

This was a project by the elementary school
It was letting the kids pet it
Stalker photo of some cute Australian kids
Michal and Rani are also living in Melbourne. Rani is going to school and Michal is working.
Yarn graffiti is taking off in Melbourne
Bench covering
Tree scarf
Thanks to the rock who took this picture
These pretty birds were everywhere!
This kangaroo was so chill!
Bonus photo: art installation in the city, projecting moving images onto the side of buildings.

Australian Slang

On By ambertravelingIn Uncategorized4 Comments

Here is some funny Australian slang I’ve picked up. Most of these are thanks to John Sargent, my long lost cousin from Hobart, Tasmania. Can you think of any more?

Lazy yet cute abbreviations for everyday things (they do this in New Zealand too)

    • brekkie: breakfast
    • smoko: breaktime (not everyone smokes though!)
    • Maccas: McDonalds
    • bikkie: cookie
    • sunnies: sunglasses
    • tea: dinner (this one irks me because they don’t even drink tea at dinnertime!)
    • pav: pavlova (a fluffy dessert with egg whites and powdered sugar

Another theme: pissing

    • on the piss: drinking
    • pissed: drunk
    • fairy’s piss: a misty day
    • pissing down: raining hard

Common ones you hear everyday:

    • ta: thank you
    • blokes: men
    • good on you: well done
    • harya garn: funny greeting, sounds like ‘how are you going’

Insults:

    • dag: the poopy end of a sheep’s butt

Funny sayings

    • Make hay while the sun still shines: Take advantage of the opportunity
    • Their ears must be burning: Talking about someone who isn’t present
    • Keep taking your tablets: Say to someone who is saying something over the top
    • He doesn’t let the grass grow under his feet: He’s a hard worker!
    • The sights you see when you haven’t got a gun!: Look who’s showed up!