OZ in a nutshell

Goodbye Australia

It is with heavy hearts that we say farewell to Australia... it is such a beautiful country, there is so much to see, so much to do, the people are really friendly and the food is by far the best in the world. We can't wait to come back.

Some general observations have taught us a few things too:

The locals love to wind you up – you have to look out for those ones... I fall for it every time.
They especially love to tell you stories about poisonous or man-eating animals.
Not everyone is always that friendly... sometimes you'll only get monosyllabic answers or a cocky reply to your question.
Quite a few people here look very weird indeed (as in scary! - mainly found this in petrol stations in the bush).
They love their fish and chips here – and they should too cos the fish displays in the local chippies put any European fish market to shame.
Every second word anyone says is a swear word (if you are the sensitive type then don't bloody come here).
Everyone waits patiently at road crossings here and they don't jay-walk.
Backpackers hostels aren't always as backpacker-friendly as they make out to be (lots of hidden costs usually – someone out there is making loads of money!)
The food is amazing – apart from the chocolate.
Crocodile is delicious.
They're not very patient with you if you don't speak English well.
They do like the English (despite calling us 'whinging poms').
There are millions of English, Scottish and Irish tourists here will be glad to leave them behind.
This country is seriously big! Bigger than Europe.
It isn't always sunny like in Home and Away - it even rained when we were in the Outback!
There are giant bats everywhere.
There aren't as many snakes as everyone makes out (we didn't see one!)
...And the deadliest animals here are drop-bears... watch out, they'll get ya.