Oz Life

I was looking through the photos on my phone and found a few that I had taken from our everyday life here. While some things are very similar to life in Ohio, there are definitely some differences.

I had one friend (Hi Elaine! are you out there?) ask what was the most challenging thing living here. I said driving on the opposite side, but I’m over that now. I change my answer: laundry.

Our washing machine is smaller; it is a stretch to fit a set of queen sheets in one load. And we line dry everything. For most days this is outside on a rack attached to the shed (garage) but we have indoor racks for rainy days.  This is a time-consuming process and requires consideration of the weather, sun light hours, and remembering to not leave clothes outside overnight. I will say that our whites are much brighter and I like reducing our energy usage. But I’m not quite sure how this will all work in the winter.

Getting around: We bought a (BRIGHT!) green Ford Territory (pronounced “tear-i-tree”) our first week in Melbourne and it has been a great car – it is similar to the Ford Escape with a third row. 

I’m not sure this town of 3,100 is big enough for TWO bright green Territories!

But for the most part we can get around town on bikes. Our morning commute involves the entire family riding to the big kids’ school and Eric helping them park their bikes whilst Maren and I continue down the road to daycare. Also involved: The “lollipop lady” (crossing guard) blowing a whistle and stopping traffic for us to cross the road at the zebra stripes (crosswalk).

Food: Some delicious additions to our meal rotations include pies. These are not dessert pies but dinner pies – filled with meats or vegetables and different sauces. My favorite so far has been a roasted vegetable pie that our friend Marg made (and, yes I got the recipe).

Despite the calorie expenditure with my daily bike ride, I am not likely to come home any fitter due to the amazing chocolate options available at just about every store. The milk chocolate here seriously rivals the creaminess found in Germany (in my opinion) and there are so many fascinating chocolate combinations. Cadbury has a large presence in my heart and stomach.

Protection: The sunshine is serious business here. UV rays are fierce thanks to a hole in the ozone above us. Hats are required at schools (including daycare) and we lather up with sunscreen every morning before leaving the house.

We also wear full shoes and socks when we go trekking (walking off pavements) or playing in natural areas to help protect us from snakebites. Unfortunately, venomous snakes are common here, including this (DEAD!) common brown snake we found on the road in front of our house. Yes, this incident induced nightmares (me). If I am not safe on the pavement in front of my house, where am I safe?!? Yikes. At least we don’t have crocodiles here?