First encounter with Australian culture: espresso is 'short black', latte is 'flat white'. Easy concepts. Pretty pragmatic those Aussies.
Why a short black should cost 4 or 5 dollars is not as easy to understand though.
It is 30 degrees C out there and there is a Christmas tree in the hotel lobby. Indeed, it does feel kind of awkward. But the Great Barrier Reef is just a boat ride away, so forget your Mariah Carey and all she wants for Christmas on air, get your boat ticket and go swim with the fishes in those warm crystal clear waters: clownfishes are waiting for you. So is the scooba doo diving experience, a Chinese favourite apparently, but it is not extremely difficult to lure a couple of European hopefuls - hopefools? - into trying it. Yes, it is kitsch; yes, it is overpriced; yes, you are going down a mere 4 metres. Still, try to go from aquafobia to 4 metres under water and then we talk again.
A few kilometres away, "where the great barrier reef and the rainforest meet", lies another stunning display of natural beauty: the Daintree rainforest, home to tall trees, lianas, millennia-old plants and lizards who do not need sun to warm up. And to those beautiful giant blue butterflies you may have seen only in cartoons before.
But the Australian day finishes early. At 6 pm everybody is already busy with dinner. What better way to close the day with a kangaroo steak or some kanga banga sausages grilled on the barbecue facilities freely available in the city park? Admittedly, you are going to feel a little guilty later on, when you meet those cute kangaroos that love you at first sight (of the apple and carrot slices you are handing them) and try to hug you tight (to grab the can of fruit you are holding).
No comments:
Post a Comment