The Highs and the Lows or How Australia is "Way Better" (pronounced with and Australian accent) Than Canada and Vice Versa

I'll start with the "lows", just so I don't finish on a negative note.

Lows

1.  Their butter and their bacon.  Come on Australia, get it together!  I seriously question a country that can't get butter and bacon right.

2.  We call it "Resting Australian Face".  We take for granted in Canada the good feeling you get from passing a stranger, giving them a smile and having them reciprocate.  Don't try it in Australia, 9 out of 10 times, you won't get a warm fuzzy in return.  

3.  Car seats.  Australian law is to turn babies forward facing at 6 months.  If you've done any research on car seat safety, you know how scary this is.  We had to advocate often to get rear facing seats for Arra, then fought with the installation of the seat.  And she HATED her car seats there.  Road trips were brutal.  We were all very happy to get her back into her own seat today.

4.  "Nappies and prams".  Those words are so annoying, just call them diapers and strollers. Also, their nappies are the worst.  Love me some Pampers!

5.  Street signs.  As far as we could tell, they are optional.  One corner may have none, while the next may have so many that they become a meaningless jumble.  

6.  So many gross and potentially deadly critters.  When we next hit -50 I will do my best to think "At least we don't have cockroaches and huntsmen spiders".

Highs

1.  Snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef.  Canada just doesn't have it and it's fricken awesome

2.  Beaches.  I know Canada has beautiful beaches too, but living in Fort McMurray we miss out on them a bit to say the least.  We loved our beach days in Aus!

3.  Cell phone plans.  So cheap, tonnes of data, no contracts!  There's a special place in Hell for Canadian cell phone carriers.

4.  Asian cuisine.  I kind of took for granted how close Australia is to Asia; therefore, many Asian country visitors and immigrants = lots of yummy food!

5.  Fresh seafood.  Again, it's the whole Landlocked Alberta thing.

6.  Parks, playgrounds, skate parks, giant outdoor trampolines, surf school, beach volleyball classes and so many other outdoor things for kids to do.  I'm sure the weather plays a factor, but there seemed to be so many more outdoor activities available to Australian kids.  Loved seeing all of the active kids and families everywhere we went!

7.  Outdoor markets.  I love outdoor markets and there seemed to be at least one everywhere we went.

8.  Mandarins.  One of the lasting memories from Australia will be Clara's giant box of delicious mandarins purchased from the Queen Victoria Market and her constant mandarin pushing to get them all eaten.  We all had a 5 mandarin a day quota that we often surpassed.

So that's it, my final thoughts (although I may add more as the sleep deprivation subsides).  I absolutely loved every minute of my time in Australia and think from what I saw of it that it is a beautiful country.  If we are ever lucky enough to go again, I would do it in a heartbeat!  Until next time...