Frankston and Lingo

On our last day with Sandra and Des, we drove along the eastern side of the Port of Phillip, the giant bay that Melbourne is on. Along the bay, we passed through beach town after beach town. Some were upscale, some were family towns, some were for surfers, some were for campers, any kind you could want. We drove up to Arthurs Seat, which was essentially a hill with great views of the surrounding area. You can see today the rain dissipated, and we finally got some sunshine. Notice how blue the water is! Wouldn't you like to spend summer vacation here?

That evening, we were invited to Frances and Andrew's parents' house for dinner. They are Sri Lankan, and man can they cook! We had duck, lentils, fried rice, veggies, all fantastic! Then, there was passion fruit creme brûlée for dessert! Heaven! Passion fruit is quickly becoming one of my favorite new fruits, minus the seeds. I will eat passion fruit anything. 

Since I don't have a lot of pictures to portray this day, I will instead continue on to the fascinating topic of Australian slang. The rule of thumb is to shorten the word and add a "ie" to the end for cuteness.

1. Sunnies, as in "Don't forget to wear your sunnies!" 

2. Brekkie. When we first came to HK, we had breakfast at the hotel and I surprised to find grilled tomatoes and baked beans on the menu. What kind of ridiculous western breakfast is this?!? It actually wasn't an American breakfast, but apparently a British one. Oops. The world doesn't revolve around the US?

3. Let's have a wander. Sounds poetic doesn't it? They say this when they want to go for a stroll. 

4. Clucky. I actually learned this one from a Kiwi, but apparently Aussie's use it too. It refers to a female who is feeling motherly. Such was the story. "My sister says she doesn't want kids if you ask her outright, but every time she is around a kid, she gets all clucky..."

5. Arvo: Afternoon. 

6. Avos: Avacados. But careful, because it sounds a lot like arvo.

7. Cuppa, as in "Would you like a cuppa?" They are referring to a cup or coffee or tea. Your response, yes, coffee please, white with 2. Meaning, a cup of coffee with milk and two sugars. 

8. Dear as in "This purse was very dear" or expensive. 

9. Fairy floss = Cotton candy!

10. Chilly Bin = Cooler

11. Maccas as in "Let's go to Maccas for a Big Mac and fries. You guessed it! McDonalds. 

12. Togs = Swim suit. 

13. Uni as in "Where did you go to uni?" 

14. Thongs = Flip flops.  Googled that one accidentally. Not my best move. 

15. How are you going? This was the most confusing phrase to me, upon first hearing it. How am I going? By bus, you mean? I got here by car. Is that what you mean? They actually are just asking, "How are you doing?" so they expect a "Fine" as a response. That was not my first response.