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It’s good news/bad news I guess; the Australian Dollar has hit a 24-year high against the US Dollar. The Australian Dollar hit $0.9502, which means it’s a great time for Aussies to visit the Land of the Free, and even better for Americans to visit the Land Down Under. Back in May 2007 when we arrived in AU, the exchange rate was like, $1USD = ~$0.89. Boo!
But now, hooray!
Of course, that’s not really good news for the US economy, but…Hooray! for tourists! And, I guess Hooray! for the Austrailian economy.
Speaking of money, take a look at the differences between AU coins and US coins:
OK, let’s say you have never been to America, you go there for a visit, you trade in your currency for some US greenbacks, buy a hot dog, pay with a $5 bill, then you get handed back some $1 bills and a bunch of coins! What do you do with the coins?! On the US coin, there is no numerical mention of how much these things are worth. The quarter does say “Quarter Dollar”, so I guess you could figure that might be worth $0.25, but…what how the hell are you supposed to know what a dime, or a nickel is?!?
I came across the following, and I laughed so much that I thought I should share. Who doesn’t like to laugh – it burns calories. Anywho, I am not posting this to say I believe in all of it (maybe I do, maybe I don’t), rather, more that I just think it’s funny. Should I happen to come across any “Dear Blue State” memos in my inbox, I’ll be sure to share it as well…Until then, though, enjoy this 
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Dear Red States,
We’re ticked off at the way you’ve treated California and we’ve decided we’re leaving. We intend to form our own country and we’re taking the other Blue States with us.
In case you aren’t aware that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast States.
We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation and especially to the people of the new country of Nuevo California.
To sum up briefly:
You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research and the best beaches.
We get Elliot Spitzer. You get Ken Lay.
We get the Statue of Liberty. You get OpryLand.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole’ Miss.
We get 85 percent of America’s venture capital and entrepreneurs.
You get Alabama.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue. You get to make the red states
pay their fair share.
Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition’s we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.
Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war and we’re going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they’re apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don’t care if you don’t show pictures of their children’s caskets coming home.
We wish you success in Iraq and hope that the WMDs turn up but we’re not willing to spend our resources in Bush’s Quagmire.
With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80% of the country’s fresh water, more than 90% of the pineapple and lettuce, 92% of the nation’s fresh fruit, 95% of America’s quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90% of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the US low sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.
With the Red States you will have to cope with 88% of all obese Americans and their projected health care costs, 92% of all US mosquitoes, nearly 100% of the tornadoes, 90% of the hurricanes, 99% of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.
We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.
38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is sacred unless we’re discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a theory, 53% that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.
We’re taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.
Sincerely,
Author Unknown in Nuevo California.
So, for the last couple of weeks, the weather on the Gold Coast has been really nice – I mean, for summer. The temps have been haning around the 24-ish mark during the day, and a bit cooler at night. But, then! we woke up Saturday and it was hot. Seriously. The hottest day we’ve experienced so far; I believe the temp hit 36C (96-97F). In an effort to try and cool off, we decided to hit up the Currumbin Rock Pools. Located in Currumbin and just 10k or so from the highway, we thought it would be a nice alternative to the beach for a day.
We got off to a late start, but when we reached the CRP, there were still quite a few people there. It was pretty cool; everybody was just hanging out, swimming, catching sun, at the BBQs, etc…. Oh yeah, and people jumping off the rocks into the pools.
JP was the first to jump in, and when I asked how the water temp was, he replied, “Uh, refreshing” (read: cold). Usually I would avoid such “refreshing” water temps, but it was really hot out and I didn’t want to miss out swimming in a pool of fresh, mountain water. And, although it was a bit cool to the toes, it wasn’t bad once you were in.
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In other news, I have to wait until tonight for the Oscars (our Monday night, which is weird…b/c the Oscars have always meant Sunday to me), and of course, everybody in Australia can’t say “Oscars” without saying “Cate Blanchett.” It’s just how Australians do – they back their own, all the way. Even though most of the critics aren’t putting Cate as a frontrunner in either category she’s nominated in, they will still discuss how awesome she is. Granted, she is pretty awesome. Did you know that Cate (yes, I’m on a first name basis with her) was born in Victoria, and today, her and her husband are the artistic directors for the Sydney Opera House? (Thank you, IMDb.)
Saturday (Feb 22) will be the start of one of the Gold Coast’s major events – the Quiksilver/Roxy Pro. It’s a week-long event that brings big names and hopefully, big waves to Snapper Rocks. Given the recent weather going on here, big waves should be a sure thing.
Some crazy weather has been brewing around here – Western Australia just had a cyclone, and the winds off Queensland’s shore are whipping up mean rips and huge waves. And, although it’s summer, it certainly hasn’t felt that way for the past week or so. The temps have been hanging around the 20 mark, which has been great! However, this weekend is supposed to hit us with highs up to 36!
Anyway, back to the Quiksilver/Roxy Pro, it should be fun to check out. Next weekend will be the big action as the final heats will be going on, but there’s sure to be surfing all weekend! Men’s comp, women’s comp, longboarding comp…. And, surf stars. JP has already spotted Joel Parkinson near Currumbin the other day (Joel “Parko” Parkinson is an Aussie currently 4th in the world surfing pro ranks). Maybe I’ll catch a glimpse of Kelly Slater or Mick Fanning
If you want to know who else we might bump shoulders with this week, check out a list of the surfers here -
ASP World Tour profiles.
Most recent Hollabacks!