Muscovy Duck

For those of you who know a few things about ducks, this post is boring. For others, like me, who see color in every duck and innocently call mallards and teals and all related subspecies, ducks, this post is about a strange kind of duck that was the least expected to see down under. This is the Muscovy duck (I didn't know until I came home with its picture and I searched the internet to find out the name), muscular and decorated with lots of red growths above the beak. The interesting fact is that this duck is a native of Mexico but has now happily and healthily expanded its habitat to all continents, except Antarctica. I saw this duck in a park full of Australian ducks, kangaroos and rosellas. All natives, except this "foreigner" who just like me was wandering around feeling like home when not quite at home...

Outback Stations

I just finished reading a book about Outback ranches, which are called stations here in Oz. “Outback Stations” is written by the Australian author Evan McHugh. The book is filled with interesting facts about the stations, but also the history of how each of them was set up and changed ownership and wealth in time. The common thread in the history of all stations is the resilience of what I would call Outback explores, as they travelled the desert extensively to find the right places where cattle could graze. The stations are placed hundreds of kilometers inland from the continent’s edges around the system of water streams (I cannot quite call them rivers) and the Queensland Channel Country. Grasses such as Mitchell grass that grow around these rivulets are what sustains the cattle’s and sheep’s diet in the unforgiving hot Outback. But without water, these animals cannot survive, so the stations highly depend on wells dug down in the earth and that bring up precious artesian water. Rainwater is also stored, but with droughts of 15 years, rain is not the most reliable source of water. Number one fact that amazed me when I read this interesting book was the impossibly large number of cattle bred and grown in the Outback. Each station has tens of thousands of cattle or sheep. The second fact that amazed me was the size of these outback stations, with many of them being three times larger than the largest ranch in Texas. Although the author travelled from station to station and met people working on them, the book fails to present the real feeling of how it is to live in such remote places, where neighbors, grocery stores, and hospitals are hundreds of kilometers away. How are the homes of the jackaroos and jillaroos, how is school really done via radio for the little kids, and how is daily life on a station? The other issue I had was that the book does not explain a lot of the terminology used, such as agistment and mustering. Overall, I enjoyed reading the book and I learnt a lot, especially the history of the cattle industry in Oz. I will try to read other books that maybe detail daily life on one station.

Cadbury for You!

It's time for fundraising for the dance school where Chloe does tap dance. The big chocolate seller in Australia is the British company Cadbury, which is somewhat expected. So the fundraising chocolates are Cadbury, and include Cherry Ripe and Crunchie. Ive never seen any of them on the US market, so I'll try to describe them to you. Cherry Ripe consists in a mix of coconut and cherries covered in dark chocolate. I like it because it is not overwhelmingly sweet and dark chocolate entices me even if it covers tree bark. Crunchie resembles a solidified caramel sponge, covered in milk chocolate, although my description may fail in explain what it really is. The name, Crunchie says more about this bar, even if while chewing it, you get the caramel to stick to your teeth unexpectedly. I added a picture of them and I hope you can taste a bit of Oz just by looking at it.

Hard, Green Waste and Metal Collection Day

Once a year, in late winter, the City Councils around Melbourne initiate the collection of what I call burdening garbage. It’s old furniture, computers, tree prunings and home appliances that one has no longer use for and cannot just get rid of in the regular trash bins. People are required to sort this waste in three categories, hard, green waste and metal and pile it up on the “naturestrip,” which is the 1.5-2 meter grass strip between the sidewalk and the road. So for one week, suburbs look messy, but the idea is great. It’s the town-size version of the spring house cleaning. What I like the most is to look at the piles of trash and guess what kind of people owned it. For example, I still see the old, oversized TV sets like the one I grew up with back in Romania… I see wheelbarrows, vinyl covered kitchen furniture and so much old stuff, it confirms my feeling that everything here is from the nineteen fifties and slowly (very slowly) being updated. This trash cannot be disposed of more than a week before the one-week collection starts, so that week buzzes with activity. Some people put the waste out and others recycle stuff before the waste management company comes to pick up most of it. I like this idea, as recycling reduces the amount of trash, thus showing some kindness to the environment, and it allows some people to make ends meet. But the City Council calls this recycling “scavenging” and considers it an offence under local law. It even prosecutes offenders and asks residents to report offenders. I find this disappointing and hard to comply with. The picture shows how my street looks like today.