aussie aussie aussie? oi oi oi!

Got back from my vacation on Sunday. It was lots of fun, but I'm not sure where to begin writing about it. I guess I'll start with some gross generalizations:

1. Oceania is fond of popped collars and fauxhawks.

2. Auckland is really good at making garlic bread.

3. Things in Oceania have funny names. Examples include the Sydney neighborhoods of Wooloomooloo, Tamarama, and Wagga Wagga. Apparently, the most popular ice cream flavor in NZ is made by Tip Top brand ice cream and is called Hokey Pokey. There is another type of ice cream treat with pieces of cookie in it called Tim Tam, but unfortunately there is no Tip Top Hokey Pokey Tim Tam as of yet. Our favorite menu item was "Beef Burgundy with Lashings of Mash." My friend and I decided that if we started a rock band together, we would call it Lashings of Mash.

4. Australia is stingy with its napkins. Twice we got Kleenex instead of real napkins with our meals, while most of the time, we didn't get any napkins at all. We theorized that maybe this was due to a greater sense of environmental responsiblity among Australians, perhaps also evidenced by the fact that most of their toilets have the half or full flush option, and the fact that everyone goes to the supermarket with cute green reusable shopping bags.
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Important Update:
I've found further corroboration for the no-napkin observation in a still from the movie Salaam Namaste. In the movie, Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta move to Melbourne, meet cute, and decide to share a house, Saif's wee wee, and some pizza. And what paper product do they use to wipe pizza grease and tomato sauce from their cute little fingers? Kleenex! In case you can't already tell, I really want to see this movie. Yes, I'm serious. Stop looking at me like that.
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5. Even when they are buzzed and doing miniature dance moves in their seats, Australians will not get up and dance to "Bust a Move" or "Baby Got Back." However, they will get really excited and finally dance if the DJ plays "Rumpshaker." Later, when they are even more drunk, they will do interpretive dance to "Hold On," by Wilson Phillips. It will be as awesome as it sounds.

6. The water in Oceanic toilets does indeed flush in a clockwise direction. This was difficult to confirm at first, due to the low level of water in most toilet bowls, which made the water appear to plunge straight down, but eventually we managed to make videos (both half and full flush) of the clockwise swirling. At some point maybe I will figure out how to post them, along with a video of a U.S. counterclockwise toilet flush for comparison.
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Important Update #2:
Commenter ToastyKen informs me that Southern Hemispheric toilet flush inversion due to the Coriolis effect is actually a myth. I am still in the process of reevaluating my life choices and weltanschauung in light of this new information. Actually, I'm not really evaluating my weltanschauung; I just wanted to type the word weltanschauung. Weltanschauung!
As a scientist, I clearly should have known better than to publish experiments lacking the proper controls and based on a statistically insignificant sample size of n=2.
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I feel like I've barely scratched the surface (and probably offended anyone with actual knowledge of Aussie and NZ culture), so maybe I will post more actual details about the trip later. For now, I guess I'll just post some random pictures.

Here's one of Sydney Harbor.














Upolu Cay in the Great Barrier Reef.














Luna Park in Melbourne.


















Queens Street in Auckland.














Because I'm immature, these signs made me laugh.









There was also a luggage store at the Cairns airport called "Carrion," but that picture didn't come out very well.