Day Six - January 10, 2012

Paul left early in the morning for work today.  He has a ten-minute walk to the Bulimba CityCat terminal and then he boards the CityCat for a 25 minute trip down the Brisbane River to the CBD.   It is a beautiful boat ride.  If the boat happens to arrive when he gets to the terminal, it takes about 45 minutes door to door.

The kids and I woke up early (we are still getting used to the time change) and decided that we would "explore" today and eat lunch at McDonald's.  I think the kids needed a taste of "Americana".   Since Paul is at work, I am driving the rental van wherever we go today.  It is an experience to say the least.  First, I am driving on the left side of the road.  Second, the steering wheel is on the right side of the van.  It is totally opposite to driving in the U.S.  I am not really nervous, just cautious.  I wouldn't say it is hard to drive in Australia, it just takes a lot of concentration.  Today, the kids started talking all at once in the van and I had to put a "silence" rule in effect in the van.  I even had to turn off the radio!  Plus, I am driving this Hyundai van which is huge by Australian standards, but is about the size of a minivan in the U.S.  The roads are much narrower here than in the U.S. and everyone seems to drive really fast.  (Maybe it just feels that way because I am not used to driving this way and I don't know where I am going half the time!)  It was particularly hard to remember to stay in the left lane when turning .   I laughed to myself several times while driving and thought "if my friends could see me now".   Luckily, I got through the day without incident.

When we got to McDonald's at noon and it was packed!  When we arrived at the counter, I found out that double cheeseburgers are $2 each from noon to 1 p.m.   Apparently, this is really cheap in Australia.  That explained the crowds of people in front of me buying multiple double-cheeseburgers.  The other thing that I thought was interesting is that the fries and drink in the value meals are much smaller than in the U.S.  Plus, they do not have help-yourself free refills on drinks in their restaurants.  When you finish your much-smaller soda...that's it.  The kids were a little put-off by that.  The cool thing is that their McCafe's are actual cafes which are separate from the counter where you order food.  They are pretty nice.  Here is a photo: