From New Zealand:

– Stick boy – lived next door to the AirBnB – spent his time wandering around the yard hitting things with a stick. Until he hit his older brother and got hit back.

– ‘Salvos’ are Salvation Army or other thrift stores. We saw them everywhere and finally stopped in one on the way to the airport. Selection and prices like home – found two ties made in NZ – or at least the tag said so.

– Countdown supermarket- we must have gone almost every day. Lots of common items and some not – anyone for corned lamb or mutton?

– Big sign for ‘Sh*tbox Corporation’ – a subsidiary of Brown Industries, who make disposable toilets. We never got a photo of the sign – too bad! They also sponsor a road race to benefit cancer research called the Sh*tbox Rally. Glad someone still has a sense of humor.

– We rode the Glenbrook Vintage railroad and we shared the train with the trench coat couple. Well dressed, but way over-dressed.

From Australia:

– on the Sydney Harbour cruise, the young lady in the row behind us slept for much of the cruise – probably finished her sparkling wine too quickly

– the apartment in Melbourne was great, but the family room, where Ryan slept, smelled a little. We couldn’t place the smell, bought a room freshener and dealt with it. So this goes on for a couple of days and then we’re walking around and we smell that smell and figure out that the smell is coming from a pine tree and we realize the the apartment smell is from the Christmas tree behind the sofa!

– In Australia, you fill up car with gas first and then go into the store and pay – much more trusting than the US

– I’ve become pretty proficient in estimating distance in meters thanks to NavMan- the incredibly confusing GPS. The best thing about NavMan is that Ryan will hopefully be able to sell it for $100 or more

– Interesting that Australia gas stations have auto-opening sliding doors. Also see these in restaurants and other shops

– Both NZ and Australia are very eco-friendly – only saw paper towels in one place- always had hand dryers; one place even had a rotating cloth towel