crocodiles + a bonfire

may 10, 2008
the home of my host family
11:45 PM

today we said farewell to our pink accommodations after a breakfast of donuts from the donut king. our ride to the australia zoo was uneventful until i moved up to the front seat next to carl for more leg room and found myself playing another round of spot-o. carl showed me his left arm, which had several bruises on it; he claimed that i had given them to him. for a moment, i believed him, but then the smirk on his face reminded me that i hadn't been hitting him hard enough to leave any sort of mark. but i'm pretty sure he was entertained by the telling of that story, because he proceeded to tell of my alleged abuse to jim, his parents and anyone else who cared to listen.

the australia zoo was different from what i expected-very environmentally aware and the animals were hard to see at times because of all the space they were given to roam around in. there weren't as many opportunities to interact with the animals as there were with featherdale wildlife park, i did appreciate discovering a crocodile that shared my name. australia seems to be the place for people (or animals!) named alison. =)

we drove to the church to meet our host families after our visit to the zoo, but meagan and my host family was detained so we hung out with amy and jodi's family until the bonfire later that evening.
"i'm not taking that bag out." -carl, after taking my bag in and out of the trailer four times, while waiting for my host family to arrive and responding to the different messages received during that waiting period
what a fun afternoon! i thoroughly enjoyed tim tams, musk candy, afternoon tea, disneyland monopoly and visiting a look-out sight.

the fun continued as all of the host families contributed to a potluck and sat near the bonfire. amy and i didn't feel as though any of the tables were close enough to the fire, so we moved one to be warmer. we were soon joined by carl and dennis (his dad) who seemed to approve of our idea. sausages and steak accompanied by onions was the main course, with multiple side dishes to choose from. yum!

after the meal was finished, chairs slowly began to gather around the fire, starting with carl + my chairs: trendsetters! =)
things that made me laugh tonight:
-josh's story of burning his hand to impress his girlfriend
-singing "waltzing matilda" and the need to find the words on-line
-coaxing amy to sing (unsuccessfully)
-learning about the many "uses" for cane toads
-stores about rat hunting
-comparing jokes about rednecks and tasmanians

we arrived at our host family's home quite late, but i was overcome by the gracious nature of this family as we were welcomed with the sight of everything we would ever need for our short stay, waiting for us.