Monthly Archives: January 2014

Well it’s been raining again. And for one day we were on an island. No palm trees or beaches to be seen anywhere though. And a little cold. All of this water and I left my canoe at home!

The river is on the right and a flooded field, on the left.

There is a pretty strong current flowing across this road. One of only two roads out. And both were flooded. The last time this road flooded, which was the day after I arrived, the water was as high as the fence posts.

The other road out (when it’s not flooded). This tractor is towing a trailer that was completely under water at the deepest point.

All of the rain makes for beautiful rainbows!

I will be heading to Australia in about two weeks and I’ve been looking into the cost of living there. I was told it was expensive but was a little shocked when I found the information below on a website.

$US2042: Cost of a basic health insurance policy in Australia, cheaper than the US, but more expensive than all 16 other countries surveyed.

$US28:  Cost of a standard men’s haircut in Australia. India has the cheapest cuts at $US3.19 and Tokyo the most expensive at $US44.57.

$US17: Cost of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes in Australia – the most expensive ciggies in the world. Manilla is the cheapest place to buy cigarettes at $US1.10 a pack.

$US17: Cost of a movie ticket in Australia, one of the most expensive tickets in the world. Cheapest is Mumbai at $US3.93 per movie.

$US38,500: Cost of a new Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDI with no extras in Australia. In New Delhi you pay just $US18,577 but in Singapore you pay $US110,381.

$US139: Cost of a bouquet of 12 classic red roses delivered to your loved one’s door step in Australia – the most expensive place in the world to make such a gesture.

$US116: Cost of a pair of Levis 501 jeans in Australia, the third most expensive after Moscow and Paris.

$US70: Cost of a pair of Adidas Super Star 2 sports shoes in Australia – the third cheapest in the world after China ($US50) and India ($US64)

$US8.20: Cost of a pint of beer served in a bar Australia – the third most expensive in the world after France and Singapore.

$US3.55: Cost of a 2 litre bottle of Coca Cola in Australia – the most expensive Coke in the world.

$8.20 for a pint of beer! That’s the price you pay for one in an airport! I’ve  read a couple of explanations as to why things are so high there. A couple of them are that they actually pay a decent minimum wage, the median wage earners make a good wage and people keep moving there for the good weather. Well, mostly good weather.

The Australian dollar is worth a little less than the US dollar. So it’s not because of the exchange rate. Unlike the exchange rate here in the Uk where the US dollar is worth  $0.61. If you were to buy something here, say from Amazon Uk, for 200 British Pounds ($328) that same item in the US would cost you $200. Housing costs are cheaper here but food isn’t. And most people make a wage they can live on.

I asked a friend who lives in Australia if the above was true and she said it was. She also said that the minimum wage is double what it is in the US. So I’m sure that has something to do with the high cost of things. I wonder if the minimum wage has any effect on how many people are on the dole/welfare? It’s good to see that at least one country has a fair minimum wage.

Well it’s good to be back in Scotland. The weather is as usual for this time of year. Wet, cold, wet, a little sunshine, wet and more wet. I guess that’s why every thing is green here. It rained so much the first day I arrived here, that the water went over the banks of the nearby river and cut us and a few other homes off from being able to leave. There was wide spread flooding over all of England and Scotland. We’ve had a few days of sunshine here and there, so it hasn’t been too bad. No cabin fever, yet. 

Scottish hills

News Flash! Two front end loaders full of cow manure just arrived! Yes, they are for the garden to be. And Maris is wanting 2-3 more buckets full! If you could have seen the joy and smile on her face. I have never seen someone so overjoyed to be receiving cow poop. We leveled these two buckets off in preparation for some more to come in the next few days.

poop spreader

I guess I should explain about how the cow poop came to be. It comes from cows. The cows live on the same farm as Maris does. Along with lots of sheep. The cows do their business all of the time. Hence, lots of poop. The poop has to go somewhere, so the farm hands take it to the fields. They have so much of it, they gladly give it to overjoyed women who want it  plopped, literally, into their yard.

View across the valley from Maris’s new house

The main farm house across the valley