Under Dartmoor Skies and Beneath the Southern Cross

It is said that the best way of eating a mango is in the bath. I'm not sure that I agree, but I have taken to eating this delicious fruit for breakfast, along with a glass of iced water and some natural yoghurt. This is a change from the tea (at least four cups) and toast I have at home in Devon. When the temperature is in the high twenties by eight o'clock in the morning, as it has been for most of this week, your normal habits tend to change. For a start I awake very early, well early for me, around 5 a.m usually to the loud 'laughing' of the kookaburras who inhabit the Stringy Bark eucalyptus tree just outside my bedroom window.
Dressing is easy, I just pull on a swim suit and a loose sort of kaftan, flipflops or 'thongs' as they somewhat confusingly call them  in Oz, then I'm ready for the beach. All my housework is done by 7.30,  so it's on with the Factor 40, and I pack my beach bag with my 'sunnies,' beach towel, water bottle and Kindle, and hat firmly on head, I'm ready for the ten minute walk down the steep hill to Balmoral beach.
Getting back up the hill is easy because I catch the free bus service provided by the local council. It is called The Whale, and it will stop when you flag it down anywhere it is safe to do so on the prescribed route. If I use it about three o'clock in the afternoon, I share it with a lot of school children.
And a word of praise about these 'schoolies.'  They all, private schools or state, wear uniform, and they are all smart. The boys' uniform consists of shorts, open necked shirt, blazer, and straw boater; the girls' uniform is usually some sort of gingham frock, socks, sensible shoes, and straw hats, and they STAND UP on the bus for an older person. Some may think this mode of dress is hopelessly outdated. I disagree. It instils a sense of pride, and decorum (especially in the girls) which I think can be sadly lacking in the way the UK pupils dress. 
Getting to grips with the Aussie language is easy as it is, like the American language, loosely based on English! You must remember the Australians tend to shorten most things  - so 'this afternoon' becomes 'this arvo,'; 'sunnies' are sunglasses; BYO is Bring Your Own alcohol as many restaurants do not have a licence to sell alcohol. Conversely, anything short, usually a noun, they tend to lengthen, so if you're called John that immediately becomes 'Jonno,' Malcolm is 'Mal' and so on.  
Forgive me if I finish here after my 5 a.m start as it is after 9 pm, the darkness has fallen and the night is full of the sound of cicadas.
I almost forgot, I wish all American readers a very happy and safe Thanksgiving.
MJH