What I'd like Canada and Australia to adopt from each other

I'll start with a sign that shows we're in the southern hemisphere. Seeing a spring event being held in October highlighted the different seasons 'down under'.

What other differences are there between Canada and Australia? Here's my list of things I wish the two countries would adopt from each other, based solely on my experiences, and/or opinions ...

What I wish Canada would adopt from Australia:

• 'What you see is what you pay' pricing. Stores and restaurants in Australia display the final price, including taxes. Sometimes a breakdown is shown on receipts. Yes, we're all well aware that we're paying taxes in both countries on almost everything.
• Tipping restricted to times of exceptional service, not as an expected 15% average tip. We were told by a Canadian working in Sydney that tipping is rarely done in any industry as they are supposedly paid reasonable wages (with costs escalating in Australia, whether they're reasonable is being debated).
• The equivalent of 'Made in Canada'. Almost everything we bought proudly displayed a 'Made in Australia' label, including most foods and drinks and some clothes. The 'Made in Australia' label was proudly displayed everywhere.
• Automation of garbage pick up. Perhaps it can only be done where there's no snow? It just seems so much better than the strain that must be put on people's backs, doing it manually.
• Well-maintained roads ... live in Niagara Falls and you'll know what I mean ;)
• Lots of free parking everywhere, including all tourist areas. Australia uses signs showing P1, P2, etc, which denotes how many hours you can park in that area.
• Gas stations that trust us to pay after we've pumped. Not once did we encounter a gas station where you had to pay first - impressive!
• Use of outdoor clothes lines in good weather. One homeowner didn't even own a clothes dryer.
• A courtesy level from service industry workers to match what we've experienced in Australia; impressive, especially when you consider they're not aiming for tips!

Lots of pelicans at the beach this week

What I wish Australia would adopt from Canada:

• A larger $2 coin - at 20.5 mm (0.8 inch) and about half the size of a $1 coin, it's confusing.
• A better recycling program, including return of alcohol bottles and cans for refunds. Better still, both countries should adopt Hawaii's method of returning just about every recyclable product to a gas-station type drive-through for immediate cash in hand.
• Outlaw the use of pesticides for lawn and garden maintenance. Use other methods to reduce weeds and save the environmental impact of those pesticides.
• From my experience, better quality mid-range priced meals in restaurants. Given the higher cost of eating out, supposedly to provide a livable wage, then deliver better quality meals.
• On the topic of food, doesn't anywhere in Australia make fresh-cut fries? Every place where we ate used frozen french fries, and most were mundane and boring. Certainly an area needing improvement.

What I'm glad we don't have in Canada

Before we came to Australia, many people warned us about deadly snakes and spiders here.  It has been far less dramatic that we were warned, but Greg has taken a healthy interest in learning about the various spiders and snakes we might come across.

I would be remiss if I didn't share Greg's spider photo with you. He'd probably like you to believe this one is on the bark of a 2-foot wide tree, but I know otherwise. Let's just say the photo has been enlarged. It's a Huntsman spider and can be up to 45 mm (2 inches) in size. Greg tells me it's #10 of the top 10 venomous spiders but that it's non-aggressive. I had no intention of testing that theory. It lived in one of our trees when we first arrived, but has since moved on, or maybe it's just that we haven't seen him. I'm grateful for that!

In a couple of days we'll be moving on from Australia. We're hoping to leave the rain behind, but it doesn't look promising. More about that later.