Ashore in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia: We took a tour of Brisbane this morning. It's a city of 2.2 million, quite modern, and very conscious of being in competition with Sydney and Melbourne.
We learned about the 'Battle of Brisbane' during World War II. It was a 2 day riot between American troops and Commonwealth troops who were described as "jealous" of the good food and booze the GIs had. GIs also had access to "silk stockings" (probably nylons) which were locally in scarce supply and much demand by local gals. MacArthur had his headquarters here for the early part of the war.
We learned that an Australian doesn't root for his team as an American would, he "barracks" for it. I wonder the derivation of that usage?
Finally, we were reminded of the tendency of OZ women (in particular) to end a declarative sentence on a rising note, as we do with with questions. It gives their speech a lilt that isn't unpleasant.
The Australian dollar is worth about 75 cents US, making it easy enough to estimate actual costs. And free WiFi does exist, I'm using it now.
