Friday, October 12, 2012

Hosting Our Australian Friends Part IV

After enjoying the Black Hills area, we traveled further east with our destination for the night being Sioux Falls, SD. Along the way, we visited the Badlands.


This new panoramic capability is really nice for scenes like this.




I had earlier discovered that there is a new Minuteman Missile National Historic Site near the exit from the Badlands, so we stopped there as well. There are some videos about the cold war period, and you can go down into a control room of one of the missile launch facilities, but we didn't have time to do that. The missiles in this region of the U.S. have all been decommissioned and removed following a SALT treaty years ago.


Later in the day, we drove by the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.


We ate at a wonderful restaurant in Sioux Falls that evening. I had the following for desert, something called a pavlova. Never had one before. Quite light and tasty.


The following day we headed toward our home in Iowa. Along the way, we visited the Bridges of Madison County, including the Roseman bridge, which is prominently featured in the movie starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep.




In Iowa, we hosted a potluck with many of our friends in attendance. M&M had given me a special apron featuring kangaroos, so I wore that while I fixed Iowa Chops bigger than your face.



One of the activities was a trivia quiz about Australia, which M&M helped us develop during the drive home. It turned out to be a beautiful day, so we enjoyed the back yard while our guests worked on the quiz and listened to stories about Australia.



On another day, we traveled to Amana for breakfast and to wander through its many shops.


P.S. If you want to try your hand at the trivia quiz about Australia, here it is. Answers will be supplied upon request.

AUSTRALIA QUIZ

1)   Ayer’s Rock, located in Central Australia, was returned to the indigenous peoples and renamed.  What is it named now?
              a)     Tongala
              b)     Uluru
              c)     Ceduna
              d)     Boggabilla

2)   Name Australia’s capitol city (note: it is NOT Sydney):
           
3)   The beehive rock formations in Western Australia are called?
               a)     the Jingle Jangles
               b)     the Honey Truffles
               c)     the Hoodoo Gurus
               d)     the Bungle Bungles

4)   On which coast of Australia is the Great Barrier Reef located?  North, South, East or West

5) Name four Australian mammals:
          a)
          b)
          c)
          d)

6) Name the Australian city that was bombed by the Japanese in WWII:        

7) Put these Australian exports in order from largest to next largest and so on:
        
___ Coal
___ Gold
___ Education-related travel services
___ Iron Ore
___ Personal Travel

8) Name four Australian international film stars (in addition to Errol Flynn):

9) Who made the phrase “Throw another shrimp on the barbie” popular?

10) Put the following three countries in order of closest to farthest in proximity to Australia: Indonesia, New    Zealand, Papua New Guinea

11) Draw a line between the two columns matching the terms to the sports with which they are associated.

        Big Men Fly                                    Cricket                                                               
        Howzat                                           Rowing
        Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi         Australian Rules Football                  
        The Oarsome Foursome                   Rugby

12) Which Australian city turned on their lights for John Glenn when he was orbiting the Earth?

13) Which Australian state was that devil Errol Flynn born in?

14) What is Aboriginal Australian Yvonne Goolagong famous for?
       a)     an Olympic Gold Medal in Swimming
       b)     a Wimbledon Championship
       c)     a great Australian pianist
       d)     induction into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame

15) What does this sentence mean?  Chuck some snags and stubbies in the esky.  Grab your thongs and your budgie smugglers.  Leave your tit for tat behind.  And, let’s hit the frog and toad.

No comments: