Shower thoughts & toilet musings

Here’s a list of random musings about Australia that I’m too lazy to Google (or ask ChatGPT). In my defense, there’s something nice about letting my imagination wander to wonder “why” and “what if”. Please note that these observations are made in Sydney and thus is a very small sample size of Australia—it could be that Sydney is just highly unique compared with the rest of the country.

Why does Australia have such a high prevalence of dangerous animals?

Box jellyfish in tropical northern Australia (want to swim in the Great Barrier Reef?) and while we’re on the topic of jellyfish, the bluebottle jellyfish (fine not dangerous. just painful—don’t let the cute name fool you); all varieties of sharks (including the great white and aggressive bull) that prowl Australian waters during peak tourist/holiday season; venomous snakes that slither in the Outback but also non-venomous snakes that slither across your path as you stroll in your local bush; creepy crawly spiders (fine not all are dangerous but many are freaking massive); the deadly blue-ringed octopus that floats in the waters of southern and eastern Australia (you know, just where most of the population lives); stealthy saltwater crocodiles that make you think you’re safe walking along a beautiful beach until CRUNCH…need I go on?

And yet Aussies seem remarkably cool and nonchalant about all of this. Maybe this is why they are some of the most chilled people I’ve met—with so many dangerous animals, there’s no point in worrying every moment of every day so you just go live in the present.

Why does Australia measure its seasons by calendar date as opposed to (most of) the rest of the world going by astronomical terms?

Christmas is also in the wrong season here.

For example, Australian summer starts on December 1st and ends on February 28th (or 29th during a leap year) but American summer begins with the summer solstice (usually mid-June - remember, the seasons are opposite in the northern and southern hemispheres!) and ends with the autumnal equinox (usually mid-September).

Is it because it’s easier to remember exact dates (1 & either 28, 29, 30, or 31) rather than guess at when the next season will be (eh somewhere between the 20th-23rd usually)? Is it because Australia is already so far detached from the rest of the world that it doesn’t matter if they fall on the same schedule? Speaking of which…

Why is Daylight Savings a different date in Australia v. the US?

I believe Australian Daylight Savings is in conjunction with the UK, which makes me wonder if all Commonwealth countries and previous territories all follow British Daylight Savings, so then the broader question is then why is Daylight Savings not a universal date, much like how New Year’s Day is the same date across all countries around the globe? Fair the New Year may start a couple (or 26) hours later for some countries, but it generally occurs within a 24(ish) hour window whereas American Daylight Savings occurred on March 9th and British (Commonwealth?) Daylight Savings occurs on April 6th—that’s a month’s difference!

Do Aussie track athletes have to practice running counterclockwise?

Australians drive on the left side of the road and consequently drive clockwise around a roundabout. In my observations, Australians also appear to favor a clockwise direction when approaching a circular path in the park (at least in Centennial and Sydney Parks), including the runners.

Now you may have noticed while watching the Olympics (let’s be real—most people don’t watch track events unless they are running enthusiasts themselves, like me) that runners race in a counterclockwise direction. And, with many elite sporting events, athletes will train and prepare in order to shave seconds—milliseconds—off their times because it can be even a fraction of a second that gives them the competitive edge (let’s recall American Noah Lyles beating out Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by a mere five thousandths of a second—too close for the naked eye).

So that begs the question: do Australian runners practice running counterclockwise when going on their training runs that occur off the track (I’ve yet to see someone running clockwise on a track)? There must be some competitive edge to be gained of training your body to expect that slight tilt that comes with running around a curve.

Unfortunately I am not close with any top-tier Australian athletes (yet), so for now this question must remain as a toilet musing.