Day 19: Kangaroo!

The one fact about Australia that I can say I really KNEW before coming here, is that there are kangaroos here. (I have known that since listening to 'Dot and the Kangaroo' about 23.5 times in pre-school. Storyman was a huge part if my daily routine back then.) Ironically enough, I have only spotted them twice so far. Although, giving it some thought, spotting them at all on an ordinary drive in the streets of the Gold Coast is the surprise, really. I mean, how often do people see elephant on their way to work between Joburg and Pretoria??

Now the second surprise around kangaroos turned out to be their place in society. Ignorant foreigner as I am, I was expecting to see at least one roo-statue in every city, sportclubs named after famous roos, 'Kangaroo' street the main street in every town, with a garden of Roomemberance in every park, and maybe a little roo-shrine in front of the real roonatics' houses.

No. Not even the backs of coins are dedicated to roos. All of them seem to bear the face of a woman, and astonishingly, MY name! All the kangaroo got, is to share the 50c coin with an emu. SHARE. On ONE side. That's less than 12c worth of real-estate - considering the sides are edged!

The only dedicated roo-thing I have seen to date, is a roo-bar. No, not a pub specific to them. A sturdy piece of metal attached to the front of a sturdy vehicle, dedicated to the defense of vehicle against roo on road. Yep. Just like a bull-bar. I was shocked. Mortified. Poor little roo! I exclaimed upon hearing the first tale of vehicle vs roo. I was met with defiance: Stupid animals jump into the road any unexpected time! Could kill a man, them roos!

It became clear very quickly that the appreciation I have of them as one of The Things about Australia, is mostly shared by other foreigners. No Real Aussie stops next to the road to watch a roo lying in the shade until he hops away. Just like no Real South African would stop next to the 1018th Impala in the Kruger Park.

Well, until the day I can drive past roos with only a casual comment about the state of my uncle's roobar after The Incident, I would still be a foreigner. And foreigners are expected to stop next to the road and gape at kangaroos.

Foreigners are also forgiven for taking a picture of said animals with a mobile phone, even if the resulting picture really DOES look like a picture of some rocks. But.... If you look VERY closely, you will know what the two dots in the field behind the rocks are...

Three Rocks and...