There are many of the same food chains here in Australia that we have in the United States, but they sometimes go by different names.

Through the Circular Queue Free Bus window you can see the Hungry Jack’s sign.

For instance, Burger King, here, is Hungry Jack’s. Of course, there’s been a bit of a flap here lately over the admission that there is horsemeat contained in the burgers at Burger King in New Zealand. Aside from an insane desire to neigh, I see nothing wrong with that. Although I must admit that I have NOT eaten a Burger King burger since leaving the States.

McDonald’s/Macca’s.

MacDonald’s restaurants are referred to as Maccas.

then there is the chain PieFace, which specializes in things like Shepherds’ Pie.

Tonight, we had thin crust pizza from Pizza Hut. We ordered sausage and mushroom. The sausage looked (and tasted) exactly like pepperoni, but the pizza was good. Cost? $32 for two larges.

It’s also interesting watching the local politics played out in the papers. It seems, to me (an admitted objective outsider) that someone has it in for Julia Guillard, the current Labour Party Prime Minister. She has lost one of her undersecretaries (he just wants to quit) and another is charged with 150+ counts of using his Labour Party credit card to order hookers, clothes, meals, etc. The Thompson fellow denies all charges and showed up on “the telly” with his wife by his side to tell the world that he will fight all charges, which, coincidentally, have been increasing. (Originally, he was charged with 150 counts of fraud, but now he is charged with 154 counts of fraud.) I joked that he must have ordered 2 more meals and 2 more prostitutes since the original charges were filed.

New Zealand National Museum.

The problem is that the opposition party has a really slimey looking dude (name: Tony Abbott) running against Julia, who has recently begun sporting frame glasses. The announcement of national elections to be held in 7 months seems to have sent the country into a tizzy.
There’s also been a lot about Qantas Airways joining forces with Emirates Airlines for various purposes. Qantas had announced it was doing great in 2011 and then, suddenly, announced the exact opposite, causing them to want to combine forces.

Craig Thomson has been released after posting bond on his 154 counts of (alleged) fraud.
Also in the news is a million-dollar land scam designed to benefit one particularly crooked politician and family, which was uncovered and is now being litigated.