Australian cooking measurements

According to allrecipes.com, Australia has its own cooking measurements. Who knew?

I was baking my yummy chocolate chip cookies recently when it occurred to me that I might like to have that recipe with me in Australia, and wouldn't it be convenient if I converted all the measurements ahead of time. My magical cookbook (whence comes the magical cookie recipe) only gave conversions for liquid measurements for some reason, so I started poking around online, relatively sure that Australia uses metric like the rest of the world. In addition to some nebulous term called "Australian Standard", which no one ever explains, all conversion charts I've seen give you large and small liquid measurements (1 teaspoon of vanilla or two cups of water, for example) and large amounts of drys (1 cup of flour), but no small measurements. I couldn't figure out how to convert small dry amounts to metric (like a teaspoon of baking soda - do you really measure baking soda in mL?). I think the librarian at my friendly local public library and I determined that it's kind of a crapshoot because it's all based on weight, so a cup of flour is different than a cup of sugar in metric (150g vs. 225g). She directed me to a website for help with conversions, but I don't know. Might just steal one of my mom's measuring spoon sets! If anyone's ever baked in metric and wants to offer tips, please share!!!

In other news:
The USPS apparently came through this time, because BUNAC sent me the Step 2 (visa application) information. I filled it out, got the passport photos and certified check for the insurance, and finally sent it all out yesterday. Phew!

I recently met a British ex-pat who's spent the past 30 years living in Australia who kind of rained on my parade. He said that lots of companies promise you a visa and take your money and don't get you the right thing because it's really difficult to get a visa "unless you're under 30 or are skilled" - which I am. Luckily my friend Rachel, who went to the UK with BUNAC, reassured me that it was a very reputable company and besides, I am under 30! So that made me feel better. He also warned me about the animals, but I already knew that. I'm not touching anything down there; it can all kill you.

Also: if anyone has advice regarding electronic adapters, please share! I know I need to buy something but I'm not sure what.

Also: apparently the different provinces in Australia pick and choose which holidays they want to celebrate. For example, they all have their own Labour Day, and one celebrates the Queen's birthday (but no one else does).

I'll be playing with the photos section of this site soon to see how well that works. If the answer is "not well," I may be changing servers. I'll keep you updated with any new site info...