Day 131 : Schoolies and Toolies

26 November 2010

High point: Getting the laptop fixed by the dudes at Clix Computer Centre http://www.clixcc.com.au/ and saying good riddance to the scary blue screen of death

Low point: saying good bye to the lovely Miss Louise Mahoney at Byron bus station. Awesome work Lou, you rock!

No point: being a toolie

Byron Bay is the perfect place to go if you need to kick back and relax, maybe recharge your batteries if you’ve been driving a big red truck around Australia. The atmosphere is so chilled out its horizontal, with a big alternative scene and hippy population. In November however it’s a different story, the town is overtaken by high school graduates known as ‘schoolies’ who in true Oz tradition take a week off to party hard after their final exams. Who can blame them?

“You’re going to be in Bryon Bay for schoolies week, are you mad?” was the usual reaction from people who enquired about our route. We were warned of the carnage and bad behaviour that often accompanies ‘schoolies week’ but more often than not we were told to watch out for the ‘toolies’. Why would we need to watch out for tradesmen, we weren’t planning on having an extension built or a bathroom fitted, it didn’t make sense? I’ve referred to Wikipedia for an official definition of a ‘toolie’.

Toolies = older revelers who participate in schoolies week but are not high-school graduates. The word is derived from the notation ‘too old for schoolies’ and also the slang expression tool.

So there you have it. I’m happy to say the ‘schoolies’ and ‘toolies’ didn’t bother us, but the experience did leave us questioning why the Aussies like to shorten everything. I’ll leave you with a few examples we’ve come across…

Amy

The ‘o’s

Servo = service station

Ambo = ambulance

Fisho = fish & chip shop

Bottle-o = Off licence

Arvo = afternoon

The ‘ie’s

Firie = firemen

Coldie = a beer

Brekkie = breakfast

Pokies = fruit machines