Which way do the toilets flush? (and other Australian oddities)

When we arrived in Australia on Tuesday, my first priority was not to see a tourist attraction, to sample the local cuisine, or even to find a place to live. No, my first Australian quest was a scientific one. My mission: find out what direction the toilets flush south of the equator...

For those of you unfamiliar with the urban legend, supposedly when you drain the water out of a sink or toilet in the northern hemisphere (which, of course, includes the entire U.S.), the water will tend to drain counterclockwise due to the rotation of the earth. This legend is based on the scientific principle called the Coriolis effect, which does have a basis in truth and effects the rotation of hurricanes and other weather phenomena.

If this urban legend were true, then toilets and sinks would drain in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere, such as in Australia. Although I know that this legend is absolutely false, my curiosity got the best of me, and I proceeded to the nearest restroom to satiate my curiosity.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed to find out that all Australian toilets (at least the ones I have encountered thus far) are all designed to flush straight DOWN. (Hmm...I wonder if they design their toilets this way so that silly Americans like myself can never learn the truth) So I guess to all you ghost hunters and conspiracy theorists out there, the urban legend carries on.

There is one oddity I have noticed dealing with Australian toilets. All Aussie pots do not have one, but TWO flush buttons on the top of the tank. I have tried both buttons on several toilets, but the buttons seem to have the same effect: they both flush the toilet. Rotation of the flush aside, this is the true mystery of the Australian toilet! I promise to investigate and report later.

One other oddity I have observed is the obsession with the construction of "roundabouts" at street intersections. A good percentage of Aussie streets do not intersect each other in the traditional "T" form like in the U.S., but in the form of a circular interchange (called a "roundabout" by the locals). In essence, instead of having a stop sign, signal light, or yield sign at the intersection, everyone enters the roundabout and turns off on whatever street they are headed. Big Ben...Parliament...

It was confusing to me at first, but I actually have grown to like the roundabout format very much. First, there is a yield sign in each direction entering the roundabout, so the only people with the right-of-way are the drivers already in the roundabout. I think this avoids confusion as to the right-of-way that sometimes happens at stop-sign or signal-less intersections in the U.S. Also, because traffic is coming in only one direction (from the right, since they drive on the left side here), you only have to check traffic in one direction instead of three before proceeding on your way.

Now that I think about it, the traffic does move CLOCKWISE around the roundabout, and this IS the southern hemisphere! Coincidence? I wonder...