Mmm the dance/chance vowel sound is a point of common regional variation in the Australian accent. The NZ accent has some variation too - it's non-rhotic except in the case of some Southlanders who, as a result of Scottish immigration, really emphasize their 'r' sounds (especially noticeable when they say words like bird). And there is also some Maori variation.

And yeah that's right, I moved when I was 13. I lost my Australian accent pretty quickly (within 2 years of coming here) - well I guess I didn't lose it so much as it morphed into some weird but harmless Australian/NZ hybrid. I'm envious of people who don't lose their accents like one of my teachers from high school who moved here 15 years ago from Australia and still sounds completely fresh. I do wonder what would have happened to mine if I'd moved over as an adult but I guess you've answered my question there. :D

I find accents, dialects and language in general to be fascinating. I was reading a book on animal behaviour about 5 years ago which talked about songbirds having regional accents which makes sense given their mechanism of song learning. Maybe tore knows a bit more about it?

Some pics of where I live:

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...09100405sm.jpg
A nice view of the Richmond "skyline" from a footbridge that crosses the James River.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...100408sm-1.jpg
Another shot of the James River (from Belle Island) looking toward the center of town. Here you can see the footbridge where I took the previous shot, suspended from the automobile bridge.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...00608b01sm.jpg
Some of the more interesting architecture on the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) campus. Those ugly window-mounted air conditioners are everywhere though.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...051706sm-1.jpg
One of the nice parks by the river, where the vegetation is so unusually lush you think you're in Louisiana and not Virginia.

Next I post pics from farther west.

Really loved that park in your last pic, not many have a river.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...00506a01sm.jpg
Some typical countryside in western Virginia, with lots of nice rolling hills.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...09102508sm.jpg
You can find plenty of run-down farm buildings like these too.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...00506a11sm.jpg
Camping in the George Washington National Forest, near Staunton.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...09121814sm.jpg
A park near my old home after the big snowstorm this December. We didn't get this kind of snow for like 15 years, and then we got it twice within the past 10 months, haha.

Those are all photos I've taken, so there are a few nice areas I haven't included. Lots of historic buildings in Charlottesville because of UVA and all the early Presidents who lived in that area. Staunton is also a pretty town.

I was born and raised in Seattle, but I live in DC now.

I lived in Richmond for 4 years before moving to Maine a year and a half ago. Church Hill represent!

You ever get drunk or catch shows at MacCormack's?

One of those pictures from the West looks like Skyline Drive.

http://edsphotoblog.com/wp-content/p...l_at_night.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3499/...30611f071c.jpg

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1849...Manchester.gif

MANCHESTER LA LA LAAAAAAA

Cool. I used to do a lot of urban exploration over there, haha. Did you go to VCU?

Nope, but I hardly ever go out to places (really introverted and also kinda poor). Where is it? Maybe I'll check it out sometime.

If you mean the one with the guard rail in it, that's I-64. Not sure I've ever been on Skyline Drive. They charge you like $15 to get on it, don't they?

Neptune