Halloween in Oz

For the last two years, I've gone home in late October for a visit.  This usually gives me a good taste of Halloween so I don't generally miss it when I'm in Canberra.  This year however, I went home in October but it was for a wedding and it was too early in the month to get a real Halloween feel.  This year I'm actually in Canberra for Halloween.  It's a bit depressing.  I'm not sure how the kids get by.  There is no spending the month deciding what your costume is going to be.  Most people have never carved a pumpkin.

So this weekend, a friend of a friend is throwing a Halloween party and has invited HA and I.  She's even insisting that everyone come in costumes.  Most of the Australians don't know where to start for costumes.  They don't have many costume stores in Australia and those that they do have are outrageously priced (why am I surprised?)  Given this, HA and I ordered ours online from buycostumes.com.  They ship to Australia and guarantee delivery by Halloween (and still cheaper than buying them in a store).  I'll leave it as a surprise for what we decided to do.  Unfortunately we weren't able to do the outfits I really wanted b/c there weren't any stores online that carried the costume for HA.  Maybe next year.

In preparation for the party tomorrow, I've bought a pumpkin that I'm going to carve.  It cost $24.  You read that right.  Apparently, that's a good price.  Another store wanted $25 for really crappy pumpkins and if you try to buy them in Cairns, they're $30.  I had originally thought this was b/c they imported them from the US but, no it's because they grow them in Australia and they're out of season.  I do wonder if it'd be cheaper to just ship them into the country but the Aussies are weird about importing fruits and vegetables.

So I'm trying to come up with a creative but easy pumpkin carving idea.  I feel like there's some pressure as the only American going to this party that I should have a really cool pumpkin.  Anyone have any fun ideas?