opposite foot

When I was a young girl (pre-teen) millions of years ago, before the Interwebs, I thought the Antipodes was the name of a country. Later when I learned that it was usually used in context by the British referring to Australia, I thought it was a nickname specific to that country. (I also thought the adjective antipodean made the Australians seem absolutely archaic. Doesn't the word conjure prehistoric jungles and extinct creatures when you say it?)
But really, the antipodes exists for everyone. And it would have been far more accurate for my mom to ask if I was digging a hole to the antipodes while on vacation at the beach rather than to China, since China is not the actual antipodes of the Jersey shore.