Walking in Sydney

Put on my brown leather shoes and boarded a plane.  Touched down in the land of the kangaroos just a little bit south of Brisbane. 

Then we went walking in Sydney.  We went walking on our feet for like 10 long miles.  We went walking in Sydney.  And now that’s why Melissa’s full of smiles.

OK, this song is quickly deteriorating into a bad case of rhyme time.  And actually, if you’re in Australia, Brisbane doesn’t even rhyme with plane.

It was not a remarkable day, but quite pleasant.  Yesterday we were completely exhausted and slept all day.  That was because we spent the last two nights in the Delhi airport and in flight, and we didn’t sleep much either night.  It was sad to leave Kathmandu, but I was ready to go, and it’s nice to be able to drink tap water again.  Australia is just so agreeable!

Our walk took us around a few small inlets of the harbor and through the botanical gardens.  I liked that they had a sign that said “Please walk on the grass, smell the roses, and hug the trees.”  There’s a fountain there with freshwater eels that sometimes eat small ducks, and despite draining the fountain several times, the eels keep coming back.  What an interesting mystery.  They think the baby eels wriggle across the lawn from the harbor—weird.  We didn’t see the eels, though. 

We did see bats.  Lots of them!  They were hanging from the trees in the gardens, occasionally flying around.  They made a lot of noise.  I think it’s because they were trying to sleep but it was too bright out.

The walk gave us lots of great views of the opera house as we gradually made our way to its steps.  It really is an amazing building—I could just look at it all day.  We had lunch on the dock nearby, and a mean seagull eyed our plates the whole time from a nearby umbrella.  As soon as Melissa got up, the seagull made its swoop and knocked one of the glasses off onto the cement sidewalk.  Stupid bird.  We had been warned, though, by the sign that said “Birds will try to take food from your plate.”  Australia has great signs of warning.  I also bought a kangaroo tie.

Then we went to the harbor bridge and walked across.  It was a long, beautiful walk with lots of great views.  I was pretty tired, though, and we soon made our way back to the hotel.  I estimate we walked 12 miles, but Melissa thinks it was 8.  I’m a little too tired right now to be witty in this blog entry.

We’re headed to dinner soon.  Last night we had food at a German restaurant, and I ordered weiner schnitzel.  I had no idea what it was.  Turns out its like a big slab of fried beef, I think.  Melissa liked her chicken paprika.

The one complaint about Sydney remains: it’s really expensive.  Australian dollars are worth slightly less than American, so I have to remind myself that it’s about 10% less than it seems, but still.  Two sandwiches and two drinks for lunch was $35.  The hotel charges by the minute (and the megabyte!) for internet usage, we have to pay the hotel extra for a shuttle to the airport, and I still can’t get over that sidewalk cafes charge extra to eat in!  Whatever, nobody wants to read this trivial nonsense.  I think I should put this blog entry out of its misery.  See you in a couple days.