The Idea of Growing Old

We've been good little tourists the past four days in Sydney. I can tell because my feet ache every night. Sure, we could bravely take on the Sydney bus system, save our feet the grief and still be good little tourists, but I'd personally rather feel every bit of horizon-broadening I experience, even if that feel that sensation in my feet specifically.

Really, finding our way around has been fairly easy, despite the city's size. Look on a map. It's a big one, with a number of suburbs that would make most major metropolitan California cities jealous. Initially, we had expected to meet up with my old roommate Moe at some point in Sydney, since she's planning on living here. Unfortunately, Moe had a bit of an altercation with a wombat as she was walking out of the Sydney airport. She's okay. We went to see her in the hospital and the doctor said there's been instance of people regrowing fingertips. Moe just wears sunglasses to cover up the rest. She's a bit lonely, though, since the hospital she's at is over on the bad side of town and it's not safe for her to leave. So if you think about it, give Moe and email and tell her your thoughts are with her.

KrisDina and I, who fared considerably better in Sydney, took a ferry over to the Taronga Zoo yesterday. It's like the Santa Barbara Zoo, in that strolly park-like way, but bigger. It closed earlier than we had expected, but we still managed to see all the Australia-specific animals that we might not have gotten a chance to see anywhere else. This list includes -- but is not limited to -- kangaroos of all makes and models, wallabies, emus, snub-nosed echidnas, swimming platypi, several dozing wombats, the Spindex Hopping Mice of central Australia and about five different koalas. I have the pictures to prove it, but you'll just have to wait until I get to my aunt's place in Townsville before I can upload them. That night, we walked to a touristy area called the Rocks and I ate a whole kangaroo pizza, in total disrespect to the animals I had cooed over only hours earlier.

Most of our time today was allotted to climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge, which was neither as scary or as illegal as it sounds. It's city-sanctioned, quite expensive but entirely worth the time and money we spent. Luna Park, an attractive Coney Island-type boardwalk amusement park that has been recently restored, had closed early tonight and we saw none of it besides a blankly staring Man-in-the-Moon face that serves as the park's mascot.

Needless to say, I'm exhausted -- so much so that this, like many previous posts, will be appearing online without even a cursory spellcheck or grammar edit. Keep this in mind. Be well. And look forward to my safe return in just over two weeks.

Cheers.