Australian Wildlife, animal and human

We are having some real trouble connecting to the internet from the apartment, so this could be late.

Yesterday we made the trek to the Featherdale Wildlife Park, a place recommended by our Delaware waitress Emily.  They feature all indigenous creatures from birds to animals to lizards and snakes. I have to say we were pretty proud of ourselves for being able to get there.  We had to take two buses and two trains.  And we ended up in East Jesus Australia.

But the park was so much fun.  We not only saw Koalas and Kangaros, we had our picture taken with both and fed the “roos.” 

As you can imagine, we took a lot of pictures.  There were also penguins

 and a Tasmanian Devil, which we apparently woke up.  He stared at us from his den

 and then jumped out and ran around the enclosure. 

 We also saw a dingo and I have to say, it’s a dog.  

OK, it doesn’t bark and mates only once a year, but other than that, it’s a dog.

But one of the most amazing things to happen yesterday was that the sun came out—and it’s been out ever since.

On the way home we stopped at the beach and there were lots of people there. 

  We had a drink at the Bucket List—our new favorite place, and the favorite place of a whole lot of other people as well.   

Once again, when we got home, we were totally exhausted.  I think we are still suffering from some pretty bad jet lag.  At least that’s what we tell ourselves.  Meredith could only make it to about 6:30PM.  She wasn’t feeling that well in any case and woke up with a bit of a cold.  I stayed up until 8PM. I was very proud of myself.

We also consoled ourselves with the idea that we planned to do the coastal walk to Bronte Beach, 2.5 miles away, in the morning.  We needed our rest.  Perhaps not 12 hours of it, but who’s counting.

Anyway, we did get up for the walk.  And it was spectacular.  

Bronte is a very much smaller town, with a lot of cafes near the beach.  

The cliffs along the way were breathtaking.  Definitely worth the effort. We started out about 8AM and Bondi Beach was already packed—it is right now as I’m writing this at 7:30PM.  It was apparently the hottest day of the year and we spent it on the beach here.  There was a bit of a problem in that I bought an umbrella but could not keep it from blowing away.  I guess that’s why there are such great waves.   With my fair skin, I couldn’t really stay too long.  Meredith tans more easily but she too was a bit wary of getting too much sun too quickly.  Plus, she was still not feeling great.  She either has the beginnings of a cold, or allergies—perhaps from something at the park?

We, of course, stopped a the Bucket List for a snack and a beer. 

The water on the beach is so clear, so Mediterranean Blue.  Why are the waters in NJ so dirty?  They both come from the ocean.  Just asking. 

A couple of observations:  there are a lot of young guys here who wear their hair shaved on the side and long on the top—in a top knot!  Also, this has to be one of the most tattooed countries in the world.   People are in general very outdoorsy here.  For instance, this boxing class on the beach,

And the number of people running on that steep path to Bronte Beach was just amazing.  We were lucky to get out of the way in time on occasion.  And despite the fact that the path was narrow and people were coming right at us, only one person said good morning—or rather G’Day.  I tried to say something a couple of times to test the theory that people are not really that friendly here—and never got a response.

Tonight we are in again.  Meredith is nursing her congestion and I am writing this—in Word because we don’t have internet.  Again we are telling ourselves that tomorrow we will be at top speed.  Plans right now are to climb the Bridge and take a cruise.  We will see.