Sydney, Part 2

In wasn't even lunch time yet, and it was HOT. The zoo was all concrete and asphalt, which didn't help. On the ferry ride back to Sydney Cove, I started to think about how nice a swim would be. The only problem was that Australia featured more things in the water that could kill you then anywhere else. That morning's paper read like the script for JAWS V: "Hammerhead sharks sighted at Bronte, Bondi, and Tamarama beaches," read one 4 Jan 08 headline. One shark was 1.8m long! They had all been chased off, but the biggest returned within a few hours. "Record level of sightings, 10,000+ in 15 months" another headline said. In the sports section was an article about a female pro surfer who was returning to the waves after losing an arm to a shark attack. A few weeks later, I read my personal favourite, the story of Syb Mundy: "Diver tells of escape after third attack in two days," was the byline, but nothing could top the headline, " 'I beat off a shark with my fists.' " The guy saved his cousin who was being thrown around "like a rag doll" by a 5-meter long "ocean monster."

For those who don't know, I have a healthy fear of sharks. In fact, I occasionally think of my life as the time between birth and when I get attacked by a shark. Healthy decisions extend that that time, which made a swim at one of Australia's beaches seem to be just about the worst decision I could make. Hot...swim...sharks...hot...swim...then the map lead me to an alternative: the Sydney Aquatic Centre. A swim in the shark-free pool from the 2000 Summer Olympics and an opportunity to see the rest of the Olympic Park sounded perfect.

On my way back to the hotel to get my suit & towel, I decided to stop at the library. Since arriving in Tonga, I had developed a little fascination with James Cook. My visit to New Zealand had doubled that interest, and I had heard that Cook's original journals were housed at Sydney's main public library. On the way in, I was greeted by another famous figure in Australia's history: Captain Matthew Flinders. His bravery, though, was nothing compared to that of his cat. " 'To Trim,' " read the iron cat's plaque, " 'the best and most illustrious of his race, the most affectionate of friends, faithful of servants and best of creatures. He made the tour of the globe, and a voyage to Australia, which he circumnavigated, and was ever the delight and pleasure of his fellow voyagers.' Written my Matthew Flinders in memory of his cat."

Cook's actual journals weren't on display...or so I was told...but a friendly librarian led me to a photocopy. The first page was an account of the journal itself, describing the proceedings of H.M. Bark Endeavour's voyage "round the world" 25 May 1768-23 Oct 1770 (Cook's first voyage), written by the ship's clerk and signed by Cook. I flipped the page with great anticipation that quickly became great disappointment. Whoever had written this - Orton, the ship's clerk, or Cook himself - had horrible handwriting! If I squinted, I could make out the large titles such as "Description of King George's Island" and "Remarkable Occurrence in the South Seas," but the actual descriptions and occurrences were indecipherable. A copy of Bligh's account of the mutiny on the bounty was also there, and was much easier on the eyes. Abel Tasman's journal presented the problem of being in Dutch. I decided I had been lucky enough to see Cook's signature and some eighteenth century handwriting, and made a mental note to find a print version later.

Cook, frowning because he can't make out his own handwriting. "New Zealand or Zeeland...? I'll just alternate between them and let history decide."

The Olympic pool was PACKED, this being summer holidays (in January!? Truly I was Down Under). Sadly, the pool where several Olympic records were set had been reduced to a children's water park. Waterslides, climbing gyms...it was Australia's Crododile Island and Hook's Lagoon. I swam, ate sushi (not at the pool), and called it a night.

P.S. - When I was trying to find a lick for Crocodile Island, I found out Warner Bros. SOLD Six Flags Darian Lake! The Superman Ride is there, but it's not the "Superman Ride" anymore! They took out the Batman Thrill Spectacular show!! Oh, cruel world.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, which is why they give girly names to cyclones

Ours was given the Chinese girl's name "Lin," and even though she was just a category two (one being pretty stormy, five being the quickest way to Oz), she was incredible.

It started Thursday afternoon, and Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were dark, rainy, and windy. But the real show started early Sunday morning. Howling winds and "walls" of water, a raw fury ripped across this tiny island. It carried on for hours until Sunday evening.

Category two cyclones, I soon learned, result in minor house damage, significant damage to signs and trees, heavy damage to some crops, and risk of power failure. We got a little of everything, along with major flooding, but no casualties. That makes a 7.9 earthquake, a volcanic eruption ten km from my house, and a cyclone, in less than a month!

I broke cyclone rule #1: Don't leave your wash on the line. But then, they were washed with the force of a cyclone, which is a power even Maytag can't capture.

Just getting started

The lagoon flooded my front yard, making for some very confused puppies

Oops

No harm done, just throw in some goldfish and say it always looked like that

There used to be a billboard here advertising Australian milk...

The school's football field. Looks like I won't be teaching my PE class tomorrow (unless I change the soccer unit to water polo)

Sydney - Part 1

The rest of the visit with my family in New Zealand was fantastic. During another week and a bit, we traveled on from Mount Doom to Wellington, across the strait to the South Island, spent a few days in Abel Tasman National Park, saw the seals in Kaikoura, and finished up with some time in Christchurch. But now that my family is back in Canada and full of stories, people are asking what I did for the rest of the break. Prepare to be regaled with weeks and weeks worth of my experiences in the Land Down Under.

After a fantastic time in New Zealand, my family had to go back to Canada (claiming to have lives outside of paradise). I was on my own again, but with another month before school started. I had no idea when I'd be back in the area, and with New Zealand crossed off my travel list, I had plans to see some of Australia as well. On the 5th of January, I landed in Sydney, New South Wales. In my opinion, Australia is known for two things things primarily: the outback and convicts. One gets shoved down your throat (Kangaroos! Ayers Rock! Bushwalking!), but the other isn't mentioned all that much in Australia itself.

After the Boston Tea Party, the British needed some other place to store their less-desirables. A companion of Captain Cook remembered how nice Botany Bay (KHAN!) in Australia had looked, and with France and Russia showing interest in the South Pacific, the British liked the idea of a permanent claim in the region. By the way, No one knows why Cook named the area New South Wales. He had originally named it "New Wales," which he corrected in his journal by adding "South." He had never personally been to any part of Wales, what did he have against the North?

Unfortunately, Cook had glimpsed Botany Bay in the very very...very short time of the year during which it appears to be a paradise. When Britain's "First Fleet" of convicts and soldiers arrived, they weren't too pleased with what they found. Thus in 1788, Arthur Phillip changed their plans, and they all settled at Sydney Cove instead.

When I got there, I wasn't sure how Sydney Harbour was any better. It was hot! I know, brr everyone is cold in Canada and I'm whining about how hot it was. But it was pushing 40 degrees, so I'm not a complete baby. Gum trees, naturally packed with oil, were just bursting into flames. It was the beginning of "forest fire season." Dragons had returned to rule the earth. It was HOT!

To begin to pay off the haircut debt I had racked up in ten months without a snip, I got another haircut to accompany the one I got in New Zealand, then I began to wander. As Lisa can attest to from the list of European cities we traveled through together, it takes me about a day to orient myself. After that, my sense of direction leads me through every street and subway junction a city can throw at me.

It's OK to be jealous about how cool I look

I wandered to the ferry junction, and saw a sign for the zoo. Now I had seen Australian animals before, but never IN Australia. Technically, this was my chance. I figured, just in case I didn't see any kangaroos, wombats, koala, or platypie (yum) later, I should stack my deck by checking out Sydney's zoo. And, now an expert in the quirks of NZ's freak animal the kiwi, I was hoping to learn what made the platypus so wierd.

The Zoo is on a hill, and you can take a bus ride to the top and then work your way through the exhibits downhill to the exit. This sounded like a brilliant idea, but after the bus dropped my off I wandered up and down staring clueless at the map trying to find the wombat house (takes me a day to directionalize, no less). At least the Taronga Zoo had it all. I entered the kangaroo pen, then immediately panicked. Evidently I had made a wrong turn and entered the "keepers area," because there were no fences separating me from the person-tall monsters. There was me, a couple feet of air, and then a lazy kangaroo. And then there was an emu approaching from the other side. But no, this was the set up, fenceless. I worked my way through, fighting a mental battle to not abuse the zoo's trust by trying to find out just how good kangaroos were at boxing/hugging.

Do the emus have large talons?

In this picture, it looks like I actually shouldn't be in here, but I swear it was allowed! No fences!!

There was everything I was looking for, plus wallabies, penguins, echidnas, and crocodiles. A very informative poster a little ways away from a seven metre crocodile (surrounded by so-clean-I-was-afraid-it-wasn't-there glass) taught me everything I needed to know about underwater death. I learned to: Check the water for crocodiles carefully - they can look like floating logs. If in doubt, do not swim or use small boats. Crocodiles can leap out of the water; to be safe, do not lean over the edge of a boat when fishing. Crocodiles learn the movements of their prey; do not return to the same spot repeatably. Life lessons, all.

I even got a little video of the platypus, the squirmiest swimmer in the animal kingdom, dazed after accidentally swimming into the oh so hot sun.

And of course all that other stuff - the usual African and Asian animals, and ice cream. Then I was back on the ferry to wander Sydney some more.