Sydney

Staying with Cat and Murray has been an amazing experience and their hospitality superb. Marsfield, the suburb where I am temporarily residing, is quiet and within walking distance of a few national parks. Macqaurie university seems to be the hub of activity. Sydney's CBD (Central Business District) is approximately an hour and a half bike ride: I made the journey to the CBD a number of times during the course of my stay.

Sydney's main tourist attractions such as the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and Botanical Gardens are centrally located in Circular Quay, where I spent the majority of time. A nice touch to my time in Sydney was meeting up with Alan - a friend from Toronto and former colleague- for a few drinks at the Opera House Bar. On occasion Cat, Murray and I would travel to the beach: Palm or Manly, for a day of fun. Sally flew to Sydney for a few days near the end of my stay. Below are a few pictures of Sydney:

Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world and I have been told that Sydneysiders have too much discretionary income. On one of my many walks around the Royal Botanical Gardens, I spotted a $50 bill floating in the harbour close to shore. Interesting fact: Australian currency (paper) is made with plastic thus it cannot be physically torn (we have tried on multiple occasions and it has become somewhat of an ongoing joke) or destroyed by water. For 5 minutes I watched the note float closer and closer to a series of rocks just beyond a retaining wall, all the while strategizing my course of action.

The Plan:
1) Ensure that the note reached a certain distance from the rocks
2) Lower myself over the 8 foot retaining wall onto the rocks
3) Use a tree branch to fish the note out of the water
4) Rejoice at my accomplishment

Unfortunately, every time the note came within the optimal distance to lower myself down, the back splash of the waves against the rocks caused the note to drift back into the harbour and be carried away by the current. I followed the note along the shore for over 30 minutes, eventually I came to the realization that I was defeated.

The following week, during Sally's visit, we took a bus to the CBD and explored Circular Quay. While exiting the Royal Botanical Garden a woman asked if I would take her picture. Maybe it was her bad aim, or my getting distracted and slightly moving my hand, but the transfer failed and the camera free fell towards the pavement, thus commencing our pantomime juggling act. I quickly attempted to catch the camera but ended up batting it back at the woman, the camera now falling against her body. I tried to catch the camera, but missed, now grabbing the woman's breast. I tried a second time and missed yet again, this time grabbing her stomach. Thankfully the woman was wearing a flowing skirt and she was able to slow the cameras descent with the fabric thus allowing me to regain control, unfortunately, in addition to holding the camera, I was also now holding woman's crotch. In the end the woman got her pictures. As we walked away I turned to Sally and said "would this be defined as cheating?". It was awkward.

Stay tuned for the story of our trip Bundeena.