First Day

The drive from the airport to Cathy’s really brought it home – I saw the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge and heard the kookaburras laughing. And then we got to Cathy’s gorgeous house, and she showed me to MY house. They have a completely separate little house where they have their living room with a plasma TV, a huge bed, and a completely re-done bathroom that makes me feel like I’m in the best hotel (even better than Eau Claire!). Here’s a couple of pics – note that it is late autumn, so you’ll see some of the trees have turned orange and dropped their leaves.

And some shots of their beautiful backyard

Note the cricket wicket – it’s a country that is MAD for cricket! And here are some shots of the interior of my guest house

After a refreshing shower in my spa-like bathroom (I’m taking notes for redoing ours), we were off to lunch. Cathy suggested a touristy pub down at the Rocks which is right beside the harbour where all the famous sights are. We had pizza – touristy-style (kangaroo and emu), washed down with a local schooner of ale as we caught each other up on the last 20 years of our lives. Amazingly, kangaroo and emu DON’T taste like chicken, more like tender lean beef. In fact, we figured the kitchen probably used beef, and put kangaroo sauce on one and emu sauce on the other. Who would know?

After our lunch, we strolled down to Circular Quay and took in the sights…

We walked past the Museum of Contemporary Art, and took a detour into Customs House (library/art gallery) where they have this fantastic miniature model of Sydney under the floor.

The Circular Quay is home to many buskers and street performers. We watched a mime, a guy on a 12 foot unicycle, and I saw my first Aborigines playing didgeridoos while hawking CDs of their work. I found the music amazing, but I could see how quickly you could get sick of it in a hurry.

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