stepping out

---

On friday most of the australian students had arranged to get togeather and go out for christmas.



After finishing out wardwork for the day we headed over to the house being rented by the other university of sydney boys for a barbeque. We sat arround a table eating and drinking and it felt like christmas.

The others had arranged a private minibus to take us all into a nightclub in an area called santon. I got carded at the door and then asked for my date of birth, the man said i had a baby face.

Once inside we began to drink again. We had been talking expansivly about how great milo was and had earlier decided that we would do shots of milo at the bar. Thankfully the bartender was game and we slammed down a few milo shots between us. (ingredients in the perfect milo shot: 1. Milo 2. Milk) We danced and drank and before I knew it it was four in the morning and we were headed home.



The next day we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed off the the lion and rhino park. It was a confusing sort of place, you just sort of drive in through a gate and are then on a series of dirt roads. We were trying to find the others who had come in a different car. Andrew was concentrating on the phone to them and i was concentration on negotioating between the old mazda and some legitimate 4 wheel drive road. We looked up and were suddenly surrounded by a pack of lions. There were probably 7 all within 3 or 4 meters of the car. Andrew Murphy and I began taking photos while grinning madly.



In the day that followed we saw cheetahs, who were meowing like little kittens and i realised i had probably never seen one before up close, also, rhinos, hippos, tigers ect.

We finnished up at the animal creche where we spent some time playing with a few lion cubs. I received many claws to the hands and at one point a cub latched onto my pants leg with his teeth and then seemed to enjoy being draged allong the ground as i walked.



Yesterday we did a 28 hour shift over christmas. It was not good.



Stay Safe

And Merry Christmas

F

---