Aussie Tidbits

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Dearest friends and family,

Hee hee. I lied. I'm not quite done with the stories because Sydney has proven to offer alot in terms of fun and entertainment.
Sydney's a really pretty city. Alot of the houses are red tile roof in the Victorian style and the harbor is just amazing. (By the way, did I ever mention how ugly and unimaginative the NZ towns were? Talk about blah!) I'm staying in a hostel smack in the middle of downtown Chinatown which is jam packed with hair, nail and massage salons, internet cafes and Gloria Jean Coffees. The weather is nice, warm and sunny, about 67 degrees F and not a cloud in the sky.
Yesterday, as I was feeling a little tight in my back and shoulders, I took a yoga class in a studio across from my digs. The teacher was this 65-year old guru from India who floated around the studio all smiley like, yellow robe flowing out behind him. Unfortunately, it was hard to concentrate on the "relax, breathe in" stuff with the monorail zooming by right outside the window and rattling the old ten story building to its foundations.
And now for the animal adventures.
This morning as I was walking through Hyde Park I heard a wretched, disturbing noise coming from the treetops. I can't describe that sound. It was horrible, like a screeching baby-cat-bat combo mixed with sinister heckles you'd hear at a baseball game ("heeeeeere batter batter batteeeerrrr!!!!") Following the noise, I looked up to see three ravens harrassing a possum in one of Mother Nature's cruel death matches. The birds were pecking the poor thing literally to death. The furry beast just screeched uselessly and I couldn't stop watching the spectacle. I wondered when the possum would die and hoped for a quick end. But then again, they hadn't pecked its eyes out yet, so maybe they were just annoyed at it being in their territory. I watched, mesmerized, disgusted, for a good ten minutes, then left.
More news from the animal kingdom: Went to the wildlife park and I pet a wallaby, got bitten on the finger by an Aussie cockatoo, kissed a collared lizard, pet a bored koala and stared at all the Asian tourists taking picture after picture of the most boring and ridiculous zoo scenes (like a bored bird sitting in a cage) But the best part was watching a mother owl rip apart a piece of uncooked and feathered chicken and feed it to her freaky-looking chick bit by bit. Yum.
P.S. Wombats are the cutest things I've ever seen. They look like koala-dogs with huge heads and no tail. I think they're dangerous, too.

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Comments

[anonymous]

I've always wanted a wombat! Can you bring one back for me? Pleeeeaassse!!! :) I promise I'll take care of it. I'll take it for walks and brush it's fur every day. They have fur right? - AJ

[anonymous]

some squawking...
I've always wanted a koala!!!! Animal tales from this side of the world: this weekend I went to a party down on the docks for the opening of boat season. At one point, myself all buzzed on vodka, I heard the seagulls getting all worked up about something--looking up to witness two in the midst of a brawl to the death on top of a boathouse. All the other seagulls squawking and making a huge racket, gathering on all the surrounding roof tops and agging the whole scene on. there was even what looked like a ref ministering over the two as they pinned each other down with their beaks. this went on for a good ten minutes or so, before they finally flew off their separate ways to cry and heal their wounds in solitude. You see, we are not that different. We are all just animals. - Em