Sydney

I am happy. Good conversation about Berkeley, California politics, Prairie Home Companion and Australian Geology. The Flavins made me dinner tonight, pasta with prawns, bread and salad and a few glasses of wine, which probably explains my mood. I am laughing now to myself about Jeremy, who has grown into a handsome man with a pronounced Australian accent, but so glum! He barely said two words tonight and I think the only person whose eye he met were the cats! I hope he is not that glum with the girls because he really is quite good looking and with a slightly more upbeat mood I bet he would knock them dead!








the window in my room at the Flavin's. They have a beautiful home in Homebush, with a big airy bright kitchen and a beautiful garden.




















The mating pair who hang out waiting to be fed on the patio.









Last night Gabby and I went to Noodle nights at Hyde Park, part of the Sydney International food Festival. There were many thai and asian food vendors and lots of couples and families picnicking and enjoying the wine and noodles.

























The World Master’s Games are going on right now here and so there are many athletes wandering around with their tags and medals. The motto for the Games is “Fit Fun and Forever Young” and the local paper has been spotlighting winners such as one 98 year old woman and her 3 gold medals in lawn bowling. On the way over a few weeks ago we actually had a whole basketball team of 50+ men that stood around din the back of the plain the entire 14 hours because their legs were just too long for the seats.

Gabby took me around the city today. We took the ferry out to Manly and had lunch at the Manly 16’ Skiff Club with a view on the Yacht Harbor. I had a salad with pumpkin and feta. I don’t think I’ve ever had pumpkin n a salad before, but Gabby says it is quite common. From there, we went to the Market at the Rocks, a collection of arts and crafts and various Australian goods. It was fun to look around and do a bit of shopping. I haven’t done too terribly much on my two days “off” here in Sydney, but enough to get a flavor of the city and unwind a bit from my field work.

The mangroves at Bicentennial Park