Sydney day 1

“There are some good things to be said about walking. Not many, but some. Walking takes longer, for example, than any other known form of locomotion except crawling. Thus it stretches time and prolongs life. Life is already too short to waste on speed. I have a friend who's always in a hurry; he never gets anywhere. Walking makes the world much bigger and thus more interesting. You have time to observe the details. The utopian technologists foresee a future for us in which distance is annihilated. … To be everywhere at once is to be nowhere forever, if you ask me.” - Ed Abbey

I spent a lot of time with this neglected beauty.

This time I walk south. I hit a big park, then the Royal Botanical Gardens. The gardens are nice. it’s a big open free park. There is even a sign that says “please walk on the grass, smell the flowers, hug the trees, and enjoy this park.” The weather is cool but sunny. The temps seen very comparable to what I left behind in Virginia, only here it’s springtime. Two major highlights of the park. 1) The trees. Really, really big trees. Though not like North American trees. These are not tall. They’re wide and sprawling trees. They are actually ficuses, and they’re huge. 2) The bats. There is a colony of bats that live in the garden. They sleep their days up in a stand of trees. These are *real* bats. Big bats. Probably three foot wingspan bats. They’re awesome to see. It looks like a horror movie, but at the same time I want to pet one. They’re big enough you can make eye contact with the insomniacs and know you’re doing it. I tried to take photos of the moms and babies, and the old guys stretching and scratching. I mean they’re big!

I saw the opera house, and took the obligatory photos. The surface is actually a mosaic. I didn’t know that. The outside it actually small white tiles, with different glazes. It’s a nifty pattern when you’re close enough to see it.

Parking structure under the Sydney Opera House.

The guidebook recommended a walking route down the southeastern beaches. So I took a cab, to Bondi and start the walk. I see surfers on the famous beach. I see a huge sculpture festival. I see the bluest ocean. I note the water temps are only 19 C, and the only people in the water are surfers with wet suits. I walk about 6 miles on this pedestrian path down the coastline from beach town to beach town. It’s really nice. I walk slow. I take lots of stops and even more photos.

I end the day with a local ale, and a prawn, basil, and chili oil pizza, on a beach, waiting for the stars to come out. This time they do.

The last few surfers packing it in for the night.