Tuesday Down Under was a continuation of the day previous. Weather-wise. The rain came down in spurts, not really letting up for all too long before drowning the city again. Both of my hosts had to work, so this was my first day on my own, in earnest.
I had brekkie at the Cockle Bay Wharf which is two steps from the Goldsbrough, where we are located. The Wharf is in Darling Harbour and has some incredible, thousand word views. I had only fifteen dollars Australian and a MasterCard on me. The only place open in the Harbourside arcade was this upstairs restaurant which was more or less empty by the time I got there. I sat down at a window table with a view of a drenched Harbour. Well, the land around the harbour was drenched anyway. I got crepes with maple syrup and cream and a banana smoothie. Very good, and heavier than I expected. Don't know what I was thinking, really. The bill was $14 and I went to pay with the credit card because I didn't know when/if I'd have a chance to change more money right away and I might need the cash. They can only charge with a minimum of $15, the cashier said, so I had to break out the bills. Oh well.
I repeated the Monday walk, to the Quay and the Rocks. The rain pretty much held off for this part, but it was on again off again warm and cold. Everyone I passed, locals anyway, were wearing their work clothes or whatever but also scarves (but no jackets) and passing conversation that I heard were things like "It's FREEZING!" Here I am in shorts and a sweatshirt, alternately comfortable and then really fucking hot and they're saying it's freezing? It's really bizarre. They should come to North America sometime in the winter and then we'll talk.
I postponed my trip to Taronga Zoo for the first time of the trip, an action I repeated many times. It was overcast and a trip on a ferry to the zoo would A) be cold and B) not provide the photo ops I wanted. So instead I walked back to Darling Harbour where I sat and had a cup of pineapple-watermelon-orange juice at some health juice bar. I sat at a table for about an hour, doing a little note writing to myself about what I've done and trying to figure out my plans for the trip in general.
Then I walked a block or two to the Aquarium. It was a pretty cool place, with the expected marine animals in display tanks and such. I was mesmerized by the platypus, er, platypi. Crazy creatures. Before long I was clotheslined by a fifth-grade field trip, inundated with little fuckin weasels with no sense of space. They seemingly saw no one else in the joint, not me or the throng of Asians that are everywhere. Everywhere I went, even at my own slower pace, I was confronted by the same group of kids, all bowing to their king, Jackson. He was obviously the cool kid, the one everyone tries to impress and please, because every two seconds I could hear someone yell "Jackson, come look at this! Jackson, you'll love this!!" It was constant.
The kids had a worksheet/assignment to complete on their field trip, and it was pleasing to see they all were cheating off of the smart kid. Everyone was passing along the answers, just like at home. It was nice to learn that kids are the same everywhere. Comforting, even.
The highlight of the Aquarium was definitely the underground section. You go down a couple floors on the descending ramps and you end up under the tank in tunnels and the marine life swim above you. In each tank are huge sharks, small fish, everything. It's really amazing. Stingrays are incredible creatures. They're humongous and I swear they have a face. Smack in the middle of their undersides are their eyes, and some gills where cheek lines (dimples) would be and then they have a mouth. And as they passed over the crowds of people, it was like they knew something we didn't, or were putting on a show, because I swear to God they all paused directly overhead, almost investigating us, and then smiled. It was probably an involuntary reflex they have, and isn't a real smile, but it sure fucking looked like it. It was hilarious. I really think Jackson liked it, which is really the whole point anyway.
When I finished with the Aquarium, the rain was coming down the hardest it had been since I got here, cats and dogs. I had really no choice but to leave, under my umbrella that really doesn't do much, and go find someplace for lunch. I went to Wagamama, a place I'd seen in my guidebook. I had pumpkin, eggplant and aubergine breaded in panko breadcrumbs and fried, covered in a great mild curry sauce with a side salad with red pickles and to drink I had what they call raw juice, a mixture of carrot, cucumber, tomato, orange and apple juices. Delicious. Expensive. But I'm on vacation.
I picked up my photos, and was really happy with the results. I think I got some great ones. Almost so much that it makes me want to take up amateur photography again. I haven't since I had the class in high school but I forgot how satisfying it is. I probably won't go the whole hog and build a darkroom, but the act of taking interesting pictures is really rewarding.
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