2004-06-16

down under done

My last flat white in Australia. I�m sitting in Becky�s caf�, well, at least the caf� that she discovered when we were all here. The deaf American Alex lives across the street from here, and it�s next to the Holiday Inn where we spent the tail end of our last Sydney stay.

Lucy and I had breakfast here this morning before she ran off to catch her airport shuttle. Mine comes in 15 minutes and I still haven�t sugared my coffee.

On every vacation it�s great to get home, to your own bed, to your own kitchen, to your friends and life. On this trip, I�m really looking forward to seeing Chris, as I�ve missed him terribly. There haven�t been much time apart between us since Morocco or his last trip to Germany. I can handle time away from him just fine. But having had so much fun here, I constantly think of him. I wish he could have spent some of this time with me.

Sydney has felt much, much, much more urban than Melbourne. Just from the masses of people on the street, the obvious herds of tourists, migrating from Hyde Park to Darling Harbor, stand out. Maybe I avoided the flocks of foreigners by holing up in St. Kilda. That�s not to say the Sydney hasn�t been as enjoyable.

We spent Monday walking the 10k from Manly Beach to the Spit bridge. Three hours later night had fallen. Yesterday was taken up by a whale watching trip, steely gray lurching behemoths appearing after misty blowhole blasts. In between these activities, we�ve walked from our edge of Potts Point to Oxford Street, strolled through the Botanical Gardens to visit the bats and cockatoos, and dined two nights in a row at Sel et Poivre. (Sadly, There�s Something About Miriam, the pre-op transexual dating show finale was on TV and we stayed in until 9:30pm.) Last night we celebrated Lucy�s 31st birthday.

Now it�s time to go home and resume my life of working and playing among familiar faces and surroundings. I�ve never thought so strongly about finding a means to work internationally as I have on this trip. But that may not be necessary if I save my pennies and promise myself to visit Down Under (and the rest of the world) more often.

earlier - later