lazy 4-day weekend

Unfortunately I wasn't able to take advantage of this past 4-day weekend like I hoped. Just days before the weekend, I had grand aspirations of knocking off my load of work before taking a 2- or 3-day trip into the Blue Mountains. I envisioned myself climbing through caves - caves without snakes, that is - and through canyons. But sickness got in the way. It may have been due to the Thai special and huge bag of M&Ms I consumed on Wednesday afternoon, or because I was back in Sydney (after my stay in Melbourne); doesn't matter. Bottom line: I got sick Wednesday night and was out of comission all of Thursday and Friday, doing nothing more than reading my sports books and vainly trying to find a somewhat interesting show on Australian television.

I didn't have a problem finding something to watch on Saturday. Feeling a little better, I headed out with Steve to Darling Harbour to watch the Swans' championship game in Melbourne against the West Coast Eagles. The Swans came all the way back from a 28-point deficit to get within one point twice late in the fourth quarter, but they couldn't get over the hump, eventually succombing to the Eagles, much to the distaste of Steve and I and our fellow Swans' supporters in the bar. We trudged back to the UniLodge, depressed. One point! One point in Aussie Rules football is like a quarter of a point in American football. Almost 200 points are scored in many games. It, undoubtedly, was a rough loss to take.

On Saturday night I went out with a bunch of folks to Newtown, a nice restaurant section of the city, to celebrate Mike's 22nd birthday. I shoulda stayed in. I came home feeling sick again. Fortunately, I woke up Sunday morning (or, more like afternoon) feeling OK, and I headed out with Mike and Claire (the other student in our film group) to film some kangaroos in Palm Beach, a northern suburb of Sydney. After an hour-and-a-half bus ride (uggghhh!) we arrived and quickly hopped a fairy to the basin, where the wildlife peacefully resides.

We didn't see kangaroos (apparently they don't populate that particular island) but there were plenty of wallabies to compensate for their absence. Wallabies are basically downsized kangaroos. They still hop and do all that good stuff. It was amazing. They were hopping around in the camping area, right in front of loud, energetic kids and worried, haggared parents. You really had to work if you wanted to scare them off.

It was my first experience with the Australian wildlife - hopefully there'll be more during our upcoming spring break.

Monday, like most of the weekend, was uneventful. I finished a paper and then hit Coogie beach for an hour. But it was really windy and actually pretty cold. I retired back to the 'Lodge, acknowledging that my weekend was over.

jake