Writing On The Road

I wrote this earlier today... Yay for mini laptops, boo for no free wireless.


So, I’m here at the zoo, eating a late lunch. Fish and Chips… not horrible. And a Sprite… made with sugar! Not quite as sweet. This zoo is beautiful, across the harbor from where I’m staying. I took a quick ferry directly over with a bus to the top. The zoo is located on a hill facing Sydney downtown. The cityscape… the only way to describe it is gratuitous. It just boggles the mind. I have a few pix to show it.

Coming from the LA zoo, which is an experiment in concrete and rebar, this zoo makes every effort to get the public as close as possible to the animals. Many enclosures are just two sets of double doors for people to go through so animals cant get out. And then you are there. Looking at the roos. Who are asleep… or plotting. The mountain goat exhibit just could not exist in LA. I think the pic shows why.
Now I sit here, with my half finished fish and chips, looking at an elephant that doesn’t look suicidal. Its nice. There are also sky trams going above me, like the ones at Disneyland. I keep on thinking back to the Koala exhibit. They remind me of many of the other vegetarians I know. Slow, dull, and hairy, but sometimes nice to look at.

The trashbirds are wandering for scraps… good luck to them. I’m going to wrap up the zoo and head to the Sydney Tower before dusk.



That zoo was great. Its now 5:29 and the ferry is surprisingly on time! Have you ever walked through a public area, like a zoo, museum, or garden, and ran into the same person or group of people? So many times that you recognize them? So many times that you know they recognize you, too? The look of recognition just can’t be repressed. At least not for me. Even pretending not to notice can’t be pulled of successfully. How do you look when you are walking past somebody you don’t recognize, and then try to recreate that expression? I was going to talk to them if I saw them on the ferry, but they aren’t here. Its too bad, I’m sure there was a decent story there.

Well, the ferry is about to pull up. I'm not sure if I can make it to the tower in time. I’m also out of cash again… its so hard to judge, when the local currency is .6 AUD:1 USD!