Bears hate sun, even sun bears. And therefore we saw none yesterday. So here’s the bear-iest shot of the zoo 🙂
Category: Family
Happy New Year
Today, we went to the zoo. This meant a ferry trip across the harbour:
During which Adam wisely avoided the sun and spent the time reading rec.games.mud on his phone:
The zoo was quite different from even four years ago, with many animal enclosures either changed or in the process of being changed. It’s turning from a great zoo into an even better zoo though, and virtually none of the old-type enclosures (ie. concrete boxes) remain. Here is a selection of the beasts we beheld:
Here’s a sleeping wombat:
And a kookaburra sitting in an old gum tree:
And some crazy dude astride an elephant:
As you may be able to tell, the weather today was incredible. As in incredibly hot 🙂
The sky was cloudless, and this was taken advantage of by various factions:
The first is a skywriter in the middle of writing “marry me”. Presumably, somewhere in Sydney a girl was about to be told to ‘look up’. The second is a helicopter (!) dragging a massive banner advertising headache medicine. This was no doubt targeting the numerous revellers already waiting on their boats in the harbour in position for tonights fireworks:
The zoo closed early due to the fireworks, and by the time we got back to Circular Quay the crowds had started to mass. This was a full ten hours before midnight – and in the blazing sun no less. We hopped on a bus and headed home. Both of us had gotten a touch of the sun, it was obvious we wouldn’t be heading back to the city for the fireworks tonight.
Here is some spectacular graffiti on the back of a bus seat. I’m no expert, but this looks like a rendition of Ptilonorhynchus Violaceus to me:
And here, should you be interested, is a number you can call to buy Chicken McNuggets in bulk:
Yep, that’s an ad from the classifieds in todays paper. My guess is only McDonalds lawyers called 🙂
Good-Looking Men About Town
The above photo shows a graffiti mural not five minutes from Adam’s apartment. It shows a mural of images from Bollywood films, including one particularly disturbing blue-skinned evil naga zombie girl.
I have it on good authority that the local cats love it.
The weather today was tremendous (as it has been since I arrived). Not a cloud in the sky and 28 C, it was a day to walk and sweat and revel in being a man. And that we did, as we headed into the city for a bit of chinatown exploration.
Our first stop was the Wildlife Photographer Of The Year exhibit at the Australian Museum. It was as impressive as ever, with many remarkable photographs on display. And yet it left us both contemplative and a little saddened by the reality of the effect mankind is having on the planet. It was as if the judges had a mandate to choose images that illustrated the negative effect of man’s actions on the animal kingdom. Many photos were simultaneously superb and disturbing, and with no obvious way to stem the wave of extinction, it is depressing to think that sooner that we hope many of the wonderful animals on display today will exist only in photographs.
At the risk of being glib, all the animal photos made us hungry, which brings me to a photo dedicated to my brother:
What this photo doesn’t spell out is that it was the second time I had eaten Oporto. Yes, good people, it was dinner and then lunch the next day. As it is quite literally the best chicken burger that is not only being made today, but has ever been made or will ever be made, I can assure you I shall happily eat much more.
And then we walked and we shopped. Asian bootleg DVD shops. Cute good shops. Game shops. Arcades. Comic stores.
I bought quite a bit of stuff, and will likely return before I leave Oz to buy more. I did not, however, buy the Japanese Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (which I did see). But I may have bought the hint guide…
Here are the two best signs-in-the-windows I saw today:
Which is your favourite?
And here is an item seen in the window of a store in the Randwick shopping street:
They are each apparently fashioned of old car parts. They are very cool, if a bit pricey.
But then everything here is a bit pricey. Or, to be honest, ‘makes me cry’ expensive 🙂
Tomorrow we’re off to the zoo. Will we both be dead by 6 pm, or will we venture out before midnight to see fireworks? Time shall tell…