Got the car yesterday…

And headed south on our first leg to Newcastle. Traffic was light, and it didn’t take long to get to our first stop, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

This place became famous for wild parrot feeding but yesterday there were none there. It’s a big park though, with many Australian animals that are very popular with tourists. I particularly enjoyed the “for children 12 and under” flying fox:

It was roastingly hot in the park, and every step felt like one closer to the grave. The animals were in torpors, and tourists were grumbling. And yet none of this mattered when I found the red kangaroos!

Their fur was so soft! Their paws so cute! Their ears so cool and their souls so gentle. They loved me and I loved them, and lifelong bonds of friendship were made yesterday. The end.

Ballina – our destination – was about an hour farther south and turned out to be a tiny burg on a river.

The tide was out, and the sand flats full of tiny crabs. Can you see one in this photo:

Dinner was at the local RSL, a heaven of air conditioning in the continuing high heat, which I suspect may only increase as we continue south…
