We flew into Sydney, Australia this morning. Oh, how glorious. I looked out the window of the plane at about 6am, and saw the sheer sanstone cliffs of the National Park just south of Sydney, and said, “God, thank you for making my homeland so beautiful!” And this wave of patriotism just came over me. I travel the world, and I love it all. I love Thailand. I love America. I enjoy all my experiences, and wherever I go, there I am, wholeheartedly. But returning to the land of my birth, I have this sense of pride and excitement about being with ‘my people’, even if for just a short time. The sky is ‘big’ and so blue. Aussies are friendly and laid back. There is a special uniqueness about Sydney – there’s no other city like it on the planet. The animals and birds, the bush and the outback, the sky and the ocean are all so unique and beautiful.

My sister, Liz, met us at the airport. Oh – at the airport one of the little sniffer dogs took a liking to my bags – practically crawled under my trolley. It thought, “oh no, they’re gonna think I’m a criminal.” But the handler saw that he was licking something on the trolley, so he pulled him away. I think it was the hard liquor that an old man had dropped right in front of me a few minutes before…

Liz brought us home, and after looking at photo albums we decided to go to Lane Cove National Park for Lunch. It was a real treat. We walked through the bush for about an hour, and I was very happy when 2 Kookaburras swooped down in front of me to take some ham a lady put out for them. I love Kookaburras. My Pop used to put meat on the clothes line for them in the evenings, and we’d watch them come and feast. They are fiesty birds, and will take food right off the table or out of you hand if you give them a chance. Along the trail I almost stepped on a Water Dragon that was sunning itself. That’ll teach me to have my head in the clouds while there are critters at my feet.

We had a yummy lunch of Thai Spring Rolls and tried feed a Kookaburra that dropped in to inspect the table, but he just wasn’t interested in vegetarian, and flew off when the Magpie showed up for a free meal. We also caught a glimpse of a Rosella in a crevice of a tree – it looked like it was making a nest, but it’s totally the wrong time of year.

After gawking at the wildlife for a while, we went to he town of Crows Nest for some gelato – yum. Then we came home, where Sean promptly crashed from jetlag, and the two computer addicted females ditched our 12 step group and indulged. (ie. we worked on out computers…)