Weekend Warriors

(karen)
When we first showed up in Sydney we were shown a room in a house called Courtyard that seemed pleasant enough. It wasn't going to be available for a few weeks, so we instead moved into our current room in Campus House. Last thursday the Courtyard room became available and we agreed when they asked us if we'd still like to try it. So we packed up our meager belongings and made the switch to our new house up the street. Our Campus roommates were devasted to loose us, to be replaced with an unknown german couple. How can they be guaranteed that the new folks will bake banana bread for them? How?? At first glance our new quarters are working out okay. Pros: better kitchen, more cheerful atmosphere, tv in our room. Cons: One joint bathroom/shower for 8 people, there is a cafe on the other side of our wall that opens at the crack of dawn, and the light switch for the room is outside the door. Seriously, who designed this place? But we're settled in and getting to meet our new neighbors. Wouldn't you know, one is a french chef! This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.





In other news, we indulged our impulsive side and met a friend from my work down at a pub for some live music. We got to meet his friends (one of them hilariously Tolfo-esque) and had a great time. It culminated with a drunken trip to McDonalds at 2:00 in the morning, where literally every person there was staggeringly intoxicated and overly friendly. I loved it. Our surrogate Tolfo then invited us to a house warming party in Glebe the following night, which we were informed was themed "Fictional Gay Characters, Pre 1990". We didn't have the time or resources to make costumes but other people had some great ideas, everything from Inspector Gadget to Mary Poppins to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He introduced us as the "randoms I met at a pub last night", and we were immediately welcomed. This is exactly what I wanted to get out of our stay in Sydney, to make new friends and live a quasi-normal life in a new place.

On Saturday we took the ferry across the harbor to visit the Taronga Zoo. Quite a few exhibits were closed, probably because they are renovating during the off season, but we still got to see a variety of critters. We were most interested in the native animals like koalas (aka drop bears), kangaroos, wombats, dingos, and platypus. Two we really wanted to see, the echidna and Tasmanian devil, were shy and chose not to grace us with their presence. A zoo highlight were several walk through areas for birds and passive animals like wallabies. It's not every day that you have to step aside to let an emu pass!





Our last excitement for the weekend was the Kings Cross Wine and Food Festival. I've been warned that Kings Cross after dark is a lurid maze of sex shops and prostitutes, but by day it is merely kinky bohemian, in a Castro District kind of way. We ended up paying a bit more than we were expecting but the food was delicious and the massive crowd was in good spirits (literally and figuratively). We sat in the sunshine, reading books, sipping wine, and nibbling on delectables ranging from Spanish chorizo to Thai spring rolls. It's making me very excited for the three day Wine and Food festival in Melbourne later next month. (Oh Christine, I wish you were here with me!)