Well mother warned me! When I embarked on this world travel, I didn't get the usual motherly warnings such as "Don't take candy from strangers", "Always practice safe sex" and "Always wear clean underwear, in case you get in an accident and have to be taken to hospital". No, from my Mum, it was "Don't get stung or bitten by any poisonous Australian snakes, fish, spiders, or bugs". And what happened? Well, walking to the beach the other day, I stepped on a bee who (quite sensibly from the bee's perspective) stung me on the middle toe. Well, did my foot ever swell up! Walking was like trying to bend a grape! Happily the foot recovered in time for Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras was some experience. I got tickets to watch the parade from some stands right near the end. There were some amazing floats and then some pretty pathetic ones too. There was an entry - and actually quite a good one at that - from Papau New Guinea. The Sydney Police Force had a huge marching group, all in official uniform; they received huge cheers from the crowd. The Canadians had an entry into the parade, which was quite funny! The boys were cute, but they had the WORST choreography of all the float and marching entrants in the 2 1/2 hour parade. Personally, I think this speaks volumes about Canada. There was also an enormous contingent from Amnesty International to reflect how in many countries around the world gay people are still tortured and imprisoned, various local politicians, gay senior citizens organizations, and a HUGE contingent from families of gay people - who got loud cheers from the onlookers as well - and, of course, drag queens galore. On the whole the parade was actually quite inspiring.
The shows at the subsequent Mardi Gras party were also amazing; singers, acrobats, dancers, and of course the ever-present drag queens,who became increasingly bedraggled as the evening wore on! One show had trapeze artists on wires above our heads; they were covered in costumes of little reflective mirrors, and many multicoloured laser lights were directed at them, so that their movements on the trapezes (or is it trapezi?)became also part of the laser light show! I lost my friends within 1 hour of entering the party grounds, and as there were 22,000 attendees, I naturally didn't find them again. But I met some very nice Australians, and spent a good chunk of the evening dancing with them.
I also climbed the upper arch of Sydney Harbour Bridge the other day with my friends Keith and Harry, who were visiting Sydney from Australia. Had to use proper mountaineering equipment, and we had fetching shell suit costumes in pearly gray! Fantastic views of this amazing harbour, where there are so many bays and coves, and dotted little islands and as a result many, many sailboats, and beautiful ocean front homes.
The Botanical Gardens in Sydney are worth a visit. Wonderful old palms, strange fig trees, a rare fossil pine, recently discovered in one isolated valley in Queensland of which there are only 38 specimens in existence), shrieking sulpher crested cockatoos, and a pond which is roiling with huge black eels who eat the ducklings -the park staff have apparently tried to clear the pond of eels, but then just days after they have drained and refilled it - elvers are spotted wriggling through the grass at night to recolonize the pond. I was walking in the Gardens the other day, and I heard the chittering of birds, and looked up to discover instead a tree which was festooned with enormous bats, hanging like huge furry fruit. They clearly found the heat and humidity too much as well, because they were delicately fanning themselves with their wings like little old ladies at the Sydney Opera House on a hot day. (I also toured the Sydney Opera House. Beautiful outside structure. Hideous inside. May go there to see Carmen Burana which is playing soon.)
I'm off to Noosa today - a beach resort near Brisbane for some relaxation and sunshine; Sydney has actually been quite wet, but apparently that is normal for these summer months. Must go now to catch my plane. Will write more later
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