Tomorrow I will finally depart Sydney for the wilds of Australia. I have been eagerly anticipating this day since I landed in Sydney. My time here has been adventrue filled and nothing near my expectactions. The German departed for home and the Marines leave is soon to expire. It is fitting that my time in Sydney is also coming to a close.
Words cannot do this city justice, and pictures can only tease. That said, I realized that today will be my last visit to Sydney for quite some time. Maybe even forever, so I put on my walking boots and did the tourist thing. I took way too many pictures. I took pictures of things I didn't find interesting in any way, shape or form. I took those pictures because I realized that there are some very important people in my life who will like those things. Those pictures are the very least I can do and in some strange way I felt like they were with me every time my shutter closed and captured a picture of another flower or building. The buildings are quite spectacular. Little specks of expertly carved sandstone history sprinkled between modern glass walled skyscrapers.
I wanted to wander about the St Marys Cathedral, however there was a conflicting booking. So I gracefully canceled my plans and let the wedding proceed. I did sneak a few photos though, and a very nice old lady let me steal away into the crypt for a little snooping. As I was leaving the wedding began and every bell in the church began ringing. I am thankful that I wasn't in the crypt when that happened because those roaring bells might have woken the dead.
From there I wandered the botanical gardens. It is strange that down here this season is considered winter and yet the grass remains green, the trees are still full of fruit and flowers are blossoming everywhere. They know nothing of winter. The botanical gardens also contain the Government House. The design of the building makes one wonder exactly how violent Australia's past must have been. Both the Cathedral and Government House resemble European castles. Even the state library has battlements and looks like easily defended. The library is worth a visit, even if you leave your weapons at home. The main reading room was guarded by a very diligent and overbearing Asian security guard. After finding numerous contraband items in my backpack, two books and a pack of gum if you're curious, I elected to leave my backpack with her while I took a five minute jaunt across the marble. The maps, oh the maps, could I have stayed a day. I would have done just that.
As I mentioned earlier, tomorrow I will board a west bound train. Destination, Leeton. My understanding is that it is on the edge of the outback and the edge of the Murray basin. The Murray has always been a fascination of mine. It is one the the most agriculturaly productive areas in the world. It is also one of the most sensitive and it is highly regulated. I look forward to learing how producers in this part of Australia work. I think I will be headed to a vineyard/sheep producer/grain farm. This guy wears a lot of hats and our phone call was half an hour long. He did the majority of the talking. It should be fun and if it doesnt work out there is a man in Adilide who needs help with his sheep/wheat farm. Something that I have already noticed is that there really isn't the same attitude towards seeding down here. Their weather window is a little larger than ours and it shows up in the attitudes of the producers. The other thing I learned is how much these men scramble with the opposite side the the labour problem that Canadian producers face.
This country is litterally crawling with backpackers. Backpackers from all corners of the globe. Many of them, highly attactive European women. However, numbers do not equate skill. I was conducting a quasi interview over the phone when the interviewer asked me if I had ever fixed a flat. I asked him to clarify, did he want to know if I could put on a spare tire, or did he want to know if I could patch a flat tire. He was silent for a few seconds, then laughed, then put me on speaker phone and made me repeat the question for his wife. The wife then informed me that I wouldn't have to answer any more questions and that if I wanted the job they would be very happy to have me.
This is a crazy place, I wish all of you were here to share it with me. Hell, you should come down. We can fortify the Conservatory and stage a coup! Anyways, thanks for reading.
Take it easy.
Excuse the spelling and grammatical errors. I'm quite occupied
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