Australia, the trip

Quantas supplies wee bottles of Australian wine

Maggi had already flown out to Sydney with Isaac several weeks beforehand, so it was just Charlie and Robin and I on the flight over. Whenever you mention going to Australia people always make a big to-do about the really long flight. Yes, it was very long. Robin I think managed it the best of all of us. He managed to sleep almost the entire time. Since we took an overnight flight I managed to sleep 5 hours or so because my body clock was agreeable. Charlie (the non-sleeper) took full advantage of the Quantus on-demand movies that you could watch on a screen embedded in the seat in front of you. It was a pretty slick setup and there were lots of movies to chose from.

Then suddenly we were in Australia. I was all a-twitter in customs since I wasn't sure if the two jars of jam I'd brought would cause me to be thrown into jail but all went well. We were off to Maggi's parents house right outside of Sydney. I cannot emphasize how lucky we were to go on this trip with people who had lived there. Maggi was a genie at public transportation. I love cities that have comprehensive public transport, but when you're trying to juggle different currency with not knowing any place names then it can be baffling. Maggi just forged ahead at every turn, telling us what bus or train or ferry or taxi to get into and how much to pay. It was fantastic!

wild sulphur-crested cockatoos

We had met Maggi's parents when they came to the states a few years ago so it was like visiting old friends when we got to their house. I sat outside in the backyard and listened to birds screeching. When I saw the first parrot I thought "oh! Someone has lost their parrot!" And then an entire flock of them shot overhead and landed in a neighbor's tree. A handful of huge white cockatoos with lemon yellow crests jabbering and crabbing away. Even after the different money and the summer weather in November and the driving on the wrong side of the road, those parrots were the first time I truly realized I was in a different country altogether. Parrots! Wild! In the trees! One evening we took a walk to Maggi's old school to see bigger flocks of them. At dusk they congregate in the trees and around the athletic fields.