First Day

First day is all about getting realigned. We got here yesterday, ahead of our bags and our room. A too short connection at LAX got us separated from the luggage, which was somewhere over New Caledonia when we touched down. And of course there's time realignment too. Anyway, we have been reunited with our razors and hiking boots, got a good night sleep and are ready to learn how to drive on the left side.



For birdwatchers, the first day in a new place means even the most unremarkable and unlikely places are full of unexpected possibilities. Pigeon! New for the Australia list! We sat for a bit yesterday, waiting for our room to be made up, in a little postage stamp park nearby, and besides pigeons, saw some birds new to us, including silver gull, Australian magpie, and Australian white ibis, all ready to make a run at the unguarded baguette. The ibis especially were a surprise, as big as geese, with a long black decurved bill, and regular parts of the park avifauna it seems. Our continent list is up to 5 and climbing!



Yesterday was the running of the Melbourne Cup, the nation's biggest horse race, and apparently one of the biggest sports events of the year here. We saw many people here in Sydney dressed for a day of picnicking the racetrack, and this is a long way from Melbourne. Women sported fancy hats which ran to ichiban-like constructions of bird feathers, or brimmed hats perched at the jauntiest of angles. Everyone gambles on the outcome, work stops, much beer is consumed. The Cup has corporate sponsorship these days, and is actually called the Emirates Melbourne Cup. I wonder how it would feel if the World Series were called, say, the Credit Suisse World Series, or the Mitsubishi World Series.



Off to the Blue Mountains and the countryside this morning. More soon,



David