Explorations in the last couple weeks

So I kind of wanted to share some fun days we've had recently.  We feel as though we're working like dogs lately.  I'm going part time in June.  It can't come soon enough.  But we're still taking advantage of our days off to explore our surroundings.

Two weekends ago:
Clark and I wanted to walk down to Kareena park on Yowie Bay, which should have literally been a 5-10 minute walk from our apartment.  We got distracted along the way--at about minute 3--and found a community garden of sorts.  It was lush, verdant and beautiful.  And full of photo ops.  Of course we were prepared:

It really was a sight to behold...right in our own back yard!  We had no idea this place even existed!

Clark looking dumbfounded/special on a bench.  As I snapped this picture I told him to please stop making a stupid face and try to look normal.  He said not to look around or else I would see what he had noticed...

Oh. My. Goodness.  Why did I look around??

Massive spiders had spun webs spanning from the power lines to the bushes below.  So, so gross.  Scary and gross.  It was like seeing a poorly dressed and made up transvestite in Kings Cross.  I didn't want to look, but it was hard to look away.

Staying composed after envisioning a sea of giant spiders swarming over my body.

Clark had to find something to "wee" on.  Aussies don't say "pee."  They say "wee" which I find absurd.  You didn't "weed" your pants.  You "peed" your pants.  "Wee" just doesn't make sense in the past tense.

Clark's really proud of this one.  Just look at those reflections!

Had we known there was a duck pond, we would have been prepared with bread.

But ducks aren't that intelligent and they waddled right up to Clark's empty palm.

After we exited the gardens, we found this park.  I'm pretty sure we were at Kareena Park and this is Yowie Bay, the bay we had set out to find.

 However, at the time we weren't entirely sure if we were at the right park, so we got back on the main road and continued walking...

And came upon the Westfield Mall in Miranda...which was way, WAAAYYYY too far.  Hence the reason we are now quite confident we had initially found Yowie Bay.  Here is a wall of graffiti near the mall.  You're only cool if you have low cut dresses and fly with tuxedo clad men in helicopters.  We then had to ride the train back to the station closest to where we live; that is how far we walked out of our way!

This past weekend:
Clark and I rode the train into the city with our friends Joanne and Ivan.  We ended up going up the Center Point Tower to get a view of Sydney from a higher perspective.  

Before going up the tower I tried to get a picture of Clark, Joanne and Ivan.  Joanne tried to throw her legs up in a sort of kicking motion.  No one looks good here.

Forgive us for reflections in the pictures.  There were no open air observation decks, unfortunately. This part of the bay is just East of the Opera House and Bridge. On the horizon is the Pacific.

A rather dark photo of Joanne and I.  Clark and I are trying to limit our camera flash usage in order to teach ourselves how to take good pictures without using the flash.  But sometimes you just need a flash.  It would have been appropriate in this instance.

Sydney facing South.

Lovers.  Ivan used the flash for this one.

A short walk from the tower is St. Mary's Cathedral and the Archibald Fountain at Hyde Park.

Ivan showing us a picture as Joanne is taking a picture for us.

And she just didn't stop.  We started to feel a little uncomfortable with all the attention she was giving us with our camera...

The man is taking the bull-man by the horns.  Intriguing.

Like I mentioned above: intriguing.

Treetop covered pathway in the park.

Clark mounting, and riding, a cannon.

From Hyde Park we walked toward the Harbor where the botanical gardens are located.  We arrived just before dusk.  Photo ops were becoming limited.

Poor Clark.  All he wanted was a sip!


As the sun set, we started to hear all sorts of sounds from above.  Of course there were the gosh darn cockatoos, the most annoying bird ever.  But there was something else making noises that we couldn't distinguish.  We couldn't put our finger on it until we looked up into the trees. If you enlarge the picture, you will notice the black blobs hanging upside down in the trees.Yes, those are bats!

At dusk bats emerged from their slumber and just engulfed the botanical gardens canopy.  They were EVERYWHERE.  And it was so awesome.  These were not the little tiny bats we've all probably seen at some point.  These suckers (no pun intended) were massive.

If you can, enlarge this photo, too.  As you can see, the bats dominate the botanical gardens at night.  We can't wait to go back at dusk and witness this spectacle again.  So very cool.  It's a shame that the gardens close at 6 pm.  We could have stood there for hours just watching the bats.

We keep forgetting to bring our camera stand with us on day outings and trips, but Clark was successful in balancing our camera on a barrier.  Though far away, here is Sydney at night.

We are hoping to get back to the city in the next week or so to see Darling Harbor and maybe even the aquarium.  And of course, to see the bats emerge at dusk again!