Do You Come From A Land Down Under?

Before you get righteous on me, I realize Sydney is not in Asia, but we did fly out of Changi Airport so that has to count for something. And if I want to get really technical, there are thousands of Australians in Asia for work or pleasure, and about fifteen billion Asians in OZ for the same reasons, therefore, I can count Australia as Asia. Convoluted thinking?  Sure, but that is what being in a mixture of sun and rain all day does to the brain.

Buying bread from a man in Brussels

He was six foot four and full of muscles

I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"

He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich

Which brings me to my next points. What is vegemite?  Why do the Aussies eat kangaroo? How come there are so many Flying Foxes terrorizing the CBD in Sydney? How do the girls manage to manoeuvre the city streets in killer heels? And most importantly, is everyone in Australia that darn good looking? They all look like they just stepped off a "Surfer Shoot" on a Hollywood sound set.

He seems too tough to eat

I found everything about Sydney fascinating from the kids partying the night away, to the bikers that roll up on their scooters, to the Aborigines playing didgeridoos, to the grapefruit-sized avocados. 


Sydney is a city with a checkered past and the history of this city is triumphant. Every corner has a tale, every building has a saga, all the churches, parks, tunnels and restaurants revel in their shady past. I wandered through every nook and cranny, taking in so much of the lore, the Sydneysiders said I knew more about their city than most of the locals. 

I took a cautious trip to the Botanical Gardens, not for the flora but a purposeful mission to photograph the Grey Headed Flying Foxes that have made the park their home, much to the disdain of the park officials. They are called often bats, megabats, fruit bats or flying foxes but they all the same animal.  I just call them freaky, bizarre, flying mammals that swooped straight out of a horror movie.

The Flying Foxes hang in groups in the trees

I met an elderly volunteer at the park that took the time to point out the hundreds of Flying Foxes hanging upside down in the trees. She also explained why the bats were not wanted due to the damage and destruction they cause to the ancient, exotic trees. The Foxes serve an important role in Australia. They transport seeds and pollen over a wide region, helping to diversify and regenerate the forests. She also told me the foxes make a horrific noise. While it was kind of her to point out the obvious, it was impossible to miss the intense screeching hundreds of these flying mammals make.

I may be furry, but I am not cute

R2 was born and raised in Mexico City, the largest city in the world. While he hasn't lived there for over twenty years, the city boy hasn't left the concrete jungle  He isn't big on nature, at least the flying, licking, barking or crawling kind. So to see if I could drive him a little "batty" I took him to Nature as sunset approached introducing him to a National Geographic episode in Hyde Park. I never revealed to R2 that the swooping UFOs were not pigeons or Sydney's famous Black Cockatoos. Flying Foxes are huge, their wing span is more than a meter and their bodies can be the size of a small dog. R2 was too busy looking at the sites to get a sense of the impending doom. 


All of the sudden, a huge clap of thunder crashed through the sky followed by streaks of lightening. It was as if I had orchestrated the entire show for him, "Cue the lightening, cue the rain and bring on the bats."  It was at this moment I disclosed the huge flying forms in the sky where not birds but Sydney's famous Flying Foxes. At first he didn't believe me until about five dipped so low he got a face-to-face with them. I haven't seen R2 move that quick since someone told him there were free shots of tequila being offered at the local cantina!  


Yes, I know I have an evil twin but that night, I decided Senor R2 should practise what he preaches to me. So often we are stuck in our comfort zone, unwilling to leave the porch and experience life outside of the familiar rut we often find ourselves in. Since I have met R2, he has challenged me, pushed me and taught me there is a huge world to be discovered if you just take that leap. Every day I leap with some plunges more graceful than others.  Often I fall hard and fast, and it is difficult to not run for the airport and return to the cold and familiar world I know so well. A world that doesn't have bats, spiders, geckos, cockroaches and bizarre smells and foods. We both take this adventure one day at a time.

A view you never tire of in Sydney

That dark and stormy night taught R2 this world is more than uptight hotels and Executive airport lounges. There is more to life than another corporate gig in a city you can't even identify because you go from the airport, to the hotel, to your work. 


R2 now has Layna in Asia directing him to the weird and wacky sites and while I am on a trip of a lifetime he has discovered the same.  "Hang on, it's gonna be a bumpy ride."