The Outback is on the other side...

Well as promised here are the pictures of my day trip to the Blue Mountains. Technically speaking the Outback is on the other side of the Blue Mountains (Continental Divide) so I have seen the Outback but haven't been there. There sure are some curious animals down under. I definitely think the wildlife park was the most interesting part of the trip, as you can see that is where 9 of my 12 pictures are from. We got to hand feed the Kangaroos and Wallabies. We were allowed to pet but not hold the Koalas. The only souvenirs I took with me were my pictures because the only thing I would have bought was a shirt that said "The Dingo ate my baby!" but apparently they don't think that's very funny here.

There was plenty of beautiful scenery and I got to play a diggery do. We were in a small group of about 15 people and had a great tour guide, he told us about the teachings instead of the legends. The legends are for white men and the teachings are real. For example the legend of the 3 Sisters is that a witch doctor turned them into stone (boring). The teaching is that a medicine man sat his 3 daughters down near a water-well while he went into the bush to hunt. He warned them about throwing stones into the water well or a monster would come out to get them. Of course being young they didn't heed the warning and threw a stone into the water-well and the monster came out to get them. To protect his daughters the medicine man waved his medicine bone and changed them into stone. The monster then turned on the medicine man who turned himself into a Lyre bird. By doing so he lost his ability to hold his medicine bone and was stuck as a bird while his daughters remained stone. The lesson is if you put too many stones in the water-well there won't be any room for water. The other lesson is to listen to those who love you because they care.

Warning here comes my ethnocentricity. As much as I was impressed by the scenery I have seen the Rocky Mountains and the Grand Canyon. Need I say more?

Well tomorrow I leave the Glenferrie Lodge here in Kirribilli and head over to the sexual chocolate of youth hostels in Bondi Beach. I look forward to meeting the rest of the people in the program and getting classes underway. Today I received an email from my dad informing me that my financial aid check finally arrived (nice of them to send it a week after I left). So no worries I won't be a bum on the streets of Sydney. Although I have been told that the majority of illegal immigrants here are from the US and UK. Don't worry I am coming back soon enough...


A Koala (not a bear)


Ask Dmitri where my hand is...


A Kangaroo chillin' in the sun


Wallabies are like mini Kangaroos


An Emu hanging out with Wallabies


This little furball is a Wombat


A Blue Penguin


Kissing Parrots


Not sure what this bird is called but it sure is colorful


Three Sisters


Three Sisters in the foreground


It's faint but there is a rainbow here