Sydney man bitten five times by a Death Adder….

This was the opening story on Friday’s news. Apparently, some bloke picked up a Death Adder (number 9 on the worlds most deadly snakes listing) in a park just north of Sydney on Friday. The victim reportedly stated that he “thought it was a lizard”. It bit him five times. This 47 year old man went into cardiac arrest before the paramedics arrived to revive and cart him away for multiple ampoules of antivenin.

Jim’s comment: “After that “lizard” bit me the first three times, I would have taken it out of my pocket!” The reporters certainly didn’t seem to think this “misfortune” was any particular tragedy for the world at large….To directly quote the TV reporter, “What the h%$# was he thinking?”

In related news, did you know that Australia has the highest number of Olympic medal winners as a percentage of the population? It is a newly formed York theory that this caused by two factors:

First, the need to be able to react quickly and run swiftly from the many things that want to eat or harm the average Australian.

Second, a Darwinian removal of the slow, clumsy, and generally less than bright members of the population. (Hmmm…I wonder if that 47 year old Sydney man had children yet…)

Our conclusion: If you are not a reasonably intelligent, Olympic-class athlete, then your chances of reaching adulthood in Australia are somewhat diminished.

Sydney at last!

We were to meet Ron Smart (our friend Julie’s dad) at his sailboat at noon on Saturday so we had a leisurely three hour drive from Canberra to Sydney. Jim only went the wrong way on the street one time on this trip!

Lara’s Comment: It is still startling to take a glance at what I think should be the driver of the other car only to see that person completely asleep or clipping their toenails or taking a full two arm over the head stretch. I gasp, choke back my own scream then realize, “Oh Yeah; it’s the other person in the front seat who is the driver!” It’s been four weeks and I am still caught off guard at least once a weekend. It is for this reason that Jim is doing the driving!

The weather had taken a dramatic shift and it was 100°F in Sydney! We changed from gloves and a jacket to shorts for the first time in weeks. When we found Ron at the marina, his first words were, “You must be Jim and Lara. You walk like Americans!” We never found out what that meant exactly because we were immediately captivated by this interesting man. He has been active in the world of music for many years (in this case “world of music” literally means music in all corners of the world). He is full of fascinating stories of his travels and concerts.

A friend of Ron’s (Neils) joined us. He is an architect with an impressive sailing resume. We set sail from a mooring on “Fire N’ Ice”, Ron’s 24’ sailboat into THE Sydney Harbor. When we came out of the marina and saw the Harbor open up before us with the Opera House, the Harbor Bridge and the hundreds of colorful sailboats, we looked at each other and grinned. Lara exclaimed, “Can you believe where we are at this moment and what we are doing? This is so cool.”

The winds were a bit fluky so we had to tack back and forth to make it to the “Heads” (the entrance to the harbor).

Literally hundreds of sailboats from various clubs were racing amongst the hundreds of other boats just out having a nice afternoon. Jim was impressed with the politeness of that many people in close quarters. Sailors tended to give way with a polite wave and a hearty “No worries!”

Ron and Neils were excellent tour guides with a running commentary on the history of Sydney and the Harbor. Ron graciously allowed Jim to man the helm for much of the trip out. This sailing trip was a highlight of our trip to Sydney.

That afternoon, we had tea and biscuits at Ron’s cool, three storied Sydney home. These harbor-side neighborhoods have their houses perched precariously on the hillsides - reminiscent of San Francisco.

Ron and Neils directed us to an excellent Thai restaurant (We could tell it was excellent because the name of the restaurant was “Thai Excellence” – truth in advertising!). Ron told us to “Just ask for the foil wrapped seafood. It’s not on the menu but they’ll know what you mean.” This was another in an unbroken string of wonderful Australian dining experiences.

Headscratcher of the Day – When discussing urban renewal over tea with Neils and Ron (what better way to spend an afternoon?), we all agreed that well planned urban renewal can be wonderfully revitalizing to a city. At that point, Neils mentioned that “When it’s done meanly, it can be dreadful.” It took us a minute to figure out that “meanly” didn’t imply malicious intent. In that context, it suggests a careless, penny-pinching approach. Not a lot to argue with there…