So Overdue that Late Charges May Apply

My apologies for being MIA for so long.  The semester has been hitting me pretty hard for the past few weeks and is likely to continue to do so for a while yet.  Nevertheless, I am going to attempt to catch you up bit by bit on the goings-on Down Under.

The Blue Mountains and the Jenolan Caves are amazingly gorgeous.  It was a pretty long drive up to Katoomba and we stopped on the way at Featherdale Wildlife Park.  Featherdale was fun, but I am a little ambivalent about it because it’s pretty much a petting zoo for kangaroos and koalas.  I just feel bad that the animals are under almost perpetual harassment from the visitors, although there are several barn-like retreats where they can go to get away from people, which makes it a little better.  And, it gave me the opportunity to see my first koalas, my first cassowary, and to hold a swamp wallaby joey.

Sooo cute! And the wallaby's not bad either.

I also took some awesome photos of their saltwater crocodile, which was huge.

Gorgeous!

When we made it to the Blue Mountains we went on a few Bush Walks, which had great look-out points to a rock formation called the Three Sisters, as well as many waterfalls.  We took a few pictures from a boulder at the edge of one of the lookouts and while I may look like this:

I really felt like this:

By the end of the hikes I was glad that I had worn my good boots, especially since at one point I was up to my ankle in mud.  Possibly the most memorable part of the blue mountains, however, was riding on the world’s steepest funicular train.  It took us almost vertically up the mountain but the best part was that as soon as it started moving, the theme song from Indiana Jones started to play.  There’s nothing better than enjoying semi-dangerous wilderness experiences while listening to John William’s themes … ok, maybe there are some things better than that, but not many.

When we got back to Katoomba we had dinner at a pricey but delicious Greek restaurant, where I discovered the previously unknown phenomenon of Saganaki Feta.  Apparently when it’s made with Feta, they don’t light it on fire and shout “Opa!,” but the added taste sensation of the cheese being feta more than made up for this mild disappointment.  After dinner we stopped at the grocery store and picked up some items to make dessert with at the YHA Hostel where we were spending the night.

Everybody loves a good hostel

It ended up being a fairly elaborate affair that started with tasty frozen yogurt and berries and ended with a game of Charades with clues such as “Be a Candle,” “Be a Child who is Sad because his Ice Cream Just Fell on the Ground,” and the most challenging “Be Courtney (no pointing),” which was made more difficult by the fact that Courtney herself received this one.  Apparently, she is not very good at acting like herself.

The next morning we went to the Jenolan Caves, which was about another hour, hour and a half drive.  It was lucky that we chose to do the caves on Sunday because that was when the weather broke and we got to be inside for most of the rain.  I have to admit that when we first began our cave tour (for the cave called Temple of Baal) I thought it was going to be pretty lame because the guide started by showing us some not-very-thrilling tiny little formations.

Look closely, can you see Cinderella's Slipper?

As it turned out, he was just easing us in.  The tour became exponentially better when we got into the next cavern and there was a music and lights show.  Normally I am not a fan of artificial light shows in natural settings but as soon as I realized that the music was an orchestrated version of “Who Wants to Live Forever” by Queen (yes, it’s from the soundtrack to the movie “Highlander,” and yes, I wanted nothing more than for Kari Patch to be there at the instant I recognized it) I was all in favor and could not stop giggling to myself.  In fact, the guide even said at the end that he had been told it was a version of a Queen song but he didn’t know if it was true…I was able to educate him a bit on the awesomeness of the album “A Kind of Magic.”  I don’t think he was as thrilled with this knowledge as I was.  Anywho, the last chamber was really impressive, with many large formations.  My favorite of which was the Angel’s Wing, a long wavy sheet that, when properly lit, does look remarkably wing-like.

After we finished with this cave we went into the self-guided caverns.  The part of these that impressed me the most was the presence of Stromatolites, which are usually only associated with bodies of water I think.  Apparently the darkness of the cave and it’s humidity allows the cyanobacteria to exist, even without the presence of a larger water source.  Science = Cool.

The drive back was pretty long. Our radio wasn’t working for part of it either, which led me to play my iPod earbuds at full blast, which sort of allowed us to all hear the music if I draped one earbud over each shoulder from the front seat.  Also, we managed to get a photo that I had really been hoping for:

Hitting one of these will seriously mess up your car.

The following Thursday was another triumphant night at karaoke, with Hugh and I winning another $25 gift card after our rendition of “Under the Bridge” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I have to say I was probably prouder of Kieran and my version of “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” but it was all fun.

On Friday I went back out to Taronga Zoo to observe the tuataras feeding for the first time. I couldn’t start my actual research yet as the A/C unit in their enclosure spontaneously broke, so their behavior was not super demonstrative of what it would be in their natural, colder, environment. Still, the warmth made them pretty active and fun to watch as they tried to chase down the crickets that we were throwing in. Each animal has a unique coloration and they seem to all behave a little differently.

That evening was the James Bond themed Cocktail party at IH. I will admit I planned ahead in my typical, used to work in a high school theatre department so I know a little about costuming and tend to be over-dramatic, fashion. I had been planning to dye my hair for a while, so I decided to do it right after dinner but before the party and, without really planning it, the color turned out the same as that of my evening dress. As a final touch, I had designed a way to strap a plastic knife to my leg, in a pseudo-emulation of the dagger strapped to a bikini look that has now been portrayed in 2 Bond flicks.

Yes...I am dangerous

Now, I basically did all of this in order to make my friends laugh (which they did), not realizing that there would be a best dressed competition which I would subsequently win. As a result I have a $30 gift card to use at Tar-get Boutique.

After the party we headed to a dance club which plays a lot of re-mixes of classic 80’s songs. It was pretty fantastic.

On Saturday I spent pretty much the whole day out, heading to the beach with my friend Tom in the morning, and then going rock climbing at an indoor gym after lunch (which led to about a week of sore arms and shoulders, but that didn’t stop me from going back the next week). In the evening we went out for a friend’s birthday at a club that was a little over-priced, but still fun.

Well…this post hasn’t really gotten American Lizard up to date, but it’s a start.  Next time we’ll be discussing IH Talent Night (turns out I can sing), and maybe, just maybe, my uncanny ability to design Halloween costumes that make me look very much like a man.

Awesome.