My first impression of Australia, having arrived from rainy and windy New Zealand, was that the weather is sunny and warm. My second impression was that the people are the same way. Aussies laugh heartily and are friendly and helpful. It’s one of the few places in the world where Americans aren’t labeled loud and ugly. I guess when your country began as a prison inhabited by convicts, you go pretty easy on people. Australia is the sixth largest country in the world, the world’s largest island, the only island that’s also a continent, and the only continent that’s also a country. And it’s my final continent as I have no ambitions to ever visit Antarctica.
Steve and I are staying in a budget hotel which is an old heritage-listed house near the Rocks area of Sydney. The Prime Minister’s house is nearby. Apparently Mr. Rudd, the PM, likes to take walks in the area. We are near the pylons of the Harbour Bridge and have a great view of the Opera House from our balcony. Today we took the ferry to Taronga Park Zoo to see some uniquely Australian animals. What a wild sense of humor and unbridled imagination God displayed when He created the koala, kangaroo and wallaby, platypus, wombat, tasmanian devil, and emu. Some of the deadliest animals on the planet are native to Australia, including the ten most lethal snakes.
For Easter, we’ll go to an Anglican sunrise service under the Harbour Bridge with free hot cross buns and coffee (flat white and short black). I hope you have a joyous Easter celebrating the Risen Christ!