Since I Left You

-Kayaked out to sea in search of turtles and dolphins (burned the tops of my feet, natch).

-Watched cattle, cowboys and carnies at a county fair

-Ate pork belly with nectarine and endives

-Thwarted jellyfish with a beach sand bullwark

-Enjoyed meals of roast chicken, sausages and salad at home

-Survived an influx of "schoolies" in town for spring break

-Enjoyed the beach air while Sydney raged with so-called "cataclysmic" heat (40 degrees C., about 102 or so, or what Z's tempurature ran for a week until she was back to her usual self); down to 20 degrees for our return

On Street Food

In Chicago, not the least cosmopolitan city on earth, you generally see the same fried/greasy offerings from street fair to street fair: pizza, hot dogs, BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, maybe the occasional chicken on a stick or kebab variant. Italian, Greek, American. In Sydney I imagine the offerings are equally consistent, but from my perspective more exotic: Turkish breads, paella, dumplings, Indian, Thai, fresh juices, trucks serving home made ice cream. It's hard to so no when so much looks so good, just as it's hard to say no to a cup of coffee when standard drip is just about the only thing not on the menu of every corner shop.

Australia Day One

Or is it day three? We left on Thursday and now it's Sunday. Time flies when you fly faster than time.

Right now we're in Maroubra, on the beach, outside Sydney, listening to giggling kids and squawking birds. We can see the ocean from the kitchen and we're woken up by the sunrise and cool morning air. Today we head to Bondai for a sculpture fair and, hopefully, a nice mug of one of Australia's famously complicated (to my mind) combos of coffee and steamed milk (flat white, long black, etc.).

Z., fighting a cold when we left, had a bit of a fever last night, which, following a fit, made her pass out pretty early last night, a good thing. Sure, she missed dinner, but she also caught up on sleep, as did we all.