Then Saturday, I went back to Avoca Beach which was very nice. I will post some pictures and video on Flickr. It is a really gorgeous area there. There were a pod of dolphins but don't worry I was too interested to fuss with the camera...I know, right? Anyway, it is nice to go there because it is dog friendly which is rather rare here and I miss Debbie. Not too much surfing going on as the waves were quite high. I spent quite some time there actually. I think I could almost get into the whole beach life scene but then there is a part that it is hot, sand is everywhere, and people expect you to actually go swimming in a swimsuit....hahaha. It is a neat way of life though.
Sunday was the big day. Monika (girl from Poland) had contacted me about going to see some wild kangaroos at Morisset Park (actually the grounds of a mental institution, just a random fyi). I was a little (a whole lot) skeptical about this but I figured I had time to go on a wild kangaroo chase:D And then I found out that she was bringing some other people and I really wanted to back out but I decided to go anyway. So I arrived to meet Monika, Brian (Brazil), Sebastian (Columbia), and Ellie (Columbia). Sebastian asked if I was from Poland also and Monika replied "She's basically Polish" which I thought was funny and I noticed I no longer say I am from the US or that I am American but rather "I am from America". I don't know why that is. It was a rather long train ride there because we had to sit apart as the train was full but the scenery was nice. So once we got there our tour guide, Brian (he had been there before) took us to Woolies (hahaha I like to say that now, Woolworths) to buy some bananas for the kangaroos. They also eat carrots but prefer bananas. Bread can kill them just an fyi. We also got lunch supplies for us.
We then started the LONG journey to the park. It was HOT and long and HOT and long. But in the meantime I talked a lot with Sebastian and Ellie. Turns out they like Americans...I love when that happens. The other way not so much. So I picked their brains about just about everything I could: strength of their currency to Australia (Australian dollar much stronger), why Australia and not Britain or Canada (easier to get a visa and they can work 20 hours per week instead of 10 and still be students), Visa process (had to interview at the embassy), how much is college there (cheap), what they missed most (food in both their cases), where they wanted to visit in the US (CA and NY) and then a lot of questions about them learning English. I have said a million times that I am in awe of people who learn another language! Oh and of course I had to ask about the river dolphins (yes they are real and pink!). They talked about how they want to return home and that to me it would sound funny because Columbia is in bad shape- high crime, lots of poverty, no good jobs. I said it didnt sound funny at all because home is ALWAYS home. Finally, we arrived!
The first kangaroo was a young one but eager for the banana and for us to take pictures with it:)
L to R: Brian, Monika, Sebastian. Ellie took the photo
We stayed with that one for awhile but there were kangaroos everywhere and we had a lot of bananas! So we looked at a few more on our way to eat. We were starved by then. We had quite the spread actually. We had a humongous Hershey Chocolate Bar for dessert (thank you Andrea) and then we had Columbian coffee candies:) We talked about all sorts of things: Traditional Columbian dress, salt mines in Columbia, Three Musketeers Bar (really popular in Columbia), Lucky charms in Poland, Soccer/football in Brazil, supermarkets here (cannot go to Kmart to buy trash bags must go to Woolies or Coles, and shops close early here), ketchup pumps in Columbia (yay!!!), etc. We then reflected that our picnic reminded of us of travelling with our parents- good ole sandwiches in the car.
Interesting because I have a bad impression of Argentinian men (no basis) that I had translated to all of South America. Not so. Brian wouldn't let me pay for the bananas, gave up his seat and carried the bags. Sebastian held his hand out to help me across this ditch, took tons of pictures of me with the kangaroos with my camera, and also hauled around bags. Ellie misses her dog too so she was good in my book! And they wanted to share EVERYTHING they had. Also, nice that they wanted to include me in group pictures since I didn't know them before today:) So that trip to Peru and Chile is totally still on the books.
After lunch we found some more kangaroos on our way back to the station. We stumbled upon The King who was very muscular. Wow! He was a little scary but I think he was also the biggest fan of our bananas. Very interesting. There were about 20 kangaroos near him so that was cool. Then we started the long, long, long walk back. We were much quieter by this time because we were hot and tired. Thankfully we made it. Walking home was less then fun, I am really over walking for today.
It really was a great day. It reminded me of being in France where I was able to meet people from around the world. It is good to hear about their cultures and I always look forward to their views on America. The kangaroos were a bonus!
I will post pictures and videos tomorrow night. Off to bed for now.
