A Quiet Friday

It is 10 in the evening and almost quiet- I guess the kookaburras take a break at this time. They really can make an astounding amount of noise. The kids are making some noise as they are still wii addicted- today it is smash brothers brawl. However we all take the so-called fitness test in wii sports- actually it is a little skill test where one is marked in ages- the younger the better- Les and Julius are tied for the lead at 26- I am at best 36 or so. Oh well I was never any good at real sports either. Amazingly enough Lian is the boxing champ. She has knocked out Les and is particularly good at destroying the heavy bags.

Evidently- though I did not wake up, we were visited by two possums last night- they climbed all around around and made a lot of noise when on the roof. Or so I have been told.

It was cool today- low 20s and hazy- so no one went in the pool. No doubt when we head north it will warm up and we will roast. I suppose there are worst places to roast than the great barrier reef- Calgary for example. We will go there (to the southern end- the town of 1770) and then go inland a bit for a taste of the outback. My impression is that the outback is simply anywhere inland where there is vitrually nothing. We will probably hit the opal mining area.

The poor king parrots are driven away from the feeder by the rosella- a slightly smaller bird but one who is much more aggressive. The cockatoos drive off both- I suppose cause they are so much larger. However the king parrots are less scared of humans than the others. So I stand out by the feeder so they can have a treat. The second I leave the other birds swoop in.

Some nice things about Oz. So far the people seem much politer. No pushing one's way to the front and immediately apologetic if they seem inadvertently to get in one's way. Though I don't read or hear the news much there seems little talk of crime and the atmosphere just seems much calmer. This of course struck me when I read about three more murders in Calgary. I have seen cops but one does not sort of notice them when driving around or when walking around the downtown. And shopping is not dominated by large all-purpose box stores or by chains. There are flocks of butchers, bakers, fruit and vegetable stores and small speciatly stores for most everything else. I like this a lot.

But traffic is always heavy and I remain unkeen on driving. Perhaps I shall on empty outback roads. After all I don't want to get completely out of practice. Of course I also don't want to return to Canada and go driving down the wrong side of the road.