Mum and Dad come to Australia

My parents came to visit a few days after the Police gig, via Hong Kong. Elissa and I managed to find them at the airport and I drove them home, via Maroubra where we walked a little way along the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day. Since then, it has rained everyhwere they've gone in Australia. With the exception of the Great Barrier Reef, where we were all sunburnt from laying face-down for 5 hours, looking at fish.

We've been round Sydney, seen the bridge and the Opra House, Mrs Macquarie's Chair, Fort Denison and the Botanical Gardens, Chinatown and Central Station, walked on Bondi Beach, had Fish and Chips in Watson's Bay, seen kangaroos, kookaburras, fruit bats, cockatoos, lorrakeets, a wombat and a wallaby. We've visited the Hunter Valley, and tasted wine and beer, unusually. We've seen the Blue Mountains and the Jenolan Caves in a single day. And we had dinner with Elissa's family. And we've spent a week in Cairns, seeing Kuranda, the reef, the rainforest, the Daintree river and Cape Tribulation. In amongst that, they've been to the Great Ocean Road, Canberra and Melbourne, Phillip Island and other bits of rural Victoria and New South Wales. And now they're touring the Red Centre, seeing Kings Canyon, Uluru, the Olgas, Alice Springs. Then they go to Perth, and see Wave Rock, Fremantle, maybe Rottnest Island. And then I meet them in Singapore, in the Long Bar of Raffles for a Singapore Sling. Apparently they taste like toothpaste.

Being away from home has had lots of ups, most, but not all of which, I write about here. It's had a few downs though, and having my parents here helped alleviate those. They helped me feel like I was at home again. So I'm very grateful to them for coming all this way.

Anyway, here's some photos from the last couple of weeks.


And here's some more, specifically from the reef:

Redback! Redback! Redback is where it don't belong!

Last night Elissa spotted a spider in the doorway of our building. It was a redback. Redbacks are the proud owners of the most potent venom in Australia (against some pretty serious competition - Australia contains 14 of the worlds 15 most venomous snakes). They strongly resemble, but are not, Black Widow Spiders. The three species of Black Widow are found in North America, and are a shade more potent still. Generally Redback bites do not end in fatality, though they're pretty nasty as bites go. We gave it a wide berth.

The Police at Telstra Stadium

I also saw The Police at Telstra Stadium. Ever since a French girl gave me a tape of her father's Police Greatest Hits in 1994, I've been hoping there would be an opportunity to see them. I know this isn't particularly cool, but I don't care. There's something about Andy Summers' guitar riffs, and something about these three guys in combination, that just never gets boring for me. Waiting 14 years for something is bound to end in disappointment, a buildup that long leaves a lot for anyone to live up to. They did it, for me. Sting succeeded where Daniel Johns failed, by shutting up for most of the gig. And they just played the songs we came to hear.

Oh, and Fergie played beforehand.