Blue Mountains - Mar 6

Summary: Alex's hot night, Blue Mountains, popular streakers

Last night did not end especially well. Alex has had a fever apparently from his teeth coming in, that is also why he has been a bit edgier lately. Last night he was sick in the graphic sense (no photos on that). He also had a rather high fever. We took care of the fever, he went to sleep, and I was planning to take him to the doctor this morning. He woke up happy and cheerful (and cooler). We did laundry, watched some TV, bought some groceries, and took it very slow this morning. He seemed fine, so we headed up to the Blue Mountains.

The Blue Mountains take their name from the blue haze that comes off the eucalyptus trees - a few of those photos attest to it. The most famous natural feature in the Blue Mountains is the Three Sisters - which appear several times in these photos. There is also a photo of Alex in front of a bronze naked woman - a rendering of one of the three sisters (I would have chosen a different one, but Alex picked this one). We took a skyway/ cable line down to the forest, walked around on a boardwalk for about half an hour, and took a nearly vertical "train" back. One photo of Alex, you can see a blur behind him that indicated the slope of the ascent. On the cable line, I was presented with different senses of space - there was a whole tour group of older Koreans. They were polite, smiling, waving at Alex, but were clearly comfortable crushing to the front of the cable car. Just a difference - no judgements here, but I wanted space once I got out onto the forest boardwalk. Also, there are beautiful waterfalls at Wentworth Falls. The photos tell most of the story here, but I can add that Alex was back on his game today. We walked down to a lookout and he did well, aside from trying to climb out onto the ledge a few times (unsuccessfully, let me add).

I left out one interesting bit of news - a little news, a little sport. A streaker ran onto the field during a cricket match a couple days ago up in Brisbane. One of the cricket players just leveled him and there was concern that the player would get into trouble. The player was not suspended and the streaker was asked if he would pursue legal issues. He used an Australian turn of phrase to colorfully say (in effect) "Of course not, you blooming idiot reporter". This has endeared him to every reporter who didn't ask the question. The fact that he was not a model for the Michelin man but was in fact quite fit and well-endowed has also made him a topic of conversation. He drank too much and showed his wares to all the ladies of Brisbane (and anyone watching on TV or YouTube) and was smart enough not to sue the player who tackled him. For the price of a $1500 fine and no criminal record, this guy may never have to buy another drink the rest of his life (that could be a bad thing, but I expect his social life will pick up).

Alex had a blast with the kids tonight as his energy was back on full and Mikaela made sushi, so I was pretty happy too!

Next: back in Sydney, hitting Bondi