WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE DINGOES HAVE GONE BREEDING?!?!? I WANT DINGOES!!!

Well, I went to bed pretty late last night (2:30 AM approx) so I woke up later than usual (10:30 AM approx). I made my customary toast, and was startled midway through buttering it by a muffled growling noise, which turned out to be Jono waking up on the couch. Apparently he fell asleep there after saying goodbye to Sara (she left for Fiji today). I finished breakfast and decided to go for a run while Jono did some odd jobs on the computer.

The air outside was cool, so it hurt a bit, but it was moist enough that I didn't want to die. The surrounding area is very hillish, so it was quite a workout. I also got somewhat lost for a while, but Banool turned out to be relatively easy to find. I was also stopped by an older woman who asked me for directions to a shopping centre. I had to explain to her that I was, unfortunately, from quite a long ways away, and she laughed and said it was fine.

I ran back and showered quickly, and as I was dressing Jono told me that for today (instead of bike riding) we would be going to the ZOO!!!!! HOORAH!!! (I like zoos that aren't in Cleveland, just to explain why I sound excited).

Taronga zoo was amaaaazing. They have a fantastic view of the harbor from the aviary theatre, and all the animals have a lot of space to move around and great habitats. It's all very realistic and roomy. If I was going to be an animal locked into a relatively small space, I'd want to be at the Taronga zoo. Actually, no, I'd want to be at the Taronga Zoo Western Plains, which is about a six hour drive away from where we were, and it's a giant plain filled with uncaged animals, and you drive about in your car and look at them. It's like a little african safari. Very cute.

We saw tons of animals that they don't have in the Cleveland zoo, and I took lots of pictures of many of them. You can see them all on facebook, if you're curious about them. Half the photos are from Jono's camera because my camera ran out of battery halfway through.

I chased a peacock around for a while, and almost pet it but it escaped my grasp. I also almost got to pet a kangaroo but he hopped away. :( We saw some really cool snakes, lizards, turtles, and frogs. I'm mentioning this separately because I usually don't like reptiles, at least not in exhibits. But these guys were really cool. My favorite part of the exhibit was the part with all the penguins and seals and fish and other watery things. The only disappointing thing was that I saw literally no polar bears. They just didn't have them. It was tragic.

After the zoo, we went up to see a drive-by of Manly Beach, which was SO manly. The masculinity was so thick in the air that you could taste it. I'm just kidding, though; it really wasn't that spectacularly male. It was sunset, though, so it was really pretty. We also took a drive to North Head, which had a kangaroo crossing and "Look Out for Bandicoots!" signs along the road. The bandicoot one was surprising. The view was great, but sun was setting and we had to get back so that we could go to dinner.

We went out to Mrs. Ward's parents' house for her father's 75th birthday party. Her sister and brother-in-law came as well, toting along their daughters Lucy (3) and Hannah (18 mo.). Lucy was so adorable and polite and eccentric. Hanna was just beginning to take some first steps, and she was very cheerful, and had huge baby cheeks. She grabbed my hand once and she was very cute. Lucy and I played a game where we pretended to scare each other for about ten minutes. It was totally frightening, except not really, and I kind of wanted to walk away but I would have felt mean because she's such a genuine and sweet little girl.

Mrs. Ward's parents come from England. Her father recently got new hearing aids, and they've helped him spectacularly. I love the way he speaks, as I think I might have mentioned previously, but tonight I got a much bigger sample of it, and it's just really refreshing. He phrases everything so carefully and nicely and warmly, with a great English accent and everything. Her mother had a nice long conversation with me about school and life and aviation (she wanted to be a stewardess but was too tall). The whole family was great. Her sister (Amanda) was a little stressed because of having to get two small children out of the house, but she was still very nice and asked good questions and everything. Amanda's husband was great. He's very funny and loud and lively. We all talked about Obama and America and my horrible flight over here, and for a while we talked about accents, and I was told that my American accent isn't at all annoying, and that for an Ohio accent it's rather "deep." Which I'm guessing is a good? thing.

Dinner was mostly little snackies but they were very tasty and I enjoyed it all immensely. I tried spiced pear sauce with brie and crackers, and we had little italian towers consisting of tomato, basil, and not-mozarella (they don't have fresh mozarella in Australia so they just use a different type of cheese whose name I can't remember). There were little spinach puffs, and chicken wings covered in sauce that got all over everything, and tiny sausage slices. At the end of the meal we sang happy birthday and got chocolate cake.

We left and went to pick up Becky from bible study, and then went back home where I uploaded pictures and watched Princess Diaries for a bit.

I think my evening is mostly over. Jono just got home and apparently he's got Hornsby Gang Show all day tomorrow, so I think the family is going to take me to Wollongong, to Illawarra Fly. We're saving the bike ride to Homebush and the Olympic Park for the same day that he and I go to the top of Centrepoint. SO MANY THINGS TO DO HERE!

I'll catch up with you guys again later.

Love,

Janet

P.S. SOMEONE PLEASE FEED PIRATE!!! I FORGOT TO GIVE HIM FOOD BEFORE I LEFT AND I REMEMBERED AT THE ZOO TODAY WHILE LOOKING AT MICE!!!

Thanks!!