vive brisvegas!

today was an exciting day. i woke up at 6am (again), took a 4 min shower, got a cup of coffee, and went for a 40 min walk into the glitzy city of brisvegas. it's not really glitzy...but it is the nickname around here.

they have the best toilets here. they have two buttons - a half flush and a full flush. perfect for people like me who pee all the time and feel guilty about wasting water. and they are having serious drought problems and everyone is on water restrictions so people are a lot more conscious here. so i got in the shower this morning - and as i got in i noticed the little 4 minute timer - a test! i did successfully shower in 4 minutes and while this is novelty to me - it is a standard for everyone here. makes me feel a bit guilty.

yesterday my flight was cancelled and virgin blue called me and asked me which flight i wanted to be put on - how nice. i did make it on time to the earlier flight. larry met me at the ferry and we went to his house in west end where i met gus the bull dog (my new best friend). we chatted and cut veggies and he made ice cream with this weird indian spice - currumbin i think - i'll get back to you - YEP I WAS WRONG IT WAS GALANGAL AND TUMERIC (it turned out quite nice - but it DYED my toothbrush yellow when i brushed my teeth (even though i had consumed several g&ts and tea afterwards and it was hours later)). then dave came home and larry and dave started preparing for the dinner party that incidentally i was invited to. we ate good food, talked, and played boggle. they are boggle fiends with three times as many words as me... but i did get good words so i ended up with a fair amount of points.

anyhoo. this morning's adventure was off to the lone pine koala santuary - the oldest and biggest koala santuary. it was a little small but they had quality exhibits and tons! of koalas.. boys, girls,, moms, babies. koalas sleep ALOT. like 18-20 hours a day because eukalyptus leaves are soooo low in carbs that they actually dont get enough energy from them to do anything but move around for a bit more food. as a result they dont poop much either. and euk leaves are 50% water so koalas dont have to come down to drink. i learned how to tell boys from girls when i got my photo taken with specs a male koala. males have a yellow orangish spot on their chest from rubbing it on the euk trees. they do this for the smell and to attract the ladies. the bigger and brighter the spot - the more attractive the male.

i also fed some kangaroos which for some reason i thought was going to be difficult. nope. put the food in your hand and put your hand near their face and they eat it. i took some funny pictures of myself feeding the kangaroos that i will try to post here later. and i shared my food with some other adults who were wistfully staring at the families and kids - good karma for me. the funniest thing was seeing the moms with the babies - the tails and the feet hang out - which means they must be in their head first. weird.

pictures from this totally touristy yet totally awesome experience can be seen here (sorry kelley these aussie connections arent giving me all the blogger buttons - and i cant spell check either)

then i headed back to city to get my arts on and went to the natural history museum, the museum of art, and the gallery of modern art. please give me some paint, balloons, and canvas and i will be famous and renouned.

those of you following me on a map - beware - i am about to jump!