It's a windy, cloudy Saturday afternoon, so here we are at the internet shop. The morning was beautiful - great cycling - and the park was filled with cyclists, joggers, walkers and horseback riders. We've been informed by the locals that the humidity has finally changed to normal fall weather. Up until today it has been quite humid, but to us that seems normal, since we've never been here this late in the season before. The drier air is much nicer as it doesn't tend to sap the energy!

Yesterday, we decided to stay in Sydney for the entire trip. The apartment where we're staying is so nice, and the price is reasonable enough that we can keep the unit and leave for a couple of nights in the Blue Mts toward the end of our time here. So, if any of you are up for a very spontaneous vacation, we have a second bedroom and bath that are going unused, and you would be welcome here any time between now and April 21st!

We had a great time with Ellen and Walt Hiltner Thursday night. Got together at one of our favorite pubs that does an unbelievable appetizer which we discovered last year. It's a double decker antipasto platter that's a meal in itself - even for an appetite like Tom's! Ellen and Walt have bought a house, and after dinner we got to see it - it is **spectacular**. Situated not too far from their previous residence, it's a three story house with a stellar view of the entire Sydney skyline, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House - truly a world class view. It had been unoccupied for many years and they had to do quite a bit of work to make it livable again. They've done such a nice job, and we're so happy for them.

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day here, so we went out to Coogee Beach to celebrate. There's a bar/brasserie that we like there - it's quite a large place - and for those of you who followed our adventures last year, it's the place where we saw Robbie McEwan (famous Tour de France cyclist and Aussie). It was pretty festive with live Irish music and lots of Aussies sporting their green - the most interesting in the form of gigantic hats with green and white stripes. Think of the Cat in the Hat and you can picture the look. Very fun - the Aussies love any reason to party.

We spent some time this afternoon in the Royal Botanic Gardens, which has a view of the harbor, the bridge and opera house and is home to thousands of fruit bats. During the day, they hang from the trees like large leather purses. It seems like their colony has grown since last year - they are everywhere! The squeaking noises they make can be heard throughout the gardens. At dusk, they fly in formation to another park to feed, then by morning they are back to their original perches. I know lots of people think bats are creepy, but these are so cool and very interesting to watch.

Now, an aside for my knitting friends: I have about 4.5 inches done on the wing shawl. For the light color, I'm using a gradation of 12 colors of Shetland wool, and so I've now switched to the second light color. That was a milestone! It may seem like not much progress in an entire week, but there's not been a lot of knitting time.