Life in the City

September 4th, 2006 Bridgewater Apartments, Brisbane, Australia
Church yesterday (the 3rd) was in Cleveland, around thirty to forty-five minutes away. The church met inside a spacious building which looked like a pavilion with walls. Derek led singing and Rich spoke. His subject was making Jesus the priority of our faith. I visited with some of the members before we drove to Fasta Pasta for lunch. The lasagna was pretty much amazing. And it was huge. As we ate, Dr. Byram and I talked about traveling and about his trip thirty years ago to the monasteries of Mt. Athos in northeastern Greece. It sounded like a great summer trip in the future.
After we arrived back at the apartments, we left almost immediately, walking down to a pier to catch a ride to the other side of the river. It was time to shop for food. Only three of the six guys in the suite went, so it was difficult to find everything we needed. Initially we were going to do a group thing, where we each contributed a certain amount of money. However, several people were only concerned with their personal needs, so we have decided to scratch that in the future. I realized during our excursion that I’m pretty horrible at shopping. My mom shops and cooks usually when I’m at home and when I’m at school, I buy Fruit Loops and milk and that’s pretty much it. I think I’ll be good for about a week, and then I’ll just make sure I plan my trip when a few girls are going and copy whatever they’re doing.
Hanging out in the suite is good. I did more laundry and we just kind of spent time settling in. I went outside and sat near the water for awhile, reading for one of the upcoming classes. The rest of the evening was spent watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Raiders of the Lost Ark. It doesn’t get much better than that. The latter is pretty much the greatest action movie of all time. I spent some time reading for Australian Civilization before turning in for the night.

This morning we met on the bus at 9. The day would be spent touring the city of Brisbane. Colin (a shorty, sturdy, white-bearded Aussie who has been our driver since we arrived in the country) drove us around, pointing out buildings and sites of interest, such as the Botanical Gardens, Parliament House, St. Stephens Cathedral, Old Customs House, and Chinatown. We stopped for a time on the banks of the Brisbane River, which had originally been built for the 1988 World Expo. We had a long period of time to walk around, which actually began to drag.
The highlight of the day was the visit to Lone Pine, the home of a koala sanctuary. We sat in on a presentation, explaining some about these animals and the extreme need to protect them. This facility houses over one hundred and thirty of them. Short wooden fences separated us from the eucalyptus trees, in which the koalas slept and ate at very close distances to us. Lunch was a Bar-B-Q (which translates to a cookout) at the sanctuary. Iguanas and other types of lizards roamed freely around the tables. Katie, Darren, Heidi, Derek, Felicity, and I walked around together. A small room contained the reptiles, and it was filled with lizards, frogs, and snakes. The eastern brown snake was pretty intimidating. It is the most deadly land snake in the world, and is ten times more venomous than the one in second. It contains enough poison to kill fifty head of cattle. I was thankful for the glass that separated me from it.
A large field dotted with trees was set apart for kangaroos. Dozens of them were hopping and lying around. We were able to walk right up to them and pet them. They are pretty amazing animals. They, along with emus, are the only creatures that can’t walk backwards. I’m sure the first European explorers to walk these lands were pretty shocked by these unusual marsupials. I must say I thought they were pretty cool.
A sign pointed to crocodiles, so I eagerly followed. There were only three in the cage, and they were small. Oh well. We’ll we going to the Australia Zoo in a week or two and can see the famous crocodile show there. I ended up walking with the Littles for awhile, hauling William around on my shoulders and looking at the horses and sheepdogs and hawks. As we walked around, we began hearing a distressing rumor: Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, had died a few hours earlier. This has since been confirmed. This evening we watched the story on the news. He died at around 11 while filming a documentary off the east coast of Australia. He and a cameraman were swimming with stingrays (which can grow to enormous sizes) when Irwin was stung through the chest, supposedly instantaneously killing him. It was said that his wife did not know for some time because she was out hiking. It was truly tragic news. The news reported him as an ardent environmentalist and, more importantly, a devout family man. His daughter is seven or eight and his son is two. He is considered an Australian icon and his death is being compared to Princess Diana’s. It was incredibly shocking and very sad. The gates of the Australian Zoo were reportedly being lined with flowers to honor this brave Aussie.
The last stop of the day was Mt. Coot-tha, which gave a wonderful view of the city of Brisbane and the river. As we drove back, over half the group got off to do more shopping. I had things to do, so I opted to return to the apartments. I went running along the river. I ran around four miles. It felt pretty good.
Tomorrow, classes begin at 7:30 and continue until 5:30, with occasional breaks. Because we get done with classes in mid-October, we have to pack as much class-time into a day as possible. I’ve had reading to do for classes and I need to prepare for chapel, because I have been assigned to speak. I wish I had been told more than an afternoon beforehand, but I should be able to come up with something.
The next few weeks will contain a fair amount of work. It really shouldn’t be too difficult, and besides, I’ll be doing it in Australia.