A typical day in Manly

Greetings from Australia. Things are good here. Despite no permanent house we are starting to feel settled. Nate doesn't start school until Jan - I am working on finding him some activities/ classes so we both don't go crazy. In the meantime we've been enjoying the beautiful weather and exploring Manly. We spend a lot of time on the Corso - a pedestrian only wide street with shops and fountains (if you know Miami think Lincoln Road), the beach, and at Ocean World. Nate and Reese love playing and running through the fountains at the corso- we often return home (only a block away) soaking wet. The water frolicking typically occurs in swim trunks but has also taken place fully dressed and in a spidey costume. You can guess the odd looks (and envious looks from other kids) we get. Why not- it is all good fun.

Yesterday we went to OceanWorld (we go so often I think they are starting to recognize us). We sat through the "Dangerous Australian Animal Show". There are so many deadly animals to choose from but they kept it to an hour review. We are talking about a country that celebrates their countdown of "the most deadly snake" like we do Letterman's daily top 10. They passed around the chart topper -"fierce snake". While it was in a cage I didn't feel that safe- the cage was a thin plastic thing you would buy at a toy store for your kid's ant farm. This little guy (who looks a bland, non-threatening sand color) in one bit has enough poisonous venom to kill you 36 times over. A bit excessive no? They say that no one has died from the fierce- to which Michael sarcastically replied - how do we know- there might be lot of undiscovered dead bodies in the dessert. After being scared out of my wits by the fierce we were passed the funnel web spider- a local critter found in Sydney in garages, backyards, etc. I quickly lost any interested in becoming a local gardener. The big finale was when they brought around a baby crocodile for everyone to pet. Obviously there is a different standard for lawsuits and zoo liability than in the US- I can't imagine the Seattle zoo passing these deadly guys around to small children. Check out our crocodile hunter :)