We had no special agenda today. We had a leisurely breakfast and then decided to walk over to the Museum of Australia, which is a museum with exhibits about stuff-that-can-kill-you. It was a toss up between that and an art museum. Which would you have chosen?
Today’s weather was again stunning, and the walk over to the museum was cool but sunny. We walked along the edge of the park, which was quite scenic. We had actually been to the museum on our first trip to Sydney. Many of the exhibits were unchanged (see below) but there was a new exhibit on Indigenous Australian culture.
The Aboriginal exhibit was neat, but I got fed up with it when we reached the section on missionaries and we skipped ahead to the stuff-that-can-kill-you section.
Lesson learned: Never go swimming in Australia. Anywhere. Period.
Basically, in Australia if it doesn’t bite, it stings, and will inject you with enough nerve toxin to kill 200 mice, and kill you in anywhere from 4 minutes to 24 hours. We’re talking jelly fish, blue-ring octopus, spiders, snakes... even the shells aren’t safe! These pretty little conical shells with cool patterns are called “Stinging Shells” and they’ll do just that. Sting you. Causing necrosis of the tissue, nerve damage, and muscle weakness.
Fun place, Australia.
But really, it actually is. Once you get past the stuff-that-can-kill-you section, where else can you find such wonderful wildlife? From penguins to sugar gliders smaller than your thumb to giant kangaroos, Australia has them all. And the macrofauna that existed here until about 20,000 years ago is wild! Giant marsupials! A giant marsupial “lion” with razor sharp teeth had to have been the ultimate predator. But the giant wombat was the cutest.
They had a really nice dinosaur collection, as well as an exhibit all about birds of paradise and their wacky mating behaviors/plumage (which actually parallel human mating rituals when you get right down to it...). Dad got a kick out of the geology exhibit. They had some really nice specimens.
Neither of us were particularly hungry for lunch (especially since we had dinner reservations that night). We started walking back towards the hotel keeping an eye out for something snack like. Nothing caught our fancy, but I am embarrassed to report our joking about going to McDonald’s turned into a real suggestion from Dad that we go there (I am not taking responsibility for this!).
So that’s what we did. We ordered things that are not on the American menu, but consistency is McDonald’s game and they are good at it. The Australian McDonald’s suffered from the same inefficiency problem all US McDonald’s have, they were also guaranteed to get at least part of your order wrong. Isn’t it comforting that you can get the same poor service no matter what continent you’re on...
Dad had a “Grand Angus” burger, which came on a square “sourdough” bun, with hunks of lettuce, onion, tomato, and mayo. I got a “Grand Chicken” sandwich, with crispy chicken, the same bun, lettuce, onion, onion relish (which I admit was pretty good), and mayo (this is the part they got wrong - I said no mayo, it seemed like I got extra).
The most unique thing was actually the fries. For a “limited time only!” McDonald’s is offering something called “Shaker Fries”, which is basically a bag for you to dump your fries in and a package of seasoning to shake them up with. The seasoning was pretty good (I thought it tasted like day-glow-cheese-food was a key ingredient, Dad thought it was more like original shake-and-bake). Fries in Australia seemed to be saltier in general, and maybe a little crispier than American fries.
My reasoning is having mediocre McDonald’s for lunch will make dinner at Quay taste that much better. My cheeks are still burning with shame...
After lunch we took a side trip to circular quay to buy a few post cards. I found a mug I liked, but didn’t buy it because I didn’t think it would like traveling around New Zealand in my suitcase for two weeks... Maybe I’ll try getting one at the airport on our way home.
After that we were almost to the building where our dinner reservations are tonight. It looks cool and the view can’t be beat.
After that we headed back to the hotel to relax a little before dinner at Quay, a three star Michelin restaurant on Sydney Harbour.
For a description of dinner see Dad's blog: http://stevealcorn.com/blog/?p=2113
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