Happy, New 2018!

After the Christmas Masses, we basically crashed in terms of energy. The rest of the week was busy with the patronal feast (of our Shrine), the Solemnity of the Holy Innocents, home made paella at the home of a couple celebrating their 42nd anniversary of marriage, and the parish Star Wars Last Jedi movie-night at the cinemas. I managed to carve out some fun time and headed into the city on Friday AM.

My younger brother had given me a gift card to an independent book seller (Abbey's) in Sydney. It's one of my favorite shops, full of books and super hero/fantasy/sci-fi nick-nacks. (I'm such a geek!) I am reading The Lord of the Rings for the third time. (It's the only book I've read that many times!) I'm near the end of the second part and needed the final section. I am also into a series of books called The Expanse which I really enjoy; it's new volume came out early December. So the card was perfect…just the correct amount for both books. I usually buy the books, read them, and then donate them to the local library. Win/win all around.

I invited my religious brothers, Jerry Payne and Dominc Levaq, to come and join me on the trek and catch some lunch in the city. Before we left, I met the "Pigpen" of cockatoos (1)! He must have been sticking his beak in the mud to snarf up some grubs, as we had rain recently. What a mess!

Here are the 3 "wise guys" waiting for our bus (2). And then Dominic and myself on the bus (3). Dominic lives in a hermitage about seven hours' drive away. He comes to stay for a couple of weeks at our friary, where he is "de familia" (literally "of the family") in other words, part of our local community, though he lives elsewhere.

In Sydney, we separated as I had the gify card and Jerry and Dominic wanted to wander. I wandered myself, into an old shopping mall from the 1930's (4). And then headed to the "QVB" (Queen Victoria Building) with it's impressive statue of the queen, herself (5-6). We all met there and had lunch at an outdoor cafe (7). At the cafe, right on the corner, we decided it was too nice to go home and thought of a fun detour: a walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

And that's what we did! Here are some shots along the route: a shot of the bridge, while under a tunnel through one of its four massive supports (8); the pilgrims pose for a shot at the beginning, with the bridge in the distance (9); profiles of the Sydney Opera House, with the Royal Carribbean Cruise liner in port (10-16); shots of some pandas aboard the ship (13); and a sphere on a crane you can ride, that lifts up above the ship (cool, huh? 14); more shpts of the Opera House (17-24), notice the tiny looking, castle-like building behind the Opera House in 19); this house is the Sydney residence of the Prime Minister of Australia (20); an old time clipper ship passed under us as we walked (25); detail of an array of fireworks attached to the bridge for New Year's Eve (26); some fancy residences on the North Sydney side of the bridge (28-29); an emu with baby metal sculpture in the back yard (30-32); the Bridge from the far side, looking back towards the city (33-34); an old train station on the north side (35); North Sydney's iconic Luna Park up close (36-37); and a public pool (called Olympic pool…I suspect it might have been used for the Olympics when it was held in Sydney) beside the park overlooking the city (38).

These final shots were taken back at the parish. A dear parishioner added a new critter for our nativity in Church, completing the Aussie theme (39-40). Here are Anastasia (head of our Youth Group) with her brother, Jacob and our religious brother visiting from Melbourne for the summer (Br. Bernard, 41).

Finally, I want to share my sister's cute Christmas gift to me: a decal of Pope Francis for the back of my car (42)! Happy, Holy, Healthy 2018!