December 5

Wednesday December 5, 2007 6:00 am Lennox Head, NSW, Australia

A. Morning Musings

6:00 am

dawn

This is one of the better sunrises.

There is very little on the agenda for today. We are meeting friends at 6:30 PM for a farewell dinner at Pelican 181.

Then tomorrow another group of friends are coming down to have a farewell lunch with us at the unit. Also tomorrow is when I hope to finalize the selling of the car and hand over the keys. We have 3 sleeps left at Lennox Head, 3 more sleeps at Ballina, and 1 in Sydney.

Back to today. A free day without a book in hand. Listening to some of the early blues/folk music by Lead Belly is a soothing way to begin the morning. The coffee is good as well. The Bob Dylan CD "Time Out of Mind" is another way to get the neuron firing. And Leonard Cohen ...

But it will be good to be home again. I miss the crisp cold air, the Canadian culture, our own house, my books and model trains ... and a high-speed internet connection. Enough. There is still a week to enjoy here.

C. Actual Learning Activities

9:00 PM

We went for a beach walk and birding activity at about 5 PM. Then off to Ballina for seafood at the Pelican 181.

During the birding we say a Red-browed Finch, a pair of Silvereyes, four Common Bronzewings, a number of Rainbow Bee-eaters and a female Figbird, but no new lifers.

Here are a few images of the dinner at the Pelican 181, incluidng one of burning sugarcane across the Richmond River:

A great time was had by all.