Coogee Sun on Anzac Day and Aussie Burgers

Hello from sunny Coogee!

I have been enjoying this quaint little area of Sydney since Bert dropped me off on Monday night. My room is a single, not very roomy, but with a window, a ceiling fan, a TV, and a mini fridge- pretty much the only things I need to live. The grocery is literally 2 doors down, so I am able to store stuff in my room for brekky and lunch. Tuesday I spent a good part of the morning and early afternoon sitting on the stairs at Coogee Beach reading and people watching. I have come to a conclusion- it is good to know that America is not the only country growing bratty kids. Whining is only slightly cuter when in an Aussie accent, but gets old just as fast as it does in America. A sudden thunderstorm rolled in Tuesday afternoon and I took cover for a few hours in my room. I walked down the street to dinner. I got a ham and cheese croissant and an iced coffee; it was soooo good.

Wednesday, today, is Anzac Day. This stands for Australian New Zealand Army Corps and celebrates the day they landed in Gallipoli during WWI. It is a big deal here- bigger than our memorial day, but the same kind of idea. There are parades, memorial services, television coverage, and even cookies (biscuits) for the day. This also means everyone had the day off and flooded my Coogee today. It meant more people watching, but also more whining aussie babies. One little funny tidbit- I overhead a man talking about brownies and talking about how Americans have invented something to put in the pan that gives each brownie an edge. The other people people he was talking to were mezmorized that the yanks had invented something to let you have a chewy edge on each brownie! I couldn't help but chuckle.

I wanted to give this burger place on my street a try, even though I am not crazy about Australian burgers. They add too much to the meat, instead of just letting it be. It's almost like a meatloaf sandwich, but with more spices. I am not a fan. I was hoping that since the place sold gourmet burgers of various types, including duck and kangaroo, maybe they would get a regular burger right. No dice. It looks like I will not have my burger until November. I was getting really down about this thought when I realized it is also the amount of time I have to wait to see my father and grandparents, so I should probably be cool about it since it is just a patty of ground meat.

I spend the rest of the afternoon reading on the beach (such a hard life!) until the sun went down enough that I was getting too cold to stay out. Tomorrow (or on a day I can ensure the least chance of rain) I want to do the famous Bondi to Coogee walk (Or I guess Coogee to Bondi, then back to Coogee.) It is 6 km one way, so I will probably walk in the morning one way, spend the afternoon in Bondi and get lunch, then walk back before the sun sets.)