Would you hug a koala?

There is an animal park somewhere between Sydney and the Blue Mountains where you can pay to hug a koala. Why would you want to pay to hug a smelly sharp clawed, rough haired, sleepy, heavy, bear when if you find a eucalyptus tree you can throw stones at one until it falls from the tree then hug it without having to pay?

This weekend was the Sydney Marathon and half marathon. This meant that half the city roads were shut down from early morning to mid afternoon. The marathon was won by one of the usual African athletes, however, the time was rather slow at 2 hours 19 minutes and he won by 5 minutes. I am sure one of you guys could have given him more of a run for his money.

Saturday morning I decided to sleep in as Friday I had a bit of a"Sticky Bed" incident. Don't jump to conclusions! All I was trying to say was that I was tired when I woke up and couldn't be bothered to get up out of my bed, thus I was late to breakfast, which I didn't rush,then late to work (just later than usual, i.e. 9:00 AM rather than theusual 8:15 AM). Anyway, Saturday I didn't rise from my pit until 9:30 AM, had a leisurely breakfast then went shopping for tat and souvenirs.

Saturday night I went to the business lounge in the hotel (we are lucky enough to be on the Club floor) and finished off their stock of Bacardi. I had had a late lunch so I didn't bother with dinner.

Sunday morning I had to meet a colleague at 5:30 AM. He was going to drive us up to Pymble where we were going to meet some others and cycle. As I left the hotel at 5:15 AM (dawn was at 5:47) the city was alive with Marathon runners heading towards the start and girls in short black skirts and high heels on their was home from clubs (don't quote me on those interpretations of their intentions, they are assumptions on my part, for all I know Australians might have a precedent for running marathons in short skirts and high heels). We drove up North of Sydney to Pymble, Bobbin Head Rd, and parked. Here we met 3 other guys.

Together we cycled Pymble to Galston Gorge to Berowra Waters to Bobbin Head and back to Bobbin Head Rd, Pymble. A 61km route through three gorges with 3 big hills climbing out of those gorges. It was nice being the second fastest as it took the pressure and angst out. I cycled out of the gorges then turned around and cycled back down to meet the slowest rider then cycled back up with him.

The scenery was lovely, the hills no more than 8% and the temperature rising to the low 30s.

As usual, I had the usual equipment failure. This week I managed to keep the saddle on the bike, however, my cleats came unscrewed from the bottom of my shoes. I was climbing out of a gorge and I was thinking to myself how the cleats had rather a lot of play and thus may be worn out. Just after I got to the top I suddenly found my right shoe coming adrift from the pedal. The cleat stayed on the pedal and the separated from the shoe. Fortunately I didn't loose too many screws and managed to reattach the cleat. I then found that the left cleat was also about to come off so I tightened that up as well.

We got back to the car just after 10:00 AM. As I was hardly warmed up I decided to cycle along the Pacific Highway back into the city, some 20Km (I did 85 Km in total). The nearer I got to the city the more marathon and half marathon runners I saw returning home (strangely, none in high heels and short skirts).

After cycling across Sydney HarbourBridge I got back to my hotel at 11:10 AM. Unfortunate as breakfast stops being served in the Clubroom at 11:00 AM. I put my bike in my hotel room then still sweaty and wearing my baggy lycra shorts and cycling shirt I popped my head around the club room door. Breakfast was being cleared but a swift grab at a plate and a raid on the fast disappearing buffet rewarded me with fruit juice, a couple of slices of toast, and a couple of croissant (one ham and cheese and one chocolate). The staff took pity on me a brought me coffee and a pot of tea. Breakfast was enjoyed along with the Sunday papers.

After breakfast I had a shower and I laid on my bed (in my boxers and a tee shirt) watching a John Wayne Film. I never saw the end as a colleague telephoned and invited me out for afternoon coffee. In the film John Wayne was a co-pilot on a plane flying from Hawaii to California and I saw up to the point where they had gone beyond the point of no return, one engine had failed, a fuel leak meant there was insufficient fuel to make to coast, the weather was bad and the sea below was rough, the radio wasn't working properly and the only radio contact they had was with a ship below who was relaying their messages, one passenger had shot at another after accusing him of sleeping with his wife, they were running out of cigarettes (everyone was chain smoking), and they were throwing the luggage out of the back door of the aircraft to save weight and avoid crashing into the drink.

Does anyone know whether John Wayne managed to save the plane?