Whaling around town

Unobliging wolves in Yellowstone, unwilling orang-utans in Borneo and uncooperative tigers in India - we have some experience of the local wildlife refusing to put in an appearance at the required time and place. So when we set off for North Head (a hamlet of Sydney Harbour National Park near Manly) for a bit of whale watching on Wednesday afternoon, our expectations weren't too high.

It was an area we'd been meaning to check out anyway as it offers stunning views out over the South Pacific and back to the city. But it's also migration season for Humpback and Southern Right Whales (they are headed north to the Coral Sea for the summer) and several had been spotted off of Bondi Beach just a few days earlier. It was a beautiful day - nearly 80 degrees and even the light breeze off the Pacific still had a touch of summer warmth.

As promised, the views were stunning. I'm still a bit in awe of Sydney and can't quite believe we live here:

View from North Head, Sydney Harbour National Park

I digress. So we found ourselves at North Head and after a few moments of gawking at the city, we headed for the ocean-side lookouts. Being a weekday afternoon, it was quiet with only a sprinkling of tourists, suicidal-looking guys in suits and a few retired couples milling about. 

We didn't have to wait long. Not hardly ten minutes after our arrival, a spout of water shot up from the surface. It was a mildly breezy and there were a few white caps on the water, but this looked distinctly different. We held out breath and waited. A few minutes later something big broke the surface and we couldn't hardly believe our luck. 

This whale wasn't in much of a hurry and was still quite far away, we could see him/her clearly with the binoculars, but our camera lens couldn't stretch quite that far. Fifteen minutes later, it was swimming near the edge of the rocks almost directly below us and we could see him/her with our naked eye under the surface of the water. 

He/she splashed around a bit more and eventually graced us with a few full-breaches of the surface. Unfortunately, this is the best photo we got, but I assure you it was spectacular.

Occasionally, I worry slightly about my wanderlust and my (bad) tendency to get bored with a place before I've even had a chance to fully explore it. I don't think Sydney and I are going to have that problem, I think we are going to be just fine.

Brace yourselves, winter is coming!

As someone who has lived through 22 Illinois winters, I really didn't think I'd even hardly notice what passes for winter in Sydney.  I was wrong and this is why:

• 3.5 years in the tropics completely ruined me.
• There is no indoor heating in Sydney (for real).
• It's May! So to my 'northcentric' mind things should really just be warming up. I cannot process that it is actually November here.
• In Malaysia we were only about 200 miles from the equator and sunrise/sunset never really shifted by more than about 30 minute, it's completely dark at 5:30 here and that is confusing.

Now admittedly, there will be no snow, no freezing temperatures, probably not even a frost. But let me put it this way, 50F/10C is a long, hard fall when you've lived in near constant 90F/32C conditions and you are completely unprepared for the change. Even Catface is struggling, and she is completely covered in fur. She is spending her days camped out directly in front of  the fan heater.

My mom rescued me last month by bringing over all my sweaters that have been in storage in Chicago these last few years, so that was a help - but then I got caught out on shoes. In Malaysia, aside from a mandatory pair of black heels and hiking boots I owned only a pile of sandals and flip flops. I can hardly wear my hiking boots daily, I need some shoes. Like real shoes that cover your feet and require socks. Speaking of which, I also need some socks.

You may think I sound like a total sissy (and I kind of do), but by Sydney standards I'm still one of the tough ones. People here are already walking around in puffer jackets and wool coats. I can't imagine what it is going to look like in July, Gore-tex gloves and balaclavas?

So my northern friends, you may be feeling smug now, but just wait until it's January and we'll be drinking white wine in the sun while you trudge through the snow.