3 Things I Find Fascinating

Now that I've been here almost 10(!) weeks, I find myself taking pictures over and over again of certain things that continue to fascinate me - boring the people I share my Picasa albums with to death, no doubt - such as Jacaranda trees:

These trees, natives to Brazil and other Southern American countries, were a revelation to me. I had never seen them anywhere else before and was struck by this unique colour. Photos don't really do it justice. I'm surprised there are no "jacaranda blossom festivals" similar to cherry blossom ones.

Another thing that always wows me is when I turn around a corner and suddenly see a huge cruiseliner. Here's an example, the "Amsterdam" moored at the Overseas Passenger Terminal with Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background:

I can also see cruise ships from the office windows almost every day and even though I don't actually fancy going on a cruise any time soon, I can imagine what a cool feeling it must be to arrive in Sydney on one of these Titanic-sized ships.

The last one is an obvious choice - koalas. They really are so incredibly cute and cuddly (I will forever remember my close-and-personal encounter with Guppy in Brisbane!) and the fellow in below in particular (seen at Taronga Zoo) was so cute I wanted to pack him in my bag and snatch him away:

Other things include the going-out look of Australian girls which uniformly consists of a tight-fitting garment that barely covers your bum and 30-cm heels and the super-clean public toilets, always well-stocked with paper and often equipped with state-of-the art Dyson hand-driers. The example below is one of the several facilities at Darling Harbour:

Coming up next: shopping update. Stay tuned...