I hate blogging without photos but I’m on the computer at the State Library in Sydney. This morning my friend Chrissy and I strolled through the Royal Botanic Gardens en route to Mcquaries Chair, which boasts some of the best views of the Sydney skyline, the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. On the way there, we wandered through the exotic palms section, where we were surprised to find tree after tree….filled with BATS!! Not just any bats, but flying foxes = VERY BIG BATS!! We said, “eeeEEEEEEEEE!!” and ran under them, got lost on the twisting paths lined with all kinds of exotic South Pacific flowers and birds we’d never seen before, and finally passed through the Lion Gate to the lower gardens, where we found a flock of cockatoos pecking at the lawn. I had saved some cereal in case I saw some more parrots, but cockatoos would work too! Toss, toss, AMBUSH!! Chrissy took several pictures of me covered in wild, hungry cockatoos. What a great way to spend our last day in Sydney! Tonight we fly to Perth, on Australia’s west coast. I’m reading a book called “The Dakota Diamond Mystery,” written by an investigative journalist about the true story of Australians fleeing from Japanese attacks on northern Australia during World War II, and one plane that was unknowingly carrying a package of diamonds from the bank down to Sydney….but they were attacked by Japanese bombers and crash landed on the beach in the middle of nowhere! It’s exciting, just like this country. I love it here!