Dinner and a Boat Ride

We left the zoo and were supposed to get taxis to the Manly Lifeguard Club. Australia has clubs, much like our Moose or Elks clubs, that bring people together for social and for practical reasons. This club has been around since 1903 and is an organization that works on Manly Beach as lifeguards. They also compete in life guarding competitions. However, the taxis we were supposed to get didn’t show because of the traffic, so while some groups got there, my group took a bus into a easier area to get a taxi. We got one that had a driver that was quite talkative. He shared immediately how he had worked security for rock bands like U2 and Bon Jovi. He went into tons of stories on the ride over, and did get us to where we were supposed to go. This is something that seems to be common in Australia. Everyone is friendly and everyone has good, funny stories that they will tell to anyone. They also will generally make fun of themselves or their country, and if they like you, they will make fun of you as well! Anyway, we had a good presentation about this club and had dinner overlooking the beach. Then, we took a ferry back across the harbor and then several of us walked the rest of the distance to the hotel. We stopped by some local establishments to relax for a time, but made it back before midnight. The picture I have below is a view of the famous and beautiful Sydney Opera House from the Taronga Zoological Gardens.