I seem to remember talking about the absence of dangerous animals in an earlier blog, despite all the talk of deadly creepy crawlies prior to coming out. I've now come into contact with an example of one - though not one that I was expecting! The local birds are busy tending their nests as spring is in full swing here but one species in particular are particularly vigorous in their defense of said nest, namely the Australian Magpie. The male magpie sees any fast moving animals coming into their territory as a threat and do all they can to discourage him coming anywhere near a second time. In the eyes of the magpie cyclists fall very much into the category of threat and swoop down from behind to attack either the back of the head or preferably the eyes. Just to add to the fun the bird has a very good memory and attacks the same individual if and when they return. So I'm now taking a detour at both the beginning and end of my regular ride to work and will be doing so for the next 6 weeks. Two birds have currently got me marked down as public enemy number one and no matter what I do I can't persuade them otherwise, so that's that!
Niall has now returned back to Sydney having done his 3 months of service to rural Australia. He's successfully applied for his second year visa and is now considering his next move. Possibly staying in Sydney for a couple of months if he can find work or maybe going back to Queensland with friends? Time will tell.
Sunday was the first beach day of the spring so we took advantage and met everyone at Balmoral beach. It made us realise why we're here. The winter hasn't exactly been cold by UK standards but it's amazing how quickly we've acclimatised and how relatively colder weather has affected us. It's good to be swimming in the sea again!
