From: mar@physics.su.OZ.AU (David Mar)
Subject: Stumpy visits Aus - Part 2
Organization: School of Physics, University of Sydney, Australia
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 22:24:27 GMT

[NB. It appears that Stumpy has indented all of his paragraphs below, while 
I (DM) have not. That should make it a bit easier to work out....]

Now, where did we leave off? I think it was Saturday, when Stumpy and I went
in to the university to post the first installment on his visit to Aus.

The next day we also visited uni, mainly because Shonias had volunteered us
to help out in some of the physics displays for the Open Day. We didn't mind
too much because we got a free lunch out of it. Whatever possessed them to
serve up a lunch with lots of garlic bread to people who would be speaking
at close quarters to members of the public is beyond me! :-)

But showing folks the wonders of physics is all good wholesome fun, and it
wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon. Then we went home early for a good
rest before assaulting the Blue Mountains today.

  'Tis I the Stump-ed one here again... Playing with the physics toys was
more fun than I usually expect to get out of a second year physics lab,
though there were a few moments when I thought someone was going to get
themselves electrocuted by the Tesla coil - oh, and being zapped by the 
Van der Graaf generator was fun too!

Monday, 7 September.

Up early (or at least as early as Stumpy has managed so far) for the train
to Katoomba, on which Stumpy impressed me with his ability to solve more
than two clues of the Monday _Herald_'s cryptic crossword.

  DM says he usually can't get more than a couple on the Monday cryptic,
they're harder on Monday, but he got a good half dozen today... perhaps the
usual X-person was on holiday.

  Okay, so here I am, sitting on a rock in the middle of a forest (portable
computers are _fun_ :) ) made up of altogether too many eucalypts... as DM
says I came here for something different, and it is... but it's all the
SAME! We've just spent 20 minutes to complete an hour walk, and we weren't
hurrying. In NZ the tracks are designed for a family of four including two
kids under 12. Here I think they're timed for an elderly japanese tour
party who want to spend half their time looking at all the eucalypts (as if
one were different from the next!). :)

  Hickory Dickory Dock the (Danger) Mouse climbed up a rock! He's now not
quite sure how he's going to get down... [DM: Stop laughing! This rock isn't
that hard. There are some other ones u-u-u-u-p-p there that I'm sure Ignatz
would enjoy having a go at, though.]

  Now for a two hour walk to the scenic railway up the cliff - described in
the brochure as Medium... that's the railway, not the walk! If a railcar is
medium, what's EASY for crying out loud??? Oh yes... and DM said that it 
would be cold up here, so now I'm labouring under the weight of two jumpers
that it's too hot to wear... though I have to admit it's nice and cool here
near the waterfall.

DM again: You just wait until we get to the train. When it takes real
physical effort to prevent youself from falling out of a railcar and down
the cliff face, that's not easy...

A bit later...

Well, we made it to the top of the cliff again. Stumpy _was_ impressed by
the train ride.

  You betcha! That thing was durn near vertical!! You really do have to
hold on to stop yourself from falling forward. It goes through a nifty
tunnel too, you shoulda heard the screams! (Not ours.) WAY COOL!

  We're now sitting in the tourist trap cafe at the top of the railway.
Whoever designed this thing was real smart - the train lets you directly
out into the gift shop. I restrained myself this time - just a handful of
postcards, and I've been meaning to get some anyway.

Ah, sure. He was tempted by the sign proclaiming "Cheapest postcards in
Australia". Well, maybe, but there are ones the same price back in Sydney.
He's now investigating the very old pinball machines in here. There are
some video games as well, but it looks like the most modern one is Frogger.
I guess we'll walk back to Katoomba station in a little while for the trip
home and some rest before Stumpy's last sure-to-be-hectic day in Sydney.

  I don't recall that bit about cheapest in Australia. I had already seen 
postcards as cheap in town... probably some better ones too, ne'er mind.

  It's Tuesday the 8th... (Stumpy checks his watch) ...yes, still Tuesday. 
My flight leaves in 8 1/2 hrs, but I have to report in 6 1/2. It's 10pm. 
There's something about travelling that seems to worm-hole money. I started 
the day with more than enough to last a measly 20hrs, and now I'm left with 
the $20 I need to leave the country + change.

  I now have photographs of the Bridge from the Opera House, the Opera 
House from the Bridge, the Tower from the Opera House and the Opera House 
and Bridge from the Tower... and one from across the Harbour of all three 
in one shot. I think I have enough photos to prove I've been to Sydney now. 
In the tourist centre for the Bridge I bought a book (well, not really a 
book, it was about the size of a concert programme) about how the Bridge 
came to be, and what it has done since. (The Adventures of Sydney Harbour 
Bridge - no it was NOT called that!! :) I can see the roleplaying 
possibilities already... GURPS Cliffhangers, Time-Travel, Mythos (when it 
appears)... My players will love it... bwahahahahaa!

  We spent the earlier part of the day in town. I bought a copy of a single 
called "I Don't Care As Long As We Beat New Zealand". I haven't listened to 
it yet, but it should be worth a laugh when I get home. DM was looking for 
a Tintin book we saw last week. It was nowhere to be found, but in the 
course of the search we happened upon another Tintin collectors' "must 
have" (which DM naturally bought). 

  Now, we're waiting for some of the Sydney student population to get 
finished with their Bridge Club (about half of DM's friends, it seems, are 
fanatic bridge players) so we can get down to some serious computer games.

  Oh, and don't expect much of a response from DM for the next day or so - 
the amount of sleep we've been getting, topped off by tonight will leave 
him wrecked tomorrow. Then again, now that he's got that nifty powerbook...

Wrecked indeed (DM here again). I am almost dropping off to sleep already. 
Why anyone in a fit state of mind would book a flight home which leaves at 
06:30 is beyond me. And then I have to spend the next two days hectically 
combining all that data I took at the telescope just two weeks ago (was it 
really only that long??) with the data from last year. Aaaaack! I am not 
getting out of bed all weekend!!!!

You know, it's at times like this that I wonder if all the lack of sleep, 
footweariness from slogging through both Sydney and the bush, and drain of 
finances from buying lots of lunches and dinners is worth it....
Yyyyeeeeaaaahhhhh!!!!  :-)

Hmmm... Stumpy missed mentioning the fact that we've just come back from 
watching _Lethal_Weapon_3_ in town. We happened to run into a group of six 
friends of mine inside the cinema, so we sat in a wonderful rowdy group 
(although we settled down once the movie started). Strangely, the eight of 
us were the only ones who applauded the Daffy Duck cartoon before the 
film...

Later...

Well, I guess it's up to me to finish this post, since Stumpy is by now on
his way back to New Zealand. Fred the Wonder Worm dropped by just before
midnight, and we passed a few hours playing _Grass_ (the card game), before
heading up the street for some snacks. Then we came back and played a bit
more, until it was time to call a taxi for the ride to the airport.

Stumpy checked in and payed his departure tax (we like visitors in Australia
so much we make them pay to leave), then we played more _Grass_ until his
plane began boarding. Some hearty farewells and Stumpy was off into the
hands of the customs officials. Ftww and I headed back to the city for a
very early (6am) pancake breakfast. The waitress greeted us with, "You're up
early." We replied in unison, "No, we're up late."

Then it was back to uni, where I am now sitting and waiting for everyone
else to arrive. <yawn> I may just be heading home a little early today...

- Danger Mouse and Stumpy.
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