Axioms of Leisure

In Sydney, the quantity and quality of amenities at your disposal is inversely proportional to the time you have available to enjoy them.

It's been a while since I lived in an area with so much well-kept green space. Indeed, if you blindfolded me outside my apartment building, spun me around a few times then sent me on my way, I would have more chance of tripping over in a nature reserve, falling into a pool or getting hit by a golf ball than I would of getting run over by a car, which is pretty impressive when you think about it. However, when it comes to actually doing these things, I'm a tad short on time.

Despite being surrounded by golf courses, it seems the only way you can get on is during the working week, or as a member (read $$$) on the weekends. It's moments like these when I really miss my three-day-a-week job in Colombia, and the Tuesday morning golf games with Max at the public course out on Calle 80.

The pool in our building has been handy, and is an option for a quick dip after work. We've been through the nature reserve next door a few times too, and I'm planning on doing some volunteer gardening work there next year to get to know the native flora a bit better. The beaches are nearby as well, of course. This weekend we went for a barbecue at Coogee, and I did a bit of body surfing. The sea rules -- even just floating in it is enough to make you feel well again.

But as far as consistent exercise goes, it's a bit tricky. The best I've done so far is jogging in the morning. Running along the beach in front of a rising sun is ... well, words don't really cover it. If only you didn't have to get up at 5:30am to do it! Until I get a job closer to the city I think the main exercise I do will be walking through the backstreets of Auburn on the way to work, which as I will show in a later post, also has its upside.

On a completely different note, Lesly has posted five little-known facts about herself, among them that she once shook Fidel Castro's hand! Six degrees of separation my arse; with the Internet, surely it's < five.