Rain Delay

I may have left a few things behind at the Bangkok Airport for my flight to Sydney, but I still managed to bring to Sydney the rainclouds of Hanoi; it's rather fortunate that they weren't weighed in at the check-in counter either, for they must weigh a considerable amount if the heavy drops they're shedding are any measure of their true density.

It should be mentioned, however, that when I arrived yesterday morning after a relatively pleasant overnight flight from Saigon, the weather was fantastic. In fact, when strolling around the city later that day in the afternoon sunlight, I couldn't help but notice the freshness of the air, the clear blue sky and the esthetically pleasing nature of the city itself.

I'm staying with my friend Adrian - an Australian but also an honourary Vancouverite, having lived there for six or eight years - and am definitely enjoying the comforts of having a real apartment to come home to for a few days. It goes without saying that I don't mind shelling out the cash for staying in a backpacker's hostel, either; Canadians benefit from a favourable exchange rate here...sort of, (1.03 AUD = 1.00 CAD), but certain goods and services appear to be slightly more expensive than I remember them being in Canada, thus making up for the marginal difference in the exchange rate.

I intended to spend today exploring two local beaches - Bondi and Coogee, just south of it from where I was to begin an hour-long hike up to the former - but the rain that began to fall shortly after I woke up for a late breakfast at 1130am but a wrench in the gears of that well-layed plan. Instead, I headed for the local shopping centre where I felt slightly bewildered and even more out of place, and caught a matinee showing of Hotel Rwanda. It was a film that certainly fit in well with the mood set by the weather outside as it accurately portrayed the brutality and darkness that reigned in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, (ok, there's little brutality in rain but you get the idea), but I was disappointed in Nick Nolte's portrayal of the character who could only have been General Romeo Dellaire, though he went by another name in the movie.

Tomorrow's plans are to go rock climbing with Adrian in the Blue Mountains about 2hrs inland from here, though that's assuming the rainclouds decide to go and bother someone other than myself for the first time in over a week (yesterday being the only exception).

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Though not as exciting as hiking alongside an Australian beach, sitting inside this afternoon has at least been a little bit productive - I created a new album containing the highlights of my photos from Vietnam.