Honeymoon, Part Five: Wild Roos and My Amazing Expanding Ass

Pebbly Beach is all kinds of gorgeous.



There were about a dozen kangaroos grazing when we arrived, but the sun wasn't quite at its optimal angle on the grassy area where they were.



We decided to give them some space and head down to the sand where the light was quite nice.



There wasn't much to shoot down there besides this bird.



Bird.



Bird.



The beach was deserted, and in the absence of other subjects, Joel and I take pictures of each other.



My ass here, while not as small as I'd prefer, is relatively normal-sized.



Ooh, sparkly. And with that, the sun was high enough to cast cool shadows and illuminate kangaroos.



Kangaroos!



You really can get quite close to them. It was absolutely amazing.





Kangaroos have the reputation of packing a powerful punch.



I got a little too close, and one of them knocked me out.



I kid, I kid! The one of me lolling on the ground is of me waiting for the sun to get higher in the sky. It was FREEZING on the beach. Can we talk about my ass, please? Did it not quadruple in size? How did that HAPPEN?!? Absolutely. Terrifying. Also? I'm totally laying in kangaroo poop to get this shot. I'm sorry I subjected you to that.



Ah, calla lillies growing wild on the beach!... Much better. Everyone look at the flowers. The pretty, pretty flowers.



Bird.



Bird.

Then Joel and I got back on the road to Sydney. I tried driving. I did okay, until we got to a construction zone. I was still having trouble judging where I was situated in the lane, and since my choices were cones on one side and construction workers (People! Very killable people!) on the other, Joel took back over. He got pretty good at it driving on deserted roads on the way to Pebbly Beach.

Then we stopped at a McDonald's in Ulladulla, which was wholly unoriginal, but also you know, open.

The other thing, though, was that my camera body kind of, um, broke during the Harbour Cruise the night before! I know! It sucked! I still had my backup body, and the bit that broke off was a very tiny but important piece of plastic inside the camera that affects what you see when you look through the viewfinder. It didn't affect the appearance of the images themselves, but looking into the camera was like looking through a peephole, which was annoying.

There was a computer repair and retail store nect to McDonald's. We used their Internet kiosk to find out the location of the Canon headquarters in Sydney. Interestingly enough, it was the big building on the north side of the city that said "Canon" in big red letters on the side of it.

We got the address from Mapquest, punched it into the GPS unit we got from the rental car company, and four hours and fifteen minutes later, I threw myself at the mercy of the receptionist at Canon headquarters.

Me: Hi! Um, I'm a photographer visiting from the States. I'm on my honeymoon-
Nice Australian Receptionist: Congratulations!
Me: Oh. Thanks. So, I was wondering if there's any way I could talk to a repair specialist? I normally wouldn't just show up, but in the States there's a repair department at their New Jersey offices?

NAR eyes start glazing over.

Me: I'm really hoping there's something someone can do. I have my Canon Professional card here, but it's an American card, and-
NAR: CPS, up the stairs round the corner.
Me: I'm sorry?
NAR: Canon Professional is up the stairs, round the corner to the right.
Me: Really? Just like that?

We walk upstairs where four bored technicians are watching the Olympics. Women's beach volleyball. Five minutes later, we're walking out, camera good as new. Free of charge.

Joel and I are so relieved, astounded at our good fortune, really. We're giddy until we get back to the car, at which point I realize I left my winter coat back at the McDonald's in Ulladulla, four hours south of Sydney. Oh, fuck it. To the mall! :)

We shop, sightsee, go out to dinner and leave for Ayers Rock the next day. Onward, honeymooners!