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 As we
celebrated the Queenship of Mary, we began a day of adventure at St.
Mary’s Cathedral, where we joined in Mass in the Chapel of Our Lady behind
the High Altar. The magnificent stained glass window above the altar
depicted the enthronement of Mary in heaven, and Saint Cecilia was
depicted in the far right panel, with Saint Dominic appearing on the far
right.
After Mass we
headed to Circular Quay to catch the ferry that would take us across
Sydney Harbor to Taronga Zoo. The views of the famous Harbour Bridge and
Sydney Opera House were especially striking from the water. The zoo
offered marvel upon marvel. In the first section we visited, called “Wild
Australia,” we walked through an area in which kangaroos and wallabies
freely wandered. One of the small wallabies was especially friendly, and
to
 our
delight, allowed us to pet him. The kangaroos were resting, some in the
enormously funny position of lying on their backs with paws in air.
Another Aussie highlight included the koalas. In one section of the zoo,
the “Koala Walkabout” allowed for up-close viewing of a whole group of
koala moms with their babies in their pouches or their toddlers in arms
(or on their backs). The koala keeper told us that koalas receive so
little energy from the eucalyptus leaves they eat that they sleep for
about 20 hours each day. At one point of our day, roadblocks and a flock
of reporters clued us in that something unusual was afoot. We were
informed that a new giraffe was arriving from New Zealand. We were able
to see the large crate in which the crane operators delivered “Jimmy” and
even to catch a glimpse of the new arrival himself.
After a full
day, needing to wait for the next ferry departure, we followed a path to a
gorgeous spot along the water’s edge. Singing Vespers gazing across the
Harbour lent new impetus to our praises of the “God Whom earth and sea and
sky adore and laud and magnify.”
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