One of the things that made returning to Sydney exciting instead of tearful after a family-filled two weeks in the US, was my cousin Doug's visit. He boldly skipped Christmas in snowy New York and opted for a two week slice of an Aussie summer from Boxing Day until 9 January.
In this relatively short period of time, he managed to see a broad spectrum of Australian landscapes. He began his trip wine tasting in the Barossa Valley in South Australia, then spent several days with us in Sydney before flying up to Port Douglas for a day on the reef.
We did our part to ensure that Doug soaked up as much Aussie culture as he could handle. That included a rainy day at the cricket (day one of the Australia vs Pakistan test match). We waited four hours in the misting rain for the action to start, and though the match eventually started, I can't say there was any action on the field (unless you call confiscating beach balls 'action'). I'll never call baseball boring again.
On Doug's last day in town, we spent a pleasant evening lawn bowling at the Paddo Bowls Club. We forced him to try one of our Aussie pub food favorites, potato wedges with sour cream and sweet chili. As you can see, though, we didn't have to force him in the end.
