A Visit to Macquarie University

Sydney 2008

It was Saturday – family excursion day. Mummy invited Mya and Daddy to visit her university. We woke up little "Silver" – our Mitusbishi Mirage – in the garage, and hit the road running. The sky was so blue today, almost as blue as Mya’s shopping bag, which she brought with her.

 

After we parked little "Silver", Mya held Mummy’s hand and led the way through the buildings to the boulevard, which was lined with beautiful bare trees, looking as white as ivory in the back drop of the blue sky. The library building was right at the end of the boulevard. While Mummy was returning some books, Mya paid a visit to Jack, the bony dinosaur all the way from the Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Jack had been sleeping there for millions of years, until one day he was dug up by some Russian scientists and was then given to Macquarie University library, where he has been greeting visitors for more than a decade.

 

Out of the library building compound, Mya discovered the meadow and the lake. "Let’s go, Mummy and Daddy, let’s go!" Her little figure soon ran way ahead of everyone else. The sun was very warm, but the wind was brisk. Mya’s hair, now looking almost light brown, was flying free in the wind, in the same movement as the water spray from the fountain blowing in the wind. Mya ran and ran and ran, until she reached the edge of the water. Then she sat on the soft grass, like a heroine in a romantic silent film.

 

Mummy finally caught up with her and sat down beside her. So many birds and they looked so happy. A whole family of pink faced and pink chested galahs were feeding on the meadow. The crains, with their long beaks, long necks and long legs, were having a quiet time by the lake. Wild ducks were swimming through the green algae that looked like soft, flat fingers swaying under the ripples. There were also some wild black birds with red crests and beaks, which Daddy called "water hens". They were chasing each other like crazy, running on the grass first with their skinny legs, then took a dive into the water, then flapped their wings trying to take off like a sea plane, but didn’t quite make it. They were making so much happy noise that even the strong wind couldn’t drown out their sound. We were just taking this all in quietly when three farm ducks waddled towards us. They had shiny white and brown feathers and orange webbed feet. They seemed to be more fascinated by humans than their cousins, the smaller, darker wild quackers.

 

Mummy suggested a walk around the lake. Mya said hello to some sculptures on the grass, then sat down beside a little lemon tree. "Sit down everyone, it’s group time!" Group time is the time at Burns Bay Cottage when all children should gather around their teacher to read a story or sing songs. Mya made Mummy and Daddy sit in the wind, and started singing and chanting her favourite nursery rhymes. One of them was:

 

"one, two, three four five, once I caught a fish alive. Six, seven, eight nine ten, then I let him go again. Why did I let him go? Cause he bit my finger so. Which finger did he bite? This little finger on my right!"

 

On our way back to "Silver", we saw more families of birds. There was a whole clan of sulphur-crested cockatoos, pecking grass seeds and flowers on a magnolia tree in blossom. But Mya’s attention was attracted by a small garden with white pebble stones and short sculptured shrubs. Mummy and Daddy sat down and watched her from a distance as she played with her friends the little trees and pebbles.

 

"Do you like Mummy’s university, Mya?" On our way back, Mummy asked her. "Yes," she replied with an accent like Sean Connery’s. (Where did she get THAT??) "I want some music," she said, pontificating from her high seat at the back. Daddy put on Van Morrison’s "Keep it simple". It was either the bluesy music or memory of the exciting morning that made Mya quiet, but with a big smile on her face. Hardly had Van finished one song before Daddy found Mya sound asleep.

 

  

Pictures from top left:

1. "Let’s wake up Silver, Daddy!" 2. Winter trees at Macquarie 3. Library, here we come! 4. Fountain on the lake 5. We’ve got visitors. 6. "Come and sit next to me, Mummy!" 7. "Sit down everyone – it’s group time."