Compare and Contrast

Cross-posted to Lost In Transit

I finally understand why tourists go beserk over kangaroos when they visit Australia. Until a month ago I'd never been up from Down Under, so I had no idea what this stranger in a strange land caper was all about.

Then last week I was on a dinky little bus tour through the Scottish Highlands. I'd never been so utterly gobsmacked by the beauty of a place. The landscape was so unlike the red heat and dry that I've always known. I gawked at the snow on the mountains and squealed over those funny hairy cows as my camera clicked madly, trying to capture the colours and scale of it all.

We walked through hills, bouncing along on the peat. I couldn't stop grinning. I'd become one of those over-excited tourists that I'd always scoffed at. But now I see why someone could go cuckoo over a koala. It's just such a thrill to see something new, so unlike anything you've ever seen before.