Chapter 40

They spent the whole day at the zoo. Bob and Marge sat in two (new) strollers. Sam had realized that they couldn’t just drag the twins everywhere and had ordered the strollers via the Net. There had been lovely twin prams and strollers, but they ran to far more than two singles. The twins seemed content when first placed and buckled in. On the ferry, Marge delivered an extensive oration. Bob seemed to be listening. But once they were in the zoo, Sam and Tessa were kept busy naming everything to the twins.

The followed the ‘standard’ route and both children were wide-eyed and swivel-headed as the numbat, the tree kangaroo, and the wallaby were pointed-at. They only made a noise occasionally, the most fuss came when Marge spotted a lone cassowary. “Guh-guh-guh!” she said. Rob echoed her.

“That’s interesting,” Tessa said.

“It really is,” Sam responded. “Gunduy is what they’re called in north Queensland. How would Marge know that?”

“It was told her by Bunjil, I assume.”

“Great first word!”

They walked past more wallabies and then spotted a wombat, but the twins seemed less interested. So they took the path to the Koala Rooftop, intending to rest and (perhaps) have tea or coffee. There were kookaburras, galahs and corellas about, but the continued “gug-guh-guh” seemed to indicate continued interest in the cassowary. They offered each infant a bottle and ordered tea. But Rob spotted a new attraction.

“Kuh-kuh!” he said.

“Guh.” was the response.

“Kuh. Kuh.”

“Turn her a bit,” Sam said. “I think he’s seen one of the koalas.” Tessa turned Marge’s stroller so that they twins were parallel. There were two koalas in a ‘tree’ on the rooftop. Several people were taking pictures.

“Kuh. Kuh-kuh,” echoed the twins. The marsupials paid no attention. The children stopped and watched. In a few minutes Marge and then Rob dozed off.

“What do you think?”

“I think they’ve noticed a ratite and a marsupial. Will they burn?”

“I don’t think so. We can leave them for a half-hour anyway.”

“I’ll fetch us a snack; you hold the fort.”

They exited past the platypuses and the bilbies. Neither got the response the cassowary and the koalas did. The ride back across the harbor was uneventful. They sat under an awning on the wharf and gave Rob and Marge a taste of ice cream. They seemed to enjoy it. A cab ride back to the hotel, bathing and clean diapers finished off the day. When the infants were sound asleep, Sam and Tessa abandoned them and had a decent dinner in the hotel’s restaurant.

The next morning, Rachel took them to the Art Gallery. As an ‘old-timer,’ Rachel was able to let her grandchildren view a number of bark paintings and contemporary work from the Kimberley. They looked at everything wide-eyed, but didn’t seem to get bored. At one point Sam suggested that a painting was of serpents and turtles and that another was a barramundi. Marge looked at him with astonishment. It was unclear as to whether this was because he was so obvious or so foolish. He kept quiet thereafter.

Rachel then ushered them in to a gallery where there were four Fred Williams landscapes on board, each over a meter square. The children grew quite excited and made gestures and babbled. After about 20 minutes, they calmed a good deal. They wheeled off and Tessa gave them each a bottle, then changed them.

“What do you think?” Rachel asked.

“I’ve no idea, mum. They saw something. Dad once told me that you had met some folks who were amazed at the notion that Williams showed aboriginal influences. I guess the twins saw something. Those four were more exciting than the bark paintings.”

“Yes,” Tessa added. “They are more aware and more alert every day. Soon they’ll even talk to us.”