Buck Does 'Sea Days'

Buck loved the sea days because he could catch up on his reading..

And some relaxing...

and some jacuzziing...

And some daredevil stunts like leaping from the upper deck into the jacuzzi.  Buck loved it that the lady panicked and tried to save him by reaching out for him as he jumped.   Silly lady !

The thing was that everytime he did a sucessfull leap the boys from the bar would by him a beer and cheer him on.  Buck loved the sea days,  they came naturally to him.

Buck Visits Manly Beach

The name alone made him feel more courageous and he puffed himself up proudly as he enjoyed the beach activities like...

And this...

But only the ambassador and the lady enjoyed this...

Manly is a half hour ferry ride from sydney offering beautiful views of the harbour, bridge, opera house and all manner of watercraft plus some para sailing thrown in - so much to see !  Buck greatly enjoyed his day at the beach and was careful to use generous amounts of sunscreen.

Buck Makes New Friends

Buck greatly enjoyed meeting new australian friends...

And then Buck bade farewell Australia and boarded a cruise ship.  Buck was not too happy to meet the next character - not aboard a cruise ship anyway - given his track record on ships...

Fingers crossed - Buck sailed off to New Zealand.

Buck Visits Australia

Buck was very tired after 25 hours of travelling but was so excited he decided to head out on a hop on hop off bus tour anyway.

Buck was able to see many icons and some very unusual things as well.

Buck was amazed to see people touring across the upper edge of this bridge..YIKES ! He was certain that he'd not be doing that.   However,  there were lots of other things to do in Austrialia.

Buck Meets The Easter Bunny

It was very early morning, still dark when buck was awoken by a soft scurrying sound that he’d never heard before.   Half asleep, he looked about the living room and spotted a small furry face peeking at him from behind the couch.  “Ps-s-s-t!” it whispered, “Is it safe?”   

“Wha…” asked Buck “Is what safe?”.

“Is it safe to come out?  I hear growling” the fuzzy, frightened face questioned.

“That’s not growling” clarified Buck “that’s just the ambassador snoring.  Of course it’s safe”. 

And with that, the face made its way out from behind the couch revealing a long set of ears attached to it.  By the time it was in full view a bunny had emerged right there at the manor. 

“Who are you?” asked a rather astonished Buck out loud. 

 “The Easter Bunny” came the response which surprised Buck not because of the answer but because of the deep voice that came from the bunny.  It reminded Buck of the Barry White CD’s the ambassador played on Saturday nights and made the bunny seem bigger than he actually was. 

“Why are you here?” asked Buck.

The bunny smiled and shook his head slightly from side to side “Oh Buck, you have so much to learn. I’m here to spread joy, I have magical powers and..”

“I know, I know” Buck interrupted “You’re going to grant me 3 wishes!”

“Sorry Buck” the bunny looked amused,  “I don’t do that.  I bring chocolate eggs to spread springtime joy” explained the bunny as he began to remove chocolate treats from apparently bottomless furry pockets and place them purposefully throughout the room.  “Tomorrow morning,  people everywhere will wake up and get a lovely surprise when they find the treasures I’ve left for them”. 

“Cool!” exclaimed Buck.  “What a great idea”.

“Yeah, it’s my own thing I dreamed up many years ago.  I worked out a partnership with some chickens and the rest is history.   Creatures like you and I Buck were put on this earth to make others happy.  We are kindred spirits.   I want you to know that even though you’ll only see me once a year I am with you always” and the bunny gave Buck the softest, furriest kiss on his cheek

then simply vanished in a purple haze. 

“Whoa!” gasped Buck.  He looked to the left and he looked to the right and when he was satisfied that the bunny was really and truly gone, he proceeded to gobble up each and every chocolate egg he could find.  

With sudden, perfect clarity Buck understood the phrase “You snooze, you lose” and he used it to justify his selfishness as he ate.  In the quiet of the early morning, minutes before his conscience and his tummy ache began to bother him, Buck was never happier. 

Buck Gets Ready To Go

The manor was in a state with both the lady and the ambassador loading up their travel gear and moving back and forth between the scale to make sure they were within the allowable weight limit for their luggage.  Adjustments were made, collisions were averted by narrow margins and the lady kept answering the ambassador only to find out he was talking to himself.  In frustration she stopped answering him at all only to make him wonder why she was ignoring him.  Tensions grew in the ensuing confusion and Buck felt sorry for them.

 It was easy for Buck to pack,  all he needed were some items to entertain him on the long 20 hour flight

and some items to help him sleep. 

Buck planned to sneak a bite of the lady’s gravol tablet when she was busy watching her in-flight movie to help him sleep and the rest would be easy.

One sleep to go and then they’d head off on a new adventure.  Buck thought that he was perhaps the luckiest duck of all time and vowed to behave himself so that he might be deserving of all this good fortune. 

Buck Learns About Good Friday

When Buck first heard the words 'good friday' he wondered what exactly was good about it ?

 After spending that day with the ambassador's family it became apparent to him.

BEFORE ...

AFTER ...

It was obvious to Buck, the 'good' came in bottles. 

Buck Meets Some Co-workers

From all that Buck could gather the ladies had initially met at their workplace twenty or so years ago.  Apparently spending all those hours together whining about an employer can help people form lifelong bonds and this group was a prime example of that.  The ladies gathered to celebrate the retirement of yet another of their group.   Buck knew all about retirement and was excited to learn that he’d be attending the dinner.  He couldn’t wait to meet the other duck.  The one the retiree was sure to be presented with.  He had so much to tell that duck.  It was after the dinner that they passed the gift bag to the new retiree and Buck was startled to see that all it contained was jewellery.  No duck.  Where was the duck ?  It was when he noted the appreciative look on the face of the new retiree that Buck understood that gifts are tailored to their recipient.   Apparently some people would rather get jewellery than a duckie. 

Buck decided he might never fully understand people.   What drove them?  Made them happy?  Apparently the answers are as varied as the people themselves.  Buck still had a lot to learn and so he sat in the middle of the table and listened intently to try and understand all he could. 

Here were his takeaways from this event :

Retirees get up when they want and smile a lot.

Flaming cheese directly behind your head can be very distracting.

“OPA!” means “look out here comes a flaming cheese” in greek.

Most importantly,  a circle of friends has the power to quash worries and woes and magnify all the smiley parts of life.  

Buck Meets More Family

Since the lady would be away for a long time on her next trip she discovered that she would miss the birthdays of 2 of her 3 children and simply would not hear of it.  "We'll have a party before I go" stated the lady and it was so.   Buck was thrilled to meet her children and her future son in law and  the fact that they all got to have double cake was simply the best.   They sang happy birthday to the daughter...

and Buck helped blow out the candles on the son'sice cream cake...

and shortly thereafter Buck discovered that he should not under any circumstances try to get the last of the wine from the bottom of the glass...