Kangaroos and Econ 101

Little continents on a globe get a lot bigger when you start driving between points on a map.  We spent most of yesterday driving south along the coast from Kiama to Mallacoota.  We made one significant side trip.  Back in New Zealand, some friendly Aussies had recommended that we visit Pebbly Beach on the NSW coast.  We made the side trip to Pebbly.  We found a beautiful beach and wild (yet tame) kangaroos.  We can now relax having checked kangaroo sightings off our list.

We got to Mallacoota late yesterday.  Today is Good Friday and unlike in the US, Easter is a big travel holiday in Australia.  School lets out for two weeks starting today and it is the last fall hurrah for people before hunkering down for the mild Australian winter.  We had forewarning so we called ahead to Mallacoota to make reservations and put down a deposit to camp in the holiday park (an NZ/Aussie term for an amenities-laden private campground).  We have stayed in lots of holiday parks and have had a generally positive experience at them.  We got here about dark.  The wind was blowing and rain seemed imminent.  We found the park and drove through looking for our spot, site 64.  Nobody said much, but I think we were all thinking the same thing.  We didn't want to spend three of our last seven days in this campground.

One of the most valuable lessons that I learned at Stanford did not come from a Nobel Laureate, but from my friend David Burgess, Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Sociology.  The concept that David taught me was that of the sunk cost.  In layman's terms, a sunk cost is a cost already incurred that should not affect decision-making moving forward.  Walter has a bright future in economics as he has already demonstrated mastery of the sunk cost concept on this trip. He did so by ordering a $17 BBQ chicken pizza in a pub and then taking about two bites from it before pushing it aside.

Last night, we applied the sunk cost concept to our lodging situation, lucked out, and found a pretty nice kitchenette motel room.  We are here one more night in the Croajingolong National Park, which is supposed to be a nice natural length of coastline (other than the holiday park).  We are going to check it out and maybe do a couple of nights of backpacking - weather permitting.

Our first sighting...

 

The kangaroos had cropped the grass short making Pebbly Beach much like Pebble Beach except for the aroma of kangaroo droppings..



 

 

The view from Pebbly Beach...

 

Kangaroos take great pride in their nail care...

 

He was raised by pack of kangaroos...

 

We have been calling all eucalyptus-like trees eucalyptus trees.  Apparently, some of them aren't.  I liked the "paint by numbers" bark pattern on this one though.  

The view from site 64.  To quote Walter quoting me, "That is a lot of togetherness action"...

Margaret receiving marginal benefit at an added marginal cost...