Cairns

We landed in Cairns today, Melbourne is but a memory. It wasn't looking like it was going to be a good one either, it turns out things look a lot closer on the Internet than they may be in real life. The accomodation I arranged in St.Kilda was waaay far away from the beach though some not so super-nice looking areas. Schlepping our 2 suitcases that far (even rolling) was not looking appealing. Luckily we managed to switch to something closer. Still, St.Kilda was not so suiting to my sister's very non-bohemian tastes, plus it was very out of the way for doing any touring. We decided to move in to the city for our last two nights. We were getting up at 6:30 and 5:45 respectively, and that was with a good location.

Continue reading... | Posted 02:09 AM to Vacation

5 Days In Australia

It's hard to believe it's been almost a week already. It's been so busy. Kim and I actually got about 14 of the 19 top things to do in Sydney (Rough Guide) done.

What was yesterday? Oh yeah, the Olympic Park. We headed out there early since it takes about 45min including a transfer to the special 1 stop Olympic Park line. The first place we headed was teh Aquatic Center, so Kim could have her moment of glory in the pool. An Olympic Park is basically filled with huge impressive structures looking for a continued use. The Aquatic Center was quite busy however, it seems the schools have an 8 week program for swimming lessons near the end of their school year. They have quite an ingenious system too, the bathing caps indicate what level the swimmer is at.

After that we wandered around the park looking at more buildings and generally being tourists. It was a weekday and pretty dead though, so after photographing a few buildings and the Flame we decided to head back to Sydney. It looked like there were a lot of really cool bke trails, but we were just too tired.

Continue reading... | Posted 09:22 PM to Vacation

Hello from Down Under!

So it's Wednesday November 22 at 5:00pm right now, and it's bloody hot down here! Sydney's been under a bit of a heatwave the last few days. My sister and I went on the Sydney Harbour BridgeClimband I think I saw it was 38.9C at the summit. It was also incredibly windy and not a nice cooling breeze either, it was like being in a hair dryer on a low setting.

All that isn't to say I'm not having a great time, because I am. It was so great to see Sharon and Matt on Monday night after we landed. We went out to Bondi Beach for a great dinner and lots of catching up. So weird to think that it's been more than a year since I saw them and here it is the other side of the world. But so great, this is how all seperated friends should meet!

Continue reading... | Posted 12:59 AM to Vacation - (2) Comments