This summer is flying by! Or shall I say winter? Oz, or Aus, or Australia, Sydney to be exact was cold. Not northwest US freezing, but cold. Angela and I just finished a fully packed week there and landed in Auckland, New Zealand today (July 8th). Everyone back home is a whopping 18 hours behind us, so you'll have to read this tomorrow, or never? I can practically see the international dateline.
The flight from LA to Sydney was 14 hours, but thankfully it was one of the newest planes they had and came equipped with tons of movies, games, music, etc (even family guy!!). We landed in south sydney just past dawn and the scenery was beautiful. For 3 days starting that morning we shacked for free from my UK buddy Govind who I met in Machu Picchu a few months back. He is working now for national newspaper as a financer, "The Australian".
The first day was pretty much sleep, to adjust for the day we skipped completely (let it be known, Angela and I did not live on Thursday, July 1, 2009!). We did manage to take a walking tour and scope out the major attractions. The days following it was non-stop fun: a night out on the town with Govind and friends, an Aussie "footie game" (kinda like soccer, rugby, and NFL all mixed into one), Transformers 2 the movie on the world's largest IMAX screen (8 stories!!), tix to the Sydney Symphony at the opera house, day trip to the Blue Mountains 2 hours outside of the city, and more.
Public transportation was great there as we purchased $50 week passes which gets you on all the buses, trains, and water ferries. This made travelling alot easier. Except for the part of course where I lost mine briefly and had to pay a day for things individually.... idiot. The language intrigues me the most about this place, as I'm sure they are loving my straight-laced American accent. Although they are speaking english, alot of the times I can't understand the Aussie's! Plus there are words that just don't appear in any dictionary anywhere. For instance, "ferdinkum", "wanker", "frothies" (beer). Any guesses? By the time I left I figure the secret to make anything sound Aussie is.... just add "mate" to the end of your sentence, especially when asking someone a question.
Check out the new photos and stuff. Angela and I are going to rent a camper van starting tomorrow or the next day and start our driving tour of the NZ islands!
Cheers mate!
