Although I really enjoy seeing new places and becoming familiar with the unknown, it was great to get to Sydney knowing that it would already be familiar. I spent 6 months here during my last year of college, so aside from the familiarity of being back in a first world culture, it has been great seeing some familiar faces as well.

I checked myself into the Royal Garden Hotel right in Downtown Sydney for 3 nights. It's funny the things you appreciate when you've been deprived of them for so long - extra toilet paper in the bathroom (or toilet paper at all for that matter), little bottles of shampoo and soap for FREE, not having to wear shoes in the shower....

For my first day in Sydney I - slept until 3pm. Partly because I was jetlagged (Sydney is 9 hours ahead of Cape Town), and partly because, well, because I could. I had plans to meet up with my Norweigan friend Line (pronounced Lee-na) for a drink later that night and I decided that my Ms. Crocodile Hunter safari clothes weren't going to cut it now that I was back in a normal city, so I went shopping for some new clothes before meeting up with her.

I had hopes of finding a Taco Bell, after some of Lines friends said that one had opened downtown, but unfortunately it had closed. I've managed to limit myself to binging on MacDonalds only once. I think watching "Super Size Me" on the plane from Johannesburg scared me out of the eating marathon that I was so looking forward to after leaving Africa. After the 3 days in the RG Hotel were up, I moved into a dorm at the Maze Backpackers - where the duvets on the all the beds are Australian Flags, nice touch!

For the last few days I've been walking around downtown Sydney seeing all the famous sights again. My first stop was of course the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you ever wondered how Danish Architect Jorn Utzon came up with the design for the Opera House, here is the plaque that shows the different sections and how they were cut out of a sphere. I also wandered past Darling Harbour, Centerpoint Tower, and spent some time in Coogee, where I lived when I was here going to the University of New South Wales. I also checked out my old house at 9 Moore St., and Coogee Beach, which was just down the road.

On Saturday night, Line and I went to a going away party for her boyfriend, Sean, who is returning to Canada after 2 years of being away. One of Seans friends, Josh (left), believe it or not, was a 2002 quarterfinalist in the International Rock Paper Scissors Competition. No kidding. I learned ALL about the "sport" of Rock Paper Scissors. I think I may begin training when I get back home.

It has been a nice few days adjusting to city life again and preparing for the next phase of my travels, and tomorrow morning I will begin up the coast toward Byron Bay. On the way I'll stop in a few small towns and also pay a visit to Kevin and Andrea, a Canadian-British couple that I met back in 1999 in the Galapagos Islands.