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GBR

Monday, November 17th, 2008

That’s short for Great Barrier Reef in case you were wondering. We went on a snorkel trip today at two spots on the reef. While I’m not a big fan of touristy packages, it was really nice to have everything taken care of today from lunch to the wetsuits. After days of planning things on our own, a mental break was just in time.

The reef itself was beautiful. I think we’ve seen more fish at some other snorkeling spots in the islands, but the coral is in a class by itself. It’s more colorful, in more shapes, and more “alive” than I’ve ever seen before. We visited two sites, Hastings Reef and Long Bommie. Can’t wait to go again next week!.

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Last one from Sydney, for now

Monday, November 17th, 2008

We’re actually in Cairns now, and have WiFi! I wanted to write about a few last things from Sydney though. On Friday we took a tour of the Opera House and it’s pretty amazing inside too. Incredibly the design we all know and love now was rejected at first. Thankfully they reconsidered.

We got to see another icon, they Sydney Tower, up close. We had drinks at the revolving bar/restaurant at the top and were treated to great views of the city and some crazy lightening too. Great idea, Steven!

Finally, we’ve been following the Rugby World Cup which is huge here. The Kangaroos have been hopping all over their completion, so we thought we better learn a little something about the game. Roughly speaking, we’ve figured out most of the game, but here are a few parallels to American Football: Try = Touchdown (but it’s only 4 points), Conversion = PAT (but it’s 2 points), the 5/8 = quarterback (except that he can kick it away when it seems favorable). It can be pretty exciting, but the last few games have been one-sided – Australia shut out Fiji 52-0.

More soon from Queensland.

More from the harbour

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

The last week has been busy!  After some rain last Saturday, the weather has been sunny and warm, perfect for seeing Sydney and the surrounding area.   There’s too much to tell here, but we’ve been to the Maritime Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Sydney Olympic Park for a nice bike ride, the Blue Mountains, Bondi Beach, and Watson’s Bay.  We also stopped off at the fish market again yesterday for and excellent sushi lunch, plus picked up some huge prawns and mussels for dinner – mmmm!  Having an apartment with a kitchen has been great.  

Sydney is really comfortable.  Many of the shops are similar to those back home, and TV is a mix of US programs and similar Oz variations (the finals of Australian Idol are on Sunday!).  It’s easy to forget where you are, which is why it stands out when you find something that is different.  Here’s an example… 

Pop Quiz:  What is a capsicum?  Hints:  It comes in green or red.  It’s at the grocery store between the tomatoes and lettuce. 

Answer:  It’s a bell pepper!  And they’re very good too. 

We’re enjoying our last few days here for now and starting to plan for the next leg to Cairns. Here’s the from Bondi:

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Blue Mountains

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

Our 1st ‘roo sighting…

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Other pictures from our trip are located at the link on the right side called “Our Photo Gallery”.

Settling into Sydney

Friday, November 7th, 2008

After a few days with no internet connection, we finally found a convenient and relatively cheap internet café.  It’s just down the street from the apartment that we’re renting for the rest of our time in Sydney.  It’s great to have a kitchen, laundry, and more comfortable place to hang out.  We’ve been spending our days exploring the neighborhood and in addition to the café, we’ve found a good farmers market, grocery store, and bottle shop.  It’s been amazing how time consuming simple things can be when you’re not sure where to go or what brands to buy!  However, Sydney is pretty easy to navigate and we’re getting around pretty quickly now.  We also met a friend from the US for dinner last night and got a few more pointers.

We spent a day in Manley, a beach north of the city.  There’s a nice, but long walk up to a cliff lookout called the North Head that has beautiful views of the entrance to the harbour.  The surf culture is definitely a factor here and it felt a little like home in CA, except for the pine trees along the beach instead of palms.  After the day here, we can’t wait to go to Bondi next week.
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