So after three months in Sydney we finally got around to having a house warming party. It took us a while, but waiting 3 months was critical in making sure that we not only had furniture for the apartment, but that we also had some friends. Since mexican food is pretty non-existant here, we decided to have a Cinco de Mayo housewarming party. We soon realised that most people don't even know what Cinco de Mayo is, which turned out to be a a good thing, since our party was on May 15th and not the 5th. It was a great [View Full Entry]

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Hi guys! April 25th was a national holiday here in Australia called Anzac Day, which is a memorial day celebrating the ANZAC's (Australian New Zealand Army Corps) who fought in Gallipoli. It's a very important day in Australian history, and its also the day when everyone goes to the bar or the RSL (Retired Serviceman’s League) to play a game called Two-Up. We're not sure of all of the history, but basically two-up is game of gambling on a coin toss which is legal only on Anzac day. What it entails is one person tossing 3 coins in the air and [View Full Entry]

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Hey Everyone! We're back and we have been busy since our last entry. Heidi is really enjoying her job and she feels challenged and is continually learning new things. She really likes her co-workers as well which makes the whole experience that much easier. Matt has been getting to do a fair amount of travelling around NSW for his new job and has seen some pretty unique and pristine ecosystems. He has been electrofishing in Wollongong, gill netting fish in the Narrabeen estuary, and looking for weedy sea dragons off Port Botany to name a few of the projects. We have [View Full Entry]

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We finally took our first trip outside of Sydney -- it was only a day trip, but it was a great change of scenery. Matt had just landed a job as a freshwater ecological consultant with a company called The Ecology Lab and we fit this in just before the reality of a 9-5 work week was going to set in. Just about 2 hours West of Sydney (by train) are the Blue Mountains. Apparently they look "blue" as a result of a fine mist of volatile oil given off by the eucalyptus trees...But don't worry, it’s not volatile enough to [View Full Entry]

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Hello Everyone! Well, we have been in Sydney for about 6 weeks and really have started to get settled. After scouring garage sales and eBay we have finally acquired some couches to sit on and some decorations to make our place feel like home. This includes a pull-out couch that is ready for anyone who is up for a visit. We've been exploring the sites of Sydney and wanted to share a few pictures of the many gorgeous beaches within easy reach of the city. Palm Beach is the farthest we have gone North (about 20 min. drive), while Manly and [View Full Entry]

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Well, we arrived in Sydney on the night of the 16th of February and were greeted by our first Australian friend, Bob Potter. Bob was nice enough to offer to put us up in his place in Rhodes while we searched for a place of our own and was extremely helpful in explaining how to order coffee (long black or flat white), how to drive on the wrong side of the road, which direction to look first when crossing the road, whether to watch Rugby League or Rugby Union, whether to refer to someone as a bloke, mate, or an ocker, [View Full Entry]

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We made it! After 10 hours on an incredibly cramped plane with 2 middle seats, a few glasses of wine, and some tylenol PM, we landed in Fiji at 5:30 am. Since they refused to check our bags through to Sydney for our 6:30pm flight , we left the customs area with all of our wordly possesions and decided that renting a car for the day would be the best choice (the public bus with 200 lbs of boxes seemed unmanageable). With an opportunity to get some practice driving on the left side of the road, we took off from the [View Full Entry]

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