I can't believe it's my final weekend here! Yesterday I wandered around the CBD on a rather rainy/windy day (not typical of the weather I've experienced here!) to take some photos of some of my favourite haunts and to see a couple of new things. I started the day with a leisurely stop at one of the few remaining Starbucks in Australia (I've recently passed ones in Canberra, Bondi Junction, and Hobart that have all closed as of August 1 - is it much the same in North America?). I then decided to bit the bullet and buy a trip on Sydney's monorail - at almost $5, it's a bit a of rip-off/touristy thing as it doesn't actually go that far and the stops aren't really that convenient! Along the way I took some photos of ... read more

I can finally say I've been to all of Australia's states/territories! I spent this weekend in Canberra - which is in it's own state called the Australian Capital Territory. It's been the official capital of Australia since 1908 - although parliament has only sat there since 1927 (there were some delays in moving up from Melbourne thanks to the First World War) - are you getting the impression that I learned a lot during my 28 hours there? I took the 3.5 hour bus ride down from Sydney on Saturday morning - main highway the whole way there, so not a whole lot to see. I had wanted to get tickets for the Hop-on Hop-off tourist bus for the afternoon, but upon checking in at my YHA, I learned that they've cancelled the afternoon portion. I ... read more

A few weeks ago, I managed to find cheap flights to Hobart, Tasmania and thus a three-day weekend trip was planned! As I only had such a short time (Saturday morning - Monday night), I had to limit by Tasmanian travels to just Hobart and it’s immediate surrounding area - however, now that I’ve been, I’d love to go back and see the rest. Definitely one of my favourite places I’ve been here. After arriving on Saturday and checking into my hostel (yes, back to the hostel lifestyle - but it didn’t seem so bad when I knew I’d be returning to my lovely Bondi Beach house in only a couple of days!), I ventured into downtown Hobart. The downtown was quite small (I think the greater Hobart area has a population of about 200,000), but ... read more

After a nice long three-week visit, my parents and sister returned to Canada this morning. We rented a van and travelled from Sydney up to the warm subtropics in Queensland and then back down. I've included a brief outline of where our travels took us (before I forget!) and a few pictures - thanks to Dad and Kristen I have about 2000 photos from the last three weeks, so it'll take me some time to sort through and post the highlights. Day 1: I met the family at Sydney airport, we picked up the rental car, and made the harrowing drive to the Best Western in Lidcombe for two nights stay. Dad quickly learned the Aussie rules of the road - despite jet lag! Activities on the first day were kept to a minimum and included ... read more

My family arrived for a three-week visit and road trip up the coast. Here are some of the photos that my Dad's taken so far. ... read more