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Published: October 20th 2006
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Manly Beach
Notice the haze? It's HOT! First off I'd like to begin this entry by thanking everyone who left a comment after my last blog entry. No matter what I'm doing here, nothing compares to hearing from the people I love at home. I found myself laughing and crying at the same time while reading your comments.
So, what have I been up to? Well, it's been an interesting few days....today was my first stressful day. Forgetting my bank card is continuing to be a big pain. Mom saved my butt my wiring me some money from my Canadian account to my new Aussi account. The only problem is that it takes 48 hours to go through and banks aren't open on weekends so together with the time difference I won't be getting anything until Monday. In the meantime I'm stuck in Sydney feeling like I'm wasting valuable travel time and fretting over every dollar I spend.
On a lighter note, there could definitely be worse places to be stuck. Sydney is amazing, by far my favourite big city. There are beautiful parks everywhere, lots of art/statues, and a nice mix of old and new architecture. It seems as if there is always something going
Jacaranda Trees
These trees are absolutely beautiful and blooming everywhere. on. I was walking through Hyde Park the other night and apparently there was some sort of food festival going on. There were a few tents set up serving food but then thousands of people sitting on the grass eating. It was very picturesque.
Yesterday was the first sunny day, which was perfect because I had planned to go the beach. I took a ferry over to another part of Sydney called Manly which is a nice little place with lots of shops and beaches. I laid on the beach for a while but it was too hot to stay for long (swimming wasn't allowed because the current was too strong). I saw my first cockroach in a Manly shop, and it wasn't one of the little ones. I wasn't sure if this was a big deal so I quietly mentioned it to a girl about my age working there. She said "Ah I know, I've been trying to get rid of those little buggers. Killed the father but I can't seem to get rid of the rest of them so I've given up." And to think some Canadians are scared of spiders.
Last night I saw the
Sydney Symphony at the Opera House. The first half consisted of BERNSTEIN Candied - Overture and GRIEG Piano Concerto. It was really nice to recognize some of the music. The pianist for the Grieg piece was outstanding and the audience cheered for so long he had to come out and bow three times. Unfortunately the second half wasn't nearly as good. It was a symphony written by a modern composer and could be described as nothing other than weird. He had water sounds playing in the background of the first movement. Really not a good call on his part because if the rest of the audience was like me, everyone was probably concentrating on holding in their urge to pee for the rest of the performance. He also had siren sounds and crazy lighting, not something you generally see at a symphony.
Today after walking around "The Rocks" (a quaint older part of town), I took a ferry to Darlington Harbour to visit the Sydney Aquarium. As you can guess I saw tons of cool fish, lots of sharks, and the biggest sting ray EVER! Seriously, this thing was monstrous. After the aquarium I walked along the water to
My solo night on the town
Here you can see the Sydney Symphony, the Sydney Children's Choir and look a the pipe organ! the Chinese Gardens. This along with the Botanical Gardens is my favourite place so far. There were so many exotic plants/trees, nice waterfalls, and beautiful Chinese architecture. It was very peaceful......then the rain hit. I found shelter in a round house with shutters which was actually a very nice place to watch the rain (way better than the garage Mom).
Well, as if this entry isn't long enough I will leave you with a few differences I've noticed between Canada and Australia.
(1) They don't sell rabbit paws...they sell Kangaroo paws.
(2) When one person is taking a taxi they always sit in the front.
(3) Stores close between 5-6 every night except Thursdays when they are open until 9.
(4) Some liquor stores are combined Liquor/Deli.
(5) When a sidewalk hits the road the direction you are supposed to look is painted on the road (thank goodness!).
(6) It appears Australia is just as multicultural as Canada, but I'm sure like home this is mostly in the bigger cities.
Well, that's all for now. Tomorrow I'm off to the Blue Mountains to do some sightseeing and hiking (or bushwalking as the Aussis say).
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Kim (from the Caribbean)
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woohoo
Hey Heather! Love your pics and Aussie experiences :) I'm actually working with a Native Aussie here in Trinidad who I will share your blog with, he's from Sydney too! Don't stress about the money thing, do you have credit cards?? I have been relying so much on mine to avoid the bank fees anyhow, actually haven't even used my bank card yet (but I exchanged abunch of $ before I left). Keep the posts coming and pics! Love Kim