Blogs from Redfern, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania

What a couple of days I've had in Sydney! Friday I went walking downtown to see all of the touristy things, namely the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. It rained most of the day, making both walking and photography not very ideal. Two pleasant surprises that I stumbled upon were St. Mary's Cathedral and The Royal Botanic Gardens. St. Mary's Cathedral is the largest cathedral in Australia; it honestly looks like it was transplanted from Europe. No photographs were allowed inside, but it was still definitely worth the trip inside. On the buttresses outside I saw a sulphur-crested cockatoo, one of many exotic birds flying around the city. Royal Botanic Gardens are basically a huge park with hundreds of varieties of trees and plants. Hundreds of birds flocked here, but only a few people. The ... read more

Well Sydney.... Im struggling to remember that far back! It has been a while since I updated this! I went for beers with Andy first night, second night, third night, ok every night I was in Sydney.... During the day I visited the Botanic Gardens (beautiful!) and the opera house which was pretty ugly up close and not white like you think.... I also went to the aquarium which was fantastic, seeing all the sharks and clownfish and angelfish and jellyfish and well fish!!! oh and getting the fitt camera blokes number for hayley to go for fish and chips with! Although there was one major downside to this little venture.... I ran out of memory space on my camera... Hayley came to the rescue by lending me hers, but then when I went to the ... read more

It’s now official; I’m chubby. Apparently my metabolism isn’t what it used to be when I was 22. It turns out eating like a horse in combination with zero exercise actually does store fat in my physical depots these days, and it’s not very becoming when you’re of naturally lean structure. The plan to swim every day worked for about five days. During my first week at the coffee shop I started work at 9AM, and therefore had time to go to the pool before the workday began, a routine with only one minor drawback; for the first hour I looked like a raccoon from the un-fashionable imprints the swim goggles left. Another possible disadvantage would be that it’s a 20-25 minute walk to the pool, and walking really isn’t all that great for my shin ... read more

When new to a country, one of the many surprises of daily life is the unexpected holidays. For a working girl like myself, these translate to days off, and are therefore greeted with enthusiasm. Monday of last week I learned that we wouldn’t be working that Friday, since it was Anzac Day. I had heard "Anzac" mentioned in a variety of situations; Anzac Biscuit, Anzac Parade, Anzac Bridge etc. Now it was here, the actual holiday, and I learned all about the alliance between Australia and New Zealand, as well as the story of Gallipoli and how they planned to capture Istanbul. To immerse myself properly in the Aussie culture, I joined Dave in his efforts to help celebrate the 93rd anniversary of this military failure by betting money on either the heads or tails of ... read more

Hello, We were able to trace down Fran, a lovely lady we met in Vietnam ten years ago. We spend some time together in town. Many nice memories came back, we enjoyed it. Hallo, Een medereizigster in Vietnam hebben we na tien jaar terug gezien. Veel leuke herinneringen opgehaald, was heel plezant.... read more