Start to Oz.

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Sydney, Australia

Hey everyone 😊

I've now been in Sydney for a week. I arrived safe & sound, with Jessie waiting at the airport for when I got here - she's been nice enough to let me use her couch as a crash pad for my time in Sydney. The flight was bloody long (nuff said). I was in an aisle seat, and apparently the woman beside me had a bladder the size of a coffee bean - I swear I had to get up for her every hour to let her go to the lavatory. Crazy enough though, the woman was originally from Orangeville!? ("It's a small world" Episode #1).The first couple days were pretty tough with jet lag, so I got to know Jess's DVD collection pretty well... despite passing out at 7pm each night & starting my days at 4:30am and some pretty crappy weather, I still managed to keep myself pretty busy throughout the days. Here's a bit of a synopsis of what I've been doing:

My first plan of attack was a walk down to Coogee Beach - it took me about 45 minutes to walk there from Jess's place, and was definately worth the walk... so beautiful. I took my iPod & book with me & found a cozy spot on the point to relax & enjoy the view. On my second day, I took a bus into Sydney to do the typical touristy things - checked out the Opera House, went for a walk through the Botanical Gardens, strolled along Darling Harbour, got a sick view of Sydney from Observatory Hill, went to Wildlife World Museum & the Aquarium... packed quite a bit of action into one day!

A little later in the week I went on a Whale Watching cruise. This was an item on my "to do" list, so it was a must. I was chatting to the man beside me, who mentioned he was also from Canada; Oshawa to be exact. He was asking me about what I did for work, so I was telling him about my Liaison position @ Mac that had just ended... he found it interesting because his wife was a Guidance Counsellor... she joined us at this point, and sure enough I had visited her school in Oshawa about a month ago - I remembered her & she remembered me! ("It's a small world" Episode #2). The cruise was quite a little adventure in itself, we ended up getting caught in a storm that really roughed up the sea... I found it quite enjoyable: it felt like the most intense rollercoaster I had ever been on. The others on the boat - didn't find it so enjoyable: about 40/50 passengers were reacquainting themselves with their lunch :S Once the weather cleared up a bit, a pack of about 30 dolphins joined us, swimming & jumping for us at the side of the boat. It was awesome... but no flipping whale, that's for sure!! We didn't see a whale, so they provided us with vouchers for another cruise. I decided to go out for another go the next morning, but for a shorter trip on a smaller boat. The conditions were perfect & I got to see a bunch of humpback whales!!!

Tomorrow I'm going for a hike from Coogee Beach, up the coast, to Bondi Beach. I'm joining a girl that I met at Wicked Travel (a backpacker's travel agency) - she hooked me up with some great package deals. This monday, I take off for a 5-day surf trip that will take me from Sydney up to Byron Bay - I'm pretty excited bout this, seeing as learning how to surf aslo made my "to do" list.

Seeing as I'm getting tired of typing, Jessie's getting tired of watching me type & you are probably getting tired of reading this, I'm going to bring this entry to an end right - HERE -

Miss you all.
Cheers.

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Photos

Wildlife World
Can't wait to see one in the wild now!

Beach Life.
Yeah, I think I could get used to this...

Comments

[Diary from Down Under]

Hey Ms. Smith! SO great to hear from you and read all about your adventures.. you'll find that there will be a whole season full of "it's a small world" episodes! haha Have tons of fun on your surfing trip! I'm sure you'll be a natural! Ahh so jealous. When I'm riding the big mountains out west in a week I'll think of u riding those waves down under. keep us posted! MISS YOU xo Sarah

[Smurph]

great to hear from you
Hi CJ Love this site. Got the new pup, Sophie it is. Everyone here is good and healthy, but so not liking the cold. All the best and we will check in often, keep us posted.

[mom]

WHAT WONDERFUL PICTURES
IT SURE LOOKS BEAUTIFUL WHERE YOU ARE, WE ARE REALLY ENJOYING THE SNOW. (ACTUALLY YOUR DOGS ARE)look forward to surfing pictures.