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Published: January 5th 2009
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i can't begin to describe how beautiful everything is... if i'm not required to be inside, i'm not.
let's catch up then. once i finally got to sydney (on dec 29), kade was waiting for me at the airport. unfortunately, customs took away the marshmallow fluff (which i brought the boys as a gift- it's what they wanted) - not the point though, it was taken because it has egg in it. come to find out however, australia has fluff. no need to come to america for fluffernutters anymore. justin's girlfriend, kirsti (i'll fix you up with a who's who in a bit), told us that cole's (grocery store) carries it. it's the actual "fluff" brand (ahem, brian). crazy.
anyway, everything else, including me, made it through customs quite well otherwise. got a quick driving tour of sydney as we went to kade's house (in north sydney, about 50 mins away). always weird to see quintessential landmarks in person. drove over the harbor bridge and past the opera house. sydney's huge. HUGE. i'm didn't do my touristy day in the city yet. i'm saving that for the end of my trip. i wanted to hang out with kade while
he and his pals were off work for chrissy and new year's. (i'm gonna do that sort of nickname thing because i love it and since i'm here right now, i'm allowed to say things like the aussies... you can make fun of me for it if i continue it- to an extreme- once i'm home).
mind you, i don't want to come home.
so on the way to kade's, he gets a call that our friend (and i say "our" because this is a fella i met while i was in england a couple years ago) anyway- that our friend, ally, is doing a shark dive at manly aquarium. "do you wanna go jen?"
we drop my bags off at his house, i shower and we run out the door to justin's house- he's gonna drive. justin and kirsti (girlfriend we learned about earlier, remember) meet us outside and we pop in the truck and head to manly. he's a gentleman and takes the scenic route so i can see the sea. serious foliage. multiple postcard views of the ocean. and there are lagoons everywhere (safe, faux beaches that don't have killer jellies lurking). i get
introduced to the australian version of a pine tree, which i thought was a fake.
get to the aquarium and meet ally's parents and sister (ally is the english friend. the one who made us watch 34 episodes of "lost" one day in england while it was snowing). ally's dad is jeff. i've blanked on the girls' names. jeff remembered me from the pub in studley. how bananas is that? matt was there as well. matt's the brother of jimmy- another boy from studley who was in on the "lost" party. as it turns out, the boys know the manager, allison, so we all get in free. sweet as. (there's another aussie-ism for you).
i found nemo.
it wasn't an extensive aquarium, but it had fishes and creatures we don't have at home so i was enthralled. they had a tank with all the "finding nemo" characters swimming around. (again, the pictures would be helpful here, i know, just be patient). my favorite is the blue-ringed octopus. yes, i know it's deadly. i still want one. it's a wee little thing and it changes color. here, read:
Species:
There are two species of blue-ringed octopus:
1. Hapalochlaena lunulata, which is the larger and grows up to 20cm (8 in) across its stretched tentacles.
2. Hapalochlaena maculosa, is small and more common, weighing a mere 28 grams (1 oz). They are found in the shallow coral and rock pools of Australia.
While resting, the Blue Ring Octopus is a pale brown to yellow colour. The blue rings on its body only "light up" as a warning when the animal feels threatened.
Don't pick one up - by the time you see the electric-blue rings, it's too late!
Description:
It starts life the size of a pea and is fully grown at about the size of a golf ball.
They have a life span of approx. 2 years.
Carry enough poison to kill 26 adults within minutes.
all creatures great and small. went to an animal show (just like the ones at the science museum at home). sat in there with the 6 year olds and was happy as a clam. ally's shark dive was interesting to watch... although i didn't like just sitting there. there were several sharks. and turtles. and sting rays ("the size of a
queen bed"... those are the words used by an employee explaining the size of one of the sting rays. the thickness of the glass distorts the actual size.... that's what she said) he got to be in the tank with them for about 30 minutes. he's a shark nut- if he'd been eaten (by what looked like sharks swimming around doped up on horse tranquilizers), he'd have gone out the way he wanted. one of the divers (there were 4 in his group) freaked out when the giant turtle nudged her and had to be dragged out of the water (the girl, that is... not the turtle. he suffered no consequences for his curiosity)
the aquarium is on a beach. lovely views. went to lunch after. ate at nando's: had peri-peri chicken. FOOD IS VERY EXPENSIVE HERE. went to manly wharf for a beer. drove back a while later and went by chris' shop, and apt above it, and met a few girls. then headed to justin's house for a barbie.
as in "throw another shrimp on the..."
hung out with kade, justin, kirsti, matt, ally, and lucas (justin's roomie). caesar salad, kabobs, and bangers. good food,
happy jenny. i'm using people's proper names on here, but that's never the case with these people. nicknames and abbreviations for everything. it's captivating. i've been called jen by everyone i meet (that includes flight attendants). plus kade calls me the metalhead so that's how he introduces me to people.
after food and a few beers it was time to call it a night. i'd been awake well over 24 hours. thankfully, kade suggested it was time to go right as i hit a wall (the one i'd been stealthily avoiding for hours) and my eyeballs had begun to spin in my head. crashed as soon as i hit the pillow. day one in sydney done.
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