Back to Sydney

Pics:

1) Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge

2) Wayne (Edmonton), Eva (Sweden) and I

3) Harbour Bridge with the Opera House in the background

4) The Darling Harbour with view of Sydney Tower

5) View of St. Mary's from Hyde Park

6) Famous Bondi Beach

7) Arriving at Bondi Beach

8) Me on Bondi on Valentine's Day

9) Wayne (Edmonton) and Eva (Sweden)

10) Opera House at night

11) Opera House looks better in the sun

12) 'The Rocks,' the earliest settled area of Sydney with a view of Harbour Bridge

So I know I didn't like Sydney the first time, but this time I had better weather, so I liked it a bit more. I was also in Sydney the day the Prime Minister said sorry to the Aboriginal people for the lost generation. I met a guy from Edmonton who knew a few people from back home, so we hung out my last few days, as well as a Swedish girl we met in the hostel. Went to Bondi Beach finally, attempted to get my last bit of tan before heading back to wintery Europe, but as you can see I'm still nice and pasty. I wouldn't say I love Sydney now, but I have a better impression than I first did. I still get a better vibe from Melbourne, but Sydney's an alright place if you're with good people and have good weather.

New Zealand (Taupo, Rotorua, Tauranga and Wellington)

New Zealand was a great place to visit, I just wish I had more time. I didn't get a chance to get to the South Island at all, but my main reason to go there was to visit my friend Mel (who I met in Germany at the Beck's Brewery, hung out a lot last summer in London, then ran into each other randomly in Chiang Mai, Thailand at the night market). It was really nice, her family was amazing to meet, we went on a North Island road trip up to Taupo where we met some of Mel's friends and went to a natural hot springs, we went to Rotorua where we went to a Thermal Maori village (the native people of NZ) where we saw traditional dances and ate a hangi (a traditional Maori food cooked in the ground like a slow cooker), and all of this on Waitangi Day, Kiwiland's national holiday signifying the day the settlers and the elders signed a treaty.

We then went up a chair lift on a hill to try our hands at the luge, sleds you can drive down the hill, and also a bungy swing which was good fun. After Rotorua, we went up to Tauranga to meet Mel's friend Leyton and his family, we had a bbq, then spent the next day on the beach. I got burned expecting the sun to be similar to that in Australia (and I've learned what I can tolerate by now), but I was wrong. Apparently the hole is moreso above NZ than Oz, so I burned.

Then we headed back to Wellington, went to a free concert in the park with 4 Kiwi bands, went to a bachelor party for one of Mel's friends (she was at the hen night, so it worked out for me to go out with the boys), then said goodbyes and headed back to sunny Sydney. Oh, and as for Kiwi culture, look up the show Flight of the Conchords. It's hillarious.

Pics:

1) L&P, famous pop in NZ

2) River in Taupo

3) Cooker for 'Hangi'

4) Geyser at thermal village

5) Maori common house

6) The Maori people and I

7) Maori performing poi

8) Mel and I on the gondola in Rotorua

9) Look Mom, no snowboard!

10) Sky Swing

11) Rotorua from above

12) Kiwis are really big in NZ

13) Elemeno P on stage at a free concert in Wellington

14) Me in Wellington