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

Australian Open 2008

Erlich and Ram from Israel

I was in Paris during the French Open, didn't go. It was too expensive because it was during the later rounds. I was in London during Wimbeldon. Didn't go because I read in the paper how much of a nightmare it was to line up and get tickets and I couldn't be bothered. I knew I had to go to the Australian Open. So I did. It was Australia Day on the 26th, so I bought a grounds pass for $23. I watched Sharapova defeat Ivanovic in the women's final just 200 feet from where it was taking place. It was 32 degrees, watched it in the sun on the big screen. Also got a chance to watch the wheelchair finals, saw Djokovic practice, Men's Doubles finals, and the junior boys finals live in Rod Laver Arena featuring an Aussie kid from Queensland (who one) and a kid from Tapei who could serve over 200kmh. Amazing tennis, you can tell they have a ways to go, but these kids could be the future. All in all a great Australia Day.

Pics:

1)Rod Laver Arena

2) Men's wheelchair final

3) Me watching women's final

4) Sharapova's glory

5) Djokovic returning serves on one of the practice courts

6) Maria and I

7) Men's doubles team Erlich and Ram of Israel accepting the trophy

8) Me in Rod Laver arena watching the junior boys final. Tomic def. Yang 4-6, 7-6, 6-0

Day trip to the city (Melbourne)

Pics:

1) Vic Market

2) Team Canada jacket

3) The crew touring Melbourne

4) The city

5) Federation Square

6) Flinders St. Station and St. Paul's from Eureka

7) Melbourne Park (Aussie Open)

8) Eureka Tower

9) Cool bridge and Flinders St. Station in background

10) Fed Square

11) St. Paul's Cathedral
12) Flinders Street Station

13) Luna Park entrance

14) Oldest rollercoaster in the world at Luna Park

Shae and Miia were heading up to the city for an appointment, so they figured it'd be fun to go up to the city one day to do the touristy things. They were right. Travis came with us too. We started at the Victoria Market in the morning, a massive outdoor marked. I bought a boomerang, a new wallet, and even saw some Team Canada memorabilia as well as an Oilers jersey. It was way cheaper than in the stores back home, but they only had larges. A Team Canada jersey would be good to have for travelling with. Anyway, after the Vic Market we met Shae's friend Shae, had lunch (I had a MASSIVE piece of lasagna, the Italian guy gave me a big smile when he just packed the plate full. Though I gotta say, there's still nothing like homemade lasagna, good on ya Mom!) After lunch we went over to the casino (apparently the only one in the State of Victoria, but I find that hard to believe). We walked along the South Bank over to Eureka Tower. Stats time:

Skydeck 88 is the highest public vantage point in the Southern Hemisphere

World's tallest residential building

Fastest lifts in the Southern Hemisphere (more than 9m/sec)

In other words, it's tall. The view was just spectacular, great view of Port Phillip Bay, Rod Laver Arena and the rest of the tennis park, the city, etc. After the skydeck we split up from Shae, Miia and Shae, and Travis and I went to Federation Square (city square, very modern and interesting), then to Luna Park in St. Kilda's. It was closed, but we could see the world's oldest rollercoaster from where we were standing. Plus we wanted pics of the clown face entrance.

Weekend Part Deux: Camping at Phillip Island

Pics:

1) Stampede poster

2) Nuclear tested penguin and I

3) Koala

4) Lee and I on the genetically modified koalas

5) Shae's Strawberry Shortcake shirt (Manda, this one's for you!)

6) Koala

7) Wallabee at Koala Park

After Wilson's Prom, we drove out to Phillip Island to meet up with Lee for the last few days. We went out for dinner at a great Tex Mex place (which had two Calgary Stampede posters), went to the famous "Penguin Parade" where little penguins, a species of penguin only found in the Southern hemisphere, come in from their daily activities in the ocean to make it to their burrows at sunset. Unfortunately, couldn't take any photographs of the penguin parade, but they were so funny to watch waddle up onto the beach and into their burrows. We even saw 2 penguins mating on their way up, pretty crazy stuff. The next morning we went to the Koala Park on the island, a conservation and research centre for the preservation of koalas. Not only did we see koalas, but wallabies as well, one of which hopped right towards Lee scaring the crap out of her. We also saw one koala climb down a tree, something you won't see that often (they're not very energetic based on their food intake; apparently the eucalyptus they consume is equal to the energy we receive from a bowl of cereal). Afterwards, we had lunch and drove home.