Finally A New Post and Pictures!

It's been awhile! Sorry I've been slacking! (Post is after the pictures!) Our building! The front door is the white door on the left, next to the Mexican place

Floating stage in Darling Harbour on her 21st birthday!Awesome fireworks show in Darling Harbour

Luna Park in North Sydney

Hanging out with my new friend, Darryl the Dugong, at the Sydney Aquarium today. The mermaid was totally trying to flirt with him.

Darling Harbour during the day. I love it!

Our luxurious room. I took this picture from the doorway, yeah its pretty small.

I took this picture from my bedroom window. Although gorgeous, this bird is EXTREMELY noisy and likes waking me up at 6:30am every morning with its squawking.

Showing off my photography skills....

My front yard and gym (the black square with blue workout stations). Ahhh....perfection.

Now for the word part:

Since I last blogged I've just been hanging out and enjoying life in Sydney! We recently got new house managers and they have really cleaned up our house. It went from disgusting to liveable in just a few days! Sarah and I have still been running a few times a week in the morning, the trail is so gorgeous you don't even realize you are working out. The other morning I ran about 4 miles and it was really hot so I gave Sarah my iPod, etc and jumped in the ocean in my running shorts and sports bra! It was so refreshing, the water is the perfect temperature. We went swimming again this morning with some of our housemates and we got too far out and the lifeguards had to get on the loud speaker and tell us to come back closer...oops! There is a really strong rip on the side of the beach they call "Backpackers Rip" because so many backpackers don't realize its there and they get swept out to sea, the locals know better and just laugh at the tourists. They have rescued so many people from that rip they made a reality TV show about it called Bondi Rescue.

Despite not working we manage to keep pretty busy during the days. There is so much to see in Sydney. One day we went up in SkyTower for amazing bird's eye views of the city. Another day we walked around The Rocks area and went to the Museum of Contemporary Art where they had an exhibit by Yayoi Kusama, a very interesting Japanese artist - google her work. On the way home from the museum we saw the best rainbow I've ever seen in my entire life. It was SO bright and was a complete arch over the city. I didn't know rainbows could be that perfect! When we got home Sarah asked our housemate Scott from Scotland if he saw the rainbow and he said "yeah, and I found Cormack at the end of it". Cormack being the short Irish guy...aka leprechaun haha.

A couple of days ago Sarah and I joined Scott and Nina for their "Caesar Saturday" at a hotel down the road. Another friend Reuben from Germany was in town and had a car so we decided to take a mini road trip. We set off not really knowing where we were going and ended up driving into the city then walking around and eventually coming home. We were gone about 4 hours and didn't really do anything. But it was still fun just getting to know new people. I laughed for about an hour when Scott told us that the other day a girl told him his English was good. Haha he's from Scotland....English is his first language. That night there was a crazy lightening storm and thunder that shook the house. Cormack even saw lightening hit the ground close to our house.

On the 3rd Sarah's parents' friends David and Lynette had us over for breakfast and then drove us to Manly beach on the North side of Sydney. That afternoon Sarah and I walked to the Bondi Public School down the road for their Sunday market. I bought these 4 art prints that I absolutely LOVE from a local computer graphic artist. After that we went to Darling Harbor for their 21st birthday celebration. They had a floating stage in the middle of the harbor with live music, street performers, a parade, food stalls, etc. We got to see the Australian Idol winner perform and then the main act was this percussion group Taikoz that does traditional Japanese drumming. They were amazing and during their last song the best fireworks show I've ever seen went off. It was SOOO cool and free! Can't beat that! That was probably my favorite day in Sydney so far. That night after we went to bed the Irish guys (who had been drinking in true Irish fashion) got in a fight in the hallway over who was a better soccer player 10 years ago. Oh the joys of living in a shared house! :)

My family is coming in a week and a half and I'm so excited to see them, but its going to be sad leaving this house and all my new friends!!!