In the USA

Had a short trip to San Francisco. It was a bit cold with rain and wind but the 4 days there in familiar territory was alright. I do think I might have to find a new city playground though. With going to SF all the time, I've done all the touristy things and seen the same shops, etc. It's getting a bit too familiar. I wonder what other city I might like to hangout in as a welcome back to civilization treat.

By the way, I really enjoy driving on the right side of the road. That driving lefty thing well, that is a bit foreign. I was kinda worried I'd drive on the wrong side when I returned State-side but nope, I'd adapted well.

I'm currently in Washington state visiting friends and the parents. I think I'll be spending the rest of the month here unpacking all my Polie stuff and repacking for my next adventure. I'm hoping to make a hasty escape quite soon. First, I have to pick a location!

Bye Oz

Well folks, my time here in Oz is done. I've been in Brisbane for the past week or so after Sydney just hanging out with a friend of mine and her family. Went and saw the croc farm - Steve Irwin's Australian zoo and to a koala sanctuary where I have the chance to hold a koala critter. It was kinda cool! I leave for San Francisco in the morning.

My Aussie friend, Alison.

Me and a little koala. He was a heavy little guy.

Koala baby the size of a 20 cent piece - comparative to a US quarter. They would normally be found in the mom's koala pouch.










More koala's sleeping

Dingo

Wallaby and her joey in the pouch.

Joey feeding time.

Surfer's Paradise - kind of a touristy spot but good for hanging out on the beach.

Barely anyone at Surfer's. Amazingly, most Aussies don't go to the beach.

Oh yeah, I got my brow pierced.

Mooloolaba

Mooloolaba had some rocky beach.

Went to a macadamia nut factory.

Mac nuts on the tree

An older retired machine that shells the mac nuts.

Sydney sights

The pride Mardi gras was alot of fun. The parade was 3 hours long! Then the after party was packed with lots of people - needless to say it was a long night. Boy George was there as a DJ. Next year will be the 30th annual pride fest.

We started off our sightseeing with a harbor cruise. Then went off to see Wildlife world, which is kinda like a zoo with all sorts of Australian creatures. The aquarium was next then the sky tower.




Eustacia and I on a harbor cruise

city skyline with skytower to left

Sydney harbor - 456 feet tall and 1650 feet long. There are tours you can go on that lets you climb to the top of the bridge where the flags are - there's a group almost to the top which takes about 3 hours to climb up and back down.





















Sydney opera house


Thorny devil - they don't drink water at all. When they get thirsty they walk into a small pool of water and it absorbs through their feet all over their body where is finally drips from the horns near their eyes.

Wallabies - mom with joey


















Koala bear - interesting that they only eat eucalyptus leaves... about 2kg (4 1/2lbs) of leaves per day with gives them the nutritional equivalent of 1 steak. When the koala babies are born the first thing they eat is pap (a greenish stool) from their mother which gives them the bacteria to digest the leaves which are poisonous. They average on 20 hours of sleep per day.






Cassowary - Australia's largest animal. Most weigh 60kg (132 lbs) with the largest at 83kg (182 lbs). They have really strong legs and sharp toe nails that can kill humans. They lay the 3rd largest eggs in the world (1st being ostrich and 2nd being emu). There are only about 1500 left in the world and are an endangered species.

Python at the Wildlife world.

















Feathered torpedo penguin at aquarium














Lion fish at the aquarium















View of Sydney harbor from Sky Tower.

arrival in sydney

My friend Eustacia and I flew into Sydney this morning. Originally, I thought it was a 1.5 hr flight from Auckland but I forgot about the 2 hour time zone change. So it was 3.5 hours... enough time for a nap! We got in shortly after 11AM and looked around for a place to stay. We had 3 places in mind but needed a map to determine which one was the closest to all our activities - at least that was the reasoning for putting it off. Plus, 2 of the places offered to pick us up from the airport.

We called the one hostel we thought would be the closest but the front desk said they were booked and they cannot come pick us up since bookings have to be made prior. Strangely or luckily, there was an internet lounge at the airport and we surfed the other 2 locations. Just by chance though Eu double checked the Maze and they had openings online. So we booked online and called them right back to asking them to pick us up. Sure enough they did. We got the hostel we wanted and have been walking around town since arrival. And even though we booked for a 6 bed share dormitory, they were over booked so we got bumped up to a 2 bed share room. Kinda really nice since I'll know who my roommie is! From what they said, is they say they are full but keep a few rooms just in case over bookings occur and upgrade when neccessary.

There are alot of folks here for Mardi Gras. Tomorrow is the last day. I think it's been going on for a week or so but I just wanted to see the parade and the after party which gave me more time to hang in New Zealand. So pretty much my trip was scheduled around coming to Sydney for the parade or I think I would have stayed in New Zealand longer!

Sydney is awesome so far! We've just been shopping - originally window shopping but the shops magically lured our wallets out of our pockets! We got some really cool stuff though. Everyone is getting ready for the Mardi Gras parade tomorrow night. We had booked tickets for the after party so it'll be a long day - sightseeing in the day and the party starts at 10PM.

We have 5 days here in Sydney and they are just jammed packed of sights, clubs and hanging at the beach... and the beach is only if we have time to go. Hopefully, we can make the beach for a few hours.