Sydney (Still....)

The plans seem to change every week, one travel companion has buggered off to Cairns to pick and steal some rays.. We will reunite though! Just got a job opposite the Opera House busing tables for 20 an hour so looks like Ben and I might stay in Sydney for a while, I'm debating to even extend past January, who knows.. Pretty eventful week though, bumped into the coppers twice, got a warning the first time for possessing "illegal substances" at Potts Point (even the cop appreciated the irony!) and second time was I was actually the responsible one as I watched one "friend" I was with from the hostel puke on a cop and the other get fined for having pot! We're finally getting blue bird skies everyday and the temperature is creeping up, its only around 22 at the moment but in a few weeks we'll get some patented Aussie surf weather!

Sydney

Easily the most hyped city in Australia, and for good reason. I've seen pictures of the Oprah house obviously but seeing it in person is different, it sits so majestically opposite the Harbour Bridge and presents itself as one of the most picturesque sights on the Earth. It's amazing that at one point it was seen as waste of money but has become as integral to the Aussie identity as the Aborigines or Vegemite. We're staying in Kings Cross which is always buzzing, to the point that we can go out tonight, a Monday, and bank on the youthful, upbeat vibe that the place is famed for. It will definitely be a shame when we have to move on in a few days but we can only afford Sydney for so long, plus beaches provide an adequate alternative ;p We'll fly to Cairns, which is Great Barrier Reef territory, in a couple of days then work our way down to Brisbane hitting as many beaches and picking as much fruit as humanly possible! The backpacker life is just so rewarding, no strings attached, no worries, just have fun and meet some very interesting (and strange) people. Of all the people we've bumped into, mostly German for some reason, one guy we met in Adelaide stands out. We walked in on him flying his "plane"(stick) around to tribal music with face paint before he brought out his toy cars and proceeded to marvel at how great his stick was for flinging cars around the room! I got in on the action too at one point and we had a nice philosophical conversation to accompany this surreal situation! So Australia is definitely not lacking in diversity to say the least.. :D

Melbourne

After a short stay in Adelaide we had to move on to Melbourne. Long trips have become something of a given so far and the bus ride was just that, but 10 hours of highway and not enough sleep got us there safely. As we first stepped out the station into the city it was clear that Adelaide was tiny in comparison, the place was buzzing with activity despite it being only 7 in the morning, this city never sleeps. Nabbing a taxi became a hassle when two Indian cabbies proceeded to fight over us though, apparently Canadians come with high value here! Still trying to get our heads around Aussie Rules Football which ironically has very few rules to speak of, just chaos to us simple-minded travelers.. We made some sense of it though and its actually a dead interesting/brutal game, good to watch over the litre mug of beers we ordered! Liverpool vs. United awaits tonight, it'll be more of a bloodbath than Aussie Rules I'm sure!

Adelaide

Landed in Adelaide yesterday after a 22 hour trek across the world. Four aircraft meals, three movies, much ipod listening and next to no sleeping and finally we’ve arrived in Aus. The Auckland airport bar made the 5 hour flight to Adelaide much more bearable with their 8 dollar pints! Right now we’re sitting in hostel 109 debating whether to buy a van, as long as it won’t break down in the outback it seems like a no-brainer. Adelaide is amazing, supposed to one of Australia’s best kept secrets and it’s not hard to see why. Small city with a homey feel but still has tons to do and some crazy architecture. First legal Aus drink was last night and we celebrated by challenging three Aussies to a game of pool, we got battered but battled on and played them a few more times, same result, it’s the effort that counts though isn’t it..!

4 Days..

Leaving date is nearing, but the feeling that we're going to be on the other side of the world still hasn't sunk in. Maybe with the first legal drink it'll hit that we're in roo land now!