Off to the Races!

Greetings from Down Under!

I am currently writing from 36000 feet aboard a Virgin Australia flight to the Whitsundays to go explore the Great Barrier Reef, but before I start on adventure number 2, I thought I should catch up on my first week in Australia. I guess the best place to start would be the beginning!

Before I left last week, I was so nervous about the flight, I honestly considered staying home! Which of course is ridiculous, but a 20+ hour trip by yourself is daunting. Sure enough, everything went fine (minus flying around Sydney in a holding pattern for an hour once we got here) and the flight is now a distant memory. It was long however, and I thought that my right calf was going to explode, but it was worth it. It was great to see Meig at the airport and start checking out a city I never thought I would see.

Sydney is a stunning city. The Opera House and Harbor Bridge are magnificent, the downtown (or CBD) is a combination of beautiful old buildings and fancy modern ones. You are hard pressed to find a chain restaurant, instead you have countless options of any kind of food you can imagine. Thai food seems to be a favorite, and I think the names of the restaurants are even more entertaining (favorite being Thai Me Up). The shopping seems wonderful, although I am TRYING to keep myself to window shopping. The city reminds me so much of the UK, the way the roads work, the signage and the way it is set up. I haven't seen any concrete jungles of massive stores and parking lots, but streets filled with little family run shops and restaurants, with everything you need within a couple of blocks. I wish Canada was more this way.

Meig lives in the Eastern suburbs, more specifically, Coogee. Her apartment is a 10 minute walk to the coast, which is one of the most stunning views I have ever seen. You can walk all the way from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach, which I believe is about 7 km. We of course decided that that should be the first thing I should do after getting off the plane. My poor calves! The walk however, is fabulous, passing small coves and beaches, stunning cliffs, crashing waves and of course ending on the world famous Bondi Beach! It is possible that if I lived in a place like this, my personal fitness regiment might improve!

Aside from visiting the major attractions (aka Opera House) my first few days were very busy. Currently, it is winter in Australia, although it seems Winter in Australia=Summer in Edmonton. The temperatures have been in the high teens, and although I have been in pants and a jacket (I'm starting to think I have a standard uniform) the term "Winter" seems to be a bit of a stretch. Seeing people walk in down filled coats and toques is fairly amusing, as well as Uggs and mitts. Its hard to believe that Uggs came from this country! I was walking around in a t-shirt the other day, and I am pretty sure the people around me thought I was crazy.

In order to help celebrate the Aussie "winter", we headed down to Bondi Beach to go skating. It even sounds bizarre writing that! For the Winter Festival, a skating rink is built right onto the beach. I am still not sure how they kept it frozen, but a rink was there. It was the strangest thing skating around and then looking over to see the sand and the waves crashing in. What was perhaps more amusing however, was watching Aussies skate. To borrow a line from Meig's flatmate Sarah, "I've never seen so many bad skaters in one place!" She wasn't exaggerating either! It was our chance to show off!

On the weekend it was time to go to the Royal Randwick for the horse races. That meant it was also Fascinator Day!! I can't tell you how excited I was to get to wear a fancy head piece! The races were pretty neat-I had never seen racing horses close up and before each race the horses would be paraded so you could size up your bet. They were so beautiful and strong. You could see their muscles rippling as they walked- these horses were streamlined for speed! I managed to in about $20 on three races, which isn't too bad considering my first bet was $5.00.

On Sunday we headed to watch a NRL rugby game. We were cheering for the hometown Roosters, who haven't been having a great season so far. As we headed in to the stadium, we had missed the first couple minutes of the game, and we heard an announcer stating that the Roosters could not have started any worse. This didn't bode well for us, but didn't those Roosters turn it around and pull out a victory in a fabulous game to watch! It was so much fun! I love sporting events, I think they might be one of my favorite things to do.

On Monday, Meig and I headed to Wildlife World with Gilly and Graham, some Irish friends of hers. We were off to see closeups of Koalas and Kangaroos. The Koalas are adorable, I wouldn't mind bringing one home. I wonder what they would say at Customs? We got to see a mother with a baby, and it was the sweetest thing. We also saw a massive crocodile and bunch of other native Australian wildlife. The Koalas however, stole the show.

That is the scoop of what has been happening! As a side note, here is a few tidbits about Australia!
- you can't really tell if the water swirls the other way when draining. I've done some research that says it is a bit of a myth, which is very disappointing. My sister and I figure however, that the sink in her bathroom does drain differently than home.
- Kookaburras are loud. And apparently have tempers. Which makes them louder.
- I have never seen such big hills as I have in Coogee. I am trying to view this as a good thing for me and my muscle tone.
- So far I have avoided seeing any crazy bugs, which means when I do, it is going to be big. Stay Tuned.
- Quay = Key and Gaol = Jail- Who Knew?

For now, I'm going to relax and enjoy the rest of this flight to the Whitsundays and continue to hope the rain stays away for my sailing trip this weekend. Take Care!!

Cheers!

Lindsay