Whew

I've come to realize that when traveling, you definitely have to go with the flow and not be too attached to plans. Stephanie, Katie, and I have been doing quite well with the spontanaeity thus far, however =) Today we left the hostel at Bondi to head into the city where Meighan (the New Yorker) is staying in a beautiful apartment with a "sick" view of Darling Harbour. We dropped our luggage off there and started the day looking for hostels, however many were expensive or booked. After giving up on that, we walked around Darling Harbour and walked through Paddy's Market (for those of you that were in Brazil with me, picture that big warehouse with rows and rows of booths). We had yummy sandwiches for lunch (soo much avocado here!) and window-shopped on George Street, which is a lot like Michigan Ave in Chicago with the designer stores and such.

We finally have real proof of being in Australia as we saw the Opera House and walked across the Harbour Bridge! The view was amazing (and my new camera is doing wonders). If anyone plans on coming to this city ever, you must walk through the section called "The Rocks". There are old buildings with original foundations yet many of them have newer stores or pubs inside. There is great contrast between old and new, and hopefully some of my photos show that!

After sitting in the fanciest McDonald's EVER and dinner at Sushi Train, we headed back to Meighan's in hopes of crashing for the night. She met us there and let us shower and do laundry and has some of the funniest stories about traveling and has given us many little tips to remember! This lady is seriously a trip. She's a defense attorney from Brooklyn if that means anything to anyone and is the most traveled person I've probably ever met (yes, even more than you, Miss Mary).

Tomorrow we'll head to King's Cross on the other side of Sydney to stay at another hostel and hopefully find somewhere to spend the day inside (there are a few museums with free admission!). Why inside you ask? It's supposed to be 47 degrees here!!! (Yes, that's Celsius, and yes, that is HOT!!!!!) We pick up the Wicked Van Monday and although we've loved seeing the sights of the city, I think we're about ready to see some countryside and smaller beach towns. Byron Bay has been suggested to us by many people we've met and we plan on just camping out at beaches along the eastern coast until next week when we fly out to Auckland. Unfortunately, we won't be able to drive to the Great Barrier Reef due to the cyclones and rainy season on the north-east coast (weird with the heat wave on the south end).

I'll upload pictures when I'm at a place with my own computer and not using a public one.

Cheers!