nerd alert

3D IMAX, sweet az...'nuff said

AQUARIUS!!!

So we caught the 504 (its slowly becoming the bus of choice to the CBD - Central Business District, aka Downtown Sydney) to Darling Harbour - tourist stop extraordinaire. The Aquarium is the sweet spot of the stop at "Darling". We lucked out cuz Brad has a Uni card and gets sweet az discounts, so we opted to get the 3-in-1 ticket which gives us access to the Aquarium AND Sydney CentrePoint Tower AND OzTrek. (the latter being a lame excuse for a 'ride') We haven't experienced the tower yet, we want to wait till dusk to get some cool az pana's of Sydney during 'golden hour' (the Tower is like the Space Needle or Stratusphere or that thing in Toronto...)

Anyway, the Aquarium-it was bonzer. We got to see all of Nemo's friends! Tell PORTER to come! He'd love it. They have underwater tunnels and Kim's favourite: touch the starfish and watch it squirm! Ok, they don't move, but its cool nevertheless. At the end there's this huge glass wall where you can just sit and watch all the little (and huge) fishies swim about...then swim off in fear when the sharks come by...then swim back.

Also of note, while walking the other day we had five puffer fish swim up next to us (within a meter or so) - the footpath outside our apartment we tread is right on the harbour. We wanted to scare 'em to get them to puff up, but we figured they'd swim off before they would puff up. Oh well. Brad caught another thirty lizards on the footpath as well. They crave the sun on these winter mornings and are heaps slow-an easy catch.

University of Sydney

"The University of Sydney was established in 1850 to promote useful knowledge and to encourage the residents of New South Wales to pursue a regular course of liberal education."

HOME: lil' studio apartment on the harbour

This is our fancy studio apartment in Russell Lea. Yeah, its the biggest apartment we've had since we've been married...but we're not braggin'. So, for all of you wanting to come and visit, you can stay in the...er, uh, maybe in the bathroom? I guess the shower has its own door...or maybe up on the building's roof? Well, just have a peek at our pad! It's an all-in-one kind of package. Wardrobe/closet conveniently located across from the couch/bed. This is great if you get cold at night you just reach over and grab some more layers.

(Oh, by the way, that picture of two white buttons below-that's how you flush the toilets here. Half flush for the stuff yer not too concerned about - full flush if yer gettin' worried we suppose?! And down there is our handy portable stovetop/oven. Pretty neat, eh?)

Tourin' the grounds of the Sydney Opera House.

Sydney Trains

These are the carriages of the Sydney train system. They are much bigger than the ones in Washington, D.C. All of the trains are two story and at rush hour are generally left with standing room only. They are also much filthier than the ones in Washington, D.C. The map on the wall behind Brad shows how complex the system is. We won't even break the surface of this place before we leave.

Bondi Beach

Not too shaby for the dead of winter, eh?