Update from Down Under

Observations of Australia from a 22 year-old. (She won't mind.)

Hi Parentals!

I have a little bit of free time right now (it's 9:06 pm Aussie time) so I thought I'd give you a quick update on what all I've been up to over here.

Sydney is an uh-MAZE-ing city--it's got all the momentum of a major port city, but the atmosphere is so laid back! It's a little weird; I expected it to be more like London or Chicago or New York, something like that with people hustling everywhere, but so far it hasn't felt like that much of a rush.

So far there hasn't been a lack of anything to do, and I've really liked hanging out with the group for the most part.

So let me think of what all we've done so far:
1. Toured the Sydney Opera House--so massive and so impressive

2. Toured the Susannah House--built in 1844; a row of houses that is now a museum, still in its original state (they said they aren't going to restore it--weird and not very practical, if you ask me).

3. New South Wales art museum--aboriginal art exhibit. I am way more into this than I thought I would be.

4. Featherdale Wildlife Park--I FED WALLABIES AND KANGAROOS AND PETTED A KOALA. LIFE GOALS ACCOMPLISHED. I also got bit on the finger by an emu, but am ok. Devil bird.

5. Bondi Beach--awesome beach with very blue water and beautiful cliffs on either side. They call lifeguards "lifesavers" over here.

6. Botanical Gardens--got caught in a rainstorm today, but the gardens were still beautiful. Managed to see 2 flocks of wild cockatoos (yes, seriously!) and got one to sit on my foot. Then it tried to eat my jeans.

Plus we've just been walking around the city and doing a little bit of shopping here and there. We rode a ferry to Circular Quay (pronounced "key"), which is part of the Harbor, and saw the amusement park where Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen filmed part of "Our Lips Are Sealed." (One of the girls is a fan of them--she flipped out when she saw it. Pretty funny.)

We've been exploring the restaurant scene here too--so far I've had fish & chips, Portuguese chicken (my new favorite), and quite a bit of Chinese food, seeing as how our hostel is just a few blocks from Chinatown. Tomorrow is our free day--I think a group of us are going to the Museum of Australia (it supposedly has a dinosaur exhibit), then shopping for souvenirs during the afternoon, and then going to Luna Park at night. Luna Park is a small theme park and it's really pretty when it's lit up at night--mainly I'm just going for the Ferris wheel.

I've taken a ton of pictures and I can't wait to show them to you. See you soon!

Katie

Serously? This message from around the world is from this baby girl? Oh, yes. I remember now. I blinked and she grew up!