It's An Interesting Place: Sydney!

Oh dear, it has been eons since I posted last, and there has been quite a lot to post about! Now that I am done with law school exams, I shall endeavor to recap the past 6 months as much as possible. First on the list - Sydney!

In mid January I went to Sydney for a few days to check out the sights and catch up with some friends. I had an amazing time and did so much! Four days definitely wasn't enough time to spend in Australia's most populous city.

During my visit, I stayed with a friend that I made at the HPAIR conference in Seoul. A little networking goes a long way. He and his family live in a suburb in West Sydney, and were so accommodating and hospitable. They were really fantastic, and I couldn't have stayed with better people!

I took a bus into Sydney from Melbourne, which took about 14 hours during the day. We left at around 7 in the morning and arrived to Sydney at about 9. From there, I was supposed to take a train to Penrith, where my friend lives, but as soon as the train arrived it was terminated because of a fatality on the tracks! So instead, I took a cab and met my friend halfway between where he lives and where I was coming from. Taxis in Sydney are expensive! They made me miss D.C. cab fares, which I never thought could be possible.

The next morning, I met my friend Jonathan in the city for some sight seeing. Jonathan went to FSU with me, but he decided to transfer in the middle of his degree and is now attending Macquarie University in Sydney. We had such an amazing day. Jonathan was a most excellent tour guide and we were able to visit all of the big Sydney attractions.

We started at Darling Harbour, which has tons of shops and restaurants and also plays host to many events throughout the year.

Water! Hey look, there's the opera house in the distance!

Le pose with le view from le harbour

Jonathan then took me on a stroll through the city as we made our way to Sydney Harbour

Buildings!

This is where they filmed The Matrix! Recognize it?

The bridge! And a cruise ship!

Ibises! These guys were EVERYWHERE eating things! Look at them go!

The opera house!

A less shady picture of the opera house. Magnificent!

Me and my lovely tour guide! Jonathan is such a gem! He put up with me all day, so you know he's good people :)

Really wanted to climb the bridge, but it was like $200 to do it. So I just looked at it instead.

And then we walked around Sydney Harbour some more and ended at the Botanical Gardens!

Aboriginal man playing a didgeridoo!

Of course, I had to get a picture throwing up the Lundquist sign.

The Sydney Opera House up close! It is made out of reflective tiles which is why when it is shady the opera house looks gray and when it is sunny looks like it is glowing!

Ibis!!!!

Unfortunately, I've forgotten the name of this tree! But it's filled with water, which is why it's so fat! Apparently this is one of the ways the Aboriginals would get their water!

View of the bridge and opera house from the Botanical Gardens. Look how it glows!

Seriously in love with this view. Look at the yacht!

One day, I too shall have a yacht docked in Sydney Harbour! Crossed fingers, ok?

All around Australia they have disposal units for needles. A while ago there were old heroin needles littering parks and beaches and kids stepping on them and getting infected, so they have put these up to encourage safe disposal

The next day, I went to the Taronga Zoo with Sarah, my friend's beautiful sister! We took a ferry ride to get there! It was warm and sunny; perfect zoo weather. We had so much fun looking at all the cute animals!! I took way too many pictures of them, so I'll just share my favorites (mostly the Australian animals).