leonards in oz!!

been forever since we posted! guess we just got into the groove of all 4 of us being together again...

we are in australia!! mom and mara joined us in sydney. yay!! was a nice city but way too big for us. 5 million people; major hustle and bustle and many many skyscrapers and all about the $$. opera house and circular quay were neat. and royal botanics were awesome. parrots and huge fruit bats everywhere! caught 30 min ferry to manly beach, which was a wicked spot to spend the day. beauty sunset over sydney bridge on return ride home.

on good friday, e and m did a cruise of sydney hr on a party boat with 300 other people. which turned out to be a bunch of young 'uns out to get smashed... haha. sunday we went to george st and glebe markets.

saturday did city sightseeing tour by hop-on/hop-off bus. great way to see it all. famous bondi beach was gorgeous! e and i bought new clothes at markets there. gettin tired of old ones.

evening at australian hotel next to hostel; has 100+ aussie beers and delish pizza. first time we've had good food since left canada =). sorry new zealand, but your food sucks.

other diffs btwn oz and nz:

1. accent here much nicer.

2. food here much better.

3. people here not as friendly as kiwis. more like canada. kiwis were extraordinarily friendly.

4. def get sense of grandeur here more than nz. kinda feels more materialistic here.

5. the birding is awesome. so many wicked birds are dirtbirds!!

it for now. off to the outback and extreme heat in the red centre - the deserts of Northern Territory and to Uluru (Ayer's Rock)

1st photo is sydney bridge and opera house

2nd is bondi beach

3rd is boomerangs at the market

tina