Today’s been pretty cool so far. I woke up at 6:30 and timed it perfectly to catch the 7:40 ferry to Manly. I met up with a new group of divers today (who I was supposed to be grouped with yesterday). My dive buddy was a Chinese man named Jin who had been living in Sydney for the last 12 years. Another pair in my group was also from Canada living just outside of Tobomory. We did two more dives in the same area to practice more skills. Some of the group members didn’t pick up on diving as quickly as I did and burned through their air really quickly. I ended both dives with just over 120 bar in the tank both times. The water was not as clear as yesterday, but this may be attributed to people in my group kicking up so much sand. Now that I’m certified, its time to find a good dive partner:) Applications to fill the position will be gladly accepted. First round of post dive drinks are on me.

When the dives were completed, the group had a barbeque courtesy of Pro Dive. Soon after, I headed back to Manly Beach to swim, read, and lay in the sun. I purchased some expensive sunscreen (everything feels mighty pricy here), and hopefully it does the trick.

Booked a seat on a bus to Bega from an internet café. Tomorrow is going to be a long travel day. I leave Sydney at 9:30, and arrive in Bega around 6. I’m really excited to see Sven and Lisa. I really hope the bus company doesn’t give me trouble about my overweight bag.

On the ferry back to Sydney now. I’m going to head back to the hostel to shower and then find somewhere to eat. I probably won’t be able to post again for a while, as I’ll be going on a hike for a few days. For those who partied at Dog Aid, I hope it was unreal as always.

What a fine life we are living!




Post Post Thoughts:
Tonight there was a huge parade for Chinese New Year. The streets closed down, and it felt like the entire population of Sydney went out to watch. There were floats and dancers and musicians and fireworks and lighting displays. People were climbing on top of bus shelters just to get a good look. I climbed a tree and had a really sweet view until a cop told me to get down. Gong Hay Fat Choy! 

I woke up early today and walked to Circular Quay to catch a ferry to Manly. The city has a pretty phenomenal transportation system. The more places I visit, I realize how far behind the times Toronto is. I arrived at ProDive in Manly around 9:30 for what I thought was supposed to be a 10 am start (as it stated on my voucher). However, there was some confusion and the group was supposed to meet at 8 am. Luckily there was another group doing an open-water certification at 1pm so I joined them instead. To pass the time in between, I went to the beach. I went for my first swim in the big waves without my "waterwings" (Jake wouldn't let me swim alone for the first while). I also read my book Solitude by Robert Kull. I'm really enjoying it. The book is about a man who goes off to spend a year alone in the wilderness of Patagonia to study the psychological effects of being in solitude.  I must have been really into it, because I didn’t notice myself burning in the sun. The aussi sun is as hot as the aussi womenJ

At 1, I met up with my dive partners, a very nice gay couple from Holland.  Both of them had names that I struggled to pronounce. We did two dives in Shelly Beach. We practiced different scuba skills, and had the opportunity to explore the area. Apparently people in Australia think the water is cold here, so I was given the world’s thickest wet suit in the world to wear. I guess I was grateful in the end because I was toasty in the water. I brought my camera with me and got some great pictures. When Internet doesn’t cost a fortune, I’ll post some good ones.

Tomorrow I head back to Manly to do two more dives. Meeting time is 8:45 so I’ll be up at 6:30 to make the trek down. Its not that far, I just don’t want to be late.

My first night in the hostel was interesting.  My roommates were not very interesting people and smelled really bad. Fortunately, they moved out today and a group of South Koreans moved in. They’re all very nice and wanted to help me carry my massive backpack. They invited me out for drinks, but I’m right tired and will be getting up pretty early.

If you want to know the time difference between here and home in Toronto (or Thunder Bay), Add 4 hours then switch the AM to PM or vice versa. (We’re 16 hours ahead here) Goodnight world.

The plural of Platypus is…Platypuses! Guess where I learned that? The Sydney Aquarium!

Today was one of the greatest days I have ever experienced. We woke up early to take the express train to Sydney. I said goodbye to the quiet mountains and beaches of Austinmer and hello to the city of Sydney. After dropping my bag off at a hostel, we ventured to Paddy’s Market, which is a good old-fashioned flea market. Jake and I went and explored the Sydney Aquarium while Cait went to see an old marine ship exhibit because she had seen the aquarium a few weeks earlier. The aquarium has two underwater glass encased tunnels, which fish and rays and sharks and dugongs (sea cows) swim all around you. I loved seeing the marine life that Australia has to offer.

Next door to the Sydney Aquarium is Wildlife Sydney. It’s pretty much a zoo that has many animals that are indigenous to Australia. Originally, we were only going to go to the aquarium, but then a cute girl was standing outside holding a cool looking lizard so we decided to check it out. The power of marketing eh? I’m really glad we decided to go to Wildlife Sydney, because I got a chance to see Kangaroos, wallabies, and Koalas! There were also emus, crocodiles, a plethora of poisonous snakes, many colourful birds, and a whole lot more. I’ll upload pictures when I get a chance.

From there, we met back up with Cait and headed to the Centerpoint Building, which has the most amazing food court ever. It’s a very posh area, so all of the food vendors were very high quality as if you were ordering from a real sit down restaurant, but the prices were very affordable. I had pad thai and it was delicious.

Then, we headed to the Royal Botanical Gardens. Wowzers. What an absolutely beautiful area. The plants and the trees were breathtaking. There were so many birds, and hundreds of HUGE bats resting in the treetops. I walked around for about 2 and a half hours just taking everything in. I got some wicked shots of a monstrous spider that I’ll be sure to post later.

The Operah House was the next stop on the “see Sydney in a day” trip. I didn’t go on a tour, but I walked inside the building and took lots of pictures. Maybe I’ll save the tour for a rainy day.

To cap it all off, in the evening we went to an Open Air Movie on the harbour. This was such a cool experience. A big screen was put up on the waterfront overlooking the Opera House and the Harbourfront Bridge. After dinner and drinks (fish and chips) we sat down to watch a screening of Crazy Stupid Love.

I said goodbye to Jake’s family, and now I’m writing from my hostel bed. I’m Scuba Diving in the morning! Its gonna be really hard to top today!

Happy Australia Day!
Yesterday was Australia Day. It is a civic holiday, and everybody gets really into it showing pride for their nation. We celebrated by spending the day with friends listening to a radio station called Triple J, that puts together a top 100 song list every year that people vote for. This year over a million votes were cast and every radio around was tuned to Triple J. The number one song was Somebody That I Used To Know by an australian band called Gotye. If you like the song, check out this awesome cover by Walk Off The Earth.

This is the Australian Beer line up for Aussi Day. The one on the far left is from Tasmania and I really enjoyed it. 

Pelicans! 

Pelicans Flying. 

Beach Views

Some cool looking spider. 

The birds here are beautiful. This one is called a rainbow lorikeet. 

Headed into Sydney today and booking into a hostel. Tonight we may be going to an Open Air Theatre. Weather permitting I'm scuba diving tomorrow! Cheers! 

Day 2: Almost exactly 1 year ago, I was dogsledding with Jake in Thunder Bay in -46 degrees. Coming to Australia was barely a thought back then.

We went to a different beach today in The Royal National Park. The area was the first national park in Australia, and next to Yellowstone it was the 2nd created worldwide. We went stand-up-paddle-boarding which was a lot of fun. We brought along Jake's surfboard as well, and I learned some balance and technique. It is really tough but super exciting. I followed some wallaby tracks on the beach but no luck seeing one yet. I did however see 4 Huge pelicans and a few Australian King Parrots. The birds here are really quite interesting. I'm going to look into buying a bird/wildlife guide.

In the evening, the family played Trivia. Apparently its a very popular thing to do here. They have a trivia night every week. I was able to hold my own, but they are very good. I'll bet they don't know how many dimples are on a golfball though! (For those curious, its 336)

Tomorrow is Australia Day, and the whole country will be celebrating. I don't know our plans yet, but they involve alcoholic beverages and listening to the top 100 songs on a radio station called Triple J.

I don't plan on blogging every day, but I'm off to a good start. Hope things are going well back home!

G'day from Australia!
Landed this morning around 10:30 Sydney time, and was met by my friends Jake and Cait. I was surprised how easy the flight was for me. First of all, the airplane was bigger than any other plane that I'd ever been on. First class had its own section ABOVE the rest of economy class. There was ample leg room, and the staff at Quantas airlines really took care of us. I tried to stay up as late as I could at the beginning of the flight so that I could sleep for the duration afterwards (and hopefully lessen the effects of jet lag). It worked well, and I slept through the majority of the flight. When we were flying into Sydney, the plane passed by the iconic Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. When I saw these places from the plane, the realization set in that I had actually made it to Australia. The first song playing on the radio when I landed was Heart of Gold by good old Canadian, Neil Young.

Jake drove us (on the left hand side of the road of course) from the airport, to his place in Austinmer (about 1 hour outside of Sydney). On the way, we passed a lookout. Those tiny black dots in the water are surfers. 

I dropped my pack off at Jake's place, threw on a swim suit, and headed straight for the beach. Apparently the surf wasn't great, but I went swimming in the biggest waves I've ever been in. I learned how to dive under the waves in order to swim out, and how to "body surf". Its hard to get the hang of, but I had a really good time. 

One of the most exciting parts of today for me, has been seeing all of the new birds and trees in Australia. I saw Macaw's, Magpies, and Lorikeets all just on the street. 

I'll be staying here for a few nights, then headed to a hostel in Sydney. Jet lag is catching up with me. Time to sleep. 

Well folks, here goes! Today I'm leaving on a plane for just over 26 hours of transit time. I've got some good music and some good books, but its definitely going to be a long one. Hopefully I don't have a rant-worthy travel experience and everything goes smoothly. That said, I'm not helping the situation, as my carry on contains some pretty intimidating traditional climbing gear. I'll let you know how that goes:)

The last couple days at home have been really great. Last night I had the opportunity to see many family members and friends who came to wish me off. The cake below was made by Judy, who is without a doubt one of the most creative people I know. Everything is edible (and it was delicious!) It broke my heart to cut the cake, but I'm glad I got a picture before the work of art was demolished. 

I'm quite tempted to put P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney on my customs card. Much to my disappointment though (SPOILER ALERT!) the famous address that no 90's baby will ever forget does not exist.

My friend Jake who came to Lakehead on exchange last year is picking me up in Sydney when I land on Tuesday, and I'm spending my first few days down under with him. January 26th is Australia day and I'm told I'm in for a real treat. On the 28th and 29th I'm going Scuba Diving, and on the 30th I'm getting on a bus to Bega to meet with two wonderful people who I worked with this summer. One was a Lakehead student who went to Australia on exchange, and the other was an Australian exchange who came to Lakehead the following year. Now they are married living in a perpetual summer between Canada and Australia. A group of us are going on a hike called Nadgee and I'm so excited.

My gear to clothes ratio is pretty noteworthy. In the end, I've opted to bring the majority of my climbing gear (rope, harness, shoes, trad rack), a tent, a sleeping bag, a sleeping pad, a stove (new trangia), Steri Pen, and the essentials.

Best of luck to my family and friends in the coming months. I'll miss ya for sure but I'm so excited for this adventure to begin.

--New Book-- Solitude by Robert Kull
--New Music-- Explosions in the Sky Discography

Hey there Interweb world. I've never blogged before, but I figure this is the easiest way to keep the masses posted on whats happening on my trip this year to Australia. I'm really excited to explore the land down under, and will do my best to share my travel stories with you.

Currently, my bag (yup only one bag for 7 months!) is being packed and repacked. I purchased a new pack for this trip called the Arcteryx Bora. Its a super comfortable pack and can fit everything I need to bring. I'm hoping to bring some gear (tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, camp stove, climbing gear), so packing has become somewhat of a game of Tetris. Luckily, I've had lots of practice.

Yesterday I went to exchange money for some Australian dollars. Their money is very similar to our new Canadian $100 bills. Its plastic, waterproof, and really colourful. Apparently the $50 bills are called "pineapples" in Aussi slang.

I fly out of Toronto on January 22nd. My flight goes from Toronto to Dallas, Dallas to Brisbane, and finally Brisbane to Sydney. I land in Sydney around 10 am on the 24th.

So stay tuned folks, theres more adventure to come.

--If you're interested, heres a link to the 10 most dangerous animals in Australia.
--And this song rocks.