Sydney

Sydney this past weekend can be summed up with one word - ridiculous. It was an outstanding weekend to be remembered for a while. Some UNI buddies and I travelled together, though we met up with plenty of other Newcastle students once we got there. We headed out Friday and arrived at our hostel, the "Funk House." It was located in a traditional red light district of Sydney called King's Cross (although it's trying to change its image). We stayed there because it was right in the middle of the action. Friday we headed out to Darling Harbour, a beautiful seaside harbour with nice restaurants, shopping and pubs around it. We ate dinner at a place called "I'm Angus" (a steakhouse). It was a bit expensive - we each spent about $40 - but well worth it. Afterwards, we headed to The Rocks district for a bit of bar action. We sang some karaoke at one bar including, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling."

Saturday we went to a local zoo and got to see and hang out with kangaroos, koalas, wallabies and other Australian animals; I can check that off my list of things to do while in Australia! We also checked out Olympic Stadium where the 2000 Olympics were hosted. The place is mostly empty now, but it was amazing to see such a huge place created simply for this event. The exact cost is unknown, but I'm sure it was many many millions to construct this place. It was amazing. Finally, we spent 2 hours taking public transportation back to King's Cross (mostly waiting time amongst a combination of buses, cabs, and trains). We finally set out to the Mardi Gras parade. It was packed! Apparently over 400,000 people attended. We saw lots of, um, interesting people there. At the end, we headed out to some bars and such...

Here's what's on tap for the weekend: Friday is pajama party a local seedy bar called Shorty's,. Saturday begins rugby season, so we're all heading to watch the Newcastle Knights play. I use the term rugby, but there are so many Aussie sports, it's hard to keep them straight - there's Rugby Union, Rugby League, Aussie Rule Football, and lots more... Anyways, Sunday there's an intercol swimming match so I'll probably head out there as well.

Pictures from this weekend in Sydney can be found on my Fotki site. Check 'em out!