My trip to Australia

Hi Everyone - I feel like every time I start out a blog post, it's with an apology for not writing for a while!  This time I have a decent excuse though; I was in Australia for a week and then back home for a week and a half...pretty good reasons, eh?

I'm going to break my Australia post up into two parts as some of it was for fun and some was for work.  I had to go down there for work and decided to go a few days early to check out Sydney before flying up to Cairns to meet my coworkers.  I then spent an extra night in Brisbane on my way back.  I have to say, I'm now a huge fan of Australia - maybe because it was the closest thing to the 'Western World' that I'd been to since I came over in January?  Regardless, I'll be back!

Sydney

Really reminded me of San Francisco and it was such a beautiful city!  It's winter there now but wasn't that cold; however it was nice to finally be able to naturally cold (not air conditioned cold) and wear a scarf and a jacket!  I walked around a lot and saw the Opera House, Bridge, etc. on the first day.  On the second day, I went out to Bondi to meet up with a coworker from the Sydney branch and some clients for lunch.  I then did the Bondi to Coogee cliff walk around the ocean.  Bondi Beach wasn't too crowded since it was winter (there were still surfers though) but I'd love to see the madness during the summer!  

Here are some pictures from Sydney:

Sydney Harbor Bridge

Darling Harbor - sort of Sydney's version of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf

Sydney Opera House by day....

And by night...

Bondi Beach

What you can't see in these pictures are the guys wearing Speedos or 'Budgy Smugglers' as the Aussie's call them.  They seem to be the swimsuit of choice for the guys that shouldn't be caught dead in anything that tiny!  

Bondi to Coogee Cliff Walk

Brisbane

I was only in Brisbane for one night so didn't have a chance to see a whole lot but I think I got a fair amount accomplished.  A river cuts through the city and most people seem to commute by the river taxi.  I thought it might be a good way to see the city but it got dark while I was on the boat, so that didn't work out too well!  I did see some pretty nice houses overlooking the river...and their nice boats docked up to their yards!  The second day I walked through the Botanical Gardens in the morning before having breakfast and catching my flight back to Singapore.

Brisbane from the river

Brisbane's Story Bridge

Botanical Gardens