Rainy Days of Sydney

So it is still raining today...and is supposed to rain for the next week! It sucks!!! (How funny is this...in the newspaper, the forecast said "A Shower or two." and "Mainly fine." Seriously...instead of partly cloudy or raining...it said those two phrases...well, it was funny to me when I saw it!)

Yesterday wasn't too bad, just cloudy and windy, so Rebecca (the girl from PB) and I walked down to the Opera House and all around the city. It ended up being about 6 miles once we got back to the hostel. You can see the pictures in my album, but you will notice how cloudy it is. It was really nice to go back to the Opera House and see where I had been 9 years ago.

After we got back, we met Cory and Matt (the guys from AZ) and went out for Happy Hour at the same two bars from the previous night. One of the bars makes these crazy drinks (as you can again see in the album). We were all mesmerized by how much artistic work goes into each drink - they averaged around 5 minutes to make. After that we walked back to the hostel and stopped at the grocery store to get food so we can start making meals instead of buying everything...I know...exciting!!! I actually stayed up until 10:30pm on Thursday night!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!

This morning (Friday), I woke up and went for another run. I made it to the Opera House this time. I must say, there is nothing like running the steps of the Sydney Opera House to make a workout 100% better. I had to check out of my room today and check back into another that Rebecca and I share now, so we went and watched the "Daily Movie" inside the hostel. It was crappy weather anyways, so it was fine to just hang out inside.

After the movie, the four of us went to the Powerhouse Museum in Darling Harbour. It was cool, but kind of boring. Had lots of exhibits, but there were sooooooo many kids running around it was hard to really get into everything. (Side note: Dad, they had a Westfield poster - I took a picture and will upload it later.) It was only $5AUD, so not too bad...By the time we got out of the museum it was raining harder, so we went back to the hostel. I had to go out and get batteries, which was a BIG mistake. It started pouring and the streets are even flooding. I just got back and my pants, shirt, jacket, etc are soaked. I'm trying to dry off before the pub crawl tonight - hopefully the weather gets a little better.

On a more exciting note, I finally found and bought my favorite Australian candy - Violet Crunch. But by the time the coating of sugar came off my teeth, I realized it was no longer my favorite - guess I will have to find another one!

So now you might ask, what do I think of it here?
I am enjoying it (other than the weather), but I realized I don't think Sydney is the right place for me. Everyone here is from a different country (not Australia) and are about 19 years old, so I am not really getting the "Aussie Experience" I was looking for and don't really fit in. I made the decision to go to Melbourne instead, so I leave on the 27th and will stay with my friends down there. I am hoping that living with Australians will give me a better experience. I think I also decided that I don't want to work at all, but just travel. Again, we will see what happens when I get to Melbourne, but I have already pretty much planned out my "Loop Around Australia". It still will take me time to accomplish all this, but I have a feeling it will be so worth it. I look forward to writing more about all my upcoming plans.

I hope everyone else is well. Check back for updated photos...

Cheers!
Kristen