Day 6

We went to Darling Harbour today. While we were down there, we went to the National Australian Maritime Museum because we saw a poster that said it was free... and we thought why not! We had a good holiday. (today was the queen's birthday... so it was a national holiday)

Nun bathing

Day 5

We went to Coogee beach today, it was lots of fun!

Day 4

We got up at six this morning and began our apartment hunting. They do open viewing on Saturday so we had a list of 13 flats to visit. Only problem was getting to all of the showings in time. We took the bus to the first location. It had new carpet but was in a very sketchy building... you had to walk over a large opening in between buildings to enter the apartment. It also did not have a fridge. We then walked at least 5 miles to the next location trucking up and down hills. We saw the ocean for the first time. I would have loved to stop and take it all in... but we were in a hurry. The next apartment was very cool looking with a spiral staircase and only a few blocks from the beach! However it was unfurnished... we went to a few more but did not take applications. At one place the agent thought we were from Ireland. He said that we had Irish accents. Then we got lost walking for a about an hour. It ends up that we walked past the place we were looking for a few times. We missed appointments for a few that we really thought we would have liked because we simply ran out of time. The next flat that we looked at was the one! Although it costs $350 a week, it is in a quiet neighborhood close to campus and not too far from the beach. It is fully furnished and in great condition. It came with a real sized refrigerator!!! The agent thought that we were from Canada and was pleased with our standings. He was sympathetic and even drove us to his office to sign the paperwork and put down a deposit. He was a funny man, we liked him very much. So we have a place to live!!! We will move in on the 13th... ahhhh what a relief. We will post pictures as soon as we can get into the place!

Day 3

we looked at an apartment that was horrible. we got a mobile phone. Tyler got set up at the university. we got into a fight about food (tyler would rather not eat to save money... and i have to eat!). we found a McDonald's so we could use the internet for free! It costs about $2.00 an hour to use it at the internet cafes but it is free at every McDonalds. then we finished the day watching american TV (the simpsons, how i met your mother, scrubs, ellen...).

Second day in Sydney

Yesterday was a very frustrating and gloomy day. The day started off going down to the lobby for what we thought was a continental breakfast, but was in fact a charge of $18 per person. Good thing we figured that out before we ate anything! We went to the University to get checked in, do our banking and meet everyone. What we encountered was a confusing and unsettling turn of events. We tried to sign Tyler into the university so that he could get set up with a student access card... but the office was closed. So we went to the bank to verify our account, but they need our address before they can send us our money cards and passwords... and we cannot get an apartment until we can verify that we have an income... and we can’t set up Tyler’s pay until we get student cards. And everyone wants us to  have a mobile phone before they will even talk to us. Today we have an appointment with the student office... so once we get that rolling hopefully we will have better luck. I also managed to set up a viewing appointment of an apartment today at 4:00 pm and tomorrow at 11:00 am. Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope everything works out before our viewing appointment. 

First day in Sydney

We had some time to spare in the afternoon so we took a walk through Hyde Park. It was beautiful and entertaining. We found an amazing cathedral! We are looking forward to attending mass this weekend! Our first day was lots of fun! 

The plane ride...

Our flight was long... on the plane they gave us all sorts of little goodies, socks, toothbrush, mask, pillow, blanket... snacks, 2 meals and endless free movies.  They did not give us leg room. We are in the city and having fun so far! 

saying goodbye round #1

We leave tomorrow morning... it still has not hit me yet, that we are moving across the world. I think it is because I am horrible at saying my goodbyes. 

Happy Birthday Meghan!!!

Meghan is the best because she:

is charismatic

is adventurous

loves the outdoors

has beautiful blue eyes

is always up for a good laugh

can do funny voice impressions

always wants to challenge herself and others

and

is always looking out for her siblings 

We love you Meghan, have an awesome birthday and a fantastic year!!! 

More packing!!!

Packing!!!

the Zoo... again!

We went to the zoo this again this weekend. We thought it would be a fun day to go because it was rainy and cool; plus we had a coupon that we wanted to use before it expired. We were so surprised at how packed it was. It was a zoo trying to see all the animals through everyones umbrellas. We had a wonderful day!

Finding out!!!

We just found out that we are going to Australia for a year!!!