Last Memories of Sydney

It is now time to move on from Sydney, I am heading to Brisbane at
9:00pm tonight then back to the Solomons at 1:00am. The last few days
I have been relaxing at Bondi Beach doing lots of reading, and
swimming in the surf. I did go to the zoo in Sydney the other day
which was really fun! I saw Koalas, Kangaroos, Elephants, Lions,
Tigers, Bears, Monkeys - I never knew all those animals lived in
Australia!

I also went to a concert last weekend with some people I met in the
Solomons and live in Australia, and threw in a photo of them. We also
had a few Brazilian type BBQ's which were excellent since all they
cook is meat, no veggies to distract you. There is a photo of my host
Christian and Cara, Christian is the chef tasting his masterpiece.
Sydney and Australia was fun, but I am ready to go back home, and
sleep in my own bed, and go diving again. I don't however look
forward to going back to work, which I am sure many people can relate
too. I have quite a few students that have arrived in Gizo since I
left, and will be starting classes for them all tomorrow after my red
eye on the plane, and then a 7am Island hop, I will get picked up in a
boat from the airport and off to work I go!

Luke

Things I Love

So some things I have learned to love now and will miss when I am back
in Gizo this week. I hope you all read the list and appreciate that
you have these everyday:

Hot Showers
Washing Machines
Dryers
Sharp Razors
Beef
Blue Cheese
Cheese
Take Out
Fast Internet
TV
Grocery Stores
Ice Cream
Lots of Candy

Things I don't Miss:

Crowded streets
Unfriendly People
Bad TV - Reality shows like "Australian Customs"
Overpriced goods at stores
Clothes shopping
Rude people on Trains
Hectic Airports
TV
Lack of fresh fish and potatoes
Big towns where you have to walk alot
Being on time
News - lets be honest its just depressing, what happend to the state's
since I left?

Anyways that was just a short list of things I have noticed and
thought I would share. I hope everyone enjoys all that they have and
are given, we are all so blessed in this wonderful world.

Luke

Sydney Down Under

I arrived in Brisbane at about 10pm and cleared customs in about 2
minutes and was out the door and picked up by a friend that lived
there. He immediately took me to a 24 hrs McDonald's, but it was not
as good as I remember it. It was a bit disappointing but I did find a
KFC which I still love. The next day I headed into the city to do
some shopping, but was immediately intimidated by all of the people,
the fast cars, the hectic sidewalks, and tons of things to buy. I
shopped around and picked up some clothes and a mobile.

On Friday the 13th I kissed my good luck and got on a plane at 6 am to
Sydney. In Sydney I took the buses and trains and found when I got
off at Central station that I was right in front of the Opera House
and Harbor bridge, the two land marks in Sydney. I then caught a
ferry to Manly beach and fell asleep for the afternoon with all my
bags in the sand. I met up with a friend and hung out with him and
his friends that weekend, enjoying some good swims and body surfing at
the beach. The surf here is bigger then most places I have been; it
was common to see 2 and 3 meter waves and body surfing them was fun,
but tired you out fast.

Now I am in Bondi Beach another famous beach here, staying with a
great couple that I taught to dive in the Solomons. They are about a
3 minute walk from the water. It is a very relaxed atmosphere and not
hectic like the city. Hopefully this weekend I will get in a surf
lesson or two from Christian my host here. He has been surfing his
whole life and goes surfing most mornings before working a corporate
job with Yahoo Australia. Hopefully next time I write I will have a
photo or two of me surfing!

Luke

Update of Last Month

Sorry guys it has been awhile since I have been on here to update. We
have been busy, and I have been lazy. We have had quite a few guests
coming through lately, so I have been on the boats most days. Since
my last update I have learned many new things, like how to make pizza,
so now we have a weekly pizza night. It is so good, probably the best
pizza I have ever eaten if I must say so myself. I have to give a
special thanks to my room mate for teaching me though. It is also
nice that we have power back, and have had plenty of rain so we have
water in the house also.

The diving has been extraordinary lately, we have been seeing lots of
cool things. We have seen mantas, a new family of eagle rays is
always around one of the reefs, and lots of sharks have been joining
in on the dives. Now on a dive we generally will see three to five
sharks, which is pretty exciting since they are being killed very
quickly by fishermen all over the world. We have also had great
weather, where usually in the spring the weather is at its worst.

The cats are another story, a month ago I had two cats, then one had
kittens. Well as it turned out the other cat was pregnant and had
kittens 6 days later. I went from 2 cats to 8 cats in less then a
week! The new kittens are awfully cute, but a chore to take care of
it. One of the moms Little Ghost is wearing on our patience with her
constant meowing, I am threatening to leave her on an island by
herself. The kittens are playful now and exploring everything, you
never know what they will get into next and destroy. One is
especially adept to climbing things then not knowing how to get down,
so she cries until you help her out.

Right now I am in Brisbane Australia and am heading to Sydney tomorrow
to attend a dive and travel show. I will try to update more and post
more pictures now that I have a faster internet connection.

Luke