Sydney, OZ

We made it to Sydney! This city is so gorgeous, very similar to San Francisco. It is so international too, there are people from all over the world here, I could see myself living her for a couple years. We went by the Opera house and zoo the other day. It was so cute to see all the native Ausi animals like koalas, kangaroos, wallabis and enus, it was also good to see all the deadly snakes like the taipan, fierce snake, and death adder so at least we know what they look like... The Opera house was just stunning. You may think it's over rated or touristy but having come from a year of architecture school and knowing all the backstory to the struggle with the government and getting the right radius on he sails, to actually see it in person was beyond words. And on the ferry ride to the zoo you could see it from all sides on the water. Just amazing. But oh is it hot out here with no ozone layer. The kiwis were telling us that also since there is so much less industry down under that the air is much cleaner, which also lets more of the light through. I forgot my hat, but had an umbrella, I'm sure I looked like an idiot but that's ok.

The people we are staying with are so nice and absolutely enamored with Americans. I guess lot of people here would rather be in America. They say that America sets all the trends, especially in Design and Music so if you're in those fields it's very hard to pull ahead here in OZ and NZ. Everyone we've met has been so nice. If you even stop to look at a bus map someone will come over to help you out. We were lucky and got these week long travel passes that work on all the trains, busses, and ferries. I'd definitely recommend it, the Sydney public transit is very good.