So I’ve been back in Canada for over a week now and still haven’t got rid of my jet-lag! I don’t know why it didn’t hit me like this last time- but even with Tom’s lorazepam I can’t seem to get over it. Although- I hear that for a time difference of 16 hours between Toronto and Sydney, that it should take me about 16 days to get back to normal.
I guess I haven’t written in over a month now, so there’s lots to tell! My last few weeks in Sydney were really great, but also really busy. Tom and Mom came to visit- and I was also trying to study and pack and not get too excited about the end of the year.
Tom was in Australia for the first few weeks of November and I got to see him quite a few times while he was in Sydney. I showed him all around our campus the first day he was here and we had a bunch of great dinners with Janice. Alice also invited Tom and me for dinner up in North Sydney one night- which, once again, was AMAZING. Alice is such a good cook! Tom seemed to really like Australia- which I was also very happy about since he says he’ll be coming back to visit every year!
Mom arrived on November 13th and my exams were on the 16th- so Mom toured around Sydney during the day while I studied. In the evenings we met up for some walking around and some dinners. I even made Mom dinner at my studio apartment (with no kitchen) one of the nights. It was fun!
The 16th was my last exam- so after a short visit with Mom and Tom at the end of the exam I headed home to start packing- which is what I ended up doing for almost the entire next 36 hours. It felt like it took forever. I cannot believe how much you can accumulate in 10 months.
I had to skip Tom’s last day of touring around Sydney because of all the packing- so I was kind of disappointed about that. But, at least I got it all done for Mom to help me move it all into my friend’s house on the Sunday. Things went surprisingly smoothly after that and I was feeling much better by Monday.
Mom and I spent the next 2 days in Sydney. We took the ferry over to the Sydney Zoo (which was SO nice), had some great fish and chips, went for a tour and a walk through the Botanical Gardens, went on a double-decker bus tour and did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb!! Somehow Mom even had time for a mid-day conference call in the midst of it all! We also had a few REALLY nice dinners which was another great treat.
While we were in Sydney, we stayed at the Royal Automobile Club which was right in Circular Quay beside the Opera house!! We had a perfect view of the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour from our window. It was AMAZING. We could also walk right out the back door to the ferry docks- which was SO convenient. What a great place to stay!
On Wednesday, we took an early flight up to Cairns to visit the Great Barrier Reef. We stayed on a little Island Resort (called Green Island) which is an island that actually sits on the inner reef. It was a beautiful place and we spent 2 full days there. On Thursday, we took a half-day trip to the outer reef where we got to snorkel for hours with sharks, turtles and TONS of fish! We even got to pet “Wally”- who was a giant Humpback Wrasse who hung around the raft we were on! I totally loved him. He he he.
There was lots to do on the Island- and I think we managed to do ALL of it while we were there. We snorkeled around the island and under a pier, walked around nature trails on the island, went to crocodile feedings and shows, visited the underwater observatory at night, went on night nature walks looking for crabs and even got to look at the stars through a telescope that was set up for us. We also got to feed fish and sharks each evening and then had drinks on the beach while the sun was setting. It was pretty nice to say the least!! :)
After our 2 days on the Island we headed back to the mainland for one night in Cairns. We had a hotel right on the main street and spent an evening walking along the Oceanfront boardwalk. Mom saw lots of new birds and I took lots of pictures. We had another nice dinner that night and even found a Baskin Robbins for some of my favourite ice cream for dessert.
On our last day in Cairns we decided to ride horses through the Outback on a small guided tour- and it turned out to be really neat! We saw some really interesting countryside and thousands of MASSIVE termite hills. Luckily, I didn’t see any snakes or spiders- but I know they were there! Mom took her horse galloping and managed to only get one small cut from a tree branch. She was much braver than me- I just stuck to the trotting. He he he. That afternoon we flew back to Sydney and I spent the night packing up my bags to head home!
I guess I haven’t written in over a month now, so there’s lots to tell! My last few weeks in Sydney were really great, but also really busy. Tom and Mom came to visit- and I was also trying to study and pack and not get too excited about the end of the year.
Tom was in Australia for the first few weeks of November and I got to see him quite a few times while he was in Sydney. I showed him all around our campus the first day he was here and we had a bunch of great dinners with Janice. Alice also invited Tom and me for dinner up in North Sydney one night- which, once again, was AMAZING. Alice is such a good cook! Tom seemed to really like Australia- which I was also very happy about since he says he’ll be coming back to visit every year!Mom arrived on November 13th and my exams were on the 16th- so Mom toured around Sydney during the day while I studied. In the evenings we met up for some walking around and some dinners. I even made Mom dinner at my studio apartment (with no kitchen) one of the nights. It was fun!The 16th was my last exam- so after a short visit with Mom and Tom at the end of the exam I headed home to start packing- which is what I ended up doing for almost the entire next 36 hours. It felt like it took forever. I cannot believe how much you can accumulate in 10 months.
I had to skip Tom’s last day of touring around Sydney because of all the packing- so I was kind of disappointed about that. But, at least I got it all done for Mom to help me move it all into my friend’s house on the Sunday. Things went surprisingly smoothly after that and I was feeling much better by Monday.Mom and I spent the next 2 days in Sydney. We took the ferry over to the Sydney Zoo (which was SO nice), had some great fish and chips, went for a tour and a walk through the Botanical Gardens, went on a double-decker bus tour and did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb!! Somehow Mom even had time for a mid-day conference call in the midst of it all! We also had a few REALLY nice dinners which was another great treat.While we were in Sydney, we stayed at the Royal Automobile Club which was right in Circular Quay beside the Opera house!! We had a perfect view of the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour from our window. It was AMAZING. We could also walk right out the back door to the ferry docks- which was SO convenient. What a great place to stay!On Wednesday, we took an early flight up to Cairns to visit the Great Barrier Reef. We stayed on a little Island Resort (called Green Island) which is an island that actually sits on the inner reef. It was a beautiful place and we spent 2 full days there. On Thursday, we took a half-day trip to the outer reef where we got to snorkel for hours with sharks, turtles and TONS of fish! We even got to pet “Wally”- who was a giant Humpback Wrasse who hung around the raft we were on! I totally loved him. He he he.There was lots to do on the Island- and I think we managed to do ALL of it while we were there. We snorkeled around the island and under a pier, walked around nature trails on the island, went to crocodile feedings and shows, visited the underwater observatory at night, went on night nature walks looking for crabs and even got to look at the stars through a telescope that was set up for us. We also got to feed fish and sharks each evening and then had drinks on the beach while the sun was setting. It was pretty nice to say the least!! :)
After our 2 days on the Island we headed back to the mainland for one night in Cairns. We had a hotel right on the main street and spent an evening walking along the Oceanfront boardwalk. Mom saw lots of new birds and I took lots of pictures. We had another nice dinner that night and even found a Baskin Robbins for some of my favourite ice cream for dessert.On our last day in Cairns we decided to ride horses through the Outback on a small guided tour- and it turned out to be really neat! We saw some really interesting countryside and thousands of MASSIVE termite hills. Luckily, I didn’t see any snakes or spiders- but I know they were there! Mom took her horse galloping and managed to only get one small cut from a tree branch. She was much braver than me- I just stuck to the trotting. He he he. That afternoon we flew back to Sydney and I spent the night packing up my bags to head home!
