I met Dad and Norma down in Melbourne for their first weekend in Australia and we had a great time there. It was a really short trip for me- but definitely worth it. Dad, Norma and I all arrived at the hotel around 11am on Saturday morning. After a little breakfast and some down time we walked around downtown and took a tour bus around the city. It really is a beautiful place and much less crowded than Sydney.
We had an early dinner that night (since I knew Dad and Norma would probably start fading around 7pm) along the river and then headed back to the hotel. On Sunday morning we got up early and had a good old McDonald’s breakfast (my first time having McDonalds in Australia!). At around 8am, we were picked up by a tour guide in our own private mini van for a trip down south on the Great Ocean Road.
We went to lots of famous places like Bells beach, the Twelve Apostles, Apollo Bay and the Loch Ard Gorge.
We had a really nice lunch in one of the small towns and also saw lots and lots of birds, kangaroos and koalas along the way. There was lots of driving in between stops- but coincidently, the tour guide had just got married (also to a Brent) and so had lots of advice for me. :)I headed back to Sydney that night and Dad and Norma toured around other parts of Australia for the next 10 days. After Melbourne they headed up to Uluru (Ayers Rock), Cairns and Port Douglas before coming back down to Sydney.
Dad and Norma spent a week in Sydney and I think they had a good time here! We had lots of nice dinners out- and I made dinner at my place one night. We visited the Taronga Zoo and did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb together (good job Norma!) and I even dragged them to ‘Brides of Sydney’ so I could buy my wedding dress.
Dad and Norma did lots of other touring around Sydney while I was at school. They visited Bondi Beach, Coogee Beach, Manly Beach, went to a show at the Opera House, took a tour of the Blue Mountains and walked around the Botanical Gardens. Luckily, the weather was great while they were here too.
We had dinner (twice!) at my new favourite restaurant in Sydney called ‘James Squire Brewery’ down in Darling Harbour. Both times Dad and Norma got kangaroo steaks, which I think they really enjoyed! The oysters there (some covered in cheese) were AMAZING.
I also of course had to take them to my all time favourite dessert place- ‘The Lindtt Café’ for some ice cream afterwards.I think I drank more wine during that week than I have in the past 6 months! But it was definitely a fun time. :)
I have been pretty busy with school lately - learning lots of endocrinology and trying to review the last year and a half of material. Hospital days have been very busy too.
I’m not sure if this story is appropriate for my blog- but most people find it interesting, so I’m going to tell it anyway. So, last Tuesday at the hospital we saw a man who had come into hospital after having an erection for 4 days. Apparently the doctors did everything they could to help him (a giant needle to suck the blood out of the veins and a lot of drugs), but nothing worked and he eventually ended up getting gangrene and had to get his penis removed. :( I guess there wasn’t much hope for him (after 4 days) since you apparently start having permanent damage after 4 hours- but we were still really sad for him. We didn’t ask, but we are hoping that he has a very understanding and supportive wife.Anyway, now I’m in the midst of learning about Type 1 and Type 11 Diabetes along with a bunch of nutrition stuff. Last week we actually had some lectures by one of the ladies who developed the Glycemic Index (GI) in the 1980’s (which I’m sure most of you have heard of by now). We were learning about the GI mostly in the context of diabetes and controlling blood sugar levels, but a low GI diet is also supposed to be good for weight reduction, decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease and improving athletic performance. There is a good website that we use to check the GI of foods if you’re interested: http://www.glycemicindex.com/ .
Speaking of food, this picture is from a 'Canadian pancake breakfast' that one of the Australians in our class had for us one Saturday morning at his place. He managed to get some real maple syrup for us too! :)
This past Friday, I met up with my old East York Swim Club swimming friend, Ali Shea and her mom who happened to be visiting Sydney for a holiday. Ali is about 5 years older than me, but we were both breaststrokers, so trained a lot together back in the day. She is now just finished her first year at Ottawa University Medical school, after doing a masters and a PhD while waiting to be accepted. After talking to her, I’m really glad I didn’t take that route into medicine as I would have been still at the beginning of a long (and uncertain) 10 more years of school. I’m ‘stuck’ in Australia for now- but at least I’ve only got about 2.5 years of school left!
This Monday coming I’m having another ‘girls day out’ with Alice and some of her friends. We are going out to have yum cha for lunch and then to see the new ‘Sex and the City’ movie. Afterwards we will probably go have a cosmopolitan somewhere. :) Also, we apparently have to dress up- so I think I will probably dress as Charlotte. (Sorry boys if u have no idea what I’m talking about but Georgia should really appreciate this).
I have also planned a short trip home for mid-July. I’ll only be home for about 10 days- but I’m really looking forward to the long days and some time up north. There will be a little bit of wedding planning to do- but I’m hoping it won’t take too long since lots of people have been helping so much already! :) I’m sorry in advance if I don’t get to see many of you while I’m home this time- but last year’s summer trip home just about killed me and I’m going to try to have a more relaxing ‘holiday’ this time.
This weekend coming is Stevie and Sharon’s wedding in Boston. I’m really sad to be missing it. Hope everyone has a great time!
This past Friday, I met up with my old East York Swim Club swimming friend, Ali Shea and her mom who happened to be visiting Sydney for a holiday. Ali is about 5 years older than me, but we were both breaststrokers, so trained a lot together back in the day. She is now just finished her first year at Ottawa University Medical school, after doing a masters and a PhD while waiting to be accepted. After talking to her, I’m really glad I didn’t take that route into medicine as I would have been still at the beginning of a long (and uncertain) 10 more years of school. I’m ‘stuck’ in Australia for now- but at least I’ve only got about 2.5 years of school left!This Monday coming I’m having another ‘girls day out’ with Alice and some of her friends. We are going out to have yum cha for lunch and then to see the new ‘Sex and the City’ movie. Afterwards we will probably go have a cosmopolitan somewhere. :) Also, we apparently have to dress up- so I think I will probably dress as Charlotte. (Sorry boys if u have no idea what I’m talking about but Georgia should really appreciate this).I have also planned a short trip home for mid-July. I’ll only be home for about 10 days- but I’m really looking forward to the long days and some time up north. There will be a little bit of wedding planning to do- but I’m hoping it won’t take too long since lots of people have been helping so much already! :) I’m sorry in advance if I don’t get to see many of you while I’m home this time- but last year’s summer trip home just about killed me and I’m going to try to have a more relaxing ‘holiday’ this time.
This weekend coming is Stevie and Sharon’s wedding in Boston. I’m really sad to be missing it. Hope everyone has a great time!
Thank you for the flowers, Brent! xo
