jet-lag, shmet lag!

for my first night in sydney, i stayed up until 1AM drinking w/ some locals i met at a bar. in case you are wondering, that is like waking up tuesday morning @ 6AM in SD and not sleeping more than 4 hours until thursday 8AM. and you have to cap off the end of your sleeplessness proving to the natives that americans can drink w/ the best of them! worry not, i represented. USA in the house. (mom, alina told me that AA is for quitters!)

my legs are killing me though. after i figured out how to get to my first hostel (which should be easy enough, but i made it difficult), i basically walked all around sydney. check out the type of ads they have here:



naturally, i saw the opera house. you kinda have to. did you know opera house has different colored tiles:


another shot from the front:


from the bridge:



i also hiked through this cool garden. there are 5 different birds here. i can name 3, but i won't in case i'm wrong and bren publicly corrects me.


a cooperative little guy:


birds in the trees:


per 3 recommendations climbed "the bridge". that was really cool. so get this, you go through about 90 minutes of safety crap & prep for the 40 minute climb. you aren't allowed to take ANYTHING with you (not even tissue) and they get you dressed up in these silly suits. everything is attached to you so it doesn't blow away, etc.... but despite being attached to a cable for the whole trip, there's a few spots where you climb these ladders that are really ify. you could easily fall 10ft+ b/c the steps are so small and it was so windy. why spend all this cash on a cabling system so you can't jump but leave the stairs from hell there? i'd have taken pictures, but you have to go through a freakin metal detector so that you don't sneak anything up there. not kidding. anyway, i recommend the night climb in case you find yourself in sydney.

you can see the bridge in the background. this is a chick from austria who was goodly enough to take a picture w/ me. she and her friend quickly turned enemies when i guessed that they were from germany and not austria. i just played the ignorant american card. i seem to need that card often....


here's a short of the bridge climb. you can see some climbers there too.


today, i'm going to see if i can't fly to carnes to dive at the barrier reef. that's a 2-3 day trip. after that, there's tons of hiking (when my old man legs heal) & sailing to do. i'm less into the city stuff and more into the nature stuff. i mean, we all have museums & zoos. i can do that after work during the week if i need to.
thanks for all the comments! i love it! australia baby!