It's Thursday here today but wanted to recap the weekend. Instead of drinking away my first four days off in a row, I decided to drink away only a small portion of it and spent the rest of the time taking in some local Sydney attractions. The weather has been fabulous with temps ranging 25 - 37 degrees over the last week, the exceptions being today and yesterday. Lots of rain.

Friday night was a gong show, as it usually is when you spend a night in the city. The night saw us through 5 bars, 6 cab rides, 1 lost cell phone (not mine), 1 recovered cell phone and ++ money spent on various alcoholic beverages. I recall lots of laughter and lots of dancing AND we made it home before the sun came up. Because we'd had such a rough evening, we felt that Coogee Beach would be appropriate for Saturday . . . turns out the three of us all have matching Australian beach towels (red with big map of Australia). You can't go wrong for $10 at Budget Beaters. It was a hot day, somewhere in the 30's which might make you think that the water would have warmed a bit. Not so. Word on the beach is that the water is the coldest its been. Usually hovers around 22 but is now a cool 16. Who knew?! Either way, the water is damn cold! I've submerged my body twice since I've been here, first time was in a wetsuit and second time, at a beach with no crashing waves that cause body damage. They were asking people over the loudspeaker to refrain from body surfing as there had been suspected spinal injuries because of the strength of the waves. If that's not incentive to stay out of the water, I don't know what is. Sharks in the area, I suppose.

Anyway, after reviving our bodies with a little sun, surf and rehydration, we felt that we had recovered enough to proceed to the Coogee Bay Hotel, the local watering hole. Apparently, drinking was not yet out of our system. Coogee Bay Hotel: 4 bars in one with just a guess, 3:1 male to female ratio. Let's just say we had fun. Made it home around 300, slightly intoxicated with kebabs in hand. Word on the street is that doctors live on the 1st floor so we decided to make a stop in their lounge to finish our eats. It remains unconfirmed, as we saw no one.

On Sunday we figured it was time to get down to business, so we headed to The Rocks Market in Circular Quay. Circular Quay is the main ferry hub, and from what my Sydney guidebook tells me, it's where the first fleet landed its humen freight of soldiers and convicts . . . sort of a historical area. The Rocks is an area within Circular Quay that forms part of the promenade (see pic) between the Harbour Bridge and The Opera House. History and geography aside, The Rocks Market is much like any market at home, offering an eclectic range of jewellry and crafts. Lot of hype surrounding this market and was expecting to be walking around for a couple hours at least. We made it through in under an hour though. Nice area of the city though. Our group was in a pretty sad state anyway, so the less walking the better. I did buy a scented candle, prohibited in our dorm rooms. I have since burned my candle and blown it out with no untoward effects. They claim the fire alarms are very senstive. There's signage everywhere warning of hairspray use in our rooms. Nice try. I spent a quiet night in watching a DVD on Jen's portable DVD player, which she has lent me for the whole time I'm here! How nice is that?! She's got a laptop so doesn't need it.

I got up early on Sunday to head off on my own to the acclaimed Taronga Zoo. Apparently, Taronga has the best view of any zoo in the world. The zoo itself was unexceptional. I was pumped about seeing the koals and kangaroos but I guess I went at the wrong time of day. The ONE koala that they had was sleeping, along with the kangaroos. The wombat and platypus were nowhere to be found and I only saw the blinking eyes of the tasmanian devil from within its nest. The highlights were the meerkats and echidnas (strange porcupine-like creatures with a snouted nose). The rest of the animals were typical of any zoo; elephants, gorillas, seals, giraffes.

After the zoo, met Jen for a walk across the Harbour Bridge (the bridge climb costs upwards of $250). No thanks. 30 minute walk across with fantastic harbour views. Added to my collection of opera house and harbor shots (see pic). Stopped by Luna Park, an old theme park from the 30's. Took a pass on the rides and headed home. Went to see Blood Diamond. I'm sure it's been in the cinemas at home for months. It's THE new movie here. Everything comes out late here.

On Tuesday, did the coastal walk from Coogee to Bondi. Thought I should spend at least one day on the famous Bondi Beach. Quite big and lots of surf shop shopping. Relaxing day. Good weekend. Next time I have four days off though, definitely heading out of the city. Off to Blue Mountains February 3,4. Will have more to write then.

Val from Calgary is coming to Fiji in February! Yay! Will be nice to see a friendly face and hear news from home. Talk soon!