G'day from Australia

So today is my third day here in the Sydney area, and so far everything is great! I had hoped to post a little more often between now and my previous update, but my Internet situation has been pretty precarious, even when I was in Chicago..

I'm paying here at an Internet cafe here at Cronulla Beach so I'll give y'all a few highlights:

In Chicago I had a chance to visit the Field museum, which had some world-class features including the famous SUE t-rex. Walked along Lakeshore Dr to see the famous 'bean' and skating rink, before heading to the top of the Sears tower. It was perfect timing because the sun set about 20 minutes into being up there, so we saw light, sunset, and the city by night all within one hour. Meg then treated me over to Gino's East Pizzeria where I had some awesome Chicago style deep dish pizza, before heading to the top of the Hancock Building to visit meg's friend who lives in a studio apartment up there. (The view sure beats the one I used to have in Jester...)

The "Eye Ball" was pretty amazing, of course the closest thing they played to country was 'save a horse, ride a cowboy', but none the less I had a great time there and at bars afterwards.

Jetting to Hawaii, i touched down in Honolulu and called up ol' Trey Mohle, who luckily was free for the evening to hang out. I actually got to hang out with an old family friend Elham and her fiance Jess as well.. (she was a next door neighbor back in 1990). So Elham, Jess, Trey, and I hit up some dinner on Waikiki beach, saw an amazing sunset, and then Trey took me back to the U.S. Marines base on the island that he's stationed at. When I think of 'barracks' i think of what I saw Forrest Gump sleep in, rows of bunkbeds in a big hall. No no.. Trey's 'barracks' are private apartments that again make my college living quarters go to shame.

After a morning of lounging on an INCREDIBLE beach on-base (I was the only one there!!), I was off for my marathon flights to Guam, to Cairns, and then finally Sydney..

Nan and Rod came to pick me up at the airport and took me on back to her house (where my mum grew up) so that I could settle in and recover from my jetlag. (This would be the morning of Friday the 7th) I did it with a little tv, a lot of sleep, and of course a little Vegemite. Apparently the small amount of Vegemite I like to put on my toast startles even my Nan... supposedly you're supposed to put it on a little more sparingly.. but of course that's never my style when it comes to food..

Yesterday I took a train into the city and hit up all of the touristy stops, walked the Harbour Bridge, toured the Opera House, had some coffee down at the Rocks, before taking a ferry over to Manly Beach. The ferry took me clear down and across the harbour, affording me an excellent view of the entire harbour. The evidence is all in my camera, but I don't have that on me, and I've yet to find a time-efficient way to upload the darned pictures online for y'all to see. After checking out the beach and talking to a few fellow backpackers, I then made my way (by ferry, train, and bus) to the famous Bondi Beach. It was packed, and in a single conversation I talked to people from Germany, Spain, Mexico, and Italy. They all seemed to like me plenty till I told them I was from the U.S.. which seemed to be quite a mood killer.

Today Nan, Rod, and I have come out to Cronulla Beach so that they could shop and that I could check out the beach. Each beach has it's own character, but I've quite enjoyed this one.. the shopping strip is full of little shops and cafes and plenty of people my age.

Well I just wanted to get a post out there since it's been a while from my last update.. but I hope everybody is doing fine.. and please send me some emails and comments to let me know how you all are doing as well

cheers