St Marks Lodge Sydney Randwick

... We strolled around the Circular Quay, Sydney Opera House, Chinatown, watched joggers at the harbour, had sushi for lunch, saw a giant chess game and walked around town. We spent the night watching "Transformers" the movie. Pretty standard city day, but we enjoyed it! We were looking into shows at the opera house, but alas, nothing within our time range catches our attention!

... kept busy seeing the sights of Sydney with Mike acting as our chauffeur and Sue acting as our tour guide and organizer. We also spent an evening with their daughter Alexis, son-in-law Martin and the two grandchildren, Jacob and Sammy. We walked and walked and walked the streets of downtown Sydney. By the time we figured out what bus to catch we were close enough to walk ...

... rich, old men and their young, whipper snapper rent boys; a tom hanks film; playing pool, during which time i cut my leg on the table leaving a giant scar; reading magazines and still listening out for mr crazy, while sitting on the loo! bedtime was not great and i was seriously worried about waking up to find myself hanging from a hook, but thankfully we made it through the night and discovered that actually the owners had been back on their home turf from as early as 9pm the ...

... just wasn't loved! Thanks Fliccy for my card =D i have it up on my bedroom wall. Friday A NIGHTMARE OF A MORNING. Checked out, went to wait for the bus, it didnt turn up for ages, and Ish had left her phone at the hostel so she went back to get it and a bus came. Then she came back and still no more buses so we sent Ish on a mission to the main road to get us a taxi, she got a taxi, but when he drove round and saw all our bags he chucked Ish out charged her $3 for a 2 second ...

... of being a kid and this house provided tons of nooks, crannies and doorways that made for a great course. Mary and Sarah's friend, Johan, that they had met in Europe, came up from Melbourne and he was a really nice dude. An incredibly artsy guy, he had these custom drawn white shoes, with sweet designs, that he bestowed on Esther, Mary and Sarah. The parties went late into the night and I gave Mary a little scare as ...

... so the payouts could vary depending on which counter and which bookie you bet with. Court and I stuck with the live races and had a great time watching the ponies. After the last race, the jockey club turned into a full party environment with live music (OK, one guy at a keyboard playing covers, but it was live), and that's when we saw Aussie Jason appear, and no, he could not convince the girl to go home with him. We stayed around ...

... granola partner - boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife (gay or straight) pash - kiss pash rash - hickey paw-paw - papaya petrol - gas ****** - drunk plat - braid porridge - oatmeal queue - line reckon - think rock melon - canteloupe ruggers - rugby same - me too sacked - fired skol ("skull") - chug schmiddie - a glass of beer in between a middie and schooner schooner - large glass of beer sharemate - roommate (same room) Shazza - nickname for Sharon shout - round ...

... most of all... Tim Tams (the four packets I'm smuggling into the States should last me a few weeks though)! I've had a great time getting to know this country better, and also trying scary foods with my Asian friends (such as the chicken feet I ate at Yum Cha the other day with my Taiwanese friend Archer, and the raw beef I had with my Japanese friend Marie). Like I said though, I'll be back. I think I'm addicted to Australia.

... since I don't often get to do things like that, and Kong's a pretty charismatic guy so even though his English isn't spectacular we had an entertaining conversation. He insisted on paying for everything, even though the bill ended up being over $100! After dinner, he walked me to my bus stop and he even called me to see if I had made it home ok. Ok, so I had a great time but obviously I'm not romantically interested in the guy. And I'm pretty sure he knows that, but since ...

... manage to have fun singing at the top of our lungs. The night went on way longer than it should have, but finally we got out of there. It was a very educational evening - I learned that my professor is a dirty old man and that the word "chunder" in the song Down Under by Men at Work means to throw up from drinking too much. I got a few hours of sleep and then headed to the airport to pick up Kevin. Meanwhile, I was also finishing up my teaching practicum at a private ...