Sydney!

We've just returned from Sydney, Australia! It was a great time, rainy but warm. We were visiting our friends, Rob & Olivia and spent the weekend in Sydney. The first day we ferried across the harbor and had lunch in Manly, a beach-suburb. The bay was really rough and we charged through 3-4 metre swells to get there! We had lunch on the boardwalk in Manly and people-watched and admired the Tasman sea crashing up against the rocks. On the way back we got an sea-side view of the Opera house and I'm excited to share the images with you. It's such a stunning piece of timeless architecture - I hope you all get to see it in person sometime, too. After some very successful shopping, we had a great dinner that night: dim sum-style contemporary Thai food...Jealous?
The next day we found our way to Paddington and shopped and cafe-hopped to our heart's content. We discovered a great place that celebrates Sangria Sundays, and though it wasn't Sunday, we celebrated anyway. That night we met some of their Australian mates and went to a club where another friend was dj-ing and danced till the wee hours.
On Sunday we visited and spent the day with Rob's three girls and we all played on the beach and ate fish and chips together. I tried to teach them how to "hand-jive" and "Miss Mary Mac" but I think 4 years old might have been a bit too young...
I was bummed that there were no kangaroos running around the city, but Andy did see a big tree-lizard in the bush!
We did, however see the largest pelicans you've ever imagined. We have pelicans back in VA Beach, but these are on a whole other scale. They looked prehistoric in size. I couldn't get enough of them, I hope you like the pictures!
So we're back home now, back to work and Andy's back to writing his proposal and trying to get published. But Australia's been on the mind, as they say, and we're excited to get back there soon.
Our new flat is still pretty awesome. We haven't been too concerned with getting all of the boxes put away, but after this weekend we should be officially moved-in and we'll put pictures up under the "New Flat" album.
We're also exploring "Skype" that will allow us to talk to the US for free over the computer. When we have it all sorted out we'll spread the word so that we can all be involved!
Cheers!