Lots to Catch Up...

After almost six months in Sydney, Todd and I are absolutely settled in and certainly feeling comfortable in Australia.  We have both been so busy with work and trips lately that it's been hard to update everyone on everything that we have been doing.  This weekend was the first one in some time that we were able to just relax and hang out a bit.  Sydney is such a beautiful place and there are so many wonderful places around the city and plenty just outside of the city that it is easy to feel bad for just staying in every once in a while.  Here are some photos to catch up on what we have been doing recently. 


Anzac Day
 

To celebrate Anzac Day, Todd and I headed to the dawn service in the city--it started at 4:30 a.m. so we were up around 3:30 to catch the bus into the city.  The service honors the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army who fought at Gallipoli during WWI.

Here is a shot of the dawn service--it was very moving and made us feel even more connected to this country.

Once we made it home after the dawn service, the sun was finally coming up!

  

Anzac Day is the only day that you are allowed to play a game called Two Up in Australia.  It is basically a betting game that huge groups of people participate in at bars all over the country.  Also, we were able to catch a glimpse of a part of the parade.

After a very long Anzac Day, we walked over the bridge and headed out to celebrate a friend's birthday.

During One Weekend we walked the 10K trek from Manly Beach back to an area close to our apartment...

This was the start of our walk.  Luckily, we did this walk when it was a bit chilly because this beach is PACKED when it's warm outside.

About halfway through the walk.

One of the friendly creatures we met along the walk.

A look back towards where we started in the morning.

As we reached the end of the 10K, we took in the beautiful scenery.

We heard some creepy sounds coming from the trees.

Of course, Todd was mesmerized by the bridge.

Trying to understand the Australian sports.

Cheering on friends who were running the Sydney half marathon.

Australia is pretty serious about people drinking responsibly.  They even have ads on the streets warning of people walking when they are too drunk.

Our trip to the Barossa--one of Australia's most famous wine regions
 

We stopped by one of the local restaurants where they had an interesting mix of wildlife.

Todd--he's always making friends.

A view of the Barossa.

A nice reminder that in Australia they drive on the left side of the road.

Trying out driving on the wrong side of the road for the first time.

Stopping by one of our favorite wineries.

One of our few kangaroo sightings of the weekend.

We stopped by a couple of wineries while there--this was the view from one of them.

Another winery stop.

Sunset from the Barossa.

Hopefully this gives a little perspective of the past month or so in Australia. 

Life according to the iPhone

I realize it's been quite some time since we last updated the blog.  There certainly have been a fair number of things keeping us busy.  Since the last update, I found a job, we moved into a new apartment and have been working to make Sydney more of a home.  In order to illustrate all that has happened in the past month or so, I thought I would include pictures instead of trying to explain everything.  Unfortunately, the one thing we can't find after this move is the cord for the camera to upload the pictures.  So, here are a fair number of iPhone photos to show life recently. 

View from our friends' house--guess who loves it there.

There are tons of possums in the trees here at night.  Todd keeps trying to convince me they are "cuter" than the ones in the U.S.

Waiting for the bus at one of our usual stops in the new neighborhood.

Enjoying some love music.

View from one of our last walks from our first apartment in Sydney.

Just hanging out by the water...

Matching flip-flops--necessary footwear here in Sydney.

View from my walk home on a Friday afternoon.

Photo from St. Patty's--from a Bavarian beer cafe.

View from my nightly run.

After dinner this Thursday, Todd met me in the in city and we went to one of the best Thai restaurants in the city. We decided to take the ferry home.

View from Wentworth Falls.

A little snack after half of our hike--a penguin meringue cookie.

The Three Sisters at the Blue Mountains.

On the way down the 900+ stairs towards the mountain floor.

Sunset at the Blue Mountains.

The Three Sisters at sunset.

They clearly call them the Blue Mountains for a reason.

Gross photo after hiking for a couple of hours.

A little taste of the ATL--at the Coke sign at Kings Cross.

 Hopefully this gives a little insight into the past few weeks here...

What we've been up to lately

Since the last post, Todd and I have been running all over Sydney trying to balance making this place feel like home while also working to take advantage of everything in this great city.  When the weather is nice (it's been a decently wet summer for Sydney), Todd and I take walks down to the water during the week and take longer trips around the city during the weekend.  Here are a couple of photos from some of our small adventures.  (Apologies for the crazy number of bridge photos--I take 1/2 the blame for them.)

Some photos from our evening walks:

From a park at the end of the street.

Sunset from the park at the end of the street.

Taking in the sunset...

During one of our fun trips to the grocery store here...finally found something Todd-sized.

On beautiful days in the city, I sometimes walk to the end of the point to read and send some emails.

This park is on the other side of the street from the point.  Todd and I go here to check out the boats.

A couple of weekends ago, we headed to the neighborhood next to ours and checked out the view from an old industrial area that has been converted into a reserve. 

Quite the windy day--we both wish we could have been on the water that day.

Big shocker--Todd looking at the bridge.

And again...

We have gone to a beach called Balmoral a few times over the past couple of weeks.  This is actually not on the ocean but on the harbor.  We are just a short bus ride away from this fairly secluded beach.

We both love being within a few minutes of the beach.

During a long walk the other day, I was able to take a quick pause for some Skyping with friends in Atlanta.  And, I was able to show them my view from the Botanical Gardens.

The day before Todd's birthday, we went to a cricket match.  There are a few different lengths of cricket matches and this was the shortest.  Now that I finally understand the rules of cricket, it is super fun to watch.  

We have had some crazy weather in Sydney.  They had to stop the match a couple of times for rain delays.

For Todd's birthday, I took him to an Indian restaurant down the street the overlooks the harbor.  Great food, great view and amazing company!!

Todd and I got to experience our first Australia Day together last week.  We spent the day under the bridge watching the boat races and hanging out with some of our friends.  And, we were treated to one of Todd's favorite things--a flyover!