a nice 'lil day trip to sydney...or so we thought! dun DUN dUN!

i've been having a great time this week exploring wollongong and moving in. but it's the weekend and my friends, dan and sarah, and i decided to take a day trip to sydney. we hop of the train and take a nice little ride to sydney. we got there about 2:30 pm and explored downtown. it is huge and has a very fun, busy, big city feel! (FYI i hear sydney has 4 million people)

we made our way to the harbor and i caught my first glimpse of the sydney opera house. i had just been thinking how i didn't understand why the opera house was such a big deal. well, let me tell you....everyone has to come here and see it for themselves. it is huge...and as i found out contradictory to my initial beliefs - very impressive and cool! the harbor bridge was awesome as well. we walked across it and watched the opera house at dusk with the colors going from orange to pink to purple to blue...priceless!

we ate great thai food on the harbor. what a view! and then hit a couple of pubs - everything pretty laid back. we saunter back to the train station and everything looks good - we'll catch our train in an half-hour. we hop of the train and i wake up about an hour later watching the stops and seeing if we're getting close. well, another hour goes by and then another one...soon we've been on the train for three hours and nothing looks familiar! at the last stop (where the train is done with that track and turns around to go back) we hop off to find we're in lithgow. we are the only ones on the train and we talk to the "conductor". he bursts out laughing as he points out we have traveled 109 km west instead of south and are in the blue mountains!!! aahh!!! (everyone who knows me...totally a typical emily thing to do, eh?) anywho, i had given the disclaimer about maps and directions and me not mixing before i headed out with these people, but they seemed to know what they were doing...

so we get back on the train and start heading back when we're like...well, we're here anyways, lets just hang out at the blue mountains for the day! so we get off at katoomba and it is freezing and 4:00 in the morning. i'm wearing a jacket and flip flops with socks 'cause sarah had brought extra socks. (thank goodness!)

so we start wandering around katoomba...nothing is open and we are cold. we keep telling ourselves it will be so cool to see the sunrise at the blue mountains as we brace ourselves against the icy wind. soon we see a bread shop that smells incredible and the door is cracked open. we slip in to find they open at 7:00 am. so we keep walking when we discover we really, really, really want bread. it was only $1.20 for a loaf so dan sneaks in, grabs a loaf, and puts $1.20 on the counter. we tear off as we hear sirens in the background...so deviant we are (we're thinking to ourselves) when we are really not.

then i see an answered prayer - a public restroom in the middle of town. (stop laughing everyone who knows about me and my continous need for bathrooms - ok, everyone who doesn't know that little emily fact, don't be concerned or terrified, i just drink a lot of water. i'll let you do the math. ;) anywho, they have warm water and a hand dryer...it was heaven! so the three of us are hanging out in a little bathroom (hey, it's shelter), eating a "stolen" loaf of bread, and couldn't be happier at that moment...except for the nagging feeling that we are officially homeless for the time being. all the hotels are closed, etc. i defintely have a new....respect for the homeless.

so we walk around a 'lil more and then decide it was a nice try, but the cold train is sounding very inviting right now and if we catch the next one at 5:30 am we'll be home in are warm beds by 9:00 am. how's that for comforting? ;)

so we catch the train back to sydney, double and triple check the train we need to wolly, and then crash on the train. everything went pretty smoothly after that. got home in time for breakfast, showered, and then slept the early afternoon away.

ahh...live and learn. i sure do love public transportation. i'll get used to it. and now i can say i've been to katoomba and have a good story for maybe 2-3 days...nahh...i'll milk it for the whole semester. ;)

sorry this is so long, but it is quite the story! toodaloo!

i'm here!

i'm new to this blog thing, but it sounds super cool....so here it goes. some of this might get a bit repetitive since i've e-mailed a few of you, but you'll just have to deal with it. (sorry)

i left omaha airport at 4:31 pm on July 7th. i arrived in sydney, australia on july 9th at 6:00 am. that seems like a long time to be flying, eh? well, i totally lost a day. the flight from LA to sydney was only 14 hours and at night so i slept most of the way. the flight wasn't bad at all. they kept shoving food at us...even like at 4:30 in the morning. that was one thing that kept me occupied.
anywho...

i'm attending the university of wollongong in wollongong. (imagine that!) it's about 80 km south of sydney along the coast! the population is a little less than 300,000 people. i live in apartment style dorms called campus east. it is not on the main campus, but it is, however, only a 5 minute walk from the beach...and the beach is beautiful! i can't wait to hang out there and read a book, swim, surf!!!! i love it! i've met a lot of americans so far as well as australians. people felt sorry for me 'cause i didn't have any roommates for the first few days...but it comes to find out i have all australian roomies! which is awesome in my opinion. most people have other americans in their rooms. i've only met two of them so far, but they are sweeties! they gave me a comforter today so i think they're keepers. ;)

i got here saturday and today is friday. i can't believe i've already been here for almost a week. time is going to fly by so fast! i've just been getting used to my new surroundings, taking little day trips around wollongong, shopping for necessities (yes, the tops and and sweatshirt were a necessity, mom!), and making new friends.

today a group of us from campus east went on a hike to mt. keira. (one of the mountains in my backyard. ;) it was awesome! i felt like i was in the middle of a rainforest. awesome trees, boulders, natury stuff, etc. (ellie, i saw a parrot and a kookaberra...i'm definitely keeping my eyes peeled for all forms of animal life and will take pictures for you!) from the top of the mountain we had a great view of wollongong! it was well worth the "strenous" hike!

like i said, i've met lots of americans from all over the u.s. some from colorado, the east coast, the west coast, etc. - so most of them have some sort of mountains, beach, and/or trees, but i keep oooing and aahing at everything and i think it is partially due to the fact that i live in a flat, treeless, coastless land...not that there's anything wrong with that. ;) but i found it kinda...funny. in other words, i'm soaking up all the different landscapes!

yes, yes i'm here during their winter. i know many of you were "concerned" about that. the temperature has been probably in the 60's lately. they measure in Celsius so i'm just going off the emily thermometer. but it has been comfortable - mostly sweatshirt and jeans weather. it was perfect for the hike today!

well, i'm off to a campus party. "freaks and geeks" is the theme...i guess i won't have to dress up for that one. hardy har har...that's the overused joke going around here. (not just about me....;)

okay, thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers! toodles!