Day trip into the city

Today I took a trip into Circular Quay (pronounced Key). This is where the famous Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge can be found. It was good to get out and see around a bit more, and negotiate the transit system a bit more. It is actually proving to be quite easy to get around via public transit. Although today as I ventured out for my day trip I made a very Canadian mistake and waited for the bus on the wrong side of the road....duh! I don't know why I did this because it was not my first time taking the bus, but I guess just a slip of the mind. Oh well about 1/2 an hour later another bus arrived to take me to Parramatta. Parramatta is a suburb type place not far from here, and from here you can take a ferry ride into the city, for a realitively low cost......well what these crazy Aussies consider low anyways. The other thing that I LOVE about taking the transit here is the bus lanes! There are whole seperate roads that go beside or under the regular roads just for buses. So it really is quite quick to take the bus. Something I am not familiar with traveling the transit in Halifax. Also you should have the correct fare, but it is not necessary. The driver can make change for you right there as you get one. Some of the buses in the city are prepaid only but all the buses around here you can get change. Although the super shitacular thing is that it is bloody expensive. Here you pay for how far you want to go. So it can cost quite a bit to use transit depending on where you are going. Then again there are various options such as buses, trains, ferries etc to choose from.

Anyhow on with the day trip! I made it to Parramatta, despite my error to start. When the bus stopped at the interchange I asked the bus driver where I should go to catch the ferry to Circular Quay. To which he replied "umm the ferry....I dunno" So with that helpful information I headed off the bus at a transit interchange (bus/train station) to try to find my way to the ferry. I walked the wrong way for about a block before finding a map that instructed me to turn around and go back the way I came. After a few map consults and a smidge of wonder I finally found the ferry. It was located on a back street, and I must say, not very well signed. I still had 1/2 an hour before the ferry departed so I took a few pictures and just mosied about looking at the art work and such. We boarded the ferry and off we went. As we cruised along I took notice of the beautiful, huge fancy homes along the edge of the Parramatta river. I thought to myself..."I wonder how someone gets a nanny gig with those people??" However I doubt that those people would be as down to earth as the family I am with now......well that's how I justify it anyway ;). It was a semi nice ferry ride. I mean nicer then the Halifax-Dartmouth ferry but jammed with families of tourists taking billions of photos and videos and letting their children act like idiots none the less. I did enjoy the sights and plan on going back soon, and planning a better trip. Today was more about finding my way around rather then sightseeing per se. I did get to see the bridge and the opera house. I saw some people doing the bridge climb, which will be me in the coming weeks. I marveled at the sight of a harbour connected to a city of millions of people that doesn't have turds and tampons floating in it. That must mean the Aussies have some magical place to put their sewage, that is not their cities harbour. What a weird concept eh? Then I hit the city and walked until I thought my legs would fall off. I got all turned around and missed the ferry that I was going to take, but it gave me an extra hour in the city. I didn't go and see too much, I just peeked around and got a feel of the city. The real sight seeing will happen another day.

Part of my shopping excursions since I got here have been to find Australian Christmas ornaments for my nephews. I have started the tradition with them that every year for Christmas, along with their other gifts, I buy them an ornament for the tree. This way they will have an ornament for every year once they get their own tree. So since I am here for christmas I thought it would be nice to send them an Aussie ornament. Well who knew Australians don't believe in having their own take on Christmas. All over town there are plenty of ornaments with Santa, snowmen, reindeer, penguins, ice, etc. on them. Except for Santa what the hell do any of these other things have to do with Australian Christmas!! Where are all the Koalas and Kangaroos with Santa hats on??? Where are all the Wombats in stockings?? You know Australian stuff. I have looked all over this place since I arrived, from gift shops to department stores, and nothing! I even looked online. But TODAY! Today was the day that I found an Aussie ornament. They are semi ugly and definately wouldn't be my first choice if I had a choice, but since I don't they will have to do. So I bought two and will be mailing them later this month. Oh and come to find out $30 is pretty cheap for a Kangaroo scrotum Seeing as in the city the can go for up to $50! Geesh those are expensive nuts!

So now I sit writing to on here and thinking of what new things I will do next weekend! I am sure me and the boys will do something cool this week, I will keep you all posted. I wanted to say thanks to everyone that is following this and giving me feedback. It makes me smile knowing the people I care about are following along my adventures a world away.