Back to the Auckland, finally

Well, its almost time to say goodbye to Sydney, Australia. I have been travelling now for what seems like months and our stuff still isn't in Auckland. I think it is at the shipping yards finally, but needs to be in customs for a while still because the forms had changed since the last time we filled them out, since it took so long. Hopefully we will get our stuff in the next few days.

I miss Jen and Lucy (our cat) a lot. Can't wait to get home tomorrow and settle down a bit.

Sydney has been great and thanks again to Ed and Steve our hosts. It was awesome visiting them and having a chance to hang out with Runi and Walter for such a long stretch since I hadn't had a chance to see them in a long time. I really like Sydney and plan to visit again with Jen at some point and who knows, maybe move there if New Zealand ever kicks us out.

The trip here has been great. The best thing is the slow pace. I saw all the things I wanted to see, and a few things I didn't even know I wanted to see :) Steve is a great tour guide and Ed knows all the cool neighborhoods, so between their suggestions we saw lots of great things. I also get a chance to head out on my own and explore a bit which was great. Finally, I have gotten the Rugby bug and have been staying up late to watch the Rugby 2007 World Cup games. I saw the Australia Wallabies play two games, and saw a few other random partial matches including Wales vs. Canada. I finally saw the New Zealand All Blacks play last night. The hard part for us is that the matches tend to be on at 2-6 AM New Zealand time since most of the other countries are in different time zones and the matches are mostly in France or England. Being in Sydney gave us 2 more hours ahead which made it possible. Also we don't really get any stations in NZ. Its mostly fuzzy, so it will be hard to watch any more games there.

Good on all of you!

Cheers,

Matthew

Sydney, Oz

Hey all,

Well after a whirlwind tour of New Zealand including some fun last few days in the Auckland area checking out Devonport, Mission Bay and Heliers Bay we are finally in Sydney, Australia.

Jen is busy studying and finishing her papers for mid terms at University of Auckland. Fingers crossed that she will do well! Runi, Walter and Me are visiting Ed and Steve in Sydney and arrived last night. They have a cool place and are great hosts! Couldn't ask for a better way to see this beautfiul city.

So far we have just been chilling in their place and nearby neighborhoods. We did a nice walk around their hood last night and head some vegetarian Indian which everyone loved (even me!). Today I am just catching up on some work and we will trek out to see the whole city soon.

More soon,

Matthew