The Rest of Sydney

-Sleeping Koala.-

So, we've seen the world famous Opera House and the magnificent Harbour Bridge. Two major icons scratched off the list. And, while it was great to be able to see the big stuff it was also great to just kick back and take in a little of the local Aussie culture. So for the rest of our week we've been hanging around the Sydney area and trying to get a feel for life in Australia.

-Young fern branches at the botanical gardens.-

We started off the week by getting our heads wrapped around the expanse of the sky and the heavenly bodies that make up the nighttime view in the southern hemisphere. To get a proper perspective we headed to the Sydney Observatory. There we learned about the southern constellations, the native stories which explain how the stars and patterns came to be and a little of how the early explorers used the stars to travel to and from Australia.

-The moon as seen through the observatory telescope.-

Our next endeavor was to better understand the lay of the land, the physical geography of the Sydney region as well as the vegetation. We spent hours just walking around the city enjoying the botanical gardens, sleeping in the lush green grass, admiring the fountains. We spent a day in the beautiful Blue Mountains (a range just west of Sydney) and we hopped on a ferry to check out the surrounding coastline and beaches.

-A view of the Blue Mountains. Although hard to see in this shot the air actually appears blue because of the oil from the Eucalyptus Trees.-

-Wentworth Falls, Blue Mountains.-

On our journey we couldn't help but notice the vastly different wildlife. While in Korea we weren't accustomed to seeing wild animals, or animals of any sort for that matter.

-Red Kangaroos.-

-Lizard.-

One thing that has stood out for both of us since being here has been the presence of living things, other than of the human persuasion. While these animals remind us of home and the wildlife that we all take for granted, they are SO different from anything that we could have imagined. Sometimes the creatures, which are native here, remind me a bit of a creature which would be pictured in a Dr.Suess book.

-White Ibis. Quoted as one of the ugliest birds on the planet.

I, for one, think it's quite cute.-

-Me hanging out with the baby kangaroos.-

-Sea turtle.-

-The Sydney Aquarium was one of Trev's favorite places this week.-

Tomorrow we are jumping on yet another plane and heading on up to Brisbane. And, while we've had a wonderful time in Sydney, we feel like we have a pretty good feel for what it's all about and we're more than happy to be moving on to a new territory. We will keep you all posted on the adventures to come.