G'day mates!

While we were sad to say good bye to this...

...Sydney feels just like home.  As we walk around the city we keep saying to each other "we could live here."  We love the vibe of the pedestrian friendly streets, the multicultural population, the fantastic weather, and the proximity to the beach and mountains.  We have walked our butts off the last couple days and have seen some great sights.

We walked the Sydney Harbor Bridge and it was absolutely stunning. (check it out here)  Some photos of another group doing it are below.  We weren't allowed to bring cameras because of the risk of dropping them 200 feet on cars and people below, so no pics of us on the bridge unfortunately.

Bridge Walk group approaching the arch summit.  After, we crossed a catwalk almost 400' over the water.

We walked a famous trail from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach.  It was an absolutely breathtaking walk to see the cliffs meet the ocean.  On a mildly morbid note, we passed Waverley Cemetery which has the best ocean views of any cemetery in the world and decided maybe we'd purchase a plot or two.  (for use many, many years down the road!)  When we finally finished the walk we went for a swim at Coogee Beach.  The water was much colder than we expected but Wes was brave enough to overcome the cold and ride some waves with the locals.

A few nights ago we walked down to Circular Quay to see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House all lit up at night.  This really is a must see for everyone that visits Sydney!  Some of our other favorite highlights were the Sydney Fish Market for lunch (we devoured a pile of shrimp fresh off the boat) and The Rocks neighborhood street market on Saturday where we met a vendor that had encyclopedic knowledge of licorice...strange but tasty!

We feel we have found our stride in Sydney but the one thing we can not get used to is walking. Habitually we pass people on the right while walking but since they pass people on the left down under we have had several dancing moments with others on the sidewalks.  We have definitely been "those people" more than once.  We are REALLY hoping this gets better since we are planning on renting a car in New Zealand ;)

We are currently in the town of Katoomba located in the Blue Mountains, about two hours west of Sydney by train.  This could easily be the Australian equivalent of Boone, NC in the Appalachians.  We are looking forward to exploring more in the morning and seeing some awesome waterfalls.  Until next time, from the beaches of Port Douglas and The Great Barrier Reef!