Speed-O-Post IV

I'm still in Sydney and it's still overcast and miserable so I haven't been doing much. However I do plan on coming back to Sydney for a few days so nothing has been lost.

Photos:
Thanks to the super speedy internet connection here I've been uploading my photos onto flickr. However, there are so many that I haven't been able to tag them properly but they are in sets so feel free to click through.

Meetings:
I've been in touch with some of the people I've met during my teaching career and a couple of them have replied (see I'm not that unloveable) and we'll be meeting up over the next few weeks.

Jetlag:
I managed to sleep through the night last night (well only one loo trip) and my digestive system is settling down nicely - less said about that the better. Sydney is 11 hours ahead of Britain and 12 hours ahead of Italy so I don't know quite how I'm going to speak to everyone but I will overcome.

Sightseeing:
I did go out yesterday. I saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge - must admit I thought it was bigger but the ginormous cruise ship docked in the harbour probably made it look smaller than it actually is (I swear that ship 'Sapphire Princess' is longer than the bridge it goes under). I'm thinking of climbing the bridge but my hips and thighs still haven't recovered from 19 hours confinement in an airline seat. I also saw the Sydney Opera House. The tiling on the roof is impressive, I thought it was uniformly white but it's not. In fact it has a subtle pattern of white and biege tiles. I don't know what it's like inside but the outside is lovely.

Food:
After the rice and chicken/fish diet of South America, it is such a relief to be in Australia. The hostel cooks pancakes for breakfast (with sugar and lemon or syrup), I had Asian food (pad thai) for lunch and a pizza (from Dominos) for dinner. Real food, real choice and I don't have to explain how to make tea with milk!

Sounds:
I am surrounded by people who speak my language. It is sooo good to be stopped by people and asked in English if I would take their photo, to go into a shop and be able to ask if they have fizzy water (and yes I can do both of these in Spanish) and to casually pick up a magazine in a cafe and catch up on the latest gossip. I really have to force myself to leave the hostel as it is so easy just to sit here and watch television - everything is in English! The weird thing is I didn't think I'd missed it that much - just goes to show.

OK, so that's it folks but go look at those photos NOW!!!!