Jet lag hasn't been too severe. It was a good time for the flights, depart Van at midnight and arrive Sydney at 11am. If only it took that long....these planes keep getting faster and faster each year so maybe.
I've been taking a few pictures. But my mom on the other hand opened up the other day when we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens. First time I had been inside. It was very nice indeed. They have done an amazing job to create a high level of diversity in the garden. Mom and I particularly enjoy the 'succulant garden'. I thought maybe it will be filled with plants that I could eat but I soon found out that cacti have very very sharp thorns, :) It was filled with succulants from around the world and then catagorized inside to different continents. I saw the biggest f*cking spider I have ever seen in my life. argh, it gives me shivers thinking about it right now. Creepy creepy. It's body was the size of a wedding ring box and the legs stretched out farther than a CD length. ugh....changing topics.
The weather has been wonderful, went out on a morning walk the other day at Manly Beach(google it). The mist at 6am was amazing and so were the amount of people out at that time, since it is full light and much much cooler. Compare that to Victoria where you have to take flashlights to go out before 7am and after 5pm these days. The sun is hot, but I have felt stronger, what I am worried about is the hole in the sky/ozone layer. I have been putting lots of sunscreen on. I keep seeing so many people on the beach tanning and what. But some of them look very very far gone. The skin was so dark that you might think they have come from south asia but they have burnt their skin so much that it is truly like leather. The government is putting out a compaign titled, "There's nothing healthy about a tan."
http://www.darksideoftanning.com.au/Default.aspx
Today I am not sure of what we shall do, but there is much to see if we wish. I feel at ease just walking around and relaxing. Not in any hurry. Tomorrow we(Mom and I) will be heading to Melbourne and move into a place there. I'll hopefully be able to take my brothers bike and rent one for my mom. We are both excited to get on the bikes and explore the city together. I have been to Melbourne before but there is always to see. We are thinking to ride around the bay in a day. Very cool to be able to do that, it is 250km to do the whole thing and you have to take a ferry as well.
I have posted some videos on youtube of myself and Kate on the Safari. They are at the end of this post. I'm still sifting through the photos but some of them are up now. Links at bottom too. Looking forward to reading your comments... :)
BTW: Victoria has a UV Index of 0.1
Dar Es Salaam:10
Toronto/Ottawa: 1
-Nicholas
Pictures from Vancouver-Amsterdam:
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| Journey of Fall 2009 - Pre-Africa |
Pictures from Dar Es Salaam and Kigamboni:
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| Journey of Fall 2009 - Dar Es Salaam and Kigamboni |
3 comments:
Hey Nic! You can say it is a miracle! I actually read your blog! And yes, spiders, especially the BIG ones are gross and scary! But nothing can beat the cockroaches in South East Asia. Eeeek. I am glad that you are having a blast with your family. I'm pretty sure it is scorching hot there. While here in Vic, the temperature has started to drop like crazy. But it's still fun. A lot has happened! Tea and biscuits soon! xoxo
Hope you've been having a great time in "the land down under" since we last talked :) I'm already looking forward to your return! This time I won't be telling you that I have to study stats and complete stupid stats assignments (yayy). in the meantime, don't forget to upload some recent photos.
hugs,
15.5 hr flight….ugh for sure! Then again, let’s hope those planes don’t get too fast. How else would we get to have marathon-long chats, and make great connections with wonderful seatmates? ;)
Hope you had fun on your bike ride ‘round Melbourne!
P.S. I don’t know which is scarier…the mammoth spiders or that big whole in the ozone. BTW, if those Aussie’s need a poster-girl for staying tan-free, tell them I’m their girl :)
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