July, July!

So the title references a Decemberists song, but the post isn't about that. Here's my July so far...

I met up with Carol and Daniel (aunt and uncle of my ATL friend, Laura) for the 4th (of course we didn't get a day off, but at least it was on a Sunday). They're members of a 'Meetup' group of American ex-pats that had a party in Centennial Park for Independence Day. I met a few cool people but mostly stayed around the few I met at Carol's Texas Hold 'Em party a few months ago.  It was weird to celebrate the holiday with strangers in a cold place, but everyone else was kind of in the same situation.

A few weeks later my friends Tim and Erin actually made it to Sydney and survived the whole trip without a scratch (at least physically - King's Cross may have caused a few scars). The weather wasn't the best but we did the Coogee-Bondi walk on their first day, took the ferry to Manly and then finished the night off with a drink just below the Opera House.

I still had to work during the week, so I left the two of them to wander Sydney on Monday. We met up for dinner and of course Tim iced me the first chance he got. It's ok because I got him back the next day.  They went to Taronga Zoo and took a bus trip to the Blue Mountains where they got some really cool pictures.  I'm going to have to make my way up there when it gets warmer.

Tim really wanted to see the reef in Cairns but Erin was a bit skeptical about getting a plane ticket on such short notice (~$650 vs. the $400 I paid to go there back in April).  She also "isn't that into fish" so I advised her not to go.  Instead she spent her time shopping around the city (despite the prices).  When Tim got back into town on Thursday I gave Erin a much needed "break from boys" at the Marriott where I spent my first few weeks in the city.

So the weekend... we went to Surry Hills and King's Cross on Friday night.  I was really looking forward to showing them what all of my hype was about, but it wasn't that crazy the night we went out.  (September edit: King's Cross had 737 arrests on Saturday night - I told you it got crazy).  On Sunday we hiked at my favorite spot - the cliffs at La Perouse.  We saw a seal sunning itself as it floated in the water (we thought it was dead at first) and got some really good pics of Tim being.. well... Tim.

On Saturday night I got us a hotel room in downtown Sydney at the Marriott again and we went to The Ivy which did not go over well.  I got a call from my British friend Dan who met up with us at 3 Wise Monkeys, a backpacker bar with a live band.  That made up for it and we had a good time. 

On Sunday we decided to rent some snorkeling gear at a dive shop in Coogee since it was a nice day.  Snorkeling... in the middle of winter - only in Australia.  The water was definitely cold, so I'm glad we rented wet suits as well.  We took a short walk from Coogee Beach over to Gordon's Bay, but I wasn't that impressed with the amount of fish we saw.  Erin chilled out with a bottle of champagne on the shore while Tim and I explored.

Pinky and the Brain went off to New Zealand for four days which brought my life back to normal.  I found out that I was going to miss my high school reunion at the end of the month because of project delays (boo) and worked a lot of overtime.  The only upside was the wired cable that was hooked into our conference room in the office.  Nat, a fellow cycling fan, and I watched Le Tour recaps every day at 6:30.  When Tim and Erin got back into Sydney the inevitable fight erupted between the two of them.  They did well to hold off for that long, but I think it's safe to say if Erin goes on vacation with Tim again, it will be planned to a T.

I'm glad I had some visitors and though I know I'll be home in a few weeks, it made being away a lot more bearable.  And anyone else that is tempted to visit... the project's now finishing in February so get down here!