Eilan's experiences...

for 2 days now it's been raining cats and dogs - doing great damage to my tan plans ;-)

yesterday I tried to stroll around in the city but after two hours I was completely soaked. the evening was great though, we had dinner with 2 freinds of our hosts, Tony and Carrie at the "Hairy Canary" funny name but great food! The two of them have really been great fun to talk to. afterwrads we went to an australian pub to play billard - I was really good, didn't believe it myself at first. last time I played was years ago - do you remember, dear flatmate, us being in malta...? - but actually my skills came back to me in an instant ;-)

today I was more prepared for the f***ing weather and so we went to to Taronga Zoo - fabulous, absolutely fabulous!!! Going there by ferry we got soaked viewing the sydney harbour, but that didn't matter for we finally saw kangaroos in the zoo!!! They really are strange animals, strange but in a positive way - I couldn't get enough of them jumping around, not to be compared with any animal I've ever seen before. I also experienced something else, which I had on my "I did it" list on the "I wanna do it" section, but you have to find out for yourself.... To vistit the zoo is an absolute must if you ever come to sydney, I've never watched animals that close before - and every kind of them, especially the chimps and the gorillas have been amazing to see. ya, great day and we really walked our legs off....

Saturday: a rugby-game in canberra - great, great, what a show! Our team, the brumbies, won against the new zealand guys called the blues.

Sunday: market day, juhu! the rocks market in sydney - a great one, presenting a variety of self-made stuff, but i can't tell more, as i got a present from there for some of you... afterwards, dee why - beach and visiting friends of our hosts, ya, boggie-boarding again, and for the first time here playing something like beach volley ball - involving a beach (obviously ;-) ) and a ball and three players - that's why i said something like it ;-). having dinner with the friends followed, then some (real) friends episodes.

Monday: High speed tourism today as aamater oft he panicking situation (aahhh, we are going home so soon and still have so much to see!!!) - the apm tower, viewing syndey from above; the rocks - strolling around, exploring the historical site of sydney; all the way back alongside the ocean to darling harbour and rushing to the norther territory show - a guy playing the digeridoo (absolutely blank concerning how to spell that) really impressing and watching spectaculous pictures viewing the northern part of the country; last but not least visiting chinatown and the chinese garden - the gearden was amazing and I honored the carneval wearing a chinese imperial outfit - wow! ;-) but the best part was the dim sum dinner afterwrds - i could simply said die for that stuff - here it's called yum cha. mhhhh.
now - home - tired, tired, tired...

yesterday I spent in the city again, strolling around at darling harbour and buying the last gifts for you guys at home. afterwards we dined - yes, one must say dined, for it was dining and not just having dinner ;-) - extactly there. consequence: i do not have to have any bad conscience at all for shopping and spending too much money, no, that dinner was about the same amount.... yeah, it was good, fishy, but good ;-).
whatever...

today I was on the beach again, cronulla - becoming MY beach gradually - boogie-boarding once more and of course, getting sun-burned again - but just a little bit an my legs - see, slowly i know how to use this disgusting fluid called sun protection.
Just hanging around at home this evening, wathcing TV - friends again - but on saturday, we are going to a rugby match in canberra. It's 2 hours by car again, but hey, you do not get the chance to see something like a rugby union game so often in europe, do you? so, let's go brumbies!!!

schoen langsam bekomm ich auch die ich-will-noch-so-viel-sehen-bin-aber-nur-noch-1-woche-da-panik. manly ist auf jeden fall ein fixpunkt - ein wunderschoener strand angeblich - , ein besuch in chinatown dim sum essen und der market in the rocks am sonntag.
what else? beach and getting tanned, of course ;-)