Here I've included some pictures of Eric, Fran and myself. The first is Fran, Eric and me on the Sydney ferry, next is Fran and Eric with the Opera House in the background and the last one is Eric at the North Sydney Olympic Pool which is next to the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Ok here we go!! Yesterday was a great day!! Eric and I along with Fran ventured into Sydney proper. Fran, one of Dave's roommates, she from Berlin, is here working as an intern as she finishes her law degree. We took a bus into downtown Sydney, did some shopping, and then walked across the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Check out the pictures!! Pretty cool huh? The Harbor Bridge is an amazing structure, very picturesque!! 

The only thing that would make it even better might be an unbelievable opera house located right next door. The Australians, being a people with moxie in spades, actually did just that and constructed the most beautiful opera house right next to the bridge!! Who knew!! The Sydney Opera House is stunning and much larger than I had anticipated. I'm hoping to catch a show of some kind, don't know what kind yet, opera, maybe a symphony, we'll have to wait and see. Anyhoo check out the pictures and let me know what you think. Feel free to compliment me on my photo taking skills, not too bad for an amateur. Yeah, I pretty much rock!! Also, I'm really awesome!! 

I'm getting used to seeing and riding in cars on the side of the street opposite that of the United States. Here's the thing though, when crossing the street here in OZ you absolutely must look to the right first, then the left, then the right again, this is opposite of the norm in America. Now it sounds easy, look to the right before crossing the street, in practice however it's a very hard habit to establish. Eric and I both are so used to looking to the left that we don't even think about it, its been ingrained into our subconscious I believe. As hard as we try we still do it, we still look to the left, as breaking habits go it's extremely difficult. You learn fast though because it's bad form to step out into the street and get flattened by a bus. So we learn. Consider this as well, the same etiquette that one applies to driving here in Australia, also applies to walking. When you walk down a sidewalk you walk on the left, always, just as you would were you driving a car on the street. Walk on the right side of a walk and you immediately identify yourself as an American, or possibly a Canadian. It's impolite to ambulate the right side of a sidewalk and run into someone traveling in the other direction. Well, it could be fun if the other person is a really beautiful woman, of which there are plenty here in Australia. Seriously, plenty!! Never before have I been witness to so many beautiful women in one place, it's reason enough to stay in Australia, as if the beaches, perfect weather, spectacular waves and tons on other activities didn't do it for you. Oh yeah, click on pictures to enlarge them!!

Hello all!! The picture on the left is just down the street from Cafe M where I ate breakfast this morning, below is the view from a 30 second walk from my house here in Bondi, it's pretty cloudy and overcast so you'll have to excuse the picture quality, you can just make out the line dividing the pacific and the sky. Click on the pictures, you'll be able to see them in larger scale.

I must apologize for having not posted anything since my arrival in Australia. The flight from Los Angeles to Sydney was somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 hours and it just simply wore me out, I needed some time to recover. In any case, Eric and I got up this morning and with Dave, who's house we're staying at, went for breakfast and coffee. The coffee here is pretty phenomenal, I've been to two different coffee shops already and both were excellent. Eric and I then walked to Tamarama for a swim which was terrific!! The water temperature was around 22 degrees celsius, so about 72 degrees fahrenheit, we could have stayed in the water all day long at that temp. The water here in this part of the Pacific seems rather different than that of the Atlantic water that I'm used to. Eric and I both agreed that it seems to have a greater salt content than either of us has experienced anywhere else. Very salty. Also of note is that the ocean water here looks very much like the ocean water that we've seen off the California coast but it smells much more like the water of the Mid Atlantic, very interesting differences. 

I have to say that the women here in Australia are beautiful and there are lots of them. Lots. And again lots!! Eric and I have to keep our heads on a swivel around here so we don't miss any of them. The thing is that we've only experienced what it's like here on a weekday, one single weekday and already it might be more than Eric and I can take. Dave has warned us that come the weekend the women here are going to break us both. Well if that's the case, I guess I'll just have to be broken!! Now if that isn't bad enough it gets worse and here's why... Sydney beaches are topless! Eric and I weren't warned of this fact until it was to late and as you might well imagine our first encounter was, well an eye opener. Important to mention is that it's impolite to stare, take into account that even though Australia is western, english speaking country it is still a different culture and that must be respected. To be clear though most women do wear bikini tops, but not all of them, and it simply and clearly illustrates how uptight and, to be rather blunt, prude Americans can be. I have plenty more to write but it's getting late and I'm very tired. Right now it's 11:33 pm here in OZ but my body is still telling me that it's 6:33 am in College Station so I'm off to bed!! 

Ian

Los Angeles

Ok here we go!! I'm sitting here at a coffee shop, appropriately named "The Coffee Bean" on the corner of Wilshire and 9th. Sitting outside watching the cars drive by, the women, most of them beautiful by the way, walk by on their way to wherever they're going. If you're into cars of the exotic variety then LA is the place, just saw a Ferrari drive by, very cool!! I've seen more Ferrari's in the last 36 hours than I've seen in the last year. Today I'm going to rest up as much as I can, my buddy Eric and I take off for Sydney tonight around 11:45 or so and the flight is around 17 hrs or so, resting up is a good idea. Hard to believe I'm on my way to Australia!! I have no idea what to expect, I really don't. Ok I have to get going, much umm... resting to do. 

Laters,

Ian