We spent our last few days in Sydney on none other than…the beach! Friday we hung out at Maroubra Beach…mainly because the boys found out the waves there were pretty big. No kidding…I’m no chicken (ok…maybe a little) but even I was terrified and the waves were only about 10ft high…must have been the combination of that and the strong undertow. It always felt like you were being sucked out into the ocean. On the upside, the weather was searing hot, but awesome…not a single cloud in the sky. The next day, we headed out to Coogee Beach. This was by far our favorite because of a place called ‘The Baths’ (connected to the beach). The ‘Baths’ is an area of rock formations in a U-shape that creates a little pool in the middle you can swim in. The rock formations are set up kind of like a barrier against the huge waves…so when they hit, they cause an enormous wall of water that goes up and ends up pushing tons of water into the pool…creating a natural ‘wave pool’ (albeit a super freaky one). Colin and Ben decided to join the locals in wandering up onto the rocks to face to walls of water the waves created…one of the largest ones we saw (which we also caught on camera) was over 30ft high…nasty. When you’re in the pool and the wave hits, it lets in so much water, so fast that it sends you flying…(in the direction which also happens to be…rocks. cripes) You are completely out of control. Mind you…I was terrified when it happened, but I still managed to crack up when I saw beck wash by me screaming hysterically. It was kind of a rush and we ended up doing it two more times before we had so many cuts on our feet that we were forced to retire.

Sunday was our final day in Sydney and was a relaxing one. We went to the early morning service at Hillsongs (8:30am!) which was great! Reuban Morgan lead worship…and ended up repeating three of the songs we sung the week before. Two of them were songs I had liked from the week before…so Ben whipped out our camera and did a fine job recording them (fine considering it’s off a camera). You can check em’ out here. We ended our trip watching the final game in the Australian Open…which I actually enjoyed watching! In fact, we all became so hooked that we’d stop in malls to watch portions of games. No kidding…it’s one of the two sports (…golf) that I hate to play, but once I actually understood the game, it was actually quite enjoyable. Perhaps I’ll pick up a racquet when I get home…?

So, all in all…the Australian leg of the trip has been amazing! I love this country and I’m glad to have spent it with Ben and my family. Next up, we get to invade Hong Kong looking forward to it. More l8r!

Harry’s Cafe de Wheels, Sydney, Australia

alright. before I explain the ‘tubby-ness’…I just wanted to let you know the great lengths in which ben and I have gone through in order to get this internet access. We are currently staked out in front of some stranger’s home…’borrowing’ their wireless access (whatever. you say ’stealing’…we say ‘borrowing’). This was after we drove up and down the street for 15 minutes with our laptop out, trying to get a connection. Now… if me driving on the right hand side AND on the opposide of the road wasn’t hilarious enough…might I mention that ben and I initially tried walking to find a connection and found ourselves squatting on the front lawn of some house looking like two ridiculous refugees. BUT, not like staking out in a dark minivan is any better…….the creepy looks we’ve gotten from people walking by…….but it could be cuz it’s almost midnight here anyhow, so I’m blogging now with the laptop literally hanging out the driver side window because both ben and I figured we received the strongest signal this way. yes…we are GEEKS…there’s no denying it now…

Alright…backing up now. Tubby. It is now somewhat near the end of our Syndey leg…and I am officially at the heaviest I’ve EVER been in my ENTIRE existance. Funny thing is right before we left for Oz, ben and I moved…and instead of moving our scale to our new place…I just found the original box and put the thing back in the box and am determined to RETURN the bloody thing back to store. You know…I’ll be coming home just days shy of my 26th birthday…and for me, well…I don’t make new years resolutions…I just wait until my birthday hits…and instead of being all depressed about my age…I simply freak out about my weight and make all sorts of commitments I’ll NEVER keep…about getting back in shape. right. So this trip isn’t helping whatsoever. Not only are we eating atleast 2 3-course meals a day…aussie’s know how to eat…and their food is nothing short of pure cream, pure lard, pure badness.

Anyhow, on the upside…the food IS awesome. I definately am much like my dad…can’t say no to anything edible. a cheung-weakness. we had the world’s most expensive dim-sum the otherday in chinatown. mind you, we should’ve seen it coming when the restaurant somewhat resembled Sun Sui Wah…but noooo…we couldn’t wait another week for HK, we gave it in and devoured all the ‘loh bak goh’s, ham sui gok’s and other dim sum goodness. Another thing, they call it ‘Yum-cha’ here…don’t you agree it makes much more sense than ‘Dim-sum’?

Today, we spent the day checking out the Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay and The Rocks. Another beautiful day…late twenties with a few clouds in the sky. No complaints…when the sky is clear, the heat is pretty unbearable. We’re having a great time so far…but we’re all in agreement that living here would pose a few problems. First of all…everything is pretty expensive. From staples like food…to cost of living. But my dream of raising my kids here hasn’t been entirely crushed…yet

Alright…this has been long, some of our sydney pics are up…you can check em’ out here. We miss you lots! ……..but not enough to come home yet. we still find ourselves saying daily…."hmm, I could get used to this…” l8rs!

Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia

hey everyone! it’s australia day today and we are joining all the aussie’s to celebrate! It’s cool becuase Aussie’s are die hard fans of their own country…I’ve never seen anyone so passionate about their country…it’s cool to be in the middle of it. ‘Right now we’re at Cockle Bay/Darling Harbour…and it’s been an absolutely beautiful day! The sun’s out…and there are thousands upon thousands of people here. We spent the morning roaming around downtown…checked out Hyde Park and the St. Mary’s Cathedral…which is much like St. Andrew’s Wesley (in downtown)…but even more beautiful…even has it’s own crypt (creepy, huh?) The cathedral is a bride’s dream come true! Beck and I figured you could walk down to a full 7-minute song. it’s AWESOME! We managed to catch up with Fred (whom we met the last time we were here) It’s neat because our mom’s were best friends from kindergarten and still keep in touch…I guess that makes us 2nd generation friends…

Yesterday we visited Taronga Zoo…the weather was crazy…we had a downpour that lasted for 2 mins in the morning, the crazier thing was that I walked in it for 5 seconds and was absolutely soaking wet. After that…the sky cleared up and the sun popped out and stayed out for the rest of the day

On a even happier note, guess what I had today?? A Starbucks “Neopolitan” Frapp! It was SOOooo good…a blend of strawberries, vanilla and chocolate downside…it cost me $6.95 (?!) …upside, I was able to use my Starbucks card (even tho I only had$2 left on it…)

We’ve been watching lots of TV in the evenings…the australian open (I’ve learned the entire game of tennis in just 3 nights!) …all our shows are just premiering now (The O.C…Lost etc) We saw a funny commercial the other night for the Toyota Camry…the sales pitch went like this: “Rated Australia’s Best Luxury Car at $57,000″ We were laughing…first of all…can a Camry really be classified as a luxury car? (no offense to owners out there) And…$57,000 for WHAT!?! so you can just imagine how much cars cost here…

We haven’t had time to post the pics yet…will do soon (hopefully before we leave on Monday…) Hope you’re all doing well, thanks for all your updates! Miss you all…chat soon!