Aussie: October 2006

Don't Worry

I know that was slow... my apologies... i was actually trying to do some schoolwork (imagine that...) But there's more to come...really...

Home away from Home

This is our clinical hospital Westmead.....It's the largest hospital in the southern hemisphere. (We've quickly learned that everything is the largest "fill in the blank" of the Southern Hemisphere in Australia. Sounds impressive, but not much competition)

Rob & I stayed here at the hospital for 4 weeks straight last month. It's about a 1 hour train ride to get out here from our apt & our last semester involved us being out here everyday of the week. So we stayed in the student accomodation. Not exactly the lap of luxury but we were grateful to roll out of bed & walk down the hall to the lecture theatre. It was pretty trippy at first to be living IN the hospital. It was very twilight zone walking through the deserted dark hallways at night.

Oh ya, & I realize that Westmead looks pretty darn ugly in that 1st picture. Which is true.. it's an ugly ugly hospital. But.. in it's defense, it is undergoing major construction which just aggravates it. And, Rob & i realized on the 1st night, that the construction storage room is directly on the other side of our room. (the window in the room actually faces another room, the storage room, & not outiside) Which meant we got woken up at around 630am by the loudest voiced construction workers on the planet, various steel objects (very large ones) being thrown around, & ladders being dragged in & out constantly. So much for our brilliant plan of getting more sleep by moving out there....alas...

Now we are home.

Allllllmost

i'm almost up to date now....stay tuned....there's more...

Our Hood

It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood....won't you be mine...won't you be mine... won't you be my neighbour.

A little rain actually makes Sydney feel more like home. We live in a suburb called Newtown just 5 minutes from uni. Several people have thought it was pretty amusing.. "New-town" for a new couple in a new land...

The cluttered living room shown below displays the lovely Meera who acted as my bosom buddy and we helped each other stay sane in the 1st few weeks (especially when we were both literally brought to tears because of the atrocious service whether it be banks, telephone companies, etc). This room pretty much captures everything related to my life in February when I 1st arrived.

And then there's Rob & I doing some shopping at Salvation Army (or Salvos as the aussies call it). And to top off the classyness we decided to push our new dressers all the way home in a shopping cart we found on the side of the road.

And here is the finished product. Let me take you on a tour. (i've noticed pictures make small spaces look enormous!...yet it still isn't able to capture how uselessly long our entrance hallway is)

Blue Mountains

The blue mountains has become 1 of my favorite places. It's only a 2 hr train ride from Sydney & it's got the most amazing trails & views. The landscape always changes so quickly here, it blows my mind. Most of these pictures were from a weekend exploring last month.

My favorite lookout spot. It doesn't quite capture it, but it's just this breathtakingly open area, & you're standing right on the edge of the cliff. Gives you an incredible desire to fly!

The 3 lumps are called the "3 sisters". The pic of the 1 big rock lump is 1 of the 3 sisters. And the pic of the 2 of us is at the bottom of it. (notice the little bridge)