it's only been 7 months.

and i have finally made it to sydney, australia!!!  who would have thought it would take me this long to see, what i think, is the epitome of australia - the sydney opera house??

my parents and i headed there during the week while jim was working.  we spent 2 whole and 2 half days there and i can describe sydney in one word - charming!  that might sound unenthusiastic, but i felt like i was in europe... though i haven't been to europe.  it's just what i think it would be like.  but i really really loved how charming this city is.  if i could pick one place to live in australia it would be here, for sure.

anyway, we had half a day in sydney by the time our flight got there so we headed to our hotel first.  we got the multi-pass at the airport so we took the train to circular quay (the train and ferry station) and then started walking to our hotel.  big mistake.  we had no idea where we were going and my phone map soon got us pretty turned around.  fortunately, some super nice locals saw us and offered to help.  and when i say "offered to help" the guy actually ended up giving us a ride to our hotel.  how nice is that??  we were forever grateful as we were walking around the city with all of our luggage.

we finally made it to our hotel - the sebel on pier one.  i loved this hotel.  it's just my style so i snapped a few photos:

the hotel is actually a pier that was renovated into a hotel so it sits over the water.  this is a glass floor so you could see down to the water!

after checking in we headed to lunch at a bar at the end of pier #4 (our hotel was on pier #1 so you can get an idea of how this worked).  these pier buildings are so cool.  they are all old warehouses that have been renovated.  this one had restaurants and a huge dance studio in it.  

after lunch, we headed over to darling harbor on the ferry (used our multi pass) and went to the sydney aquarium.  they are known for their shark display and i have to say it's pretty amazing.  here are some photos:

this is a shark from the open-air top of the shark tank.  meaning, if one were to lean over too far you could actually fall into the shark tank!!!  pretty cool; if i do say so myself.

after viewing the marine life from above, you head down into a tunnel where you can see more detail.

yup, that's a great white... look at those teeth!!!

please don't ever let me run into one of these in person without being in a cage or something...

i took the following pictures for my best friend amanda's son, max.  he is obsessed with finding nemo and this is a photo of the doctor (i don't remember his name, but i am sure max does).

and here is nemo and his dad...

and here is nemo and dori; together!!!

when jim, my dad, and i went scuba diving at the great barrier reef, we did see a shark.  the picture below is the kind of shark we saw.  it really looks more like a giant sucker fish than anything.

the aquarium was definitely the best one i have ever seen.  i enjoyed it immensely.

we ended the day with drinks and dinner at one of the restaurants in darling harbour - i don't remember the name, but they had the best mojitos!!  yay, sydney!!