Monica has fallen in love...

...with Sydney. And I am finding it hard to resist the temptation of the Australian way of life, too. The first thing that struck us upon arrival - being the first time in the Southern Hemisphere - was that thing were indeed a little up-side-down. First the place looks like England, but then you think twice and you wonder: "..., but it's sunny!. This can't be!" Indeed the world gone looney!

Anyway, we started our week of camping around Sydney in the northern part where I got a chance to see all those world-famous surfing beaches I used to read about in the magazines. We obviously didn't miss the chance to catch a wave, so I can confirm that Monica has caught her first wave on Manly Beach, Australia! When she got too cold I had a bit of fun for an hour or so. Great fun day topped off with a portion of Fish & Chips in the sun!

After our days at the beach we moved to another (cheaper) camping site in the (Sydney-) bush where Monica immediately got acquainted with the locals... (see pics)

During our stay here we've made the best of a weekly ticket that lets you take all public transport including ferrys across the city and so we've seen the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from many angles and they don't seem to amaze us. In general the city has been the nicest 'big city' we've visited so far. The work hard-play hard mentality of the Australians + the embracing of outdoor life here is really infectious, so we've seriously thought about the possibility of staying a little longer, but then again there is still so much to see before we get back to Europe (i.e. the money runs out!) so we're off again. Next stop Auckland, New Zealand!