Hello all and welcome to my blog! I have FINALLY arrived in Australia after about 30 hours of traveling. All of my flights were pretty good...the longest one (14 hours from San Francisco to Sydney) was a little bumpy at the beginning and end due to weather, but for the most part, it wasn't a bad trip (apart from the airplane food of course!) and I was able to sleep for much of it.
I arrived yesterday morning in Sydney where my sister, Erin, and brother-in-law, Brett, picked me up at the airport. To elude jet lag, Erin and I went on some errands around town to try to keep me awake. Afterwards, we came back to the house to hang out with her two adorable pomeranian dogs (Panda and Paddy) and watch some movies. Erin and Brett live in a cute little house in Woronora, which is about 20-30 minutes outside of Sydney. It is set up on a hill and surrounded by eucalyptus trees that are FULL of cockatoos! After staying awake all day, Erin and Brett finally let me go to sleep at around 9pm (I tried to go to sleep earlier but they assured me I would have horrible jet lag if I didn't stay up).
I then awoke this morning to the sounds of a jungle! (Well not really, but the birds here sound just like monkeys!) Since Erin had to work today, I have just been hanging around the house with the pups and recovering from my long journey. I will be here until Saturday morning, when I will be dropped off at my new dorm in Wollongong. It is about a two hour drive from Erin and Brett's, so it will be nice to be close to family while I am here.
I am already enjoying my time here immensely!! It is about 80 degrees here today (I'm so sorry for all of you Wisconsinites...I hear its supposed to be snowing and below zero today!) and I think I will take advantage of the nice weather to explore the neighborhood. Brett tells me there is a nice little park just down the street, so I think I'll take the dogs for a walk this afternoon. :) Just wanted to let you all know, I have arrived safely and am excited to start my adventures down under!!
Hope all is well,
Caitlin
