Australia & New Zealand Adventure Part II: Giovanna arrives in Sydney

Dear Friends

It has been an incredible last few weeks here in sunny
Sydney.  I have found romance, rekindled a wonderful
childhood friendship, partied like a rockstar, and
finished my job at The Sheraton!!

I am now heading off with Giovanna for 3 months of
travel, adventure, and the great unknown....  All that
hard work is about to pay off!

Giovanna arrived on Sunday the 25th.  She did not
suffer much in the way of jetlag, probably because she
was just so excited to be here!  Interestingly, the
same day, I was at work and bumped into a work
colleague who had stood me up for a date the previous
Thursday.  I have liked him for the past two months,
and just assumed that he was not interested because he
had not called.  Well, as it turns out, he had one
digit incorrectly entered into his phone address book.
So, all this time, there were sad assumptions being
made on both our parts.  Anyway, whilst I was
disappointed to find this out with only 1 week left in
Sydney (typical for me, right?) I couldn't pass up on
the opportunity to make the most of the time we had
left.  I have enjoyed an amazing week with him,  I am
so glad that we had this time together.  It has been a
romantic high, and proven very difficult to juggle my
time with my new friend!  I have gotten so exhausted
that I now find myself stricken with yet another cold,
with one day to go before I take to the New Zealand
skies.....boo Hoo for me!

Not to say I didn't find time to take Giovanna to some
cool places.  We have been to the beach (many times!),
done some coastal hikes, enjoyed a picnic and free
opera in the botanical gardens, numerous free meals at
The Sheraton, Open Air Cinema, Theatre to see Sir Ian
McKellen in Dance of Death, the zoo, a gay drag show
rendition of the Sound of Music, had massages & high
tea, gone on a tour of the Blue Mountains, not to
mention a lot of coffee shops, bars (drinking? Never!)
and breakfast establishments.

I think my highlights were the opera in the domain -
we saw Bizet's Les Pecheurs Des Perles and it was
absolutely incredible, and free! We had wine and
cheese on a blanket, with over 25000 people in
attendance.

I am saddened to be leaving Sydney.  A city that
proved so tumultuous for me when I first arrived has
slowly become a place I've found good friendships and
a comforting sense of home.  I actually remember my
work with fondness (now that its over) and all of the
wonderful people I worked with....

Giovanna and I are in the Travel Agency right now,
about to book all of our trips beyond Melbourne.  We
have a full schedule ahead of us, including
Australia's West coast, learning to dive, canoeing in
Bushland, treks in the red center, sailing in
Queensland....the list goes on.  Of course I will stay
in touch and be sending more photos shortly too!

Keep writing!

Much love and wishes

Anita