Today was a big day. I got my red travelpass for $32 and applied it to get on Platform 1 - To the City. The train ride was nice and smooth, went over the Harbour Bridge too. Got off at Wynyard Station which was conveniently located under and opposite to Adie's hotel. She had checked in only 30 mins ago and I got the concierge to connect me to the room, then went up. We exchanged presents and got walking around the city.

And what a mighty fine city it is. We walked past Town Hall and then along Pitt Street to the monorail station. Dropped $4 for the token and hopped on the monorail. The to...

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I felt a bit sick today morning, the cold that has been coming up for two weeks raised its ugly head again. Had tea and C-vitamined painkiller for brekkie and life was good. The shitty feeling also made me sleep a bit too late. Andrew had wrecked his car a bit the evening before so he was at home fixing it. He had to pop by at work so we took a bus to Mona Vale. The ride took about an hour but I considered it was low cost sightseeing because we got out of the city and on the hills so there's was lot to see for me.

Andrew works as an electronics engineer at a pretty cool place and his cowork...

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On Tuesday I went walking around Chatswood again, mainly to the Westfield's mall to check stuff and cash some traveller's cheques. I wandered into Toys R Us and saw heaps of cool stuff but most of the boxes were too big to take home. Had a quick lunch at Wrap Express and hopped across the road to Chatswood Mall. There I found a souvenir shop and made my first purchase. Unfortunately I cannot reveal what it is because it would ruin the surprise for someone special. What I can tell is that I saw something really gross there. Gross even on my scale: kangaroo-paw-on-a-stick backscratcher. It was s...

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I'm now staying in Chatswood which seems like damned nice place. All the people are really great and I'm feeling at home. I had to concentrate on listening to the accent a bit on the first day but now I'm quite acquainted with it. I can only hope that my speech is understandable as well.

Today I took the liberty of making myself a Vegemite sandwich. The stuff tasted as foul as I remembered, rotten cheese spread is what came into mind. There was an element to the taste that I kinda like. I can see why people eat it, sort of an acquired taste. Apparently the Finnish salmiakki candies I brought also require an acquired taste. Some comments: "What is this *with a weird face*", "Tastes like seawater", "Mmmm...I can taste the ammonia."

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I'm finally here! Can't bloody believe it. Spingo and Cassa picked me up from the airport and drove me around essentially giving me a splendid sightseeing tour before going to the ZHouse. I love Sydney! In the evening I had my first Aussie BBQ and it was great. I found the beer and sausages or "snags" superior to Finnish ones