July 31 (Tuesday)

This is my last day of the 'foreign' portion of my trip. Tomorrow I'll be flying from Sydney to Los Angeles and spending several days there before returning home to Seattle. I find myself feeling rather sad that the trip is coming to an end, because it has been so incredibly wonderful.

Here in Sydney it's been rainy and downright cold for most of the time, which was a bit of a disappointment. But yesterday it started clearing off and today was absolutely gorgeous. Despite the weather, my friends Robin and Felicity managed to show me a great deal of the city and surrounding area. We went up to the Blue Mountains one day where we saw a lovely display of 'silver mist' (otherwise known as rain and impenetrable fog) - at the end of the day the fog finally cleared off a little and I was able to actually see some of the mountains.

Other highlights of Sydney include seeing the views of the city from the harbor, all the fantastic surfing beaches around the city (didn't do any surfing, but I did at least pull my shoes off and go wading), taking part in some of the nightlife on Oxford Street, and as in Melbourne, enjoying the time with my friends. I would love to be able to come back to Sydney, spend more time exploring the city and also see other areas of the country. I feel as if I've only had the merest taste so far - and it's quite delectable!