From Noosa to Sydney

Hey Guys.

Greetings from Sydney. I'll give you a little recap of what I've been doing:

After I left Hervey Bay, I continued heading South to a little beach town called Noosa. It was definetley the most "Posh" place I have been so far. The arms of the White-Haired and wealthy were all decorated with the well tanned, slender arms of the young and beautiful. I didn't spend too much time in the main strip, but I did manage to do another (daytime) Bushwalk through a really nice national park. The coastline walk allowed a lot of great photo opportunities and a chance to meet a (very depressing) school psychologist, and once again throw my life plans for a loop. Ah well.

After Noosa, I took a bus down to Brisbane, which is, I think, the largest city in Queensland. It was a nice place to explore with a few museums, a (pretty pathetic) man made beach, a boat transit service, and lots of shops and restaurants. I happened to be there during one of the biggest Rugby matches of the year (Queensland vs. New South Wales) so it gave me the chance to get caught up in all of the excitement (NSW won).

After a few days there, I headed down to Byron Bay, which could boast some of the most beautiful beaches I'd seen thus far. The town was a good mix of the commercial and the natural. It had a quaint, surfer's atmosphere in the "down town," but also a lot of chances to explore the surrounding forests and view some beautiful sun sets.

After 2 days there I braved a (surprisingly comfortable) 15 hour bus ride down to Sydney. I immediately met up with an Australia friend I met in Cairns (Joe, the "Washed-Up Child Actor") and we did a little walking around a cold and rainy Sydney. The next day I caught up with some friends from DePaul that are studying here and managed to secure a nice place to stay for my last couple of days in Sydney.

So that brings me to now. I apologize if this entry is a little bit devoid of excitement and adventure, but it has been a pretty relaxed atmosphere for the past week or so. I hope to intensify my trip a little when I head to NZ and do all of the adventure sports I can handle (afford). I will be meeting up with a good friend from DePaul, Sammy Joe, and we plan on doing a little tour of the South Island, where it is supposed to be some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world (A lot of the Lord of the Rings were filmed in these areas, so it should be a treat).

Today, as my last day in Sydney, I plan on doing some final explorations with some people I have met here before getting ready to catch my flight to NZ tomorrow.

All right. I'm safe. I'm enjoying myself. And I miss all of you. Leave me a message and tell me how you're doing.

Best Wishes,

Casey