Sydney By the Sea

I know it's been a while since I have wrote. For the last 2 months I have been working at the Sydney Aquarium as an marine interpreter and tour guide. I am learning so much about Australian marine life. I find it fascinating meeting hundreds of tourists every day and finding out where they are from. I am always surprised how little people know about marine life.

I just finished volunteering at Taronga Zoo in Sydney once a week. It was fun working with the seal trainers, although, they were all men. They quite enjoyed busting my chops and making fun of my 'accent'. I got to feed seals and penguins and helped with the seal shows. On my last day, Prince Harry decided to pay a little visit to the Zoo so I got to come within 1 meter of him!! He's really tall and cute :)

I actually applied for 10 zookeeping positions at the Zoo 2 months ago and just got a call last week for an interview for one of them. Since the position involves teaching, it's not really an interview but a 'group assessment' where they put all the job candidates in different scenarios and watch how they are in front a group. I'll let you know how it goes.

I am probably only staying for 2 more months anyway since, according to my visa restrictions, I can only work at one job for 3 months max, so I am finished the Aquarium in mid-November. After that my brother might be coming down for a visit and hopefully we will go up the coast for a few weeks before I head home for Christmas.

I am now living in an awesome flat in Manly, right on the water!! Imagine living in a house where your bedroom window is right on the Stanley Park sea wall and the waves splash up on your window every now and then. I just bought a wetsuit (not that I'll be needing a wetsuit when the water warms up in a month) so now I walk 10 steps to the ocean to snorkel and surf and walk 20 more steps to swim laps in the outdoor pool where the ocean water flows in. I am living with 3 British guys in a fully furnished 3 bedroom flat and I have my own room with an ocean view. The flat is relatively cheap considering it's location. For those wondering... NO I haven't hooked up with any of my flat mates (yet) although one of them is pretty cute. The first week we all got sick and were all couch/bed-ridden: Rob and I with a stomach virus, Mike with a cold, and Chris with a foot infection after stepping on a sea urchin.

That's pretty much the latest news with me. I am still waiting for the weather to warm up, but so far Vancouver is still warmer.....figures!!