G'Day Mate: Blogs From Down Under

Aug. 7, 2007

SYDNEY, Australia –

Junior Katie Smith Blogs from Down Under:Australia! We are finally here after approximately 23 hours of traveling. We have made it to the Land Down Under. The past two days have felt more like two weeks. The first night here we were actually told not to go bed before 8 p.m. However, most of us broke the rules! I, myself, made it to at least 7 p.m., but my roommate Jamie was gone by 6 p.m. Earlier that day, we did some sight seeing. Jamie, LaChelda and I wandered around the city and we just happened on the Botanical Gardens, then we had dinner and went to sleep.

On day two we visited the famous Sydney Opera House, then Jamie, Porscha, Rebecca and I went to the Sydney Aquarium. We then caught a cab back for pre-game meal. After a short rest we were off to the game. We probably should have stayed back at the hotel! Hopefully the rest of our games will be better! Til next time…..#22 Katie Smith

Sophomore Sade Morris Blogs from Down Under:G’Day Mate! It’s our first day in Australia and we are doing our first activity…which is a tour of Sydney. We toured the ‘Rodeo Drive’ of Sydney, the Opera House and crossed the Harbour Bridge. Afterwards, we all did a little shopping, where my group did a little adventure, as well. Taylor, Danielle and I decided to catch a cab to a mall that would have been a 30-minute walk. First let me tell you Australians drive on the wrong side of the road, but that’s besides the point! Anyway, we got into the taxi and I was the lucky one to ride shot gun. Let me just say I have never been in a car that rode so close to the curb in my life! Not only do taxi drivers ride really close to the curb, they also wait until the last minute to stop before hitting the car in front of them! They also go super fast in traffic!

Day two began with a tour of the Sydney Opera House, which was surrounded by the bay. After the tour of the Opera House, Danielle, Taylor, Ivana, Marija, Barbara, LaChelda and I did the jet boat ride. Oh my gosh! It was so much fun! We rode in this boat that went very fast and it did a whole lot of spins and stunts to get you wet….and it also gave us a tour! While on that boat, we saw Mel Gibson’s house, a zoo and some other sights of Sydney. Then we had our game. Let’s just say it was not our best game.

But tomorrow is another day, which will start off with bridge climbing and I am looking forward to that. Stay tuned…..#20 Sade Morris