After all of my exams, I took a holiday to Australia to visit friends!  To get there, I took flights after flights, and the most surprising one was the 3 hour flight from Auckland to Sydney.  I did not realize Australia was that close to New Zealand.  Another fun moment was when I crossed through Australia customs using the new (to me) e-passport kiosk.  For the record, if you use these, you don't get a stamp on your passport.  I realized this when I got through and asked the first person I saw if I could get a stamp.  He took me to the information desk, and the next person led me to one of the customs check-in people.  He finished up allowing two people in, spun around in his chair, and held out his hand.  Without a word, he took my passport, stamped it, and handed it back.  "Do you get this a lot?" I asked.  He laughed, nodded yes, and returned to his job. 
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The Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
Right away, the major difference between Australia and New Zealand was apparent: the environment was completely different.  Oz is drier, the colors are duller, and there are more browns and reds in the landscape.  The trees are white, the earth is flatter and spread out in larger expanses.  There are less trees, different flora and fauna, and the horizon is farther away.  I missed all the birds (though I loved seeing the cockatoos and magpies).  I loved kangaroos, though.  In Oz, kangaroos are the equivalent of Pennsylvania deer: everywhere.  I just got to see quite a few kangaroos chilling in the middle of a golf course saying, "Don't stand there, you'll get hit with a golf ball and the grass isn't as good.  But, hey, the weather is beautiful, so why not?"
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Wild kangaroos. Notice the others in the upper left shade.
PictureBondi Beach, with surfers and all!
So, on my first full day with my friend, we took a road trip full of singing and chatting to Sydney.  Of course, we saw the Opera house and the Harbour Bridge by taking a ferry ride.  But we also went to see Darling Harbour, I went to play on an amazing playground, there was a delicious Indian festival where we ate lunch, we watched a street performer, went to Paddy's Market, and we visited the famous Bondi Beach.  It was a fun day where I got to be a tourist, buy souvenirs, and see lots of the the Oz landscape.  And hey, at least I can watch Finding Nemo and go, "I've been there!"

The next day we went to the city central of Canberra.  Talk about fun-filled adventures!  First we went to Questacon, which (if you ever go to Australia) I highly recommend.  It's the National Science and Technology Center, and there really is stuff for people of all ages: puzzles, tanagrams, interactive posters, mind games, building blocks, 3-d tic-tac-toe, freefall, water information, a 360 degree swing, and a good cafe.  I could have spent all day there, but there were other things I wanted to see.  By accident, my friend and I went to the National Portrait Gallery.  Though the artwork was nice, it was a little too quiet and the little blurbs next to the works said more about the subject in the painting rather than the artist.  Afterwards, we went to the National Gallery.  I got to see so many famous things: 5 Poles by Jackson Pollock (one of my favorite artists), Warhol's Campbell's Soup, the Lobster Phone by Dali, Picasso's Writing Desk, Monet's Nympheas et meules, Steinlen's Chat Noir, Paysage by Miro, Black and Brown on Maroon by Rothko, works by Matisse, a massive collection of Lichtenstein paintings, designer clothes, aboriginal art, Polynesian art, and Indian statues and paintings.  Then, we made a quick trip to the Parliament house where there was a great view of the nearby war memorial.
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Questacon main entry.
The last tourist-y thing that we did was the next morning, before I left.  We visited Cockington Green: a place where everything is made in miniature.  Most of it was famous building around the UK made at about a 1/12th scale with different people interacting.  I think some of the artists had a little too much fun making the displays.  Throughout the gardens, there was Waldo, a Grimm reaper in a graveyard, Darth Vader fighting a Jedi, a streaker, a man falling off a roof, Jason chasing an innocent man, a dog eating stolen sausages from a vendor, and a poor golfer head deep in a water trap with a shark and a crocodile approaching. 
PictureCockington Green Gardens.
The best part of this trip, though, was the little non-tourist things I got to do with my friend.  The first night, I had dinner with her family and then the two of us watched Harry Potter.  The next afternoon I went with her to visit a friend and her dog, and then I watched her play in a soccer game.  And finally, she showed me around the city and the suburbs, pointing out her schools, important buildings, good shops, and landmarks.  Though I know I didn't get much out of my trip to Australia, I still got an idea of what it is like to live there, because of my friend.  I didn't spend the whole time as a tourist.  I was comfortable and had a great time!


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