SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

After a pleasant lunch at an outdoor restaurant at The Rocks, Tom, Chris and I spent most of our last day in Sydney at Darling Harbour. First we visited the Australian National Maritime Museum, which ordinarily I wouldn’t be too excited about, but admission was free, so I figured what the heck. Actually, they did have a couple of interesting exhibits: one on Australia’s response to the threat of Japanese attacks during World War II, and another about the Vikings. (I was crushed to learn that they didn’t actually wear horned helmets. What the..?)

After that, I think Tom had enough learnin’ for one day, so he went back to the hostel to change, while Chris and I walked to the other side of the harbor and checked out the Sydney Aquarium. Considering it’s one of the best-known aquariums in the world, I thought it was just a tad underwhelming, although I'm probably just be turning into an aquarium snob. Still, it’s always cool to see the fishies.

Tom returned to meet us afterward, and he and Chris treated me to dinner at an Italian restaurant on the harbor (did I mention it’s my birthday?). We then stopped for a quick drink at a bar called Pier 26 before heading back to the hostel, where we had birthday cake. Thanks, guys!

Speaking of which, big thanks to everyone who emailed me birthday greetings! It’s great to hear from y’all, especially when I'm so far away. I have to warn you, though, that I'll probably forget yours--I used to have my Outlook calendar to remind me, but that's gone now. :-(