January 22nd
We woke up NEEDING Vietnamese food. We walked to this:
We over ordered.
Full, we headed to the Sydney Aquarium.
Here, we finally saw some penguins.
And, a dugong!
There are only TWO dugongs in captivity in the whole world. This one, a male, eats lettuce all day every day (’cause sea grass grows too slowly) and he receives bean sprouts as a reward. It was extra fun to watch him eat because, earlier, we had received bean sprouts with our Vietnamese food (see above).
After the aquarium, Rachel and I kept walking. We tried to visit an Instagram cafe, but it was closing; Rae bench bartended, we popped by the casino, and then?! Met Rusty for dinner. It was luxuries to hangout with him! SO wonderful to catch up! AND SO MUCH FUN 🙂
Everyone say: Juan Pablo Montoya
January 23rd
100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Raman for lunch, Jojo the Rabbit at an adorable movie theatre; I closed my West Pac bank account, it was the end of a era era era. Matt, darling Matt, picked us up and gave us a tour of his gorgeous new home.
“Say knife” – Rachel
“Knoife” — Matt
Forever friends.
There was a warehouse brewery tour, koozies from The Grifter, talk about sports, a night train to Newcastle, bench bartending on the train platform, and the hottest train ever…with not enough water.
Pour me another one, please.
When we arrived, Kelsey and Travis had a bed set up for us ❤ Never mind that it deflated a few hours later and we had to move to couch because the next night, Travis let us sleep in his air con. Thank you, Travis!
New Castle
{Did you know that New Castle, Australia is also referred to as “The steel city”?}
January 24th
Australian Aldi (Al-dee), a chat with Collin — Kate, in Rochester, made our day better with an upgrade, a walk for Rae and I down Darby street, a complicated cold coffee that did me good, and our first introduction to LOLA, the french Bulldog.
G’day Lola!
For lunch we ate gnocchi (emphasis on the g) at the Cranker (thanks Kelsey!), followed by Bloody Mary’s, and the Beach Burrito Company for dinner. Unrelated, you wouldn’t believe how big the bats are here — they look like crows. At dinner, there was an offer to burn incense and we couldn’t help but notice that there was an appreciation for our accents outside of major cities; “Lets trade accents when you get back from the bathroom!” – Ellie
Cheers ❤
Above: A brewery on the water hang.
Below: The brand new/free subway with exactly 5 stops
Not pictured: Watching Hughy warm up for karaoke and a good night’s sleep with air con.
Riding the subway to no where.
January 25th
Brekkie with charcoal activated DELICIOUSNESS.
A morning beverage that was so tasty I don’t ever want to forget it.
Goodbyes to Travis, emphasis on “THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!” 🙂
A (better) train ride back to Sydney with an airport hang…that included Matt and Priority Pass 🙂
Hanging out anywhere that will have us.
Melbourne
TRIPLE J HOTTEST 100: Sitting on a Melbourne bench, with all of our earthly possessions, eating, listening to the top 10, loving on most of them, hating on number 5, and jamming out to number one; Bad Guy, by Billie Eilish.
Possoms in the park; a possy.
That night, we slept in an expensive hostel where weren’t allowed to use the stairs, and had the worst nights sleep.
January 26th
Australia Day
Invasion Day
Send Scott an email Day (!)
We skipped the Australian Open, visited a lovely market, and headed to the airport…where we put on all of our clothes and were hot (in temperature) hunchbacks. ‘Nothing suspicious going on here, customs officer’, we were just wearing all of our clothes to avoid extra airport fees.
In Melbourne, we LIVED THAT LOUNGE LIFE! One of the best airport lounges either of us had ever been to; including +216 worth of bonus bucks to spend (which we DID!)
And, yes, after that, we were on the plane back to America (thank god).
In road dogs we trust,
‘mi
Adventuresam 
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