If nothing else, I've learned in Sydney...

...how to pack light! (well, at least lighter!!!)

That right there is my CARRY-ON luggage for my entire 11 day trip to Thailand! That's right, I, Ryan Hanley, will be traveling to Thailand - city life, jungletime, and beach bummin' - with just that carry-on duffle bag and my backpack. If you know anything about me, it's that I do NOT pack light...so, I'm considering this a huge ahcievement.

That said, if you know anything else about me, you also know I'm the world's number one procrastinator....and I have to tell that that hasn't changed yet. So, alas, you'll have to continue waiting for the way overdue updates this blog needs.

In four hours, my flight leaves for THAILAND, the finishing touch on my recent travel extravaganza. Which means that when I get back in May, I'll have plenty of stuff to tell you about and plenty of pictures to share...

From dingoes, beach driving and breathtaking lakes on Fraser Island...

...to museums, more AFL, and the Great Ocean Road in Melbourne...

...to, of course, whatever Thailand brings us!

Thanks, as always, for reading....and stay tuned for the treasure trove of stories and photos that I'll have once my 20/25 day travel extravaganza is finished!

Much love...now off to Thailand!

-Ryan

The Best Day Ever, Part 2

Sorry I've been so slow with the updates lately. Things have been CRAZY! Like I said in the last post, I'm right in the middle of a travel blitz...20 days of traveling out of 25. I keep coming home Monday and leaving three days later on Thursday. It's been an absolutely blast, and it's given me tons of material to blog about...but not a ton of time to do the blogging.

So, this post is two weeks late or so. Anyway, like I said earlier, my very first AFL game (Go Swans!) was in Olympic Park, at ANZ Stadium. This meant that we were right in the centre of where all of Olympic events went down in 2000 - the swimming, the gymnastics, the tennis, the track and field...everything! (okay, there were probably a few exceptions...I'm not sure....but still, so cool!). So, after the game, two of the guys from my house and I decided to check out Olympic Park. Best decision ever!

Map of the layout of Olympic Park

We spent about two hour or so just walking around and checking out the various stadiums, courts, and arenas located in the area. We even saw what we *think* was the Olympic Torch! We couldn't get very close to it to check, because of construction, but I managed to get a picture of it anyway. Basically, I guess it was just so cool because I really love the Olympics, and it was so unique to get to walk around the places where the very competitions took place just 10 years ago or so.

I've put together a bit of a "photo essay" again. I hope you enjoy it!

ANZ Stadium, site of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies in 2000

Pat posting outside of the Athletic Centre

The WARM-UP track for the track and field events

The "Hockey Centre," ie field hockey. There seemed to be a college game going on, maybe for a club team?

Gymnastics! Not sure if this is where they actually warmed up for the Olympics or not...but it was still cool

Ian Thorpe, Australian Olympic swimmer

Pat and Steven outside of the main arena at the tennis centre

A view through the door of the main tennis arena (it was closed)

Golf!

AQUATIC CENTRE YESSS

Swimming!

And again...

The possibly inappropriate 2012 logo

Beijing 2008, placard on the sidewalk

Olympic Torch or UFO?

I forgot until I was putting the picture in...but another cool thing was that when we were there, there was a big meet going on at the aquatics centre. It was trials to make the Australian team for world championships. I really wanted to go in and check it out, but it was $15 and Steven and Pat decided they didn't want to, so we all went home together. Anyway, it was still cool to be there when something important was going on!

As you can probably tell, I love the Olympics. My goal is to go in London next summer...here's to wishing! Next up on the blog...my trip to Fraser Island! Stay tuned!

-Ryan

The Best Day Ever, Part 1

Cheers! Hands down, this past Sunday was absolutely one of the best days I've had my entire time abroad! I don't even know where to start. Several of my housemates and I woke up early to eat pancakes together (thank you, Lindsey and Alyssa!) and around noon headed out to go to our very first AFL game. AFL is Aussie rules football. It's a lot like rugby (which, admittedly, I've never watched), but also different...in some ways I'm not sure about. Well, you don't always have to pass the ball backwards, that's one difference, right?

So I guess I'd describe Aussie Rules as a game a lot like rugby, that has a score like a basketball game, moves at the speed of a lacrosse or soccer game, and has some definite football elements to it. There are 4 posts on each side of the field. The goal is to kick the ball in between the two posts in the middle. If you do this, it's a goal - 6 points. If you get it in either of the outside sections, it's a "behind" - 1 point. If someone from the other team hits the ball while it's on its way to being a goal, then it only counts as a behind. And if you catch the ball after a kick (which can happen at anytime), it's a "mark" and you get a free kick of it. You can throw the ball, kick it, whatever - just get it down the field and get a goal. And there are four ~30 minute quarters. If you want to know more, check out the Wikipedia here.

Rachel, Gabby and Me

All of us!

Yours truly

 Anyway, so Sydney's team is the Sydney Swans. They're white and red, so we all dressed accordingly. We took a train out to ANZ stadium, which was probably about 30-45 minutes or so from Central Station. On the train, I found out that we were going "near" Olympic Park...and it was only once we were already inside the stadium that I realized that ANZ Stadium is THE Olympic Stadium, where the Opening/Closing ceremonies were in 2000! And so we were actually directly in Olympic Park! This was super exciting...but more on that later.

ANZ Stadium, i.e. Olympic Park!

 We arrived at the game and were immediately die-hard Swans fans. We bought hats (Morgan and Rachel proved themselves to be just about an indecisive as I am...a true feat!), got our free "Goal!" signs/noisemakers, and settled into our roles as the Swans' newest and loudest fans. For 15 bucks, we bought general admission tickets that were AMAZING seating! It was insane, we were basically right by the field. And I hear that when they play at their normal home field (because this was apparently a special occasion, playing here...lucky us!), it's smaller and you're even closer to the action.

Gabby and me getting in the spirit

Rachel and Kimi... this is how close our seats were!

Pat, Morgan, Randall, Steven and me

It got crowded!!! 28,000 total!

 The Swans gave us a definite nail-biter. They started the game way in the lead, but the tide quickly turned. The Bombers took the lead, and we started getting crushed. At one point, we were down by about 25 points. In the last ten minutes of the game however, the Swans dug deep....and when the final horn sounded, the score was Swans 98, Bombers 93. Victory! We - and the 28,000 fans in attendance - were pumped.

Onwards to Victory!

Swans 98, Bombers 93

The game was just so much fun. We're definitely gunna be going back and cheering the Swans on for the rest of our time here! I still need to get to a rugby game so I can truly decide which I like better, but I think that so far, the AFL is truly my favorite part of Australian culture. It was great. There was even a good number of Bombers fans there, so it almost had a feel kind of like a high school game (though there were way, way, way more Swans fans!)

The loudest Bombers fan near us

SWANS!

Still couldn't believe it was the Olympic Stadium...

The game was so much fun. It was definitely one of the best things I've done my entire time abroad. When we left though, things just got even better...like I said, we were in Olympic Park. So, Steven, Pat and I decided we didn't wanna go back right away. Instead, we wanted to walk around and explore Olympic Park, get to see all of the different stadiums and areans and everything...

I'm out of time! A cab is coming in less than 20 minutes to pick me up to go to Fraser Island for a long weekend with some friends. I'm sitting here blogging in a towel. So, I'll have to fill you in on Part 2 of my Best Day Ever after the weekend. The next 25 days are going to be crazy...between today and May 1st, I'm traveling for 20 out of 25 days! Fraser Island, Melbourne, Thailand....lots of blogging will be coming your way! But for now, I've got to run, so I don't miss this cab/my flight! I'll tell you all about the Olympic Park in a few days, as well as my crazy adventures on Fraser Island!

Thanks for reading! Missing everyone, but having a BLAST!

-Ryan

My Favorite Area of Sydney

Last Saturday, I got to spend the day in one of my favourite (look at my spelling!) areas of Sydney: Darling Harbour! My friend Spencer and I discovered this great area one day when we decided to go to an IMAX movie (Titanic 3-D!). It's a beautiful spot, with tons of great restaurants and cafes lining the water, the world's largest IMAX theatre, the Sydney aquarium, the Maritime museum, and Sydney's biggest (only?) casino nearby. It's super chill, relaxing, and just a great vibe. It's exactly what I used to always envision when I thought of a city like Sydney.

This particular Saturday, Spencer and I ventured back to DH together to check out the aquarium, the maritime museum, and a new IMAX (Hubble 3-D!). When we got there, we got roped into participating in a street performer's grand finale trick....and wound up lying on the ground for no reason for 10 minutes and then holding ropes to keep him balancing on a bike on a pole juggling sharp things for the next 20 (sound confusing? yeah, it was...) Then we checked out the aquarium - amazing! They had these awesome lego displays throughout (you'll see what I mean...) and a section where you are walking in a tunnel with sharks and sea turtles and fish and dugongs (sea cows, I think?) all around you. We met up with our friend Cory at the maritime museum after that. We didn't have much time, but just checked out the free stuff. We're going to go back so that we can go on tours of the 3 or 4 boats (submarine, old ship, etc.) they have outside. Then Hubble 3-D was AWESOME!!!!! So much fun. I recommend everyone to go see it!

I thought I would just do a big photo essay to sort of show you what the day was like. Hopefully you enjoy seeing the photos. As always, let me know if you have any questions, and thanks for reading!

The man whose show Spencer and I were in!

The first of the lego sculptures

Top: A giant lego great white! Right: the world's largest animatronic great white...took the record from than Jaws!

Yeah, great whites could swallow you whole

Animatronics again

A pig-nosed sea turtle...strange

Really pretty jelly fish

Dugong!

HUGE sharks...real this time!

Blurry, gianttt sea turtle

Smaller sharks, white reefies...these were all over when we snorkeled/dove on LEI

No, those aren't plants...they are shark eggs! Strange!

Amazing Moby Dick sculpture! The whale is kind of cheating (those bigger, lego-y blocks that are NOT legos)...but the artwork behind is done entirely in legos

National Maritime Musuem, Darling Harbour in the background

Roos and Emus!

The seal of Australia

What submariners have to pack all of their stuff in for a 3 month tour...I would fail at this

Beer can boat, for the festival in northern Australia (like cardboard boats, but cooler)

Children everywhere

Darling Harbour, IMAX theater in the background (yellow and black checkers)

Foreshadowing the AWESOME day to come...

World's largest IMAX theater

- Ryan