2 dry days in the last 21? The last time I experienced weather like this was in Northern California during an El Niño winter that turned resevoirs into oceans and deserts into glaciers. The storms here are just as windy, violent and fierce. Last week we had a tornado in nearby Maroubra. It’s crazy insane and insane crazy!

So I joined two soccer teams: an indoor league at lunch during the week and an outdoor league on Sundays. I’ve been playing weekly in the indoor league although I’m just a sub. Luckily, they’ve needed me for over a month- so long may it last.

Honestly, I’ve been completely sucked into the hype surrounding the World Cup. The US has a tough road ahead of them, but if the Conferderations Cup is any indication, the US is finally a real competitor. I can’t wait for the games to begin.

We finally signed up for ADSL2+ internet. Can you say BT TV downloads, anybody? Steam was released for Mac so I picked up Portal, Half Life 2 and Torchlight, three fantastic games that were- until less than a month ago- Windows only. I’m very excited, although most of my gaming these days is on the iPhone during my morning and evening commutes. I recommend Real Racing, X2 Soccer 2010 and Zenonia all the way. Also, check out HLRB and Hearts- both were made by two of my friends back in California.

So there you have it. Hopefully next month I will have a bit more to write about.

Tags: Australia, rain, soccer, Sydney, winter

It has been raining for over a week, but it began after a sunny and warm Australia Day. Andrew and Elsja invited us to their friend Alex’s house for an authentic Aussie barbie on the harbor. We swam in the pool, jumped in the harbor, fished, ate shrimp on the barbie, tattooed ourselves with Aussie flags and shouted Aussie catch phrases like “Crikey” and “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!” To be honest, I only personally did half of these things but it was an epic day regardless.

Grilling some shrimp on the barbie. Click here to see the rest of the Aussie Day pics.

Last weekend, Hayley and I took a ferry to the Darling Harbour Maritime Museum. The museum has a large collection of nautical treasures on display, including a sailboat made of beer cans and a few large models of mythical sea creatures such as the Kraken and a half-monkey mermaid. More interesting though was the collection of century old whale bone crafts- including whale bone bones (dominoes) and a chair made from a whale vertebra. My favorite item by far was an old captain’s journal from the late 1700s. Old journals rule.

Afterward we walked about a hundred kilometers (or at least it felt like it) to the Rocks and collapsed at a table in an Irish tea shop. I had the raisin scones with my tea, and they were damn fine scones.

Mmmmm… delicious. Click here to see the rest of the pics from the day.

And now back to the rain.

From our pátio on Saturday.

Looks like it’s finally clearing though.

Tags: Australia, maritime museum, rain, Sydney, tea, the rocks