Oklahoma friend #2!!

This week we had our second visitor from Oklahoma. My friend, Mike Albert, from Beaver, Oklahoma stayed with us for 3 days. He just graduated from OSU and accepted a job as a Landscape Architect in Aspen, Colorado. Sydney was the first stop on 21 day holiday to Australia and New Zealand, countries 21 and 22 for Mike in total!!

Below is a picture from Centre Point Tower overlooking Darling Harbour. Nice view, huh? I was able to take him exploring the city on Tuesday capped off with an Australian BBQ hosted by Julie and Rohan.

Wednesday was when the trip really started to get interesting! I took Albert driving along the coast line to explore the famous beaches of Sydney. Well we ended the trip at the South Head, near Watsons Bay. The following picture is from the South Head. We knew there was something weird going on when we saw police cars and a police rescue truck at the bottom. When we got to the top it was just as Phil had warned Cristin and I earlier this year- a suicide. Apparently the Gap is known for being a place where lots of suicides happen. Mike and I saw the rescuers repel down the cliff to retrieve the body (luckily we couldn't see it!).

We were able to see a few whales as they were migrating for the winter! There were about 3 or 4 whales in the distance. We needed binoculars to get a good view, but we could definitely see the water they were blowing out just no big jumps like you see in the commercials!! How's that a suicide and whales all in one spot??? Crazy.

Here's the token kangaroo picture. We were afraid he might not see one on the rest of his trip so we took him to the local zoo. We need to work on a discount that's our 3rd trip since we've been here and surely not our last!
Thursday night we went to see the movie Cars. It felt like we were back in Oklahoma because the whole movie is set off of Route 66 and Interstate 40. Plus, there were lots of country songs that reminded us of Oklahoma. But after the movie we walked out to the beach and took lots of pictures.

We had a great time with Mike. It was great to catch up. We wish him well with the rest of his trip and new job!!! Cristin is already planning our trip to Aspen!