Happy New Year (and hopefully new pictures to look at!!!)

While many of you are still in 2005, we're already enjoying 2006! So far, it's been a great year, all 12 hours of it. We rang in the New Year at the Sydney Harbour, just outside the Opera House. The fireworks were unbelievable! We celebrated with thousands of people, all watching as the fireworks starting shooting off of the top of the Harbour Bridge. Just imagine, watching the Bay Bridge (for those of you from Belleville), come alive with hundreds of colourful sparks, complete with tall-mast ships gliding underneath, masts strung with lights. It was an amazing experience - fair dinkum (that means "Seriously" in Aussie lingo).

We're experiencing some hot weather here - about 41 degrees celsius as the moment. We spent the past few days at a beach town, just north of Sydney, relaxing and soaking up the rays. Today, its been so hot that we've hung out inside, waiting for the sun to be a little less intense. It's off to the zoo later, or maybe some markets.

We leave for New Zealand in a couple of days - sad to be done our Australia experience, excited to be back "home", at least our home for this year. We hope you all enjoy the rest of the holidays, and have a great New Year's Celebration!