Week of the 16th-23rd-Amanda's here!

Well, I cannot believe this past week has come and gone already. It was in mid-August that Amanda, my best friend from Chicago, booked her ticket to Australia to visit Ray and I while we were living here. She has now boarded a plane, stopping in San Francisco, before heading back to her new condo back home.
On Sunday we picked Amanda up early in the morning from the airport. Once she showered and dropped off her bags, we headed to the Blue Mountains. There we road the steepest railway in the world down the side of a mountain, and explored the valley. When we decided to head back up, we took the cable car back up to the top. We showed her the three sisters, and viewed Govette's Leap. Govette's Leap scenic look-out has been compared to the "next best thing" to the Grand Canyon. It was an amazing view! We then headed to a national park where we saw three Kangaroos eating some dinner. Ray was sure to obey all the laws in the mountains. :)
Monday and Tuesday Ray and I both had to work so Amanda ventured off by her brave self. She rode public transportation to Featherdale Wildlife Park, and then to downtown Sydney to do the bridge climb. She enjoyed both activities and made it home safely.
On Wednesday, Amanda and I had a tour of the Opera House, and walked around Sydney, souvenir shopping. We were approached by a gentleman giving us a good offer on a hair cut and color, so we randomly got our hair done. The hair turned out great, I just wish I could get it to look like it day after the salon finished with it!
Thursday was a day full of animals. We went to Tarongo zoo, which was very enjoyable! They did an excellent job on the monkey exhibits, and the views of the animals with the city in the background were spectacular! After the zoo we took a break, and road the ferry to Manly and back again. We then went to Darling Harbor and visited the Sydney Aquarium. I appreciated the aquarium because there were many fish on display that Ray and I saw on our trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Afterwards, we enjoyed dinner at "I'm Angus" at Darling Harbor.
Friday was finally the day that we saw some sun! The rest of the days were cloudy and sometimes rainy. It was finally the perfect day to take Amanda to the coastline. We took a bus to Coogee and then did the coastal walk to Bondi Beach. This walk ended up being almost four miles long. Once in Bondi we took some pictures, had some lunch, and shopped around a little. We took a bus back to the main city, where our Ghost Tour of the rocks awaited.
The ghost tours were full of stories of hangings, murders, and deaths of people who roamed the streets many years ago. Amanda and I were entertained by the event, and tried to humor the idea of taking pictures of trees and windows to see if we saw any "strange things" or "orbes" (the tiny circles that showed up in our pictures). Of course, our mind sees what we want it to see, and in one of my pictures I decided I saw a face and Amanda decided she saw a shadow of a woman. Then we laugh.
Saturday, Ray joined us. We took it easy in the morning, but then went to the markets in the rocks and walked around visiting Lord Nelson's and souvenir shops. We walked through the botanical gardens, and listened and watched the nearby Rave party taking place. On our way back towards the Opera House from the gardens we had the entertaining opportunity to see the finalists of Australian Idol practicing for their deciding performance of the next "Australian Idol" on Sunday night (tonight actually). I was even able to get a picture with Mark Spano, the third finalist, who made the Kings of Leon, "Sex on Fire" song famous here in Australia.
We had dinner that night at an Italian restaurant in the rocks. Afterwards, we went to minus 5, a bar where the inside temperature was 10 degrees fahrenheit. They gave us jackets, and gloves before we went inside and we could only be in there for 30 minutes. Inside, the place had ice sculptures everywhere, and even our cups were made out of ice. It was an experience that made us feel at home.
We headed home afterwards, and woke up early today to go to Hillsong and head to the Parklea Markets before we had to bring Amanda to the airport.
Overall, we had a great week but I am now left almost to the point of exhaustion with a large blister on my pinkie toe from all the walking. I am finally getting into shape though. 10 mile walks will do that to you!