By daylight, we found Sydney trickier to locate our hostel after a few guided directions. While waiting for Andre to reunite @ Base Backpackers, we had found out a few changes to our plans when we already had arrangements with Richard Dougherty (also MH ex-pupil) to meet in Sydney. To no avail & work commitments, he invited us all to fly to Melbourne with the benefits of free accommodation & food. It was finally good to see Andre with his ruffled hair and slightly longer beard, turning up with his usual excessive baggages and not to forget his surfboard! *chuckles* After few indecisions with the ginge, 'what the hell'! All booked with Jet Star, we were already due to move onto the next state, Victoria in 2 days. Ah Richard, the things we do for you eh?(!)... *sighs* Andre told us about his day at the Darling Harbour, near Chinatown and we spent the day exchanging stories of our 2 weeks from Queensland & comparing the shops in NSW. As arranged in the evening, we were due to meet Brad Gill, who was a former MH Games tutor after endless stories from the girls! (And y'all know who you are :) and we were driven to the other side of the river for drinks & a game of pool. Hungry for pie, we tasted one of the best steak pies ever near Wolloomogong before Brad had to depart for his work the next day. With the whole day to ourselves, we took a yellow water taxi to see the usual landmarks, mainly the Sydney Opera House & the Harbour Bridge. We even peered close enough to see Australian-born actor, Russell Crowe's luxury penthouse. It didn't seemed that he'd be in after recent infamous media speculations, least we were able to see how he busies his time(!) We also learnt the architectural concept of the Opera House after having a look and expressing its magnitude size. Aman & Andre spent the rest of the afternoon, looking some occasional shopping while I practically scanned the whole of Sydney for a passport photo service for my India visa. A brainstorm of searching the underground stations, my photos wasn't so great after feeling flustered! Worse for wear, I returned fast enough to find the embassy shut early. Grr! To wind down after a hectic day with some evening entertainment, we hit the casino @ Star City, Brad was able to join us for a gamble before Aman & I became restless & headed back for our hostel. Since gambling probably wasn't a girls thing(!) We bid farewell to Brad and slept solidly for our next trip to the Deaflympics 2005's origin. S x