A busy day in Sydney...

This morning started early with a lecture at the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) by Dr. Thomas Gan. He explained the sports medicine team at the institute and the different programs and scans available to both the athletes and the public An interesting fact was that the scans here in Australia (MRIs, X-rays, etc) are much cheaper here. Where our MRIs costs thousands, theirs run about two-hundred and fifty to three hundred dollars. Sorry Mom and Dad, I guess you'll have to send me Australia from now on. ha After the informational lecture it was time for a tour of NSWIS. The facilities are much smaller than the AIS, but basically run in the same manner. NSWIS does include more sports than AIS. So much of what sports are held at the institutes depend on the governments funding. For instance, softball is no longer a program at NSWIS or AIS because it lost government funding by not performing well enough. As we toured the building we realized that most desks were empty. Luckily it wasn't that they were missing, instead all coaches from all programs were in a meeting with the dietitian's. It was great to see how well the communication and resources work at the institutes. Then it was to a group meeting with Dr. Jutte about our papers. I think a lot of us had chose to excuse them from our memory for the time being. ha I guess it's almost time to come back to reality, although we never really left. Once the tour and lectures concluded we all went our separate ways. Some went and ate, some went and slept, and some went into town. Personally, I went into town, eating on the way of course. Laney, Tam, and I went to the subway station to go to central station For two country girls, Laney and I have dominated the subway. We can definitely put a check mark for that life skill. The three of us then went off to find a post office. Who knew that finding the post office, which we hadn't seen since Lennox Head, would be the easy part? After asking and finally getting there, Tam went to find out how to send her package back to the United States. After three or so tries and being told "you can't send it that way, try again", we got a little frustrate and asked how we COULD send it back. Let's just say it involved a mall floor, lots of bubble wrap, lots of packing tape, many laughs (both from us and those staring at us), a couple rubber bands, and strategical planning to get it sent. Whew. After that we just did some shopping and got some pretty sweet things. Sorry, but if I told you what they were they wouldn't be surprises, get pumped. Then it was back to the subway. During our walk back Laney and I were hit by a swooping bird and then both almost hit by a bus, literally within inches Luckily Tam had enough bubble wrap in her hand to probably save us. Once everyone finally got to our destination, the entire group went to dinner at Macchiato, an Italian restaurant. It was amazing food and dessert, and best of all, Dr. Jutte paid for everything but the drinks! Bonus! I think it's fair to say that no one left hungry. After dinner is was our separate ways again, so it was to a few more shops, headed back, and now I'm talking to you. Time for bed now, we've got an early morning ferry ride to the zoo! Cheers!!!