Peradeniya Botanical Gardens @ Kandy

With not so much information to work with I picked out the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens as my first excursion around Kandy. It's located 8km to the west of Kandy and takes about 15 minutes to get to in a rickshaw, admission is 1500 rupees (10 usd) for foreigners and 50 rupees for locals. As I waited in line to buy my ticket, watching the locals fork over less then a 20th of what I was paying was slightly painful.

Inside the park walking around was slightly boring at first, just a bunch of  plants and trees in a garden, but eventually a couple things got my interest. You can find an occasional pack of monkeys, bats, a cow or two, and some other weird animals scattered about the garden; although I'm not a vegetation enthusiast, there was still a couple trees which actually stood out for me. On the very north side of the park there is a bridge you can walk out on which has an excellent view of the river which circumvents the park, from here you can see the view of the surrounding area or just watch some locals bath in the river.

Walking Around South San Fran

I managed to get out yesterday and do a random walk around town,  from SoMa to South Beach and then up to Market Street. I got a couple pictures of the bridge crossing over to Oakland, which looks much bigger in person then I imagined. I stopped at a small bar on one of the piers near Market, where I bumped into some other people passing through the city from San Diego. They agreed that both San Fran and San Diego were more enjoyable cities then LA. After a drink I walked down market and eventually turned north,  I found a pub called Murphy's here which sported multiple dark beers for me to try. I ordered myself the pulled pork sandwich and drank two different glasses of porter for 18 buck combined. After I left I remembered you have to tip in the US, whoops.

Pictures of Sydney Haurbor

 I've had these pics sitting around for a while, some taken from the Ferry from Manly, Others from the edge of Circular Quay. Anyway here they are in case anyone is interested.

Newcastle at Daytime

I woke and checked out of my hotel on the morning of new years eve, and walked down to the beach to see what type of activity there was. The heat and the coastal breeze worked well to make it feel like a great summer day, great enough that after walking up and down the beach-side path and witnessing my first topless sunbather I celebrated with a beer at a beach-side cafe.