This is Roxanne Cooke blogging from Sydney, Australia. Within the first few days of tromping around this massive city, I’ve noticed that it’s more tourist-friendly than Melbourne. I hear fewer Aussie accents, and those I do hear seem more subtle (or maybe I’ve just gotten used to them). I feel less of an outsider with my American accent, whereas in Melbourne I felt I should try to blend in and talk like the Aussies – so much so that I accidentally spoke in an accent on a few occasions.

Unfortunately, the people in Sydney appear less friendly. When the 16 of us took a bus together, all those icy stares could’ve cooled us off for the rest of this trip. In downtown Sydney, the crowds somehow permit people to be pushy. It’s not awful, just different from Melbourne.

Today (Monday) we visited the Australian Press Council, which is similar to the Washington News Council, except that its coverage is nation-wide. The purpose of the APC is self-regulation of print media (newspapers and magazines) through a public complaint process.

Australian-acclimated Bryanna Plog writing here. After everything was so new and different in our first few days, it seemed much too soon that we had to leave Melbourne, and headed north to Sydney. For someone like me who likes the country as much or more than the city, the train ride on Friday was one of the best days of the trip so far, passing through the wide-open scenery that covers most of Australia. We even experienced some of the real country and even saw our first kangaroos! It was also an adventure, and we arrived in Sydney only after being diverted because of a fire, hitting a herd of goats and battling 40 degree heat.

The Australian country-side. No Kangaroo spottings yet! (Photo by Nate Hulings)

The landscape was very dry, but we snaked through many scenic vistas dotted with very outback looking trees, stately stags and thousands of sheep. The countryside was gorgeous, especially from inside an air-conditioned train. Since most of Australia is arid and open, it was great to see what a large part of the continent actually looks like.

Alexandria English and Chelsea Gorrow play cards on the train. (Photo by Nate Hulings)

A little less than halfway through the 12 hour trip, the conductor got on the intercom and said that we're all getting off in some little town called Junee. There was a fire in Cootamundra and a concrete silo was apparently glowing with possibility to explode because of gases inside. I couldn’t complain too much about getting on the buses, even in 40 degree heat, when you’re contending with a possibility of large chunks of concrete flying through the air. We drove to Cootamundra (the bit not by the silo) and through more beautiful country. It was a great experience to see some of the spots few people besides locals usually travel to.

The "lucky" goats that got across the tracks. (Photo by Bryanna Plog)

We got on the train again in a usually small unmanned train station in a town called Harden, but a few hours later, came to a screeching halt in the middle of someone’s farm. We had hit a herd of goats crossing the tracks. A half-hour later, we were moving on again, though sadly I’m not sure if some of the goats were.

The group getting off the bus in 40 degree weather on our way to the train. (Photo by Bryanna Plog)

The country became much greener as we went through the edge of the Blue Mountains and I stared out at the scenery, catching a glimpse of a beautiful rainbow and three groups of wild kangaroos. I guess they are actually out there, not just on the tail of Qantas jets and on every tourist T-shirts.

Our train was almost 2 hours late, but I wouldn’t trade our delays and diversions for anything. All those problems? As they say here, no worries. After that taste of the country, we’re all off to explore the fast-faced world of Sydney.

--Bryanna Plog