aussie! aussie! aussie! (oi! oi! oi!)

today, the group toured the olympic national park. we started at the anz stadium and ended at the aquatic center. this place is freaking HUGE! i think the tour guide said that the tallest seat in the stadium sat at like fourteen stories. we went all the way to the top and it was crazy. the jumbotron screens are the largest in the southern hemisphere and the third largest in the world (the cowboys stadium hold number one, and some nascar place holds second). we then made our way to the coca cola suite and apparently it's like a couple thousand dollars for a seat at one game. absolutely ridiculous! after going up, we went down. underground are were the training rooms are held and they are exactly what you would think they would be. smelly and a very damp feeling ... anyway, we were able to go to the field level and stand on the actually medal podiums which as pretty cool! after what seemed like a bagillion photos we walked over to the aquatic center which was also huge! there's a dive pool, two lap pools and a recreational children's pool. the stadiums were definitely ahead of its time though.  they were like 90% recyclable or something and they were the first stadium to capture rain water to irrigate the grass. then in the aquatic center they were the first to have the water overflow over the edge so that drag and back waves weren't a problem and many athletes pr'd for this reason during the games. they also have a moving wall so that they can change the length of the pool. this was also a first. so even though australia is a pricey place to be, it definitely is a very environmental friendly and future thinking country. there hasn't been one thing here that I haven't fallen in love with yet <3