January 18, on the other side of the International Date Line.

We landed in Sydney Australia last night. we didn’t know if we were going to get on the flight or not, we got the last 2 seats.  so we arrived in Sydney at 730pm without a hotel.  we’d done a little research before hand and knew there was a holiday inn nearby.  all we needed was a bed, some food, and wifi.  we got all that, and the friendliest woman to check us in.  Flynn gave us a gazillion tips on everything from good wine growing areas (Tasmania) to how to dial a phone number in australlia.  something i had no luck with when we were at the airport.

an aside.  i’d called bell and asked to put australia roaming on my phone.  explained i was going to australia and wanted to call local numbers, and also people back home.  yet when i got to sydney i couldn’t phone, and kept getting the annoying text messages about how much my roaming was.  i checked on line and found they call centre had given me the europe package.  apparently 3rd world call centres can’t quite distinguish between austria and australia.  every time we travel i add roaming, and every time i have to call at our destination to get things fixed.  I squawk loudly every time and they always give me some shut up credits.  so i have mixed feelings about the whole thing.  it usually works out in my favour.  for susan, we just got her an australian sim card.

Picking a hotel in an unfamiliar city is always a crap shoot.  price / location are always a challenge.  we lucked out with a hotel in china town.  amazing smells as we walk along the sreeets, a great market for fresh food / veggies (are veggies a food?).  we have a kitchen and we find that breakfast and dinner in works to keep off the pounds.  lunch we eat out.

first night we took a walk to darling harbour.  we found a pedestrian walk way with a thousand people just walking in the warm summer evening.  we crossed a pedestrian bridge, found a ferris wheel (a pedestrian ferris wheel to boot). we got a compartment to ourselves when we told everyone in line we were going to make out.

Next day we went on a free walking tour with a cute and bubbly guide.  then a ferry to Watson bay, an iced latte overlooking the water, then a bus halfway home and we walked the rest, cuz you know, a day isn’t complete without at least 2 forced marches.  And that’s how our days seem to be going, take a bus / train / ferry somewhere, walk about, come back, have a beer and chill.  we’re thinking Tasmania might be  next on the itinerary.