The start of a beautiful friendship.....with Australia!

I am not sure it had sunk in when I boarded the plane in Bangkok that I would end up in Australia in a bit less then 24 hours.  For me, it was one of those places that I never thought I would get to see in person.   But there, I was, buckled in, with my seat back and tray table in their upright and locked positions.  1.5 hours after the departure time, we were off, with 10 hours to wait to see if I was going to make my connecting flight in Bangkok (I only had a 1hr 50 min layover).  Decideing that it would do no good to fret about it, I settled in for a 3 movies, 2 meals, 1 snack and 0 sleep.   No worries, the flight went by rather quickly, and we landed at Bangkok with 30 mins before boarding began on my next flight.   Thank god my bags were checked all the way thru and that there was no passport control.  At least I got my 15 mins of a brisk jog in after clearing security.   Hopefully, I will get to do some more exploring on the way back.  :).  Settled into flight #2, I was encouraged that I was dozing slightly as we pulled away from the gate.  When I woke we were taxing to the gate and I could not believe that I slept the whole time!  Then I noticed that it was slight daytime, and that I had only slept an hour.   Due to some replacement of a spare part, we left finally left Bangkok about 2 hours late.  No matter, I slept my way thru most of the second flight anyway, and landed at around 10pm.  45 mins later I was all settled into my hotel, and looking forward to a bit of touring in the morning.

Meeting up at breakfast with my collegeuge, Virginia,  we set out to one of the most familiar harbours in the world.  There are a few places that I have seen in pictures or thru media and have thought that they would be incredible to see in person.   Amoung these are the Eiffel Tower, Mt. Everest (from the ground...), Antartica, Machu Picchu, and the Sydney Opera House.  As we approached the Circular Quay and the harbour, the Opera House appeared from behind the ferry docks, and with the midday sun sparkling off the roof, and the water rippling softly in the foreground, it was a beautiful moment.  The structure is unique and stunning.  I very much want to see if the accoutics are as artfully engineered as the exterior.  Maybe later this week.....

Finally turning our back to the Opera House, we admired the Harbour Bridge towering above the water.  Then we noticed the people walking on the top of it.  I am not generally afraid of heights, although over the last year or so, I have become a bit nervous on long, narrow stair climbs; but the thought of climbing all the way to the top of the bridge gave me a bit of a pause.  But just for a moment as I agree to give it a shot with Virginia later this week.   So stay tuned.....

We took advantage of the warm, sunny day in late winter to walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens, and then caught a ferry to Manly, which is home to one of the surfing beaches around Sydney.   It was great to walk barefoot in the sand and dip my toes in the Tasmen Sea (and indirectly, the South Pacific).  The water was MUCH colder then I had expected, a reminder once again that once you cross the equator, south does not equal warm! 

After a few hours watching the waves and catching a bite to eat while the surfers waited for the perfect curl, jet lag had started to take its toll, so we headed back to Sydney.  Not quite ready to give up the day, we wandered through the surrounding areas, taking in some great 19th century buildings, including the GPO (General Post Office), which has been restored and houses many shops and eateries (think the Old Post Office Pavilion in DC) and the Queen Victoria Building. which was originally built as a shopping center in the late 1800's. 

Since its winter, the sun sets around 5:30pm, and the fading light gave us no hope of fighting off exhaustion anymore, so we called it a day and headed back to the hotel.   Off to work tomorrow.....but never fear...more Australia adventures will follow of the next 2 weeks.