December 26, 2018 Day 1 Sydney

As I get ready to sleep in a real bed for the first time in 48 hours I am thinking about what a wonderful day it has been and how blessed we are to have such wonderful relatives.  I am enjoying my lovely Cousin’s ‘Pink and Green Suite’ and amazed at the view of the harbor.  I can’t imagine getting to sleep with this view every night!

 To start from the earlier though, on Christmas Eve morning we left my folks house sitting and watching our hound and parrot, and had fantastic traffic for our drive to Ken’s folks’ house where we enjoyed the annual Christmas Eve gathering with everyone.  It did feel weird to leave at 9pm and instead of heading downstairs to the guest room, to instead go to the airport and catch a flight to Sydney.

Our United flight we uneventful and we even managed to get about 5 hours sleep during the 14.5 hour flight.  The Dreamliner (Boeing 787) Economy Plus sets were relatively comfortable, though it was a 100% full flight so we ended up trading with the guy in the middle seat so Ken and I could sit together.

 Arrival at Sydney was 30 minutes early…but that meant we had to sit on the active taxiway waiting for the other flights to leave their gate so we could get in.  Then customs ePassport facial recognition didn’t recognize my face so I had to talk to an actual person (vs Ken getting to sail right through – the ePassport thing sure is nice!) and eventually made it out to Cousin Melinda and her husband Ian who were gracious enough to drive into Sydney to pick us up.  Melinda snapped a picture there at the airport and Ian took one at home that I’ll need to get – they were proof to my parents and Brother that we really did make it Down Under!

The Sydney Harbor Bridge 

Sydney Opera House

 

After settling in and taking a refreshing shower we headed out to check out the local market.  I sure wish we had a place like this at home.  And boy, what a fish market!  (The Salmon for dinner was melt in your mouth delish!).  

Ian drove us through countless roundabouts and some crazy traffic lanes.  I’m SO glad I don’t have to drive on the Right side and navigate these interesting roads.  Some so narrow that we literally witnessed one guy side-swipe a car parked on the shoulder and drive off!  But Ian successfully navigated the roads and got us to a lovely view of the harbor so we could see the “Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race” – no way anyone could count the number of boats on the harbor.

The afternoon was spent on the deck watching their resident Kookaburra, laughing and planning our day in Sydney tomorrow followed by the delicious Salmon for dinner and then we hit a wall.  Bed time at 8:30 (which is 1:30am yesterday to us) with me staying up an extra 30 minutes to write this out while it’s fresh in my mind.  But then I’ll get to sleep in tomorrow while Ken will be getting up and going swimming in the ocean with Ian at about 6:30am.  Then we’ll be heading into Sydney to explore.

Do you see the Kookaburra above Ian?