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Published: August 7th 2015
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Australia Day One
First View of Australia We made it to Sydney!!! Our flight was smooth almost the entire way and we were both able to sleep some. We landed at 7am local time after 14 hours and 45 minutes of flying! The Sydney airport was a madhouse this morning, and Aaron got stuck in passport control when the automated system couldn't match the photo it took with what was on file for his passport. A long assistance line and 30 minutes later and he cleared. In the meantime I got the bags. I met him when he was cleared and we headed to customs where we had to go through special inspection because we have been hanging around a freshwater lake all summer. Turns out that ended up being no big deal, but my backpack was attacked three times by an exceptionally exuberant border clearance Labrador as we waited to clear customs. The last time he came over he literally just draped himself over my bag and stayed there. That was a bit awkward. It is never good when customs agents ask if you have any fruits or vegetables in your bag, you say you don't, and the dog keeps coming back to YOUR BAG because he
Australia Day One
Aaron in the Train Station/Sydney Airport International Terminal smells something. Turns out this dog is a big fan of sniffing out fruit and goes crazy over apples. I had packed an apple in the bag but had eaten it on the plane. That was one ultra potent apple to stink my bag up as much as it did to drive this dog so nuts. Turns out the same apple was mistaken for a large jar of facial cream on the X-ray machine in San Francisco when we left forcing my bag into search there, too. Now that I think about it, my bag was searched when I left Indianapolis as well (computer cord). Sheesh. Batting a thousand on bag searches this trip. Anyway. We are not renting a car in Sydney, but relying on public transit to get around. So, we found our way to the train, bought tickets and headed off to the hotel. On the train, a man sitting next to me asked if I am from the U.S. When I told him I am, he asked if I know where Bloomington, Indiana is located. Crazy! Our Indiana home is only 45 minutes from Bloomington. Small world. We weren't able to check into our hotel because
Australia Day One
St Mary's Cathedral it was so early, so we hit the town on foot, taking in a cathedral, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Hyde Park, the Opera House, and views of the Sydney Harbor Bridge in four hours of self touring. We bought tickets for a theater production at the Opera House tomorrow and are really looking forward to that! It's a beautiful, sunny day here in Sydney. It's a little chilly out and I wore a coat walking around. Strange to experience winter in August! Back at the hotel now and looking forward to a long nap. This time change/day change/long flight thing is brutal!
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