Day 1 & 2-Arriving from China and USA

---

We awoke early in Hong Kong and headed to the airport to catch our flight to Sydney. We opted to take the Hong Kong bus since it was a third of the price of the hotel shuttle. We walked the ten minutes to Nathan Road in Kowloon where we got the express bus to the airport. Check in was fast and we waited in the terminal to board the plane.

Elyse watched five movies while I only watched three on the nine hour flight. I spent a few hours perfecting my Tetris skills on the in flight entertainment system. We landed and walked thru customs in what I thought was record time, less than 30 minutes. There was no cool visa that we received just a little stamp. Before coming to Australia we had to go online to pay for an ETA(Electronic Travel Authorization) it was all electronic and quite seamless once arriving in Australia.

Some woman harassed me and asked to see the bottom of my shoes while we waited for our luggage. She explained that transporting muddy shoes was against the rules. We had our arrival cards stamped and told to exit thru gate A. We thought that this is where we would receive our visas, but we thought wrong. I thought it was easier getting in to Australia being an American than it was for us to get into our own country.

We got in a cab and headed a few miles to our budget motel. Our driver was Pakistani and he seemed to be a friendly guy. We asked if there was any food around our hotel. He said that there was some restaurants a 10 or 15 minutes walk away. He let us know that Pakistan didn’t have the options that Australia has. He then proceeded to give us a dissertation on McDonalds and how Pakistan just got some recently. He said that this was very good and that it is good for a country to have McDonalds. I asked him if it was because of the jobs that it created. He said yes that and because they are good. They are just good. I heard a similar thing in Cambodia and learned that it was a sign that big business was soon to arrive within the country. Fast Food Corporations are the first big businesses to test the waters in a country. With their success comes other business that want to tap into the market.

As we pulled in front of the hotel it was situated right next to none other than a McDonalds; some of the only Western food we can get in Longgang. The lobby was scheduled to close at 10 and there were some rather complicated instructions as to how we could check in after hours. Luckily for us we arrived with ten minutes to spare. We were both pretty hungry and our first meal in Australia was McDonalds. We ate and then headed back to the room to get some sleep.

Neither Elyse or I were able to sleep well. We were both anxious about getting our vacation started. John and Peggy were scheduled to arrive at 8:15 the next morning. Elyse said that she wanted to get there early to insure that she welcomed them as they exited customs. She ended up awaking at 6:30 while I remained in bed till 7:45. The airport in the morning versus evening was literally, and figuratively, night and day. Hordes of people lined up in awaiting their guests. It was a good forty-five minutes before we saw John and Peggy.

From there we boarded a shuttle that delivered its passengers to the front door of their hotels. We were the second to last to get dropped off. We stayed in Darling Harbor at the Metro Apartments which was a perfect location. It was close to the Aquarium and other local attractions. The room that Peggy booked was actually a loft apartment that overlooked the harbor. Elyse and I stayed on the fold out couch in the living room.

After John and Peggy freshened up we headed out to the harbor. We ate some food then we visited the Aquarium We also purchased tickets to the Sydney Tower. Similar to the Space Needle and N-Seoul Tower in Korea that we had visited months ago. After the Aquarium we walked along the banks of the Harbor. I heard a didgeridoo playing in the background. A didgeridoo is an aboriginal musical instrument. I told the group that on this trip I would purchase one of these as well as a cool boomerang.

We found a bar that had an afternoon Happy Hour special half off drinks, this was great since Elyse and I were sticker shocked by the prices in Sydney compared to China. We enjoyed two rounds of drinks since it was a warm afternoon. We had Pure Blond beer and the ladies enjoyed Bondi Bunk Up mixed drinks.

We headed back to the apartment to relax before heading out to get some dinner. Elyse and I left to walk up the street while Peggy and John continued to nap and recouped from their long flight and 19 hour time difference. Elyse and I had adjusted easily since it was only a three hour time difference. We found a place that would be able to re-size her ring but they had closed. It turns out that most of the town shuts down shop by five pm, even bars and restaurants closed by 9pm. For Australia’s largest city this seemed strange.

For dinner we went back to the harbor and ate ribs. John and Peggy split an order while I stuck to my guns and made sure that I had my own plate. The ribs were huge and I cleared my plate no problem. I even polished off the four or five ribs that Elyse could not finish. In all I think that I ate close to 20 ribs. Mmm good. After dinner we headed to the internet café to call my parents but when I got my mom on the phone she asked “Why are you calling it is 2:30am?” I then said I would call back tomorrow and then went back to the apartment where we drank some wine, hung out and talked, then went to bed.

It was a good first day in Sydney.

---

Photos

Arriving in Australia on Qanta Airlines
Pete and my flight from Hong Kong