Made it to Australia

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Hello from Sydney!! I made it and so did my bag. We left London on July 30 at 9:30 pm aboard Thai Airlines. The flight to Bangkok was 10 and 1/2 hours. It was nice - a 747. I had a good amount of room for coach. The three plus hour layover in Bangkok was interesting. They certainly want you to duty free shop to your heart's content. It was so cool to see so many different cultures walking around - Buddhist monks that dressed like the Dali Lama, Saudi Arabian women in all black head to toe, but the black fabric was adorned with diamonds, Sikhs, women in saris, and many, many others.

We boarded for Sydney around 7:30 pm on another Thai airlines plane - a 777. Not as much legroom as the 747. It was only an 8 1/2 hour flight! I managed to get about 4 hours sleep on each leg. We landed in Sydney 7 am, August 1,Sydney time - 14 hours ahead of eastern time. I have now stayed up all day and am thoroughly ready to crash.

We had a free day today. We are staying right at the Sydney Harbour area - the Rocks, Circular Quay and the Opera House. It was a gorgeous day, clear blue sky with temps in the 60s (like London!). I walked around a bit and then took a tour of the Harbour on a cruise boat. I admit I could not stop taking photos of the Opera House. It is so stunning.

The group reconvenes tomorrow morning at 9 (Sunday am!) to discuss our time here. We are all a little diappointed that the UK visit was a little disjointed and hard to follow. Last week, we visited 2 places in 5 days - this coming week, we will be visiting 4 places in the same amount of time so we want to keep things as focused as possible.

If Kyung-Hwa is viewing this blog --- I am full of performance measure ideas. We heard a bunch about the UK reliability measure.

Thanks again for all the notes!! Even though the world if flat, it is still huge!!!!

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Photos

Bangkok
Lovely shot after flyiing for 10 1/2 hours-

Sydney
See, I am really Here!!

sydney
sat afternoon

Sydney
view from boat tour

Bangkok
Tony Kane with AASHTO

Bangkok
airport - Thai Airlines

Sydney
view from cab window driving into Sydney

Sydney
viewfrom room

Sydney
view from room

Sydney
first view of Opera House

Sydney
Circular Quay

Sydney
Opera House

Sydney
Sydney Harbour

Sydney
Sydney Harbour

Sydney
Opera House

Sydney
weekend market

Sydney
street performer

Sydney
I just thought this looked funny

Sydney
Ferry system

Sydney
boat tour

Sydney
boat tour

Comments

[sue]

Glad to seeeeeeeeeee you made it safe and sound. wow 10 1/2 hours to people watch in Bangkok. Sydney what great pictures, did you notice the picture you took of the bridge, people on TOP taking a sight seeing tour. Now that would be the place to take pictures on top. Hope you get some sleep. Jane thanks for taking time to update us on your trip. sue

[judy]

Wow!
That opera house looks absolutely amazing! One of the buildings in the pictures looks flat and tall? (skinny) I wrote to Fred yesterday and wished him a Happy Birthday! He wrote back and said he and the cat were going to the mountain house for the weekend. I can't believe you have to work on Sunday, you should be going site seeing again! Glad to hear you and your bag made it okay! lol

[KyungHwa]

I am traveling with you and enjoying so much your travel report. I can't wait to talk about all of performance measure ideas. We(ARC) will have cool stuff!!! I am sure this is one of the most memorable trip for you! Eat, learn, enjoy, and be happy. :)

[Dahshi]

Sköl!!!
It's clearly evident that you're having a great time! The pics are absolutely amazing. Can't wait to hear more about what you've learned--especially regarding the PPI projects in Australia and how projects are funded in EU countries. Have a safe trip and keep the photos coming!