My "Once in a lifetime" Sydney trip.

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My first trip to Australia was quite the unexpected adventure. I had just met a friend who also typically traveled on United. Well a week later e-fares come out and has NYC-SYD for $700.74. I couldn’t believe it. I had never seen this fare for anything under $1000. So even though I had a trip planned for this time period to Southern California for the Yankees road trip I decided this was too good of an offer to let it go. And with that another week or so and I was off.

I was so happy and excited to finally be going to Australia that I left the office early and got to the airport in time to jump aboard the flight before hand. This gave me a three plus hour layover in LAX and the chance to meet up with a friend. Interesting news when he picked me up. Eric wasn’t going to make it. He had missed the flight out of Chicago. So I was going to Sydney alone. Well for the first day. Cool!

We went out for a short dinner at a local sports bar. Just had a beer and a sandwich. Hung out. Caught up on all the comings and goings since I had last seen him nearly eight months before.

Back at the airport I got my “Ok to board” stamp and some food for the trip. I really had no idea what to expect. It was to be the longest flight of my life at that point. I was lucky enough to wake up when we crossed the Equator. And also when we crossed the International Dateline. Both were personal firsts. Made me happy that I was awake to experience each. And allowed me to watch the second half of six movies as I would wake up every other hour.

When I arrived in the airport and finally made it through customs and immigration I was off and on a shared bus to the Sydney Harbor Marriott. Simply put and because I’ve since stayed here again, I love this hotel. My first stay here though was pricelined by my friend. And since he had missed his flight and was now arriving the next day I was able to take any room they had instead of waiting for our room to be ready. This got me a king room facing the city. Not bad. Certainly not the best views the hotel offers. But it was the nicer of the rooms we had on this trip. A shower. Some TV. Belmont was on and Reagan had just passed away. Then it was out to start exploring.

Had a VT meeting set up at pier 4 at 11am. It was about 1030 so I just walked around. Took some pics. Sat and watched people go by while at the same time having my book open sitting on a bench in the sun. Before I knew it it was time to meet Amy, Helen, Dave and Doug. Our plan was to go to Watson’s Bay for the day. Amazing place. This is something I do every time I bring someone back here now. Just a fun meal and a couple drinks for some of us at Doyle’s. Talking. Getting to know each other. Then it was up the Gap. As Doug told us many times on the trip a suicide haven. Apparently many who take their lives do so here. Can’t understand it personally…

The pics from this day are some of my favorite. After we returned back the Circular Quay Doug and Amy had to leave. Helen and Dave took me to dinner in Chinatown. Good cheap duck for dinner. Was quite good. From there I walked back to the hotel as it was now dark and I was crashing. The amazing thing about jetlag in Australia is that it doesn’t seem like you have any until it gets dark 12 hours after you arrive. Then it rolls over you quickly. A good nights sleep and I was ready to change rooms and meet Eric.
Today Doug was taking us to our first Aussie Rules “Footie” match. His beloved Swans vs. the then undefeated, at 8-0, team from St. Kilda. Little did we know then that the Swans would thoroughly smash then that day. What a great way to be introduced to the game, a win by the team that wasn’t supposed to but made everyone happy. After getting dinner right there at Fox Studios we were back to the hotel. After dark is just hard…

Monday we found ourselves doing a mix of things. We walked more of the city. Went to the Sydney Museum. Walked the Rocks. Stopped by the Lowenbrau. Took some pics. Etc. Had dinner that evening with Amy and Helen in some restaurant I don’t much remember.

Tuesday was our last full day. And of course TOTALLY in our honor the Sydney Ferry system decided to have a daytime strike. All the boats were tied up. We weren’t getting to Manly. So Doug saved the day again and picked us up at the hotel. We drove to Manly where we walked east down the beach and up the park at the end. Afterwards we had lunch at a rooftop on the corner of the main street that comes from the Ferry terminal where it hits the beach. When Doug had to leave to go get the girls he dropped Eric and I off at the zoo. I must say this first time I thought Taranga Park was wonderful. We toured for the entire afternoon as we had to take long enough for the ferry strike to end.

Back at the hotel we were meeting up with Helen for one last dinner. This was had at one of the touristy restaurants along the west side of Circular Quay. Nice enough place and dinner. Was just nice to celebrate the end of my first trip with Eric who was the one who said let’s go and Helen who had been so helpful along the trip.

Wednesday morning found us waking up and packing up. We had to check out that day and also still wanted to see the aquarium. I was very impressed with this. To me it was SO much better than Monterey, although I didn’t see Monterey until later that year in the fall. The walk under shark tanks and the exhibits on Antarctica were my favorites. The aquarium takes about an hour to go through. A great adventure if you’re up for the admission price.

After that we met Doug back at the hotel who had offered to take us to the airport. Thank you so much for the ride and to you all for the good times and advice you gave while we were there.

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