The Big Bus: Sydney Opera House, Harbor Bridge, and Bondi - February 28

Sydney Day 2 February 28, 2019

Mary and I were surprised that after 40 hours of traveling we didn’t feel too bad when we woke up on Thursday morning at 6:00 AM. The night before we shopped for some breakfast food that included All Bran, for reasons I won’t go into here. Today was the day we decided to take the Big Bus – hop on and hop off tours of Sydney and the beaches. And that’s what we did. One tour took us through the city and the other took us out to the beaches – Bondi being the most famous.

Today I decided to try to dress inconspicuously and not like the other tourists we encountered. Here’s my “blend into the Sydney scene” outfit. We hope that on Saturday we can walk across the Sydney Harbor Bridge in the background.

Typical Sydneysider with Bridge in background

The bus tour was fantastic and we loved seeing the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. They look just like the pictures we’ve seen but there is something so exciting when you see them close up.

We found a wonderful place right on the docks to have lunch and some beverages. We got hungry and thirsty at about 11:00.

 

Mary had the BIG fish and chips and I had the little fish and salad. It was so cool sitting on the dock and watching the boats and the people.

We saw this little trio sitting right out in front of us.

And this looked like a group of monks ready for a fun day on the water.

Seeing the Opera House was breathtaking. Maybe someday Kara and/or Stephanie might perform there.

Sydney Opera House

    

              Bondi Beach was beautiful.

Bondi Beach

And we had to have something to eat while we sat and watched the surfers and other beautiful people lounging on the sand.

 We were so tired after the 8 hours of bus riding, picture taking, and eating that we decided to go to the grocery around the block and buy something we could eat in our room. We enjoyed it thoroughly. But I definitely want to go to this place tomorrow. 

Coffee and Booze for the Working Man

That’s it from Sydney for today.

Mike and Mary

Arrival in Sydney Australia Wednesday February 27

It took almost 30 hours door to door from our home in Lima to the hotel in Sydney. We left home around Noon on Monday, lost the whole day Tuesday and showed up in Australia on Wednesday. The 15-hour flight from LA to Sydney was a long one. But the trip was smooth and all of our connections on United Airlines were excellent. We loved the Boeing 787 Dreamliner we flew the last long leg and we pampered ourselves with extra legroom by getting Economy Plus seating. We did have an interesting experience as we waited for our flight to LA in Denver. A yogi girl was doing headstands and poses right there in there terminal.

Yoga Girl

The cabin crew on our flight from LAX to Sydney was interesting. No one looked younger than about 55 and the oldest looked like she was maybe 70. I wondered if they knew we were flying and wanted us to feel young.



On the flight, I did some squirrel drawings as I am "auditioning to be the illustrator for Cody Ridenhour's upcoming children's book. Here is my first effort, Codes, with graphite and colored pencils on a shaking plane.

Squirrel

We got to the hotel so early that our room wasn't ready but they gave us a key to the showers in the pool area so we could get cleaned up and out of the clothes we'd been wearing continuously for the past 30 hours.  We had to stay awake to ward off the jet lag so we headed out to find a great meat pie at Harry's Cafe de Wheels. The weather was so warm we sat at a table outside and enjoyed the treat.

Harry's

Meat Pie

We visited a large indoor flea market where Mary finally found the perfect bag to carry all of our stuff around with her on trips and a super cute hat. Here she is enjoying some Asian food at yet another outdoor cafe in Chinatown.

Mary new hat and cute as a button

We ended the day almost 17,000 steps, 30 hours of travel and 9000 miles under our belts at the Queen Victoria Building (the QVB). And we ate something there too!

The QVB

We have been amazed at the diversity here in Sydney. I told Mary as we walked through crowds of people that made it seem like we were in Times Square, "We are rubbing shoulders with so many Asian people and Indian people that we won't have to travel to China or the Subcontinent to interact with people."



I am working on a video to post later. It's 8:00 PM here in Sydney and 4:00 AM in Lima (3:00 in Chicago). May have to finally sleep in a bed after I finish this glass of Chardonnay.

Palmer House Chicago

Mary and I are enjoying a weekend in Chicago. It’s snowy and a little cold. The ride in on the South Shore Line was crowded with people going to the Car Show at McCormick Place and the ride on Saturday was free for everyone.

We’ve been staying at the Palmer House. The lobby is beautiful and I’ve used this space to do my journaling.










Here’ a picture of the place. Very elegant.