Familiar Faces Down-Under...

Sydney, Australia

May 26, 2007
S 33°51.438
E 151°12.910

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time before our flight left, checked in and headed to the Air New Zealand Lounge. It ends up the lounge was opened at midnight and was brand spanking new. The whole place had a new car smell to it, and we could tell they were working out a few of the kinks. One of the things we knew for sure, they had free internet and free coffee… free is good.

We took advantage of the free Wi-Fi, downloading the latest episodes of “The Office” and “Scrubs” at lightening speeds. “Scrubs” had two minutes left before it was completely downloaded when the lady at the counter walked over and told us our flight was in final boarding… oh shit. We’re at the airport 2 ½ hours early, the flight is late and we still almost miss it. We ran to the gate, they shut the doors behind us and we were off to Sydney.

We arrived in Sydney 3 ½ hours later and set our watches back two hours—it was right around 8:30 AM… we left at 7:00 AM. After finding our temporarily lost luggage, and confirming a flight with Thai Airways to Hanoi in two weeks, we caught the train towards the city.

Sydney is a place I’ve always wanted to visit, hearing it’s a lot like San Francisco, but much cleaner. I took the advice at face value and decided to formulate my own thoughts about the city. I figure I’ll have plenty of time to do so over the next two weeks we’re here exploring.

When we checked into the hotel the lady at the front-desk thought we had been there before. It took her a few seconds before she realized it was the name she had heard before, not the face. Elise, Marc’s step-sister and our friend, arrived in Sydney the night before us. She is staying with a few friends, Ozzies, who lived in Nevada City for a period of time. Elise left a message at the front-desk telling us to buzz their apartment in the building next door.

After showering and changing we headed to the apartment next door, literally next door, and buzzed the apartment. That is when we saw some familiar faces for the first time since Dustin and Shelby left us in New Zealand. It was a very comfortable feeling as we met Ben, hugged Myles and Elise and were welcomed to the apartment. (We met Myles at Christmas.)

The five of us headed out to Hyde Park to play a little Frisbee before working our way down to Darling Harbor. Darling Harbor has rows and rows of restaurants overlooking numerous boats in the harbor, the aquarium, and off in the distance the ANZAC suspension bridge; similar to the bridge planned for the new span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. After indulging in Fish N’ Chips, we headed to Pier 26 for a different kind of indulgence, beer! The bar, located on the second level of the promenade, had a beautiful view across the bay.

We had a great afternoon and a few beers before heading back to the guys’ place for dinner and, of course, more beer. We tried to rally for a night out on the town, the first big city in quite awhile, but after an early morning flight and several years on the rest of the crew we opted for bed.

Our first day in Sydney was magnificent. It really helped being with locals to tell us where to go. Best of all, it was wonderful to be with familiar faces again.