Sydney - Supersized

So here I am, in Australia!! I'm sitting in a McDonald's in downtown Sydney. Forgive me... it's the place with free wireless!

Everything is going really well so far. Apparently, I should have bought a lottery ticket yesterday -- on a packed 777 with only a handful of empty seats, one of the empty seats was next to me! It was really quite wonderful. Between that and the Skyrest pillow, I was actually able to get about 6 hours or so of sleep. (The earplugs and eye mask helped as well!) Had no problems with the flight, immigration, or getting my bag and I took the train into the city and walked to my hotel. Of course, since I was arriving at about 10 AM, the room wasn't ready, so I did a quick "freshening up" in the (very small) bathroom and headed out.

So now I'm trying to plan my 3 days here. (I also have a couple more chances to explore Sydney -- overnight stays in between flights.) I could catch the Sydney Symphony doing Haydn's "Creation" at the Opera House on Wednesday night, so I'm seriously considering that. I'll definitely do a tour. I'm also pondering the bridge climb (someone on the plane recommended I do that at night), visiting Manly Beach, and going out to the Featherdale Wildlife Park (or possibly the Zoo instead, since it's a little more convenient). Other "must dos" are a harbor ferry tour and general wandering around!

I like what I've seen of Sydney so far. It's like a lot of European cities but with a much stronger Asian influence. And it's HOT! It was such a nice shock to come up out of the subway station and smell blooming flowers! And, for Nana and Sam, I had my first interesting bird sighting at the park right near the subway -- a large (duck-sized?) bird with a long, black neck and a black head, some green on the back, and a long, flat, curved bill.

Okay, I think I'm going to go back to the hotel and see if my room is ready. If not, I'll leave my backpack and I think I'll see if I can get out to Featherdale Wildlife Park and hang out with the koalas. More soon!!