Day 1: AUSTRALIAN ICONS

We took a red-eye Qantas flight from LAX direct to Sydney, and it wasn’t until about 8am when we finally made it to the Sydney Airport. We had a lost a day on the flight over here since we crossed over the international date line.

After the usual drill of picking up our checked baggage (where lost luggage was always a concern), we eventually got through customs, picked up our rental car from Hertz, and then proceeded to drive to the Sydney CBD eventually arriving at the Park Regis Hotel at 10:30am. Fortunately for us, they let us check in early.

Julie and I were a little fatigued, but we slept relatively well on our red-eye flight over here so we had some energy to get settled, then walk to the Sydney Harbour. We had always wanted to see the Sydney Opera House, and now we were about to get that chance.

It wasn’t until around 12pm when we finally arrived at Sydney Harbour. The skies were a bit overcast and threatening rain so the white exterior of the Opera House kind of blended in with the greyish skies.

Over on the other side of the harbour, we saw Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was the famous arched bridge that we noticed on travel shows where it was possible to go on an adrenaline rush tour allowing you to climb on the bridge. We didn’t do that (nor did we feel in the mood to do it given the threatening weather).

So we spent the better part of the afternoon (or arvo) walking closer to the Opera House and just taking photos of the iconic building with the bridge more face on from across the harbour. We had a little bit of a takeaway lunch while enjoying the scenery here. But beyond that, we really didn’t do much more.

We then walked around the area (called the Rocks, I believe) just to get the flavor of this place. We indulged in some post-lunch ice cream, then just strolled around a bit more, before we finally called it a day and returned to our accommodation as fatigue was setting in even more.

When evening came around, we merely just went downstairs for a kebab at a hole-in-the-wall joint around the corner. I guess jetlag was well underway so we just kept it simple on this night.