Tuesday/Wednesday was a long, brutal day -- traipsing back to Papeete and catching our flight to Sydney. Now I know why they call it "luggage," because all we did was lug it around. From the hotel in Moorea onto the transfer to the ferry dock, off the transfer and into the luggage bins bound for Papeete, out of the luggage bins to the transfer to the hotel, out of the transfer into the hotel, out of the hotel onto a transfer, off the transfer into the airport...geeeez...we're exhausted! But don't we look good? (That's at the hotel in Moorea) Toldja I'd figure out the camera thing!
We hooked up with Brett at the airport in Papeete at about 11:30pm and our flight finally left at 2:40am (Wednesday morning). Most of us slept at least a little during the flight to Sydney. But I was wide awake as we flew in over Sydney Harbor. It was cloudy and gray, but that didn't diminish the sight of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House beyond. I just have one thing to say: "Holy Crap! I'm in Australia!! Below us we could see lots of houses and parks and marinas lined along the shoreline. Small boats unzipped the fabric of the water as they sped through S-curves toward the bay out for a morning fish, I suppose. It was beautiful.
We landed seven or so hours after takeoff, at 7:30am Thursday morning (messing with my mind already!). All the luggage made it (all of it...all...are you ready for this...19 pieces of it...there are six of us...OMG!), and we hailed a taxi whose driver managed to fit it in jigsaw-style into the back, sides and crannies of his car. And if you've never experienced it before, lemme tell you, driving on the left-hand side of the road is, well, pretty freaky, but our driver was great.
We were delivered to our Marriott home (for the next 2 days) to find that our rooms were ready, even this early. The hotel staff was friendly, service-oriented, funny and willing to spend a moment with us to find out where we'd been, where we're going, but most importantly, what we wanted to do while in Sydney. I, of course, asked where the pubs are...but only after I found out how far away we are from the Opera House (about a mile...I'll be touring that later).
So we're getting cleaned up now and plan to meet the rest of the gang in about an hour to get started on our walkabout. G'day, Mates!
1 comment:
Today's stop: Nuuk, Greenland. A mere 150 miles south of the Arctic
Circle, just a stone's throw from . . . (drum roll) Baffin Bay.
Current temperature: 9 F.
Positively balmy by Oymyakon standards, huh?
What do you suppose these people call the idiot drivers on their
roads? Nuukleheads? Nuukwads?
Why am I thinking of Tony Romo right now?
Anyway.
At least they have stunning vistas of the Aurora Borealis, which you
simply cannot see from Sydney, neener neener neener.
According to Wikipedia, Nuuk has a moderate POLAR CLIMATE with a
yearly average temperature of 30. 64 is exceeded on average only once per year.
That's just too nuuking cold for me.
And yes, Virginia, it is nuukin' snowing here and 23 degrees. Sigh.
Post a Comment