Highlights: Day One

The flight from SFO took 14 1/2 hours because of some weather that the we had to go around.

Got in around 8 AM on Sunday morning. Saturday never even happened!

Once we got to the hotel, we didn't yet have a room, so we showered in the health club and went out exploring. First stop: The Australia Museum, which was directly across Hyde Park (Original name, eh? Named after the one in London) from our hotel. Saw lots of bones, crystals, aboriginal art, and other natural history museum stuff.

After lunch, we took the elevator to up the Sydney Skytower, a very high Spaceneedle-like building. That gave us a nice 360 degree view of the city, harbour, and surroundings. Also included in the price of admission- Skytour, a somewhat cheesy multimedia history of australia. We sat in a theatre, where there was a diorama of an australian scene and a projected movie on top for a 3d effect. Once the show was over, the theatre rotated around to another diorama room, etc. At the end there was a simulated motion ride. WEEEEEE!

After a rest in our luxurious room, we ventured down to the opera house via the botanical gardens and parks, then on to the "rocks"- the place that the first settlers came. See the pictures. After dinner and a walk home through the city, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

-Rich