The Adventures of Jeanne B: Sydney, Australia

Sydney, Australia
Eastern Time plus 16 hours

I know Liz updated you on what we did in Sydney on our first day. I will just add additional pictures here.

We started our day at 5:30 AM with the Champagne and Australian Flags. It was great having Val and Denise with us because they could point out all of the landmarks etc. The Opera House is just breathtaking. It is impossible not to keep on photographing it.

The flag on this boat is the Aboriginal Flag. January 13 of this year was a historic day in Australia, Sorry Day. January 13, 2008 was the first time that the government of Australia told the Aboriginals they were sorry for the treatment they had received. They didn't just want an apology; they wanted the government and people to be sorry about it.

We left the ship to meet Joel and Tanya and noticed that in Australia they really do go up the down staircase. I still find it hard to keep to the left while passing people.

We also passed these Aboriginal performers. We later found out that Joel knows the Didgeridoo player! I think he said his name is Rex.

We met Joel and Tan and went to Darling Harbour for brunch. Joel and Jeff ordered the Blackbird Brekky.

Tanya had a work commitment come up so she went to work, Joel went home to work on the garden and Jeff and I got on the Hop on Hop off Bus. Liz and Tanya had made a very detailed Itinerary for us and I forgot it in Joel's car so we were on our own. Good thing I forgot it and not Jeff! He would have been in the doghouse!

One stop I know we were to go to was to Harry's. We went and sampled the famous meat pies!

Sydney is a beautiful city and we really enjoyed seeing it, but the best part for us was the views from Mrs. Macquarie's Chair.

I went shopping in a neat area called the Rocks and Jeff went to take a nap. I loved looking at all of the Didgeridoos!

Tanya had suggested we take the ferry to Watson's Bay for dinner. We loved the ride. We wound around little bays and even saw the end of a one design sailboat race. Jeff was even able to see a race committee closing up for the day. The ride was just delightful.

Watson's Bay was a great little beach town. We had Grilled Prawns, Rocket (Arugula) and Parmesan salad and Steamed Veggies for dinner.

We had the cab driver take us on a tour of a beautiful residential area and then to the Opera House. We had intended to have an after dinner drink, but were just too full. We walked around and enjoyed the spectacular weather, atmosphere, ambience and view for about an hour and half.This is a picture of the Opera House tiles up close. We could hardly tear ourselves away, it was just outstanding.We took a walk over the Rocks and had a Guinness (not me of course).