The Flight:Upon arrival at LAX, we were nearly blown away by the raging icy winds of LA...Hail to the Santa Anas. We checked our bags, the BEAST weighed in at 25 kg, and we made friends with the gate attendant...however, begging did not get us upgraded to first class on a full flight. We grabbed a few lattes from Starbucks and settled in to wait at our gate, only to find out that instead of leaving at 11:45p, we were leaving at 1a! Ah...what to do with our newly found free time. We boarded the plane and headed to the back end, at least it was near the "toilet". We never knew that such a large machine could whip around and cause so much turbulance on take off! Up in the air...we were immediately fed a succulant Chicken Coq au vin...we're high class. Qantas is a fabulous airline to take across the Pacific...they provided individual entertainment units for everyone. This was great for those of us who are slightly ADD. They provided movies and TV shows on demand, games and music. After a few hours of sleep, we woke to find out there were still 9 hours left! UGH! Of course, everytime we attempted to hit the toilet...we hit turbulance. WEEEEEEEEEEE! We "woke up" to have hot towels and a hot breakfast of egg-cube, muffin, tots, coffee and juice. YUM. Alas, we landed in Sydney Airport. The first thing on our list was to check to see which direction the toilets flushed...in case you were wondering...straight down!
Arrival in Bellevue Hill (Aunt Debie's):
After customs and crooked stamps in our passports...IN AUSTRALIA! We were picked up by a suited Aussie and loaded into a stretch limo, oh wait...it was a van and we loaded on the wrong side....Alicia thought she was driving. Upon arriving at Aunt Debie's our jaws dropped to the floor when we saw the view of the Sydney skyline, complete with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House from her giant picture windows in her leaving room (we'll post pics soon). We were welcomed with open arms by Aunt Debie and Uncle Michael with fruit and Australian coffee. We then showered and had a scenic drive on the way to Bondi Beach, the most popular beach in Sydney. We had Apps and Aussie Beer (Coopers) at North Bondi Italian Restaurant/Bar on the beach. After our bellies were full and we got the scoop from the bartender on the must sees of Sydney, we headed down to the shores of Bondi and sunned ourselves on the white sands, only could handle knee deep in the chilly blue waters, and watched the beautiful tanned locals stroll (or run) by. We came back to Debie's pad for a fantastic steak dinner cooked on the "barbie"...thanks Michael. After a few bottles of Aussie wine (YUMMY), good conversation, lots of laughter and a dash numerology we passed out from jet lag and sheer exhaustion.
Sightseeing in Sydney:
Wake up...its 3:45AM!!! Time to head out before sunrise for our very first Aussie adventure. With no breakfast and little sleep we caught a cab to the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. We donned our "Top Gun" style jump suits, fully equipped with harnesses, walki-talkis and prepared to propel off the tallest structure in Sydney. Actually, we climbed over 1,000 stairs...our calves are still killing us! The views of the city at sunrise were spectacular, words just can't describe it. As we made our descent, we realized our hunger creeped up on us. Trying to climb down a bridge with shaky, unstable legs is not good. Good thing we were attached to the bridge. Our Jessica Biel (but shorter) look a like tour guide took her best shot at entertaining all of us at 5am...sadly there was little laughter.
After the climb...it's only 8:30a, we sought out the nearest cafe for breakfast. Go figure, even in Australia the first person we asked where to eat, didn't speak English. We found a great spot, The Rocks Cafe on George Street. We enjoyed a bountiful breakfast and coffees that were works of art. Side note: the chocolate here is amazing. With cameras around our necks, like true tourists we set off to explore the city...when side tracked by the nearest souvenier shop...don't you wish you knew what we bought. We did find some crocodile jerky...CRIKEY! We found ourselves down at Circular Quay (key). We exchanged our money and walked to the Opera House...we had to keep Alicia from screaming with excitement and Jeni thinks it looks like Darth Vader, Melissa included the soundtrack. We walked all the way around to the front side, where Jeni posed with (well in front of) the cute Aussie constructing the NYE set up. We hailed a cab and headed back to Aunt Debie's to change into our "Swimmers" and our "Sunnies" to head out for a sail on the harbour. Michael is an avid sailor and was very excited to display his mad skills on his 36 foot sail boat, "Eye Appeal"...we were hugely impressed. We were joined by one of Michael's crew members, Paul and Jeni's 2 friends, Skip and Nathan. After a sail through the harbour and Aunt Debie getting nervous from the harbour traffic
...we anchored for lunch and to
have a swim. We took a plunge in the urchin infested chilly waters of Sydney and as the sharks creeped up, Jeni punched one in the nose. Ok, not really...she never got in the water..."she's little". After a couple of hours drinking wine and baking in the sun...literally BAKING...we sailed back to the Yacht Club. We stalked Nicole Kidman's house...rummaged through her trash and waived to the Aussie passerbys. Back to the house we go to freshen up.
A Night Out in Darling Harbour:
After a few zzzz's...very few, we carefully dressed our scorched bodies in cute sun dresses (of course) and headed out for a night on the town. We met up with Skip and Nathan at Pontoon Bar in Darling Harbour for drinks and a bite to eat. We asked for "tomato sauce" (Ketchup) for our "chips" (french fries) and ordered the local drink, Bondi Rum and coke. We attempted to keep up with the boys, but we think they had a hole in their glass. Determined to make the most of our night, we walked along the harbour to our next destination, Cargo Bar, the hottest bar in Sydney. We all zipped through the line and past the bouncer with the exception of Jeni, who got carded..."she's little". Keep in mind, legal drinking age is 18! Ha ha. Amidst loud music and squeezing through gyrating Aussies, we made it to the bar. We tried really hard to party the Aussie way...but to our dismay, our jet lag negated our alcohol intake. We found a comfy corner on the patio to chat and exchange some fly dance moves: the "fax machine", "vending machine" and the "rooster", to name a few. Who cares who was watching. Erin also educated everyone on how to to clear a dance floor with her bootylicious dance moves. We were all quite impressed. About 2am, the party still going strong...we weren't. We hailed a cab...well, they were lined up waiting...and after a fast, crazy drive home...we dropped in our beds!
Ah...Sleep:
We got our first full night's sleep. We woke up refreshed feeling like new women. We were spoiled by a homemade breakfast from Chef Michael, complete with eggs, bacon (Aussie's do have better bacon), hash browns, toast, fresh fruit and coffee. Next we're heading to the Sydney Aquarium (our Bio-Geek, Melissa, is super excited) and more sight seeing.
It's only been 2 days and we feel like it's been a week. Stay tuned for more Sydney Adventures!
G'Day mates!
Erin, Melisser, Jeni & Alicier
After the scrumptous dinner we checked out the local pub, The Golden Sheaf. There we met some locals, both the weird and the cool, and sampled some great Aussie beers. Because it was Sunday they closed at midnight so we chose to head 'home' and sleep in preparation for our NYE celebration.
