24 Hour Day

First off, the flight was great, and so was everybody on it. If only domestic flights were half as pleasant as an international. 15 hours sounded like a lot, but there were plenty of distractions, two hot meals (included), and first run movies at the seat. I saw Slumdog Millionare, played a few games, watched some TV, and chatted with the people around me. Great flight.

My first day in Sydney was a blast. I've been fighting off jet lag all day, which has been really interesting. Lots of coffee. Got here at 9AM local time after being up for several hours on the plane. My uncle picked me up from the airport, and I've been fighting the urge to sleep for the last 13 hours. And those 13 hours have been packed.

I walked to the Royal Botanical Gardens and to the Sydney Opera House and took tons of pictures. To get there, I walked through Kings Cross, the local Red Light District, up Victoria Street (which I call Backpacker Alley because of the gazillion hostels), past a naval base, and past a hotel where Russell Crowe lives... I could almost hear somebody getting hit with a telephone in the distance.

The highlight of my day was walking around the gardens and the views of the harbour (with a u). I can't really put words together, out of sheer exhaustion, but I saw cockatoos. Lots of them. And they are evil. There was tons of beautiful sights there... but those birds... evil.

The Sydney Opera House is definitely a sight to see. A mile away, it is still quite striking. I can't place exactly what lends it its gravitas, but it is awe inspiring, up to and including being inches away. Would I come all this way just to see it? No... but I am glad I did see it.

I don't know what my full plans are for tomorrow, but I know two things: I'm going to get proper walking shoes, and I'm going walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The top of it... maybe the Sydney Tower Observation deck.

I've included some pix below, but see the full album on my Facebook page.