Following the moon

Over 24 hours flying in the night sky. It seemed that we were following the moon around the world. After travelling 34,000 kms in just over 24 hours, we have arrived in Sydney. It's now Saturday, March 6th here.

When you think about it, travel's pretty amazing. Just a little over 100 years ago, we would have been doing this trip in ships, and taken probably weeks to get here. Now, technology allows us to pack several hundred people in a long metal cylinder and fly it at great speeds through the sky, then land it safely halfway around the world.

We left Toronto on time on Thursday. The flight was uneventful, and we arrived in Vancouver at 7:40 Pacific time. The airport has undergone an amazing renovation. If you haven't seen the Vancouver airport in the last few years - you wouldn't recognize it. Lots of native artwork and Olympic memorabilia everywhere. We had an unexpected treat - a fantastic view of the Olympic rings all lit up at night. I wasn't expecting that. The rings shone al gold and luminous against the water. What a treat!

Another surprise, although not such a great one, was that pretty much all the restaurants close at 8 pm. Doesn't seem to make much sense when we came in just before 8 and weren't leaving until 11:45 pm. Luckily, we found a Subway that was still open, and had sandwiches while we waited for the plane.

The flight from Vancouver to Sydney is l-o-n-g. I don't think my legs have recovered from being in a bent (sitting) position for so many hours. My recommendation to anyone who contemplates doing this in the future is to stop in Hawaii for a few days. By the time we flew over Hawaii, I was thinking I'd had enough of airplanes (and I like to travel!). But several Sudoku games, movies and snoozes later we arrived in Sydney. Sometime during the seemingly endless night journey, we crossed the equator and the international date line.

It's hot! The temperature is supposed to be on 22 degrees Celsius, and it seems much hotter. The sun is bright and burning, so I'll need to buy as strong a sunscreen as I can find. From Jon and Jaime's front window, we look out directly onto Bondi Beach. I'll try to load pictures later, but for now we're all going for a walk on the beach. Tomorrow we're planning on going to the Blue Mountains.