Sydney on Sunday

We arrived in Sydney yesterday, after 26 hours of travelling. The trip itself was uneventful - so there isn't much to write about. This time, we went American Airlines to Dallas - Fort Worth, and connected to Quantas to Brisbane, then on to Sydney.

In Brisbane, everyone had to deplane and go through the first part of customs and immigration - that is the screening. It took us about an hour to have our carry-on bags screened, go through the metal detectors, and then get back on the plane. In Sydney, we got through the customs portion in about half an hour. Not bad - the last time, I think, it took us over an hour.

We spent some time in the afternoon, in the park with Lex, Jaime, Jon and Jaime's aunt Lynne, who was here for the day before going on to Melbourne. The time difference took its toll, and after a supper of take-out Thai food, we were in bed by 9 pm. I was so tired, I know Walter came to bed a few minutes after me, but I didn't even hear him.

This morning, we were up and out of the house by 7:30 - Walter wanted a swim, and I walked the beach. It's turned out to be a lovely day - about 27 Celsius and sunny. Jon took us all to Watson's Bay, where we did the cliff walk up to the old lighthouse. Along the way, we passed a nudist beach - not a single woman in sight, but the men were enjoying the sun and warm water.

There is an old lighthouse, built in 1858, that is now an historical site. The lighthouse keeper's cottage is still standing as well, although not open to the public as far as I could tell. Too bad, it would have been great to see the inside.

We walked to the top of the cliffs, and go a spectacular view, on one side, of the bay and Sydney in the background. On the other side, the ocean and rocks. Beautiful!

After walking back down, we had lunch on the terrace of a local restaurant, Doyle's, overlooking the bay. Really good fish and chips, and ginger beer.

Now about ginger beer. Anyone who knows me, knows I don't like beer. When I was in England in the summer, I discovered an alcoholic ginger beer that I quite enjoyed. I found another one in Australia. Stone's Ginger Beer - really good. I had one yesterday, and am looking forward to another later on today (right now it's too early for anything alcoholic). The ginger beer at lunch though, while nice and cold, was a non-alcoholic version. Still, it made me think of what I have waiting for me later on tonight!