Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Australia, Part 1
Sunrise over the South Pacific, enroute to Sydney. It was a 20 min flight from Dayton to Cinci, 4 hours to Los Angeles, and 13.5 hours to Australia. My brother in law and I about lost it when our 747-400 took every inch of the runway for departure from LAX. I was certain we were going in the drink off the end of the runway. We were fully loaded with fuel, bags, and passengers. I still don't understand how the 747's wings can flex so much without snapping off.
Once we checked into Holiday Inn Old Sydney, we headed up to the rooftop to take in the view. We stayed in 'The Rocks' section of Sydney, the oldest part of the city. The water inlet you see on this side of the Opera House was the spot the first colonists landed in Australia. It's their Plymouth Rock. Of course 100 of them were Marines, and 1000 of them were prisoners. At least they got the job done.
About a ten minute walk from the hotel and we're in the middle of the most beautiful harbor in the world. 
Four of us climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge the day we arrived. It's a 3 hour excursion from start to finish, and worth every penny. If you look closely you can see a Bridge Climb group standing at the very top near the flag pole.
Couldn't resist. We say bumps, they say humps. We say hood, they say bonnet. We say windscreen, they say windshield. They say boot, we say trunk. They have efficient roundabouts, we still have stop signs and traffic signals every 5 feet in the US. I love roundabouts... especially when you can keep driving in circles to make everyone in the car sick.
More to come....
posted by El Capitan at 10:11 AM
2 Comments:
said...
Thanks for sharing the pictures. I hope one day to be able to visit Australia as well.
11:48 AM
airforcewife said...
Those are awesome, I'm totally jealous...
9:31 AM