Down Under - Day Twenty Five, Sunday, March 2, 2014 - Sydney, Australia

STILL Soggy Sydney

Still Overcast and Rainy in Sydney.

It's still overcast and very cloudy this morning.  Stevie and I are trying to plan the day ... since we're here for another day because of a flight delay ...  until tonight.  Bonus day!  Yay!  And as with every day of this trip ... "I got up" ... then went to breakfast.

Harbor Bridge from walk way.

After breakfast, I went for a walk.  It was cloudy and a little misty, but I did not let that dissuade me and I'm so glad I went.  I walked across the Harbor Bridge, which was such a fun and scenic walk.  

Trouble, with a capitol "T" looking for a place to happen!! That's me!

I met a group of local college boys who were dressed so nicely.  They were on a scavenger hunt as part of a fraternity assignment, gathering clues from across the city.  We walked together for a while and I had to have my photo taken with them to send to Jeff at USC.  The outfits were so perfectly matched and charming and the knee socks added that little something extra, don't ya think?  Really fun kids.  

Queen Elizabeth is in port.

As I continued my walk down to the Wharf, I met an Aborigines gent, or as they refer to them in Australia, an "indigenous" gent, playing a digeridoo.   Turns out, he's been to the US and while there, got married 6 times.  

Aborigines Gent looking for wife number seven.  NOT ME!!

Said he loves America because the wives are so plentiful.  We talked for a while, I dropped a bill in his bowl and got the heck out of there.  Didn't want to be mistaken for wife number 7.  Ouch!!  But he did play interesting music on his digeridoo.  

Sydney Opera House

Next, I wandered down to the Sydney Opera House.  What an amazing structure.  I'm still reeling from my very FIRST Opera right here last night.  There were people from around the world circling the place.  I took dozens of photos of people and photo bombed a few others.  It's so much fun meeting people from around the world.  "Would you like a photo of you together?" seems to be understood in any language.  

Gotta love it.  She's still carrying a handbag on her walkabout.

I met some German kids who are backing packing across Australia for 6 months.  Notice the girl's pack BUT she's still carrying a handbag.   My kind of gal.

I continued on past the Opera House into the Botanical Gardens.  These folks are big on Botanical Gardens.  Seems to be one in every port.  The one in Sydney is huge and beautiful.  I only walked a short way into it before the rain started coming down pretty hard. So I pulled up my hood and ran back to the hotel.   

I caught my first glimpse of sunshine in Sydney when I arrived back in my room.  It didn't last long, but long enough for me to catch this photo.  See the sun shine on the Opera House???  Shortly after this photo, the rain set in again.

First glimpse of sunshine in Sydney.  

It's time to get packed up again and roll these suit cases down to the car to  to the airport.  Hopefully there will be no further delays.    And hopefully there is a very strong bellman coming up.

Well, the Bellman got the bags loaded in the car and we have been "collected" for our drive to the airport.  When we arrived at the terminal, a Qantas representative met us curbside to gather our luggage and Stevie and I.  She walked us through the check in process.  Actually, she parked us in the check in "lounge" and she took it from there.  It wasn't long before she came back to let me know that my bags were over the limit of 32 Kilos.  The luggage belt does not move if bags are over weight.  I was prepared to buy a bag to transfer 5K out of each bag to get the belt moving again, but the agent said, "No problem, Mrs. Wooley.  I have a couple of Samsonite bags that will work nicely.  Just transfer 5K out of each of your bags into the Samsonite bag and you'll be good to go."  Can you believe that???  I love Qantas!  Hope they don't decide to go on strike while we're over the Pacific Ocean.  That would definitely change the way I feel about them.

So now, Stevie and I are in the lounge having a nice "free" dinner and lots of free wine before we board our airplane at 9:00 and head for the good ole USA.   Can't wait to see you all!!  My last blog entry will come to you live from Los Angeles!!

Early in the Cruise.

By the way, I thought I should warn you.  This is what I looked like when we arrived.

This is what I look like now.  Just kidding, but this is what I feel like after a month of eating and drinking my way across the southern hemisphere.   I've turned Maui into a 4 syllable word.  Gotta hit the gym when I get back to make sure I don't need to shop where Bertha does.  Sorry Bertha.

Just had to end this blog with a laugh!  Look forward to seeing you all when I get back to the states.  Love for now.  Over and out.