Sydney!

Hello, everyone!

 

Sorry for the delay in getting back to posting. But I am safely arrived in Australia with my mom and SR, and we are having grand and busy time. (Will I ever plan a trip that is so leisurely I do not have to struggle to find time for blog posts? Doubtful, I guess.)

 

Our plane landed in Sydney on Monday morning (Sunday was totally lost to us, due to crossing the International Date Line, but we'll all make up for that on our respective flights home, which will happen in one LOOOONG day), and we were greeted at the airport by M&P, my parents' great friends who call Sydney home.  (They will make another blog appearance in a couple weeks when we attend their daughter J's wedding and then they come with us to Tasmania....patience!) They ushered us through our car rental process, the drive to their apartment, and a walk--past a tree full of lorikeets!:

 

--to a sweet breakfast spot where we had our first Australian meal. (I'll complain about this just once, and then I'll shut up and you'll just know why there won't be too much food talk during this leg of the trip: The restaurants/food here is SO EXPENSIVE, I am just going to eat directly from grocery stores 95% of the time I am here!)

Then a walk for our first real views of the city in all its glory.

Our time in Sydney was far too short, part of it was spent napping to try to overcome jetlag, and the rest of the time we just kind of took it easy, as my mom has been here before, and SR and I will be back again at the end of our trip. But we did hit some of the iconic essentials, including the opera house, where we saw a great production of the play "Noises Off"...

...and got to enjoy it's great view of Harbour Bridge (which, no, we are not climbing due--again--to the absurd cost).

And P also sweetly drove us down to Bondi Beach for a look-see and walk in the powder-fine sand.

That day also happened to be my mom's birthday. I won't directly tell you how old, except to say that there are now at least two Beatles songs that apply to her. Happy birthday, Mama!

There is a big, big country to explore, so though it's too soon, "so long" to Sydney for now. We'll be back!