Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Down under

Well, I've already made Men at Work jokes on my Facebook and Twitter status. What's one more in my subject header.

So yes, we've arrived safe and sound. All things considered, remarkably smooth. After a four hour layover in Vancouver, we hopped on the plane for the 15 hour flight from there to Sydney. And I must say, if you absolutely, positively must spend 15 hours on board of an airplane, then Executive Class certainly is nice. I'm not sure, but I think the eight or so attendants they had taking care of the about 12 people in that section was overkill, but what do I know. And the food and beverages were lovely and all. But really, it's all about the pods. Those things are spiffy. We got in and as soon as the seatbelt sign went off, we reclined the seats back into a bed and promptly slipped into a 7 hour coma. By that time our bodies were telling us it was 4 am, so we were out like a light. Pity. We missed the salmon or veal course.

So far, so good in Sydney. From the time we left the plane until we were boarding our bus took 30 minutes, which has to be a record. The hotel is nice and all, but Sydney is a touch disappointing so far. Much like if you're in the heart of London you'll have the strain pretty hard to hear an English accent, it's pretty hard to find an Aussie one in this part of Sydney. But that's all right, we head out in two days to Cairns, where I imagine there will be more of an Australian feel.

It's also winter down here, so the sun sets early and people have absolutely no idea what to wear. We saw everything from summer dresses to winter parkas to, well, whatever the hell Japanese girls where when they go out (the awesome thing about them is they can absolutely pull it off. Nobody else could pull off ankle high lace boots with three inch heels, the scarves, the gloves and all that jazz, but they so can.)

Tomorrow's plan is still in flux. Might take a tour, might go down and see the Opera House. Hopefully the jet lag will be lessened. We thought we were doing well until we went back to the hotel around four to rest our feet. Then, when we woke up three hours later, we realized there was still some work to do.

More updates later.

1 comment:

In Iqaluit said...

Great to hear that you survived Executive Class.

I thought Sydney was meh but I thought it was because I had been on the road for a month traveling other countries and needed a break. It's not bad. Perhaps you just don't feel like you are some place exotic after all that traveling.

I am excited to hear about your travel to Cairns and the reef. Ooooh, it's gonna be hot and humid! And the racism towards Aboriginies is shocking. But still a nice place to be.

Be sure to drink some Aussie wine (just don't spill it).