Last Day with photos - Mar 24

Summary: the full-sentence version of the last two posts and a preview of coming attractions

Going into the 24th, we had the choice of sleeping in, taking it slow, and getting to the airport a little before noon, or getting up early, taking a train into town, and seeing Sydney one more time. Naturally, we did the latter. I knew we'd be couped up together on planes and in airports with little change of scenery and I think Sydney is one of the most amazing cities on earth. Real tough call there.

It was about a 10 minute walk to the train station. The mist was light. We took our train from Mascot (where the airport Ibis was) to the downtown loop. There were a number of places to get off on that loop, but we chose St James (church, next to a big park) it would allow us to see the center of the city. We'd seen the bridge, opera house, circular quay, and The Rocks, but only driven through the city center. While it is home to many tall buildings, it does not feel nearly as intense as many downtown areas (New York, Chicago, or even San Francisco or Toronto). Traffic is not as aggressive, people a little less hurried. Note, I am stating this based on normal weekday experience, not my 7-10am Easter Monday experience. By the way, there really are quite a few things closed on Easter, Easter Monday, and Good Friday, unlike the US. The touristy things are open, but don't let that fool you - the dress store at the strip mall or the hardware store in your local suburb was closed. Friday and Monday are days off, and not just for schools and post offices. Anyhow, it was pouring and we were hungry. We enjoyed Starbucks and when we finished, it was just drizzling.

This particular neighborhood are is where all the nice hotels are (Hilton, Westin, Sheraton) and where most of the shopping is. Some of the walk-through arcades were open, some closed, but most every store that did not have the word "Cafe" in its title was closed. It was attractive and there were not many people to bump into. Seemingly every building had an awning, so we were not getting wet except when crossing streets.

Anyhow, having already summarized Sydney a few times, let me be brief. We walked around this area, then a couple blocks over to Darling Harbour. We walked all around Darling Harbour then went to the monorail. This first photo below was taken so that my memory of this specific spot would not be of Alex having a meltdown last time (new tooth inspired, I later figured out).

So we rode the monorail around this end of town and got back on the train to go back to the hotel. At this point, things went from very good to flawless. The train went by Circular Quay and in the time it took for us to walk downstairs and get on a train, the weather cleared entirely (below). The photos of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House look a little brighter than the others. We walked to the hotel from the train station. To this point, there has always been a line of people checking into or out of the hotel. At that moment there was none. We checked out, went upstairs to get our luggage, came down and caught the shuttle in four minutes. Then, we checked in and were told that I was upgraded (complimentary). On a 14-hour flight, this is a very good thing.

United put us in the Air New Zealand lounge, which had a really good kid's area. They also had lunch. It was a really nice lounge and a very good way to allow Alex to spend some energy before he got on the long metal tube. And as you can see from one interim post, they had internet as well. The flight was uneventful, but it was great to have such a good seat. Alex fell asleep before his meal came and he was a little grouchy towards the end, but all in all he did very well. Below, you see Alex in the "normal" part of the Air New Zealand lounge, then in Business Class.

Lots of people wondered about driving on the left, but few wondered if I could still walk/drive on the right. I had a dream (set in San Francisco) when I was in Australia. I realized halfway through the dream that the cars on my street in San Francisco were driving on the left. When we cleared customs at LAX, I automatically walked on the left. Jumping ahead to today, I drove OK but I turned on the windshield wipers with most turns and reached for the seat belt on the wrong side a couple times. Back in LA, we were able to use the Red Carpet club because we're Premier Exec with United and it was part of an international flight. I am not a member of the Red Carpet club, so if I was just flying LA-SF, I would have been out of luck. Just to make sure I had my bearings, I did ask the guy at the United Lounge "Is today a public holiday?" "Well, yesterday was Easter, but no." Glad I cleared that up. Welcome to the US - Our Stores are Open. I must admit I miss the concept of things closing now and then, but then when it happens I want them to be open. Here he is in the United Lounge.

So we boarded the final flight. Alex now has a habit of asking repetitive questions. He asks "What's your name?" and "What time is is it?"(second "is" in the original - every time). So on this flight, he asked again and again that we sit upstairs. Naturally, a 737 has no upstairs. He is now spoiled for life.

We landed in San Francisco a little early and got our luggage. TSA inspected one of my bags between customs at LAX and its arrival at SFO. Of course they picked the most tightly packed bag and showed that they are better at unpacking than repacking, because it came down the belt unzipped and in its own plastic bag. Oh well. Aneta showed up with a new hairstyle and some highlights. For once, I had the awareness to say "hey, you colored your hair!" One time, a friend of mine (who shall not be named, but he shares a name with Alex's penguin) mentioned her highlights before I did. I have not yet lived it down.

So what's next? Am I going to just shut this thing down? Not yet. I am going to write a little series on key learnings and major takeaways that others could use if a) visiting Australia, or b) taking a long trip. Then I will try to figure out if this can be published - even if just a few copies for some friends. Foreshadowing one of those key learnings, I am off to get a new mobile phone service.