Now in Sydney!

What a whirlwind the past few days!!  Melbourne was marvelous!  Flight was on time and we saw "Super Shuttle" before we found a taxi so we took it in to town... quite efficient!  Turns our our hotel was right on the edge of China town so after getting checked in and having a couple of drinks, we headed out for a little walk around the block to explore th neighborhood!  We felt quite safe.  Well, except that we're still learning to look for oncoming traffic in "backwards" lanes!

We found a little Chinese restaurant where some 18-20 young folks had congregated.  They were talking and laughing and it made us feel young again. 

On Sunday, the weather was PERFECT for our hot air balloon ride!  We were picked up around 4:30, yes AM and had an hours drive out to the winery.  There, we checked in and along with some 46 other folks we headed out to the launch site.  Three balloons were going up each with 16 people.  Having other balloons in the air certainly gave the flight more perspective.  And, once we were up, we could see another group of 4 balloons off in the distance over the valley.  And, we could see a couple over Melbourne some 40-50 miles away!  What an exhilirating experience!

After the flight, we all went back to the winery for the traditional champagne toast and a fabulous breakfast... yes, the champagne continued to flow freely!

Back at the hotel around 11am or so, we laid down to finish the prior night's sleep!  We spent Sunday afternoon at the Melbourne Museum.  Wish we could have spent more time as there was so much to see.  There we did learn about "concession" rates!  Anyone over 60 gets the senior discount! 

Dinner on the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant was very good and a delightful experience.  I would highly recommend it!  There were 3 separate tram cars each which held 36 passengers.  We did learn that the booths are completely stationary thus folks of large girth could get wedged in!  We'd eaten a lot on the ship, fortunately not THAT much!

Monday was a "free" day.  Fortunately we'd done the museum on Sunday as we had more time to explore other areas.  We learned about a free tourist bus that makes a 1.5 hour loop around the city and has "hop on - hop off" privileges.  And, we always like "free"!  One place we for sure wanted to see was the Eureka 88 Skydeck.  We got off at the nearest stop to there.

Like the museum, they offered a Concession rate and the 10% off coupon we had also applied!  Saving a few dollars never hurts!

Up 88 floors is less than 40 seconds.  The "lift" works with hydraulics rather than cables and was an extremely quiet and smooth ride.  On the 88th floor, you can walk around and see all of Melbourne spread out for miles.  Also on this floor is "The Edge", a glass "box" that slides out about 3 meters (10') from the building!  Tom wasn't up to it but I couldn't resist!  Looking straight down, I could see the ground some 1,000' feet below!  Actually, I was a bit disappointed that I felt no fear whatsoever!

Wednesday 2/9, we took the train up here to Sydney.  It was about 11.5 hours and almost all the way was in daylight.  What a relaxing way to get from Melbourne to Sydney... going through the beautiful south eastern Australia countryside and a beautiful sunshiney day!  And we did see a couple of wild kangaroos!

It was a short taxi ride to our hotel, another Marriott, this one right at Circular Quay (pronounced "key").  Circular Quay is adjacent to "The Rocks", where the original colonization of Sydney took place.  And, this is all in a harbor between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the point that the Opera House sits on.  Where I'm sitting as I write this (the 30th floor of the Marriott), I'm looking out on the Bridge.

Yesterday (Wednesday), we took an all day tour out to the Blue Mountains.  Fortunately, the sun came with us and we had a beautiful sunshiney day!  When we'd arrived in Sydney on the ship last Saturday, it was rainy and dreary!

There were 12 of us on a mini-bus.  We could not have had a better driver/guide than Jim!  He is very proud of his state and country and truly knows the history of the area.  And, on top of all of that, he had a delightful, albeit dry and a touch "corn-ball", sense of humor.  In addition to the Blue Mountains, we got a mini-tour of the 1996 Olympic grounds.  Extremely impressive!  From there, we left Jim and boarded a ferry down the Parmetta (?) River back to Circular Key to end an exhilirating day!

Back at the hotel, we freshened up and went to the Lounge for a couple of drinks.  We totally splurged on our hotel here and have access to the Executive Lounge.  And, that includes breakfast, cocktails and snacks in the evening and water and soft drinks in the afternoon!

Today (Thursday, 2/11) has been a "free", i.e., nothing pre-planned, day.  We walked over to the Opera House, about 15 minutes, and from there into the Royal Botanical Gardens.  We must have spent 2 or more hours just wandering through there... so beautiful.  And, hearing birds we recognized, we looked high up in a ficus tree to see a pair of yellow crested cockatoos!  Yes, they are wild birds here.

That's it for now!  It is 3:43pm on Thursday as I sign out here in Sydney!  Two more days and we'll be headed home!
ruth