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| Day 1: | Thru Wednesday, 4 September 2002 | ||
| New Thing: | Figuring out why everyone seems so dressed up, everywhere | ||
| Weather: | Mostly clear, low 60s | ||
| Money Spent: | $100.85 AUS | $55.62 USD | |
| 8:55pm, Mon., 2-Sept. | The Boy and I arrived at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and checked through ticketing and baggage. |
| 9:16pm | In a stroke of good luck or good timing, we were already at our gate. Which is both nice in the lack of a hassle getting checked in, but we had a whole lot of time to kill before the 11:05pm departure. |
| 9:32pm | The big spender purchases Tom Clancy's latest book, Red Rabbit, and 1 liter of water (at a cost of $3.75). I'm still hearing about him having to pay nearly $4 for water. |
| 10:23pm | They began boarding. By virtue of being seated in the rear of the Boeing 747-400 (seat 56D), we're one of the first to board steerage, after first class, business class, and the Premier travelers board, of course. |
| 11:01pm | The doors close, and it's apparent that beside us (56E) is... no one. And beside that seat (56F), no one. But beyond that (56G), some guy who was reading a J.R.R. Tolkien book, "Return of the King." (Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0618129111) |
| 11:11pm | We delay out take-off. Apparently, with a shift in wind conditions, we could either leave on time and circle Sydney (the airport doesn't open until 6am Sydney time), or delay on the ground. We delay in SFO, which consumes less fuel. Whatever. |
| 11:32pm | We're off and running. I particularly enjoy the status board thing that tells us the altitude, ground speed, and outside temperature. It wasn't long before we reached 36,000 feet, at a speed of something like 600 mph (942 km/h), and an outside temperature of -52°F (-47°C). |
| 11:53pm | The first of two or three films began, with Hugh Grant's "About a Boy." I think I might like to purchase it. It's not that it's a stellar film like "Gone with the Wind" or "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", but I just enjoy Hugh Grant's acerbic wit. (And yes, I recognize it's really the wit of the writers, but there you have it.) |
| 1:17am, Tue., 3-Sept. | The film ends, and Tubby apparently has scientifically determined that, what with it being 5pm Sydney time, it's about time to nap. I'm left alone with the Clancy novel, which doesn't bother me in the least. |
| 6:10am (-ish) |
The sleeping giant stirs, finds the quasi-lunch left for him is generally not to his liking, but gnaws on the Twix candy bar before setting the rest aside. He accepts the complimentary Pepsi, however, but neglects to share any with his feathered companion. Selfish turd. |
| 6:32am | Apparently, all that snacking on unshared soda and candy has tuckered him out, and he's making sleepy eyes again. Back to my book... |
| 10:40am | Yes, I'm aware we've already crossed the international date line, but I choose to ignore that until we land. Tubby stirs. |
| 10:42am | Drawn to the moving images and shiny objects depicted, the boy tunes into the National Geographic show on screen... something about dog shows, Best in Show, filmed in 2001 (yawn). |
| 12:47am | All programming is turned off in preparation for landing. Progress! Not that it was much trouble for me, but the remainder of the cabin returned their seats to the upright and locked position. |
*** All Times
are now in Sydney local time, which is +17 hours from Pacific Time.
*** |
|
| 6:03am | The wheels met the runway in a relatively smooth landing. |
| 6:17am | After clearing immigration and customs, we venture toward the lobby, where we're electrically welcomed to Sydney. |
| 6:26am | We make our way across the terminal to the train area. Sure, we could try the bus, or take a cab or hire a car, but where's the fun in that? |
| 6:31am | For a fee for $10.60 (about $6.50), we train from the International Terminal, via platform 1, to City Centre. The boy somehow concludes (which he argued was "logically") that we were to exit at Town Hall station. Referencing the hotel address being at 30 Pitt Street, illustrate Town Hall will land us on the 400 block, which would be many, many blocks from where I think we need to be. We disembark one station early at Wynyard and begin our wander. |
| 7:18am | Our wander, largely in ever-expanding concentric circles, has revealed that if we'd exited two stations before his "logical" choice, we would have been no more than two blocks from the hotel. Yes kids, the correct answer was Circular Quay (pronounced "key"). Note that for next time. |
| 7:57am | We arrive in the room, some 22 levels up. Nice view. Nice room. The boy draws a bath (for me to float about for a while), unpacks (after all, we're here for 18 nights), and settles in. |
| 7:59am | Some adventurous traveler he.... someone has already unpacked the laptop, sorted out the power issues, and booted up. Nerd. |
| 8:37am | Sufficiently bathed, time for a nap. Not that we're particular tuckered out, but it postpones having to ferret out a worthy outdoor activity. |
| 1:53pm | We venture onto the street. They're very helpful here... or tired of having tourists getting run down at intersections. |
| 1:56pm | Things aren't so different. Even the police cars look about the same. |
| 2:03pm | Trying to get a jump on things, Tubby purchases a train pass to get to Chatswood and back, for $84 ($51 US). Arguably, cheaper than cabs. And what's more rustic than local, public transportation? |
| 2:14pm | We walk along the path toward the Opera House, stopping for a photo op. |
| 2:17pm | By going around the bend, we find a lovely place for a walk about... the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain. |
| 2:24pm | The gardens are strangely calm and peaceful, considering the financial district looms just a few hundred meters away. |
| 2:29pm | If you follow the bath, you'll find not only more of the same lush garden setting, but some fairly decent views of the Opera House and financial district, from afar. |
| 2:42pm | Either by virtue of the park being frequented by people, or because I'm another bird of feather, the locals didn't fly away as we approached. |
| 3:04pm | I realize this is a cinema, yet, I don't recognize a single film name. Am I that out of touch? Nah, not possible. |
| 3:22pm | At the cusp of fine dining, McDonalds. It was our first real interaction with locals, and despite speaking the same language, the subtle differences are present. And, it gave us further opportunity to examine the issue of Australian currency. And the interaction only set us back $6.25 (about $3.80 US). |
| 3:48pm | Back in the room, for me to update the page (finally), and for Tubby to, well... do much of nothing. |
| 6:18pm | Gets dark fast here. Maybe 90 minutes ago was the prelude to a sunset, and before you know it, nothing but night-time... which means it's time to prowl around and see what goes on after the sun disappears behind the horizon. |
| 7:52pm | Yup, color me surprised. The boy sat down in front of the computer (without even connecting to the outside world), and is still there... by causing a stir, though, I got him to go outside at long last. |
| 7:54pm | As we're packing up to go, I can't help but notice the flock of seagulls (actual birds, not the 80s Band) circling in the lights over a nearby building. Odd, I thought to myself, and then odd, I wrote here. |
| 8:08pm | It's sort of surreal how some streetlights and neon signs can transform the same view six hours ago into something so different. |
| 8:28pm | The same could be said of the financial district's skyline at night. |
| 9:05pm | Back in the room for the evening, but not before locating a convenience store and a sandwich shop... both of which I suspect will come in useful in days to come. All in all, I suppose it's been a longish day. Ta-ta! |