Sydney – Day one

 

Well. Here we are. Back on-line once more. We are a bit zombiefied. We left Dubai at 10.30am on Thursday 18^th Feb for our 13.5 hours flight to Sydney. But Sydney is 7 hours ahead of Dubai (which is 4 hours ahead of the UK) so we arrived at 7.00am Sydney time (did you follow that?) No chance of sleeping on the plane and it was about 9.00am when we arrived at the hotel after a $55 taxi ride from the airport.

Disappointed to find the hotel (Mantra 2 on the corner of George Street and Bond Street) was full and no chance of an early check-in. At least we could leave the cases so we set out to see a bit of the city even though we were not exactly fighting fit. First job was to hunt out a computer shop to repair the PC but after trying a few it was clear that we were not going to succeed so I bought a USB keyboard after trying it out in the shop to make sure my dodgy “proper” keyboard did not prevent the USB one from working correctly AND IT DIDN’T. Great stuff. Just $25 wasted (around £15)!!

So remember children, don’t go playing with whisky whilst sat at the keyboard.

Dropped the new keyboard off at the hotel and went down to the waterfront (Circular Quay) where the ferries come and go. Only a short walk from the hotel and the first thing we see is the famous bridge. The very next famous thing we see is the new Queen Victoria docked right by us. How cool is that? The third most famous thing we see is the Opera House across the Quay. Took the odd photo or two. Then sat and had a glass of wine and a bite to eat. Then went to the farmers market and explored the Rocks area then fell asleep on our feet and went back to the hotel at Noon and by then a room was available so we checked in and went to the room and checked out for three hours.

When I say “Room”, being seasoned Time-share owners we actually booked an apartment. It is very nice but it doesn’t have the little touches we are used to with DRI. The furnishings and decor are fine but the kitchen utensils, crockery, cutlery and glassware are really minimal. Only one hand towel (but two bath towels) in the bathroom, no waste bin in the lounge, no dressing table in the bedroom. Little things like that. But, must remember, tons better than a standard hotel room (more expensive as well).

So, there we are. All settled in. All I have to do now is go downstairs to the lounge, set up my netbook, external keyboard and mouse, and pay a fortune to connect for a few minutes to upload this and download emails.