Happy Australia Day!

G'day Mate!  After a 9 and a half hour flight we arrived in Sydney at 9:15pm on Tuesday and took a taxi to our hotel.  By the time we got organized and settled at was just after midnight.  Our room was a bit of a let down after our luxury suite in Thailand!  The whole room and washroom here easily could fit into the bedroom of the one in Thai.  It is a 40+ year old  45 story hotel right downtown.  We are on the 13th floor .....lucky eh!  But we have awesome views, a roof top patio and pool and it's within walking distance of almost everything.

Wednesday we got up early Aussie time (16 hours ahead of the homeland).  Took a nice leisurely walk down to Darling Harbour and Cockle Bay.  There are big celebrations here today.  It's Australia Day .... Music, dancing, eating, drinking, boat parades, F18 flyovers (very loud), speeches from the both premier and the governor of NSW and fireworks.  We went to Hyde Park around noon where they had various food vendors, stuff for the the kids, a classic car show and music.  Enjoyed some Thai food for lunch in the park.

Nice to be here to participate in this national holiday and yes we picked up an Aussie flag.    Footnote:  Eating out is very expensive here so we picked up a few groceries from Woolworths and also did our laundry at the hotel in the morning.  Had salad and a sandwich for dinner and then headed back down to Darling Harbour for the fire works.  They were absolutely awesome and included a sailboat parade around the bay with changing lights and music.  Very impressive! Tomorrow ..... we hope to get out on the water... stay tuned!