Sydney in the heat

OMG what a flight.  I think if they took one more inch off the distance between seating rows you could not move at all.  I actually did sleep though, but woke with painful arms and legs.  There is just no room for moving on a plane.  We did, however, get dinner at about 12 M our time, and then breakfast at about 6 AM Sydney time.  Airplane food, what can I say ‽

I never realized how much water there is around Sydney (but why would I even have thought about it?)  The runway is just like San Francisco, in that you come in over the water.  QANTAS is interesting in that they have a camera on the tail of the plane so you can see what the plane is doing.  Very interesting seeing what the pilot sees, and watching your landing from that vantage point.

Sydney Opera House from the back

It is HOT here in Sydney (41 ˚ If you don't know metric, look it up.), not an enjoyable thing when going through Customs and Immigration.  Had to find the bus service for the trip, and, as usual, there seems to be a million people getting in your way. Tanis and I succeeded in all this, and ended up at the Sydney Harbour Marriott.  We are on the 23rd floor, and this is the view from our window.

Opalized mollusks

After a shower and nap, Tanis and I set out in the heat to exchange money.  We looked at some opal at an opal museum (Of course, silly, what else would you look at in an opal museum?) and then back to the hotel.

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

We met with the rest of the group from the US and Canada for a very nice get acquainted dinner.  A very nice group which will be joined by some more from Australia and New Zealand.  Food was very good, and nicely presented, but the best was Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta, which had a wonderful mixed berry sauce on the top.  So good I had to take a picture of it.  Boy, was it good.