Everything we'd hoped for: Sydney Day 1

Once again, we had to set the alarm to wake us at an ungodly hour (4:00am) for our flight to Sydney. The cab was right on time at 4:30, but we hit a bit of a snag because there was no one in the office at the hotel, there was no late night key drop, the reception desk had no voice mail, and no one answered the after-hours emergency number. Comforting! We ended up leaving the key in our room with a note and speeding off to the airport. I hope they don’t charge me exorbitant fees or anything, but we had to get the flock out of Cairns. We got coffee at the airport and were generally sullen about being up so early and worrying about the Cairns hotel, but we had to laugh when we saw 4 or 5 young guys waiting in the airport lounge, having beers at 5:00am. I doubt they went to sleep at all! We boarded our flight to Sydney and were glad to see that we had been assigned the exit row. Extra space for tall people!

As we flew, I looked out the window and took in the landscape. Everyone, I read books about Australia before I came here, and I know it is a big place, but seriously, you cannot imagine how vast and forbidding this place is until you see it. As we flew south over Queensland, I saw no towns – not one. There were no highways, there were incredibly few rivers, there were no amber waves of grain. It was just dead brown desert for as far as the eye could see for the entire flight (until we neared Sydney, of course). Australia is the same size as the continental US, but even knowing that does not make you realize the scale of this place because the US feels so small to us. This place is what it would be like if nearly everyone in the US lived on the east coast and the rest of the continent was a barren wasteland. It is absolutely amazing that people were dropped off here and told, “good luck,” and they did it. I am sure everyone knows that Australia was initially populated mostly by criminals, but I was surprised to learn that these were not murderers and the absolute scum of the UK; many of them had committed non-violent crimes and were exiled to this completely forbidding land a 9-month boat journey from Europe and basically forgotten. It is amazing that they did it. It is really a testament to the will of people to survive.

It was a picture perfect day in Sydney, 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, so we headed out immediately to Circular Quay

We landed in Sydney, collected our bags, and booked the oh-so-familiar airport shuttle bus to our hotel. All I can say is, the driver must be paid by the number of people he takes, not by the hour, because he crammed 11 of us into the van, making a little Asian girl squeeze into the back row with 3 of the guys we saw drinking beer at 5:00 in Cairns. You can imagine how that went. Ours was the last stop for the shuttle, and we were glad to get out.

Once again, Gretchen’s reward points have treated us well. We checked into the Sydney Marriott and were thrilled to learn that we were on the executive floor and were invited to use the hospitality suite. If you don’t know, that is a room they have that provides free breakfast in the morning, free drinks and appetizers around dinner time, and free cake and coffee all day. We realized right away how much money we would save, because we would only have to pay to eat lunch – and don’t forget, the room itself is free too! The Marriott is beautiful, of course, and our room was terrific. The bathroom had an impossibly huge tub, and our windows look right out on Hyde Park, the Sydney Tower, and the ANZAC memorial. And it is free, free, free!

It was a picture perfect day in Sydney, 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, so we headed out immediately to Circular Quay (that’s pronounced like “key”) to see the sights. We walked through the park to St. James rail station and took the train one stop to Circular Quay. You are all familiar with this area, whether you know so or not, because it is where the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are. We walked over to the Opera House, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to go inside for a tour on such a glorious day, so we planned to do it later (they forecast showers for Thursday, so we planned to do it then). Instead, we ambled around the Quay and just reveled in the fact that we were in Sydney, finally! It is absolutely terrific, 100% worth the wait. We bought tickets for a dinner cruise from an incredibly nice guy right at the ferry terminal who threw in open bar for free. Nice!

After we bought the tickets, we decided to head over to the Harbour Bridge because Gretchen wanted to do the BridgeClimb in the good weather – this is a 3-hour proposition in which you put on a wind suit and get clipped to a safety line and actually climb up stairs to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. If you remember, this is where they lit the torch for the Sydney Olympics. This was all Gretchen, because I am not so much on board with the open stairs hundreds of feet above a watery death. First, though, we had lunch in The Rocks, the historic district of Sydney. We shared a calzone and garlic bread at an Italian restaurant that is one of these places that collects celebrity visits. Apparently, Aerosmith was there in the ‘90s and liked the minestrone. After lunch, we went to BridgeClimb and Gretchen signed up. While she was doing that, I checked out the wall of celebrities there. Many famous people have done BridgeClimb, including the absolutely sublime Matt Damon. Hi baby! BridgeClimb gave Gretchen a free pass to the pylon lookout of the bridge, which was cool because that’s what I had planned to do while she was climbing the bridge like a crazy person. They whisked her away and I headed out to the pylon.

It’s a good thing I didn’t do the BridgeClimb, because the pylon had an elevator with free hot cocoa and neck massages in velvet chairs on the way up. You guys, I wish. The thing was full of stairs, open metal stairs that made me a little dizzy. It did, however, have interesting displays about the history and building of the bridge as the stairs went up, so I was able to learn while I regained my composure a few times on the way. I learned that the bridge is not the longest of its kind in the world, but it is considered the greatest because it is so heavy (52,800 tons) and can bear so much weight. I thought it was interesting that they built the bridge from both sides at the same time and met in the middle. The bridge was finished after 5 years of construction in 1931 and prior to that, everyone went from the south part of Sydney (Circular Quay) to the north shore on ferries. People still do that, but I can’t imagine Sydney without the bridge – of course, at the time it was built, there was a faction of people who didn’t want the skyline changed. Of course. I got to see pictures of the harbor in 1931 and it was funny to see Sydney without the Opera House. I am sure when we go there on Thursday, they will tell us that the people of the city resisted it when it was first built.

Anyway, I got to the top of the pylon just before 2:00, which was in plenty of time to see Gretchen’s group as they went up the arch of the bridge. I took some great pictures of the Opera House and the skyline. It was incredibly windy, but I could not stop looking. At 2:45 I saw Gretchen climbing the bridge. She waved, as we had arranged, and I took pictures and waved back like a crazy person. By this time I was pretty windblown so I headed down the vertigo steps and explored the Rocks, thinking how nice it would be to find a bookstore, grab something light, and sit in the park. Guess what? No bookstores in the Rocks. So I went shopping! I got an opal necklace, which I will definitely wear more often than a t-shirt. The opals here are awesome; in addition to the light-colored ones you are thinking of, there are bright rainbow ones, red ones, every color. Mine is deep, deep blue and purple. Beautiful! At 4:00, the wind picked up, so I ambled back to BridgeClimb to wait for Gretchen. We met up and walked back to Circular Quay rail station to get changed for dinner. She told me that BridgeClimb was awesome, that they all wore little headsets and the guide talked to them the whole time so she was not scared. They told her to watch her feet the whole time they were climbing and descending, so she felt safe. I am glad she got to do it, but I am also glad I didn’t.

We got back to the hotel and changed into dress-up clothes for our dinner cruise, and then we headed up to the hospitality suite for some before-dinner drinks and appetizers. At 6:45 we went down to the lobby and grabbed a cab to Darling Harbour to get on the boat. The boat was awesome; it was in the style of a Mississippi paddleboat. We were seated on the upper level and our waiter was at the table within seconds. We each asked for a glass of sparkling wine, but since we had the open bar option, he skipped the formality and just brought us the whole bottle. Oh boy!

At 7:30 the boat pushed off from the dock, just as the sun was starting to set. We grabbed our glasses and ran out to the deck to take in the sights. It was awesome! We saw people on ferries passing the riverboat; when they waved, we toasted at them and waved back. Gretchen pointed out Nicole Kidman’s and John Travolta’s houses on the way (they’d shown them to her on BridgeClimb). The boat made its way to the Circular Quay area and it was at that time that the photo shoot began. The sun was setting behind the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, and I got tons of gorgeous photos. Unbelievable! We had a Top Model photo shoot as well, me with the Opera House and Gretchen with the bridge. It was terrific. We went back inside, finished the wine, and ordered dinner before going back out for more photo opportunities. I was thinking the whole time, I can’t believe I am in Sydney! It is as terrific as I had hoped.

When we came back in the second time, we saw that our waiter (without our having to ask) had brought a second bottle of wine to the table. Oh boy! We were a little windblown so we sat inside for a bit and watched the birthday and anniversary toasts. As we were chatting, we realized that our parents were married on exactly the same ridiculously hot day in 1970. Wow! Hi Moms and Dads! The entertainment started around 9:00, when the boat’s magician called some Japanese honeymooners to the stage to do some tricks with him. At 9:30, the musical revue started. It was a little bit of Vegas on the Mississippi riverboat in Australia. I know! They sang some of my favorite old songs, including “Big Spender,” “Copacabana,” the version of “Roxanne” that was in the movie Moulin Rouge, and “Shall We Dance?” from The King And I. I think you all know I love this sort of thing, so I totally loved it. Gretchen went outside at one point during the show and, I am sorry to tell everyone, located the Sydney office of her firm.

I am not going to lie to everybody: By the time the cruise was over, we were a little tipsy, by which I mean Gretchen was a little tipsy and I was drunkity drunk drunk. I think the waiter brought more wine while I wasn’t looking. Also, sad news: My favorite black and white flip-flops broke. I know. They served honorably, including accompanying me on a harebrained 8-hour trek around the streets New York City this summer, but we all knew it couldn’t last forever. Farewell, flip-flops! We got back to the hotel and I fell asleep immediately. Gretchen slept in her hotel robe. I think Gretchen wants to marry the hotel. What a day!