Ok, lets get settled in Sydney!

G'day again!

So, where was I?  Oh, yes we had just landed and been whisked through on our chariot and now found ourselves on Aussie soil!

It had been a long 24 hours, for me not too bad but for Pops it was starting to take it's toll.  As you both know, I am my fathers daughter in more ways than one (we are both ginger too), so lets just say that things got a little 'tense'!!  Nothing that a good sleep and a bit less walking wouldn't fix so it was on the shuttle bus for the trip to the hotel.  Add to that the fact that Sydney was in the grip of an unexpected spell of bad weather (and when I say bad I mean 24 hours before flights were cancelled, snow fell in the mountain and most of Sydney was without power and underwater!) added to lesson the expected joy of the start to this big adventure.  But fear not, there were surprises for Pops that would hopefully make amends for the fact that it looked (and felt) like we had just landed back at Heathrow in the grip of a hurricane....

We managed to avoid the Bridge and Opera House on the drive in, I wanted the first view of that to be special for Pops and hopefully the view from the room would suffice! The hotel appeared and first impression were good, apart from the fact that we had to come in round the back as the front reception was suffering the effects of last nights storm, and the contining rain was adding to it's impromptu water feature.

Then came our first problem and glitch to my ever planned itinerary.  It was 9am.  I was tired, tetchy and a bit wet, Pops was more tired, a bit more tetchy and also a tad damp and we were now being informed that the early check in I had asked for wasn't going to be 9am early.  Check in time was 3pm.  They were full to capacity after having to put up all the cabin crew and passengers from all the cancelled flights. I will spare you the details but in brief, after more tutting, head wobbling, glaring, snapping, bickering, eye rolling, apologising, drinking coffee to keep eyes open, fighting the wind and rain to find a cash point to feed the coffee habit we were developing to keep awake, and realising that Pops really wasn't up to what he was hoping for his first day and frantically changing the surprise I had planned for the first afternoon, we were finally shown to one room at 11am.  Thankfully it was his room. Mine would take a while longer And thankfully the view I had hoped for was even better and washed away the last 2 hours in one big gasp.

It really was gorgeous.  There lay before us the city, the harbour and the 2 iconic Sydney landmarks. And the room had more square footage than the Old's house put together! To say he was blown away made it all worth while.  So, I unpacked his case, settled him in and left him to have a shower and a well earned rest on his super king size bed in his fluffy hotel dressing gown (sorry for the mental image there if you were eating)

Now it was time for me to go do what I do and wander.  Thankfully the rain and wind had stopped, the sun was shining and the lure of that view was too much to handle.

I had a fabulous long walk down through Kings, Cross, through Hyde Park and onto the stunning Botanical Garden, drinking in the sights and sounds, the smell of the trees and flowers and marvelling at the fact there were so many runners enjoying the route through that takes you to the place were the iconic picture is taken.  Actually there were a lot of runners.  A hell of a lot.  And they were all waering numbers......yep, a marathon and I was wandering along through the middle of it!  No-one seemed to mind and they were puffing out of their arses and I was gleefully meandering in my clothes I'd had on for going on 36 hours.....

But the views were worth it, the sun shone and the walk back through what they class as the 'up and coming artist area' aka 'the shit hole with all the tramps in that we are doing up' beautifully named Wooloomooloo (yep, really) and finding the Harry's Chilli Dog stall that I had seen in my Rough Guide, eating said culinary delight in the view of the wharf and several seagulls, was just what I needed.

Back at hotel, room ready opposite Pops, view just as stunning (I can have a wee and see the Opera House!) I opened my case to find all my clothes wet through from where the case had obviously been left on  the tarmac in the hurricane after being unloaded from the plane.  For the love of God.  After positioning them all around the room to dry, I settled into bed for a snooze before deciding what to do that evening.

I will condense now but we both woke feeling better and apologised for the tetchiness, and decided that we would just walk over the road and have a drink in what is sure to become our local.

Fab idea.  We had 3 pints with water in between (Pops even went to the bar to get some!) and talked, laughed and generally had a great time.  He told me all the scrapes he and his mate Fred got up to as kids and I just know he will have so many more when they meet up.  The place was full of hotties (just my luck when I'm out with my Dad) so made sure that I kept calling him 'Dad' very loudly at every opportunity!

We finally decided to call it a night, so after a alcohol munchies run to the Woolies next door (it's a food shop) it was back to the hotel to sleep and get refreshed for our first full day.

And here I am, we are both awake and ready to go explore and make some memories.  The sun is shining and the rain is gone. 

So lets go do to it.  Have a great day follower and until tonight....

Oh, almost forgot Pops quote for yesterday 'It looks to me from the the bar that the Aussies couldn't give a Castlemaine XXXX about Fosters, they haven't got any.......' I do love him!!

TTFN