Travel Day Part II and Our First Few Days In Aus

Travel Day Part II
There is no doubt about it....flying to the other side of the planet takes time. In total Ginny and I were in transit for over 24 hours; 18 of those hours were on a plane. The entire trip went very smoothly from our arrival at Toronto's Pearson Airport. The US Customs Officer was in a jovial mood, the security people [in Toronto and LA] were moving people through quickly and all of our luggage arrived with the two of us.
We worked our 14 hour flight from LA to Sydney to perfection - maximize sleeping, drink lots of water, and move around the cabin to keep stretched out. And when we arrived at 6 am Sunday we felt quite good - more like getting to bed late then having to get up early. Tired but able to function.
Ginny's brother picked us up, and before you knew it we were at Bondi Beach with he and our sister-in-law. The plan was to keep us awake all day. So we walked, drove around, and towards the end of the day we were swimming in the Pacific. Beautiful. But by 6 pm we were bagged. The eyes were droopy and we almost fell into our dinner plates. Needless to say we, went to bed immediately after dinner, and slept for 10 hours.

First full day in Sydney
After a great night's sleep Ginny and I woke up refreshed. We put on our running gear and ran to the beach [20 min away] for a morning dip.
Then it was off to explore. We headed to the CBD [Central Business District] on the bus. Then we hopped on to a tour bus to get a lay of the land. Sydney is a fantastic city with an amazing mix of heritage buildings, modern architecture, and an incredibly beautiful and vibrant waterfront. And there are plenty of visual markers to keep one oriented in the proper direction. We only had a sample today, but during our time here we plan on getting the full experience.

Over the next few day we will spend some more time in Sydney, then head off toPort Macquarie for the IM.

Talk soon. And here are a few photos.

Photo 1: Welcome Sign at the Airport
Photo 2: Ginny and Drea at the Beach
Photo 3: Ed and Roxy, our tour guides and wonderful hosts
Photo 4: Rubbing the nose of the lucky boar outside Sydney Hospital (guess what I wished for)
Phot0 5: Sydney Harbour Bridget a.k.a The Hanger