Last Day in Sydney

Yesterday was our last full day in Sydney and we started off the day by sleeping in-- again. (Our excuse is that we've had a bit of a bit of a head cold the past couple of days). It was dreary-just like the day before-- but since the rain was only intermittant, we went ahead and went to the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens. Between light showers, we saw some monstrous fig trees and great views of Sydney's famous bay, bridge and opera house. Also, we also saw a flock of noisy Australian Cockatoos on one of the lawns. During our hike through the gardens we spotted the USS Kittyhawk across the Wooloomooloo Bay (yes, this is really the name of the bay), which led to quite an excursion in and of itself that took up the whole afternoon (see Alan's blog). After that adventure we headed to Queen Victoria Arcade, an upscale shopping area. Sadly, I did not get to buy anything as the shops were about a half an hour from closing (I can't shop under pressure). So we headed up to Chinatown to Yee King, a restaurant specializing in northern Chinese cuisine. Neither of us got what we tried to order, but still enjoyed our meals immensely. We topped it off with ice cream. It was a great day but once again, exhausting!

This morning we left on the 1.5-hour flight to Melbourne (under bright sunny skies damnit). Syndey was definitely one of the parts of our trip that I was most looking forward to. Although the weather could have been better, it certainly didn't disappoint. It is an amazing city. Very cosmopolitan and with its many distinct neighborhoods, it makes me think of what San Fran might be like with a British flair. And the Opera House-- I could not take my eyes off of it. Dan would have had a field day with his camera. The other main attraction, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, was not as striking though as we expected it to be. It's got nothing on the Golden Gate Bridge.

--Kelly