Friday 6 PM Sydney time...

we departed Cairns yesterday about 1 PM on a brand new Airbus plane that had only flown 3 prior flights. beautiful plane. i saw Monster in Law with jennifer lopez and Jane Fonda...too funny. forgot to previously mention on the trip over i also saw Must Love Dogs and it too was very cute. also saw Charlie and the Chocolate factory but i never could get into that movie...just didn't look like johnnie depp...

arrived sydney about 5 PM yesterday and took the train from Sydney to the train station closest to our hotel. that was a new experience for me and fun. we arrived our hotel about 6 PM (it took forever to get our luggage) and checked in. It is not a luxury fancy hotel but very european looking - clean lines = no frills but very comfortable and usuable and the best thing it is in a wonderful location with walking to everything you could want. Slept like a log last night.

this morning woke up to very gloomy skies and rain. it rained until about 2 Pm and then finally cleared. didn't stop us at all. we ate breakfast at this cute little place - The Gumnut Cafe - across the street from Stafford Hotel and then headed to the visitors centre to catch the on/off bus. We boarded it at 9 :30 and just barely got home at 6 PM.

We rode it around one complete loop which took 2 hours with onboard commentary about everything and then we started departing the bus at various places we wanted to visit.

First off stop was the Opera House. I took the tour - ned opted not to - his loss. It was a fabulous tour. The Opera House is an amazing structure. We got to sit in and watch the Australian ballet company practice for about 10 minutes in the smaller of the venues. The main concert hall (the largest of the two) is just a work of art.

Departed the Opera House and back on the bus until we finally made it to the Fish Market. It, too, was an amazing place. Lots of seafood retailers and fresh fruit and flowers and fresh baked goods and liquor store. Ned and I bought a barramundi fish and chips basket - $8. each and had more food that we could eat. Also bought a couple of rolls from the bakery and a small bottle of wine for me and we ate outdoors. BY this time it was beautiful sunshine.

it was a very useful day - did not have to wait for the bus at any one stop more than about 10 minutes. After leaving the Fish market we went to the Star City which is the casino/hotel complex.

They had tons of penny slot machines and we played for about 30 minutes. i doubled my money and ned broke even so it was an eventful trip.

Got back on the bus and came back home.

don't know what we are doing for dinner tonight. didn't eat at the fish market until about 3:15 so still not hungry.

The area we are staying in is the Rocks and they are having the Rocks Night Market tonight with live entertainment and food and drink. We may try that instead of going to a restaurant since we are not very hungry.

Also forgot to mention after we got settled in last night, we caught the 8 PM harbor cruise around the harbor for 1.5 hours . Just about froze to death and finally had to go inside but it was a wonderful cruise to see all the lights especially the bridge at night and the opera house.

Today in the miserable rain and cold the bridge climbers were out in full force...

Tomorrow we are going to the aquarium and also the QVB building. Also going to manly beach if our time holds out and the weather is good.

Sydney has met all my expectations. wonderful city with great old architecture.

More to follow tomorrow after we resume our second and last full day in Sydney. Our plane departs Sunday morning at 9 :30 AM for Auckland.