December 23: We're off to the Land Down Under!

We flew out of Fukuoka early in the morning and had the plane almost all to ourselves. We were extremely impressed with Singapore Airlines. It was clean, comfortable, and they brought us all the beer, wine, cokes, etc. that we wanted. We even had several good movies to keep us entertained. They even made sure to move our seats to the emergency exit areas so that Brandon would have plenty of leg space.

Brandon was Very Comfortable

After 15 hours in the air and 5 hours at a Singapore airport, we finally arrived in the ‘Land Down Under.’ We were both exhausted (it was really difficult to sleep on the plane), however it was energizing to know we had reached our much-anticipated destination. We exchanged our money, grabbed the keys for our rental car and headed out the airport door. The instant rush of warm air was a nice change from the cold weather we were dealing with in Japan.

We quickly found our rental car in the parking lot all by itself. It was the right color and car model, but the car wouldn’t start. We checked to make sure the license plate number on the key chain matched the one on the car...it didn't. So, we unloaded everything and put it back on our suitcase cart and went to another car rental parking lot, where we found ours! We just laughed about it.

Wrong Car

Right Car

We each had different first impressions of the city. Brandon's first impression was that everyone was very overweight! After being in Japan, everyone just looked so unfit! I thought the atmosphere reminded me of America and England…with an Aussie accent. It was refreshing to understand the signs and everyone around us (for the most part).

The airport was about 15 minutes from the center of the city. We found our hotel quickly, too. The Marriott we stayed at overlooks Hyde Park and is in an ideal central location so that just about every area we wanted to see was in walking distance. And from the roof, there are spectacular views of the entire city. There’s even a pool up there!

Pool on the Rooftop

View of the City from the Hotel

Hyde Park as Seen from Our Hotel

We checked in, cleaned up and decided to roam around the city for some lunch. We found a spot at this courtyard eatery. The only downside…..birds. There were pigeons and these ugly birds that were waiting for the golden opportunity to snag people’s table scraps. In fact, we kept walking around after lunch and we spotted this guy who was having the same bird problem. It was pretty humorous watching the anxious birds.

One of Those Nasty Birds

Sarah Keeping an Eye on a Potential Thief Over Her Shoulder

Brandon With His First Australian Beer

Historic King Street

Downtown Christmas Decorations

After lunch and "bird watching" we made our way down to Circular Quay (pronounced like "Key" and not like "Quaid" as Brandon correctly guessed and rubbed in!) The sun was really shining down and began tanning our Japanese-winter paled skin. We saw an Aborigine man playing one of their famous instruments (I can't remember what it's called). It had a really cool sound and he was playing it along with a beat that was coming from the stereo next to him. He certainly didn't mind having his picture taken!

Aborigine Guy Giving the "Thumbs up" For a Picture

Just up the path we could look across the water at the world famous Sydney Opera House. It was really cool to be seeing such a famous landmark in person.

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House from Another Angle

Just Two Kids Enjoying Themselves with an Opera House in the Background

The Harbor Bridge was just a little further up the walkway, so we made sure to snap a few pictures there as well. While we were there, we just laid back and took in the awesome surroundings while we enjoyed a little relaxation in the shade.

The Famous "Harbor Bridge"

We made way back to our hotel by about 4p.m. and we planned on taking a power nap…which turned into a full-fledged 5 hour nap!

Sarah Looking as Beautiful as Ever Before We Go Out

After that, we were pretty alert and hungry for a bite to eat. Keep in mind, our hotel is on Oxford Street and we learned quickly that if you walk one direction, it’s quite a "colorful" atmosphere. It’s well-known as the gay district…novelty Shops, p.d.a., gay clubs and suggestive advertising were very visible. We opted for a slice of pizza, Coke and a spot on a park bench. We sat there in front of a convenience store and ‘people watched’ for about 30 minutes. It’s especially interesting at 11 o’clock at night! After that, we made our way back up to the hotel. We took advantage of the hot shower and were very eager to jump back into the king sized bed. Day one in Australia was a great start to a great adventure!