From Singapore to Sydney!

Where to begin...how about the part where a baby sitting next to me through up. On our flight from Singapore to Sydney that left at 2 am, we were given great seat with extra legroom. About an hour into the seven hour flight, the baby through up, none actually touching my skin, but getting all over the floor, seat, my purse, and a little on my blanket. Gross! You'd think cleaning it up and helping the poor woman and baby would become the flight attendants' top priority, but nooooo, "we'll be back in a little while." They continued serving drinks from the cart and scooting right on by. I was none too happy, and insisted they let us move seats. About a half hour later, they let us move, unfortunately right next to the bathroom with super bright lights.

Anyways, the next 5 hours were spent in and out of sleep and delirium. At one point, we were woken up and told we had to go back to our old seats to which I just responded practically in my sleep, "no way."

Ahhhh, Sydney! So. incredibly. amazing. We got checked into our hotel and out on the town around 2 pm. We caught a bus to Paddington Markets, which was so classy! There was jewelry, fashionable clothing, art, food, and more creative stuff. We grabbed some lunch, which was cooked on the barbie, and then took a bus to Circular Quay, where we caught our first glimpse of the one and only Sydney Opera House.

We then walked around the Rocks and through the market there, but since it was almost 5 they were closing. We then got a burger at G'day Cafe and ate down by the water looking at the ferries and opera house. The opera house wasn't as white as I imagined, but fabulous none the less. We then walked down George Street to Darling Harbour. Everyone was soooo dressed up, except us. Also, it has been so long since I've seen many drunk people (a beer in Singapore costs far too much) that it was weird to see everyone drinking at restaurants (most are BYO) and even the occasional drunk group. They're so friendly here though and drunk people seem to love to talk to us. Most people were either eating at the fancy restaurants around the harbor, or getting ready to go on one of the numerous night cruises that were leaving from Darling Harbour.

At sunset we caught a ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay, which goes right under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. And right as the last bit of sunlight was lighting up the buildings, a full rainbow appeared (I wanted to make a video, but sadly it wasn't a full double rainbow). We then took the train back close to our hotel and ate dinner at Nando's, a chicken place we'd heard about from Lionel. It lived up to the hype. Because it's after midnight here, I think I'll stop there. Just know that so far we've survived 4 of our 6 days and at least 20 miles of hiking. More on those adventures in the 'bush' to come!