Final Flight

"Promised Land", Alice Springs, Northern Territory

Today began with a wee wander sound Alice Springs, and when I say wee, I mean a couple of blocks! Fortunately that lead me to Stuart Terrace, heritage precinct. I had a choice of the Reptile House, the Pioneer Women's Wall of Fame and the Royal Flying Doctors historical tour to visit. Unfortunately, even though I decided to have a long lie after all my recent early mornings, 9am was still too early for any of them to be open. After taking a few shots of the old buildings along the precinct I stumbled upon this garden at the end of the street, full of rusting old cars. The Promised Land was a youngster compared to some of the others, which at one time wouldn't have looked out of place in Bonnie and Clyde. I didn't want to walk in so I could only take a few shots over the fence.

Arriving at the airport with a couple of hours to spare, I checked in at the Qantas desk. It's funny, but the only airline who have ever questioned my luggage allowance on domestic flights are these guys. Fortunately their computers have everything in order and to the surprise of the staff, I don't get charged extra. Apparently the Emirates allowance is more and since my first flight was with them, I automatically get this applied. Hahaha, and with all my paranoia (what, me?!!) about having only one piece of carry on luggage, I had to laugh as others carried on two or more! This would be my final internal flight of the holiday and I have to say that it was great. The 737 was fitted out with the same in flight entertainment system as the international flights and since it wasn't full, I had a free seat next to me, so it didn't feel as tight as the flight to Ayers Rock a few days ago. The only problem was that the flight was too short for me to see a full film. First thing I will be doing when I head back is watching the last twenty minutes of Oz The Great and Powerful. Don't tell me how it ends! ;-)

The flight to Sydney was uneventful. In an isle seat, I didn't get a great look out the window, so I wasn't able to catch sight of the iconic skyline as we flew over the city. After picking up my baggage, I decided after my great experience in Melbourne with the shuttle bus, to do the same thing in Sydney, rather than the train link service. BIG mistake! I spent the next hour waiting for a bus to turn up. Several passed and stopped but none that I could take. When the bus did turn up... OMG! Talk about service with a smile! Hahahahaha, maybe it was coming towards the end of a long, hard day, but even still. I think I was asked four times where I was going, in spite of me telling him and the fact that it was printed and highlighted on the ticket! There was a wee bit of a delay as someone who had printed their documentation off of the Internet tried unsuccessfully to get on board. The next three quarters of an hour was spent making our way through the Sydney traffic, zipping in and out of lanes. Fortunately I was first stop. As I wished my fellow travellers well, I collected my luggage from the trailer and headed into the hotel. In spite of the door to door service, I discovered that Central Station was just 5 mins down the road. If you ever come to Sydney, don't get the shuttle bus!

After checking in, and taking a quick look out my 15th floor room, I headed off into town. It's about a half hour walk from the hotel to circular quay. The sun had set and the buildings were lit up. I took notes for tomorrow (I didn't bring the camera) as I wandered along College Street and through Hyde Park Gardens, along Macquarie Street and down to the quay.

Wow! To see the city from Circular Quay for the first time, all lit up like a Christmas tree was amazing. I headed straight for the Opera House. It was getting on for 8pm so the nights performance of La Traviata had already begun. The doors to the bar were open and I stood and watched the performance on the tv screens set high on the walls for a wee bit before taking a wander around the building. It's such an amazing structure to view up close, and as I discovered, almost impossible to shoot! :-) It's also covered in barriers and safety cones at the moment due to building works! Grrrrrr... Did they not know I was coming? ;-)

I then took myself off around the quay, taking a look at the menus of all the outdoor restaurants that line it. Settling on one at the bottom of The Rocks, I had some dinner before heading back to the hotel to settle in. I think I'm going to like Sydney.