Sydney

Still, we were in Sydney, and we weren't about to let 30 hours without sleep get in the way of fun! We checked into the hotel - and of course the first thing that I did was the obligatory geek check: filling the sink to the brim and emptying it. Yes that is totally invalid, but after a 15-hour flight I tend to get a little lenient on experimental protocol, and we were in Australia, for chrissakes!

We spent a week in Sydney - starting with a first look at famed Opera House, and ending with a concert, also at the Opera House. Perfect bookends to a great stay, before heading out to the Outback for a very different kind of adventure.

Sydney is a very nice city - it has the usual mix of old and new architecture, a plethora of things to see and enjoy, and very good transportation (train and bus). A wonderful place.

The Opera House	Harbour Bridge	Darling Harbour
The AMP Tower	The Buran Soviet space shuttle	The Sydney Aquarium
Featherdale wildlife park	More Sydney pictures

More little things that we noticed and which I unfortunately did not document either by sound or image:

• All pedestrian traffic signals make the most interesting sound when it's time to cross, a very computerese chirp that reminded me of the sound effects of the old Big Five Software TRS-80 games, back in the early 80s... Very useful for the sight impaired, and also very fun. I didn't record it, too bad. But I can still hear it in my head, and it will always remind me of Sydney.
• An astounding preponderance of convenience stores, absolutely everywhere. There doesn't seem to possibly be enough of a market for all of them, since they are about as common as Starbucks are on the West Coast of the US. But apparently all are doing brisk business.
• Délifrance. 27 Park Street. If you life French pastries (and who doesn't) this is the closest you'll feel to being in Paris, while actually being pretty much on the opposite side of the globe. They have awesome croissants and "pains au chocolat". Definitely worth a stop!

Next: The Sydney Opera House