Arrival in Sydney

Actually managed to get a little sleep on the flight from Hong Kong to Sydney so went out as soon as I arrived. Decided to make for the harbour. I walked through the botanic gardens to get there. I was confused at first because the rhodedendrons were in flower until I realised that of course it is Spring here. The gardens are quite large but once I caught sight of the Bridge I just had to make for it and then I saw the Sydney Opera House. You see these structures on Tv so often but to be standing in front of them in real life it just didn't seem possible. The other side of the world . Wow! I sat down ouside the Opera house with tea and cake and just absorbed the atmosphere.

I then wandered around the Rocks, a much older part of the city. It was much quieter there than I thought it would be so it was pleasant to just meander up and down some of the streets.

I returned to the hotel through the Botanic gardens and there right in front of me was a Kookaburra sitting on a post. It didn't seem that bothered and let me get fairly close to take a photo.

 I then noticed something moving near a tree. A possum was scrambling around. I moved as close as I dared and watched it for a little while before it disappeared amongst the branches. The huge eyes were great. It's seeing all this different wild life that makes travelling so exciting.

The hotel room is large and clean but internet access costs $13 which is almost £10 an hour - yes for one hour! I couldn't believe it. So there won't be much blogging going on from here. I have found a couple of places where wi-fi is free but that means I will need to spend time sitting in a cafe emailing/blogging in stead of exploring so it probably won't happen. I hope it won't always be this expensive in Aus. One good thing though I have found some decaf tea bags.

(Since writing this the hotel have amended their charges to $5 a day - Hooray!)