On A Walkabout

The only good thing about our first night in Sydney is that both of us were up at 7:30 AM the next day. Like the good little Americans we are, we went to Starbucks for a coffee and then walked around Hyde Park. It was gorgeous and reminded me of Balboa Park in San Diego.


Statue at entry of Hyde Park


St. Mary's Cathedral




Hanging out in the grass.


View of the Sydney Tower from Hyde Park


Captian Cook Statue in Hyde Park


ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Army Corps) War Memorial

Zzzzzzzzzz.......

What a full day we had yesterday, but first I need to describe our first night in Sydney. We came back to our hotel room and were excited about dinner and drinks in the Rocks neighborhood only to be violently confronted with jet lag. It was honestly like someone drugged us. We became so tired so quickly that we both decided to order out for dinner and use our first night as a night to catch up. Soon after that Lindsey experienced what she calls her "head melting into the pillow". It was bizarre! Our food came and the delivery man and the receptionist tried, to no avail, for a half hour to wake us up! We finally woke up, ate three bites and promptly went back to sleep. So needless to say our first night was not too exciting.

Pictures to come!

Pictures and more stories to come soon! Internet and computer power plug issues!

Sydney Virgins

Well, our first day has been full of quirks. Lindsey and I decided to meet at baggage claim since we were on different flights. This proved difficult as my unlocked Iphone cannot make out of country calls apparently. But fortunately the international terminal at Kingsford Smith airport is very small and we randomly ran into each other. Lindsey had apparently not had very good experiences with the Australians at this point and her favorite and most kind person was the vendor at the airport McDonalds who offered her a candy cane. Anyway, we grabbed a shuttle to take us to our hotel and realized this was the ride of a lifetime. He was looking at what appeared to be a Australian Thomas Brothers which was scary clue number one. He kept talking in a foreign language that I couldn't identify. Not that we are that traveled but you think we could figure out what language he was speaking. Scary clue number three was that he was driving very fast and taking chances at every move with 12 people packed into what appeared to be a Honda Civic. I rode in the front, vW owes me, and Lindsey rode on the "jump seat". We somehow made it to our hotel and checked in where we learned it was the day the public observes the national holiday of Boxing Day. Soo......in the words of our hotel staff, "nothing is going to be open today". Bummer.

We decided to walk around, even though it was mildly raining, and I will go so far as to say cold. We walked down to Darling Harbor and then back up to what we believe to be the Times Square of Australia. (It is exactly like Times Square in New York but with lots of Asians). We ate a little bit and grabbed some beers. On our way back to the hotel we stopped by a local drugstore to grab some waters and found the most amazing candy: Violet Crumble, Chomp, a Milo and a Bounty. We grabbed the Violent Crumble hoping it to be actually violet. It turned out to be honeycomb covered with milk chocolate - "It's the way it shatters that matters". We have yet to open the other Australian candy but we will keep you posted.



Now we are off to get dinner and drinks in the area known as the Rocks. Pictures to come tomorrow!




Australian Candy!

Lindsey's Trip Over

While Pratt's trek to Australia sounds like sunshine and rainbows, mine did not start out quite as well. I began my journey in Orlando, which as you know, is the place where small children's manners go to die. Especially when you catch them on the way out of Orlando when the Disney World hangover is setting in. Now you are caught up with me as I was boarding my plane to LAX. There were no less than 30 children under the age of five on this flight - no exaggeration. And when we got onto the jetway, it looked like Babies 'R Us as the strollers and car seats began to pile up. Needless to say, it was a LONG five hour flight to LAX. And that was supposed to be the easy leg of my travels...

Important sidenote: upon landing in LAX, I was welcomed by the news that Urban Meyer was resigning as head coach of the Gators. This, in addition to being awake for nearly 20 hours at that point and heading into a 14 hour stretch, was pushing me toward the edge. Luckily, I knew Australia and Pratt would be waiting for me on the other side!

I flew on a 777 to Sydney and have to report that it was quite pleasant. I was in the window seat and by a sheer stroke of luck, the seat next to me was not occupied. This made sleeping on the flight much more comfortable and, I have to admit, I considered snuggling up to the gentleman seated in the aisle seat while I slept. We were perfect strangers, but a part of me was really curious as to how he wold react since he looked like a tough guy. In between contemplating how that cuddling would work out, I slept for about eight hours and watched four movies (The September Issue, Four Christmases, I Love You Man and Funny People). At the end of the day (or was it two days at that point?) it was a fairly painless flight and I ended up n Sydney, about to embark on what I hope will be the trip of a lifetime!

First Post

Welcome! Here is the official start of von Weller and Pratt’s adventure in Oz! I first thought of this idea on the 11-hour flight to Fiji, as I didn’t have much to read with me and the movies on my Air Pacific flight weren’t working. Don’t get me wrong, I know I am not the first to think of a trip blog but to be honest I never thought I would be interested in doing one.

First of all I am not a writer. As my dear friend Brindley would probably articulate every detail with such observant beauty, I will probably just tell you what we do each day. And secondly, this probably isn’t for the reader – sorry! I have been lucky to experience so many things in my life that I really just want a running record of this trip. So here goes…..

LAX, Fiji, Sydney

So the trip started at the train station in Solana Beach. One of the sweetest people in the world, Alice, kindly took me to the train station, after picking me up the night before at the SD airport, so that I could catch the train to LAX. It was cheaper than parking and it offered me some down time. After switching from train to bus, I finally got to LAX to the most tremendous line ever! No online booking with Air Pacific. I met three people in line – Daisy, a Swiss girl living in LA traveling to New Zealand to meet a boy, and two gentlemen, Eric and Travis going to Fiji for a “hedonistic/exotic four day New Year’s Eve Party”. Those are his exact words. I don’t know what it is but when I hear hedonistic exotic party I just think people who like to do drugs, drink and have sex with a bunch of different people. I don’t think I know what hedonism is!

We finally made it on our 747. This is the biggest plane I have ever been on – it has stairs! Thanks to a little medicinal help the 11 hour flight was simple! I watched a little bit of Julie/Julia (when working) and promptly fell asleep, waking up an hour and a half before we landed. Just in time for breakfast!

The Fiji airport was small and simple but looking out the windows made me want to venture out. It is beautiful! I sat and had a cup of coffee with Chris and her brother, two people I met in line boarding the plane, and their trip sounds amazing. Chris, has a yacht, which will arrive in Sydney a month after they arrive. They will then sail up the coast of Australia to all the scuba and fishing spots. Until then, they will be just traveling around Australia, spending time luxury camping here and working on a ranch here and seeing something else amazing there….Oh to be wealthy!

Right now I am sitting on the plane from Nadi to Sydney. I feel what children must feel on Christmas morning or on the ride out to Disneyland. The pure excitement for the people I am going to meet, the things I am going to see, and the time with von Weller is making me anxious to be there. By the way, I am drinking a beer. Fiji Bitter to be exact and it is 8:30 AM. I thought it would help.