Finally here

After many months of anticipation, I'm finally in Australia. It's a country that has been on the top of my list for many years and I'm finally seeing it up close and personal. It's a lovely country so far and the best is yet to come. I know you all have been waiting with bated breath for my first post from here...all four of you...lol! After a very cramped, very long, flight on United Airlines, we arrived in Sydney, New South Wales on Wednesday, December 9th. Martine's good mate, Alex, picked us up and I was very happy to finally meet her in the flesh. She and I had chatted on Facebook a few times and I knew we would get on like a house on fire. I was right. She and her partner, Nerrilee, are fabulous company. Alex has been a gracious host, inviting us to stay at her house in Leichhardt, even giving up her bedroom for us.

So, back to when we arrived...after a couple of much-needed showers (14 hours on a plane...ick!), Alex drove us around downtown Sydney and to the touristy Bondi Beach. We stopped for my first Aussie beer (not Fosters, which I'm told is Australian for dog's piss) and I chose a Tooheys Old Black Ale. It was tasty! I've tried a couple of others since then. One I'm told is from a brewery in Fremantle, Western Australia. We'll be there in January and I'm looking forward to actually visiting the brewery. So many things to see and do. We did a house concert here in Leichhardt on Saturday night and I got to meet some of the folks I've heard about from Martine...Mardi (I'm hearing that name a lot more over here), and some new folks neither one of us had met. We had a great time playing for them. I love doing unplugged house concerts. Not that I don't enjoy walking on to a big stage with my sticks and sitting behind the full drum kit that's already been setup, and banging the crap out of it!!!!...but, I digress. I also love the intimate, personal feel of an unplugged show in someone's living room.

Wow, my brain is going twenty different directions right now. I'll try to stay on track so my readers (all four of them) can follow this post. Martine and I spent a day exploring downtown Sydney and another day walking through Leichhardt, Annandale, Camperdown, and Newtown. I think that covers it. We walked all day, with only a couple of stops for a meat pie and another Australian beer I hadn't tried yet. Beer belly here I come...it's a good thing I brought my running shoes with me. It's not just the beer; it's the bloody Tim Tams and Mint Slice too! Dammit!!!! If only they weren't so tasty.

I've already taken about 400 photos, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Darling Harbour, The Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay and...much more. We walked through the botanical gardens and saw hundreds of flying foxes hanging from the trees. Of course I took many photos. They looked like large bats; it was fascinating! I'm sure the people who live and work in Sydney don't really care so much, but it was interesting to me. The photo on this post is of the Anzac bridge, formerly known as the Glebe Island Bridge. It's a large cable-stayed bridge, spanning Johnstons Bay, between Pyrmont and Rozelle, in proximity to the Sydney CBD (central business district). That's just a little bit of Sydney trivial knowledge for ya.

Now it's back to going through my Sydney photos. I'll write more soon. We leave for Adelaide on Wednesday and it's there where I finally get to meet Martine's family. It will be good know my soon-to-be extended family. I'm sure I will love them! Thanks to all (four) of you for reading this blog. It's time for dinner and Playstation games here in Leichhardt.

Peace on ya, peeps.