Sydney and Home, Part 1

Yesterday, Connie and I moved from the Dawn Princess to the Sydney Hilton and explored the town. We bought day passes on the monorail, which came with 20% discount coupons for most of the museums and sites in town.

Our first stop was the Powerhouse Museum, dedicated to engineering design and fashion. They had a large display on lace: metal lace, traditional lace, lace made from paper, and other unique experiments on creating lace for practical and artistic use. The lace made via CNC machine using titanium (woven at 2000F!) and stainless steel were particularly unique. Based on one design, Connie may crochet our next airplane engine. [picture pending, but can be seen at: pic.twitter.com/ukmsL8d ] They also had a space flight section, with both Soviet and US satellites, and an exploratorium. Connie and I skipped the section on the Wiggles -- too Barneylike in design. Only a five-year-old could get more than ten feet in there without wanting to turn around, badly!

Later, we explored the nightlife in Darling Harbor. The South Korean Navy was back (or have they been here all month?!?) and Sydney was out in full force. The area was filled with street musicians; nightclubs spilled out into the pier; children (of all ages) entertained themselves in the massive playground of jungle gyms, rope ladders, and assorted equipment in the park/gardens. Young ladies, dressed for trouble, mixed with sailors and young single men. Apparently, school/college ends this week for their hot summer season and Christmas. Connie's leg acted up early, so she got some sleep, but I went back out to wander the madness until the cooling rain began to fall -- scattering all.

This morning, I got up with the sun, as usual, but promptly went back to bed. Our breakfast plans were to wander until we found a nice cafe, but the streets were a steam bath, literally! Soaking with sweat, we ended up back at the hotel buffet, which soaked our wallets for more money than I care to admit paying for breakfast. After playing the repacking game to get all our luggage underweight we made a bouncy sojourn to Sydney International. Our gate, 51, is on the other side of a maze of shops and restaurants clearly designed by the same people who do mall parking lots and casino floors. Now, we wait for our flight to leave. More in LA! :)

[picture pending, but can be seen at: http://t.co/m0L4GYl ]