End of Day 1
Jan 3rd, 2008 by Nick
Greetings from Sydney. It’s 6:30pm local time, and I’m trying to stay awake for another 90 minutes before calling it a night. I will write more tomorrow when I have a more stable internet connection. But:
- The flights were uneventful, which is how I like it. I got 3 hours of sleep about 1/4 way through the LA-Sydney flight, then slept most of the last hour.
- I could not find the shared ride minivan service for the life of me, so I broke down and paid A$45 for a taxi.
- My hotel room wasn’t ready until noon, but they upgraded me to a two-room suite. It’s in an inconvenient location unless you have a convention or are going to the casino, but for the price it’s fine.
- I spent the two hours until my room was ready by walking down to Circular Quay and then taking a ferry boat back to the Aquarium which is a block (and about four flights of stairs) from the hotel.
- This afternoon I went to Manly. Interesting place, I enjoyed it but I was not swimming or surfing or sunbathing… but it was just enough to keep my moving.
- Beverages here are ridiculously expensive in a 7-11 type place. A$3.50 for a 20 oz or so Diet Coke. Fortunately, I found a grocery store in Manly and my hotel has a minifridge.
More details tomorrow.
Glad to hear you made it. The only bad thing appears to be the prices; those were tolerable when the AUD was at 55 cents, but at 90 it’s a different story.
I dusted off my Lonely Planet Out to Eat-Sydney book from 2000. The Asian place in Darling Harbour I ate at was Wockpool, next to the IMAX theater. The Chinatown restaurants were BBQ King and Lam’s. All excellent. They’re across Goulburn Street from each other, west of George Street. At BBQ King, they put me at a communal round table with three people from San Diego, a guy from New York and a local telephone repairman. I would have preferred a more local flavor, but it was cool.
Don’t get fleeced too badly playing Two-Up at Star City.
Well, now it appears Lam’s is closed and BBQ King reviews say it was better 4-6 years ago. At least the Bourbon & Beefsteak Bar in Kings Cross still is open, and still is getting positive pub.
This place is pretty cool, too.
(OK, I promise to stop posting for at least 10 minutes.)
http://lordnelsonbrewery.com/lnbh_joomla/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1