Sydney

How does one start the next blog entry? ........

Well, today we walked from our hotel to the Sydney Harbor Bridge to do the bridge climb. Once again, no cameras allowed, ergggh. After donning a lovely jumpsuit, belt, radio, cable attachment and headphones, we began our ascent. The climb took 2 hours but was not very tough at all. Many stops along the way for a bit of a rest. The wind helped keep the heat away and, of course, the views were fantastic. To our right was the opera house, to the left city landscape/harbor and underneath the ocean. GORGEOUS!! They took pictures of us along the way that we could purchase but were not too flattering and did not take advantage of the surrounding views so we declined.

After our climb, we walked over to the opera house. The original plan was to take a tour but, surprisingly, we opted to attend a ballet instead. I never realized looking at it but there are several theatres inside, not just one big one. Anyway, we saw Manon. Hmmm, not much to say about it. I enjoyed it, George tolerated it :)

Tomorrow marks the beginning of George's poker tournament. Sometimes I watch but I think this time I am going shopping or exploring. We are right next to Darling Harbor which has a pier with several shops and restaurants. Plenty to keep me occupied.....

For Starters

Allrighhhhht, I'll give this a go. Blogging always seemed like a lot of work but what the heck :) George and I are in Sydney, Austrailia for a poker tournament which starts tomorrow.

We spent the couple of days on Philip Island just south of Melbourne. They have a Penguin Parade every evening and it was quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. They are tiny - only about a foot high - which is why they are called fairy penguins or little penguins. Anyway, they swim in the ocean during the day and then come ashore at night to burrow for the night, hence the Penguin Parade. We sat on the sand and watched hundreds of penguins come in from the ocean. Too cute because they are scared of predators when they cross the beach so they just stand by the waters edge (some for 15 or 20 minutes) in groups of 10 or 15 and then make a mad dash across the beach. Once they get off the sand and into the vegetation area, they start making noises - kinda like Chewbacca. After they come in, we walked along the boardwalks watching them find their burrows. It was one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. Couldn't take pictures because the flashes scare then penguins and can damage their eyes.

We also went to a wildlife park where we handfed wallabies and kangaroos. Oh and OMG - they had the cutest koala bears. I should try to add a couple pics on here. But that will have to come later - this is taking too much time - we are leaving to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge and check out the opera house. Wish you all could be here!! Love Deb