I'm in Sydney!

Photos:

• Top left: Goodbye Portland!
• Top right: Darling Harbour
• Bottom left: Sharks at the Sydney Aquarium
• Bottom right: George Street, downtown Sydney

Here's a little recap of my trip so far...

Sunday July 2, 2006 7:40pm, PST
Took the first picture from the air as we were leaving PDX.

Sunday, July 2, 2006 9:00pm, PST
Since I'm officially out of the country on the 4th of July for the second time in my life (the first time was when I was studying abroad in Rome), I considered it rather thoughtful of the San Francisco residents who were lighting fireworks a little early this year; I got to see some of them from the air as I was approaching the San Francisco Airport.

Sunday, July 2, 2006 10:00pm, PST
Bought a pack of gum at SFO for a whopping $1.60, but felt a little better when I exchanged $80 USD for $90 AUD (Australian dollars).

Monday, July 3, 2006 1:30pm, PST -or- Tuesday, July 4, 2006 6:30am, AEST
Landed in Sydney a little over 14 hours after takeoff from SFO. I had looked forward to watching the sunrise in Sydney as I had literally spent the last 17 hours in darkness, but in the end it didn't happen exactly that way, mostly because it took over an hour to get through immigration and customs at the airport, but also partly because the sun was not really visible. The state of New South Wales deemed it appropriate to make me feel VERY at home here in Australia: it was raining so hard all morning that it felt like Oregon. Ironically, it was quite the contrast to the 100-degree weather I had been experiencing at home lately. Looks like I had to travel 7,400 miles to get a little taste of home...

Tuesday afternoon, July 4, 2006 (AEST)
As a quick survey of some areas of Sydney:
Carla and I went to Chinatown, Darling Harbor, and the Sydney Aquarium before having lunch and wandering through the downtown area. (The picture from the aquarium was taken in a tunnel that you can walk through where you are surrounded by water. The sharks in that picture were actually laying on the glass right above our heads.) Lots of fun, and now I definitely have more of an idea of how to get around here as well as some of the places I want to come back and visit when I get the chance.