From L.A. to Sydney

Australia rocks!

We haven’t seen much yet, but we’re having heaps of fun.

We flew in from L.A. after visiting Tim and Annie and Lori’s friend Betsy for a few days. Our all-night 14 hour flight was on V Australia, and was far and away the best international flight either of us has ever been on. Every seat reclines (even the back row that we were in), and every seat also has it’s own TV screen and selection of movies, shows, music, and video games to choose from. They also distributed eye masks and ear plugs to make sleeping easier. The food was pretty good by airline standards. We arrived in Sydney at 7:45 a.m., and our new friends from Klick (the PR group that made all of this possible) met as at the airport with “Scotty Got An Office Job Fan Club” T-shirts and handmade signs. They’ve been extremely kind and generous to us. We were driven to our hotel (the Fraser Suites, in downtown Sydney), where a gorgeous suite and a big welcome basket awaited us. The basket included Vegemite (of course), ANZAC biscuits, chocolate covered macadamia nuts, wine, fruit, and other snacks. The room has everything we could possibly need, including a washer and dryer, a tiny little dishwasher (in a drawer!), an amazingly comfortable bed (yes, we were exhausted last night, but I am pretty sure it wasn’t just us), and lots of closet space.

Here's our view from the 32nd floor:




















We wandered around in the afternoon to find a currency exchange and some groceries. The thing about Australia is that it feels very familiar. The only things that feel foreign are the driving on the left side of the road and the trees. Look at this… have you ever seen a tree this color before?




















Kim from Klick picked us up again at 3:30 and drove us to Bronte beach (just south of the famous Bondi beach) for a Klick team picnic and our first taste of Aussie ocean. We had fish and chips and fried scallops (which meant scalloped potatoes in this instance and were greasy as anything but melted in your mouth, yum) and Aussie beer. We arrived home exhausted and fell asleep early.

Also, we have been assured that the spiders are not a serious threat.