Sydney

Wow do I love this city.

I arrived at the hotel and after changing, took the ferry to Manly. Had never done that before - a 30 minute ride, it was beautiful being on the water, the views of the city and Opera House/Harbour Bridge are just incredible. Boats with colourul sails littered the water and the sun was shining! Wonderful.

Arrived in Manly and you walk out of the Quay down a long pedestrian boulevard that is filled with cheesy eateries and cheap surf shops (and a few expensive ones). On the other end is a long beach ringed by pine trees and incredibly beautiful - and probably expensive - condos. Loved it. Lots of kids out surfing, tons of them in fact. See the photos on my website!

I got back and met up with a former colleague of mine who is now at the Park Hyatt Sydney, we had coffee and caught up. He asked me if I planned on seeing the Mardi Gras that night and I muttered... nah, I've seen those before, I just wanted to go to a little Thai restaurant I remembered from my vacation here years ago...

Little did I realise. I didn't make the connection until I neared the Darlinghurst/Paddington area and noticed EVERYBODY walking towards Oxford street. What was going on? Then I realisd... OH MY GOD, THE ONE DAY I AM IN SYDNEY IS FOR THE MARDI GRAS! The world famous Gay/Lesbian Mardi Gras of Sydney, there were easily 1 million people in the streets! It was absolutely hilarious, people in costume all over and visitors stunned... funny.

My favourite float were these three guys dressed up like Fran Drescher and lip synching to the Nanny theme song, on a float that said Sydney -> and Queens -<

There was another funny one of George Bush bashing, too, but I forgot all of it in the chaos. Everyone was hanging out of the bars drinking or just walking around looking at people. It went on and on and on... I finally went back to my room at around 9:30pm because of the jet lag but I was so happy I got a chance to see it. Sadly, no photos because I didn't bring my camera for the parade as I didn't expect one!

Woke up this morning with the sun rising over the Opera House and clear skies... on to Perth now (writing from the Qantas Club at the airport - again, incredibly posh) - it is supposed to be 90 degrees there today!

G'day!
Hilarious!