Last Night in Sydney

On our last evening in Australia we had a pleasant dinner at a neighborhood Japanese restaurant before returning to our room in the Woolbrokers Hotel - a cozy old building near Darling Harbour. We enjoyed a last Krispy Kreme to balance out the healthy Japanese food as we watched American sitcoms on TV. Tomorrow we return to the cold of Shanghai but it will be good to sleep in our own beds again.

We spent yesterday in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, a two-hour train ride from Sydney. Katoomba is like a cross between the Grand Canyon and Branson - beautiful but overly touristy. We did a little hiking on the trails in the fern-filled forests and enjoyed that until a cold front arrived and the drizzle started.

The night before we had spent the first evening of the new year sleeping on the lobby floor of the Amora Jamison Hotel in downtown Sydney. A blackout had hit the area and lasted all night. It's interesting to witness what happens to some people when they don't have their electricity. The dark evening was filled with irate people shouting at hotel staff and stressed out couples airing their pent up frustrations with each other = at the top of their voices - among 300 or so strangers. At least we didn't have to watch them. They were just disembodied voices in the dark. Interesting way to start off the new year but we were reimbursed for our room so it wasn't all bad.

The night before was the best fireworks display we've ever seen. Pictures on that soon.