Oz, Down Under 2017: Saturday, September 9, 2017, 2nd Post: Airborne Over Eastern Australia and Sydney

It's 1015 Beijing time. Our 2hr prior to landing 'light meal' has started to be served. Started with a few canapes: pork (bacon) on a small round bread; Chicken between 2 pieces of roasted bell pepper - delicious! The main course: smoked cold chicken slices; pickled veggies; bowl of rice; chicken entree with mixed vegetables, and; a roll. This was followed by a fruit/cheese platter and a caramelized apricot topped dessert cake... we continue to be impressed by the in flight cuisine served up by Air China! Won't be much longer before we're making our approach into Sydney and the 3rd leg of our travel adventure ends! Very much looking forward to seeing Ross and Avril.

Wheels touched down at 1418 Sydney time! Our flight path was basically a straight shot from north to south. On final approach, Sydney was off the port side of the A330 which provided Rosie/us with a clear, unobstructed view of Sydney Harbor and Sydney until touchdown. Five minutes of taxiing later, we were pulled up and parked at the International Terminal.

We were among the very first to deplane. As we exited the jet-way and started making our way through the Terminal, it was literally empty except for people actually working in the Terminal. Our first stop was Customs, no one there except for those of us that had just landed. The Customs officer's looked bored and when the 2 of us approached them, they became mildly interested and amused. Rosie and I thought we'd split up and go to 2 different Customs agents, both in the same booth opposite each other. Before we could pass over our passports, the Customs agent I approached asked, "aren't you two married?" I said yes, knowing full why he had asked... In Beijing airport during the 7hr layover we had, I really needed a change of clothing (I settled on a new t-shirt and Rosie purchased 1 for herself with a matching Panda Bear design) so, changed into the souvenir t-shirt we bought. Rosie had also changed into hers. The Custom agents found our matching tops mildly amusing and telling. So, after a few innocuous questions around the reason for our visit - there were no VISA issues - they passed our passports back and encouraged us to enjoy our stay.

From there we proceeded to baggage carousel 9. We may have been waiting for about 5mins when the carousel started moving and spitting out bags. We experienced a bit of trepidation until we actually saw our bags kick out. The bags were checked back in San Francisco via Air China all the way through to Sydney. We were amazed that our luggage showed up with us! Huge relief.

Gathered up our carry-on/checked luggage and headed out towards the exit that leads you into the Quarantine area. Handed our declaration cards to the airport personnel there and walked into Quarantine... which was completely empty and no one manning any of the processing areas! We were very pleased, relieved and amazed. Not sure why I felt relief? We had no illegal contraband that I was aware of and that's what they check for in Quarantine. The last time I came through Sydney in 2010, I had all of my luggage and carry-on gone through by the Quarantine crew - not this time. Anyway, continued to walk out into the welcome area of the terminal. Total time to process out of airport: an amazingly brief 20min!

Came out of the controlled area and... no sign of Ross and Avril. Gave me an opportunity to test my new personal hotspot from Skyroam. Once I booted up the hardware, took a good 5-10min for it to adjust to being in Australia and then both Rosie and I could securely log into my Skyroam and have access to WIFI. That done, I was able to call Ross on cell and found out that they were just parking in the lot and would be in shortly to meet us.

Avril and Rose in the Eveleigh Hotel (aka: Pub)

The Browns: Ross, lovely Erica and Avril

Absolutely fabulous to see them both again! Both Ross and Avril look great! It's one of the best feelings in the world when you show up someplace strange and people you know are there to meet and greet you. Hugs all around, we chatted for a few minutes just to catch up and then we headed back out of the Terminal over to the parking garage. Turns out the Browns own a Mazda CX-5! Hmm, I wonder who else drives them, Rosie and Meg? Loaded up the SUV and Ross took us out to head into Darlington, an area - suburb if you will - close to downtown Sydney, where we would be meeting their daughter, Erica. Wasn't long before we found Erica sitting outside of the Eveleigh Hotel (it's a pub) with some friends. Ross found parking very close and we all piled out and went to meet Erica and joined her for a cold frothy one - our first in Sydney.

We'd never met Erica before but had heard many nice things about her from Meg and, knowing Ross and Avril, knew she was good people. After our very brief respite, we left the pub to walk down to Erica's house so she could pick up a few things - while Ross went to find parking - and then she took over 'tour guide' responsibilities shepherding us around. She's a 'local' and initially took us over to a multi-level parking garage to give us a better view of the suburb around us and a bit of downtown Sydney's skyline. Nice view. From there we walked down, out and headed over to another local pub, the Duck Inn, one of Erica's favorite pubs, to enjoy another cocktail. I'm getting introduced to some of the uniquely Australian beer - too numerous to list - courtesy of Erica.

The Duck Inn in Chippendale suburb

Finished our drinks and piled back into the Mazda for the ride over to Kirribilli via 'iconic' Sydney Harbor Bridge and on to our AirBnB Avril had set up forv all of us stay in for the next 2 nights. Kirribilli is a suburb just across the water from Sydney's 'iconic' Opera House and very close to the Bridge. A point of interest in Kirribilli: the Prime Minister's digs known as the "Admiralty House" is very nearby where we'll be staying for a couple of days. Avril really outdid herself! She'd selected an AirBnB located on the second floor of a brown-stone building. What makes this particular AirBnB amazing is that it's located just on the edge of the harbor, directly across from the Opera House. The unencumbered views to the Opera House, Circular Quay and, the Sydney bridge are stunning! We'd be happy just to stare out the large windows watching all the water craft traffic plying back and forth on the harbor with the Opera house in the background, sipping a nice cocktail, the view is that amazing!

Entrance to our AirBnB in Kirribilli

Sydney skyline at dusk

Close-up of Sydney Opera House

Iconic Sydney Bridge

We debated on whether to go out for dinner or to eat in. Apparently, Erica's a pretty good cook and she was volunteering to make us a pasta dish but, she needed to go out to get some ingredients. Both Ross and Avril went with Erica to do some grocery shopping. While they were gone, both Rosie and I were able to get a couple of showers in to freshen up and by the time we had, they were back with the shopping. Turns out that we wouldn't be going out and our dinner would be some heavy finger food - and lots of wine/beer. Had a very pleasant evening sitting around the dining room table in the Great room of the house, just getting to know one another over wine and beer and appys. Very relaxing but with an underlying purpose. The Browns were doing what they could to keep both Rosie and I awake long enough to help with adjusting to the time change. It worked. We hit the hay right at ~1030 Sydney time.