Arrival

I have never been on such an empty airplane as the one flying to Sydney!  I was by the window with 2 seats to myself, so was able to lay down to sleep, although I can’t say it made much difference… still spent 4 hrs tossing and turning before we had breakfast!  Our approach to Sydney airport was from the south, which meant no views of the harbour bridge and opera house, but instead the bizarre experience of feeling like we were going to land in the water!  The runway is on a tiny peninsula jutting out into Botany Bay, so when you approach from the south, you’re over water until less than 10 seconds before you touch down!

I had a clear run through immigration (although no smiling immigration officer wishing me a belated happy birthday!) and it was less than 10 minutes before my bags came out.  Straight through customs as they no longer seem to be worried about dusty looking shoes which may have soil particles on them and then called Graham to let him know I’d arrived.  I had about 20 mins to find the loos and get changed into something cooler as it was bright, sunny and 26 degrees and then headed out to the pick-up area.

We were winging our way into the city by 11.30am and as I do every time I return to Sydney, I felt like I’d arrived home!  Graham dropped me off at Wynyard and I headed up George Street to check out mobile phone SIM card deals so I could get an Aussie number asap.  After trawling the telecoms shops, I decided I needed a nice relaxing lunch to look over all the details I’d collated.  I headed into The Strand, a beautiful old Victorian arcade where I found a lovely coffee shop with tables out in the centre of the narrow mall.  I ordered a sandwich and Bundaberg ginger beer… my favourite!  2 hours later, I’d finally made it through the massive doorstep of a sandwich and moved onto the coffee.  Sydneysiders certainly know how to make a mean flat white, which is a huge improvement on when I was out here in 2003-04 where coffee tasted like warm milk with a bit of flavouring in it!!

I decided to leave the job of getting a SIM card until the morning and headed back to Carrington Street behind Wynyard to catch the bus to Avalon.  I just made it and found it was packed, so standing room only as far as Collaroy and then I got a seat.  The trip takes about 1.25hrs, so once I’d got a seat (about 20 mins in), I managed a bit of a snooze to catch up on the lack of sleep overnight.  I managed to get off at the right bus stop, right next to the house and was greeted by Jamie and his friend River shouting “Hello Debbie” as I came through the back gate!

It was fabulous to catch up with Erin again and also meet Marianne (River’s Mum).  My room was ready and Erin had kindly emptied a chest of drawers and provided some space in the wardrobe so I could unpack rather than live out of my suitcase.  Graham was home by 5.30pm and an hour later we were off to the RSL (Returning Servicemens' League club) for the weekly meat raffle… a mid-week highlight in the ‘burbs!  When we got back it was time to enjoy an evening meal and toast my arrival, then it was an early night as I was really starting to feel the effects of lack of sleep on the plane last night!