Australia: Port Douglas to Sydney

Today was a travel day from Port Douglas to Sydney.  A shuttle picked us up from our hotel in town and we travelled along the same picturesque road to Cairns.

We were flying Qantas, and soon realized they had "automated" some tasks that we hadn't seen.  Everyone uses the self check-in kiosk, but in addition to our boarding pass we also got our baggage tags (which we had to put on ourselves).  However, we still had to drop the bag off where someone weighed and put the bag on the belt.

The flight was three hours back to Sydney.  We sat on the right side, which meant we would miss the Opera House as we landed (although Ashley did manage to catch a brief glimpse by looking over to the other window).  We did, however, see much of the river and the many boats out on the water.

Sydney has a really nice train network from the airport to Circular Quay (downtown).  The train we got on was a double-decker and took 18 minutes to get to our stop - and all for half the price and time of a cab.

From Circular Quay, it was a 2 minute walk to the Marriott Circular Quay where we were staying. It was of course slammed because it was only a few days until New Years.  No upgrade, but we did get a bottle of wine and a cheese plate as our arrival gift.  In addition, the executive lounge was open every day (which is rare in the US) meaning we could get breakfast there as well.  Ashley was reminded several times on the elevator up that Nate's travel does have perks.

It was already evening after check-in, so we headed out to explore the nearby area.  This was our first good view of the Opera House, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and many, many people.

We continued on through the Rocks until the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel.  Their claim to fame (as well as 3 other bars) is that they are the  oldest bar in Sydney and Australia.  The food and beer were both good as was the atmosphere. Nate got to try a couple of the house beers, and Ashley ordered a beef pie with "mushy peas" mainly to see if they were different from regular peas. Turns out they are just like normal peas but slightly mushy. Go figure.

We didn't stay out too late, because tomorrow would be spent on our feet touring and walking around Sydney.