A Land Down Under

Do you come from a land down under
Where Sheilas glow and Flusher blunders
Can't you hear can't you hear the thunder?
You better get your head out of the covers.

So what did we do with our first day in Sydney? Not very damn much. We were pretty exhausted by the time we finally got our room and spent 3.92 seconds exploring it.

That Hulk Hogan guy playing Crocodile Dundee playing rock ukulele.

We'd bought duty free at the airport so there was that. There was some blogging. And there was the Magic button. Most guys can't find the Magic button with a map, but this one was easy - it was clearly marked and only took one push to make it ring.

You have to love the Hilton concept of the Magic button - if there's something you want, if there's something you need, if there's somethng you've just got to have... just press the button.

A lovely sounding Sheila on the other end greets you by name and asks what you want.

"I need a bucket of ice, I need more of them little milks for coffee, and I need a time machine so I can go back to 1983 and buy a shitload of Apple stock."

"Right, Mr. Flusher, I'll arrange that for you straight away. Is there anything else you need brought to your room? Perhaps a flux capacitor?"

And just like that, you get a bucket of ice and some little milks for coffee.


Mrs. Flusher was out cold and snoring by the time I was hungry enough to go foraging. She had a craving for junk food - KFC, to be exact - but I got to the food court just after they closed. Instead, I loaded up on McDick's.

Scored a beauty deal, too, because since it was closing time, they were short a patty or something for one of the burgers so I got extra cheese on that one and no charge, and they threw in some McNuggets that nobody was going to buy so I got to take those back to the room, taste one, and throw them out.

We slept like champs, and woke up quite early but ready to go. Today would be the day I'd get my first taste of zoo-raised eucalyptus-fed Koala veal.

We actually took a while getting going. I had a couple of in-room coffees and did some writing, and we hit the food court at one of the million glass and steel office buildings in Sydney. The Quad Queen would have her chicken.

Australian CTUG

I got some chinese and we chowed down, and then headed north toward Circular Quay, where we could catch the ferry to the zoo.

Love Boaaaaat.... soon we'll be making another run!

The weather was fantastic - sunny, a little breeze, 71 degrees. You can hardly take a bad picture in Sydney. Just lift the camera, point aimlessly, and shoot.

We walked around the Quay for a while until it was time for our ferry ride. The Opal card works on the ferries, so its super convenient. Tap on, tap off. No side side. Tap on, tap off.

The Zoo is across the bay so you get a really nice look at incredible Sydney Harbor. For example, the Pointies Opera House.

I loved being out on the water, looking around at everything. It's so engaging when it's all new to you.

After about 20 minutes on the ferry we made landfall at the dock for the Taronga Zoo.