Concluding Our Sydney Visit - Onto the Great Barrier Reef!

Time flew by the last few days!  There was the hike over the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge.  Oprah and her entourage climbed to the top of it - but the Bridge Climbing Company has a lock on the experience at $200 each; so we took the cheap scenic route.  Then, we decided to have a drink at the famous Sydney Tower.  As I sipped my $18 Cosmo and Richard downed his $9 beer, we watched the gorgeous sunset over the city.  Just awesome! 

Now - not only can we say we've see an opera, but also we've seen one at Sydney's iconic opera house!  Our first opera!

Downtown is vibrant day and night with many shopping malls. At QVB, Queen Victoria Building, we purchased Aussie hats. 




Now we are  looking forward to snorkeling on the Reef.  Tomorrow we take a 3 hour flight north on their discount airline called JetStar.  It's easy to book from the U.S. - just like you are taking a Southwest flight!

Richard and I talked about our impressions of the last 10 days.  Here they are...

   - Wonderfully friendly laid-back people who LIKE Americans!  (We can't tell you how many people on the street started to talk to us and welcomed us here!)

    - Gorgeous city!  The harbor is awesome, the public transportation is great.  You can take a subway, a free bus, a ferry or a monorail to different parts of the city very easily.  You always feel safe.

   - Lots to do and see, as you can see by our write-ups of what we've visited here!

   - September is the beginning of spring time here and the weather has been so nice - in the 70's with low humidity and sunshine

   - There is much diversity in the city with lots of Asians, Indians, etc. which gives it a nice feel

   - Food is a bit pricey; however, there is NO TAX or TIPPING in restaurants so you have to figure that in.  To give you an example, in a nice restaurant the main entrees are $25 and up.  A cup of coffee is approx $3.50 and a glass of house wine is $8 or $9 a glass.  Everything in a nice restaurant is al la carte - salads are served after the entree and can be high - approx $10.  There are lots of cafes serving spectacular European desserts that are very hard to pass up. 

If for some strange reason we had to leave the U.S., this is the place we would live.  It's so nice here and it's a pleasure to spend money in a country that likes Americans!!

Guess What? The natives can understand us despite our North American accents! And on a final note, we haven't seen a single ambulance-chasing lawyer commercial on television, so unlike Florida!!! (not that we've been watching much tv)