We've arrived!! It just so happens that Sydney was having a mini heat wave the day we got here - 91 degrees, and quite humid, too. So that means it was roughly 50 degrees warmer than our white little bodies were accustomed to, coming from Seattle. Our flight landed at 6:15am; by 7:00 we were in a taxi heading for our serviced apartment, and by 7:30 we'd arrived, and blessings on the building manager for having a room available for a very early check in! We were flabbergasted when we entered the apartment to discover it was a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit on two levels. This is a different location for us, as the apartment we rented last year was not available. This building is brand new, and the accommodations are stunning. How lucky are we?

Our first day was spent sorting out logistics - purchasing our travel passes for the week, getting new SIM cards for our cell phones, re-constructing our bikes, going grocery shopping, visiting our friend, Jason, at Clarence Street Cyclery and, joining the crowd to watch the Queen appear at Town Hall. We didn't actually see her, as we got tired of waiting, but thought it was terribly kind of her to make an appearance here to welcome us! We went for a quick bike ride in the afternoon. Tom found a great route to get from our apartment to Centennial Park without having to ride through much traffic. We're actually about 2 miles away from the park, but there is a smaller park adjacent, which also has cycle/pedestrian pathways.

This morning we woke up at about 4:30 - not bad, considering that we'd retired at 7:30 last night (what a couple of night owls) - and Tom took off for the park to meet the Sydney cycling club for the daily group ride that departs at 6am. It's still very dark then and I don't have a light for my bike, so Tom was good enough to come back after his ride and take me over to the park for a ride together. It's quite tame riding for him, but still a very pretty setting and after all, cycling is cycling. So, by the time we'd been in the country 28 hours, Tom had ridden about 65 miles, and me - just short of 40. Our goal is to make this a daily routine.

Today was slightly cooler - high 70s, so more comfortable for walking around. We're enjoying seeing some familiar sights, and riding the ferries is a great way to do it. It's so nice to be out on the water. The skyline in Sydney continues to evolve, with new construction apparent, even in the last year.

OK, this next part is just for my knitting friends - the rest of you are forewarned that you will quickly be bored into a coma!! I decided that my trip project this time would be a Vivian Hoxbro wing shawl from her book on Shadow Knitting. I selected it, because it is lightweight, there is a LOT of knitting involved and the pattern is interesting enough, but still doable on planes, trains and buses. Apologies to Vivian, I'm not using the lovely Harrisville wool, but have raided my huge stash of Shetland 2-ply for this project. I hope to make another one using the proper material, but we left in such a hurry that I didn't have time to procure a kit. It is lots of fun to knit, and there is a flight attendant on United that expects me to produce the finished product on the way home! Having just un-knit one entire 219 stitch row, since I forgot the k2tog at the end of the previous row, I'd best pay attention from now on, or I don't have a prayer of meeting her expectation. Thank you, Vivian, for such an entertaining project!

We hope to have more news for you as our trip progresses, and thanks for following our ramblings thus far. G'Day!