Traveling far and wide... Sydney!

Am sitting here at friends Ruth and Guy's house in Sydney, AU this evening after the VERY LONG trip to get here... IAD (Dulles Airport outside Washington, DC) to LAX (Los Angeles International), 6 hr layover, ~13-1/2 hr flight to Sydney with arrival ~6 AM Sydney time... then no rest for the weary but rather stay up and see some of the town. Arrival photo of the morning sky outside the terminal follows...

Today's adventures with Ruth and son Andrew (while Guy toiled away at work) included...
• a quick trip by car to the Rocks area of Sydney where we luckily found street parking in a 4 hr spot
• a ferry ride to Manly on the Manly Ferry, a working ferry as opposed to a tourist boat... lovely photos of the Opera House to be had from the boat (see below for one)
• a walk down to the beach followed by fish and chips, eating outside in Sydney's mild winter
• play time for Andrew at a small 'park' area on our return walk to catch the ferry back to Sydney
• a mad dash to the Ferry... barely making it as they held the gates open for us
• shopping for dinner and house supplies at the local fish market and grocery and fruit and vegetable stores
• frustration with Sprint (virtual, not actual) over my cell phone not working as it was promised while here in the Southern Hemisphere (more aggravation to come tomorrow when I try to contact them via web chat during normal US CDT business hours)
• an absolutely lovely meal of shrimp with leeks as appetizer (marvelous sauce) followed by steamed salmon done Thai style, rice, broccoli and stewed apples with passion fruit and ice cream for dessert
• etc... etc... etc...

Since I'm falling asleep as I type this, I'll leave you with just ONE of the many photos I took from the ferry boat ride...