Sydney

My adventure ended as almost as soon as it started. When I checked into my flight to Sydney at the airport in Apia, I was told that I needed a visa to travel to Australia. What!?! Who knew you needed a visa to go down under? Didn't they realize that I am an American, and no one should require an American to apply for a visa? Don't we run the world or something like that, what the heck has Bush being doing these past eight years? Anyway, we were told that we could apply via Internet for the visa. (Sharon and Ben were traveling with me to Australia - but since Ben is an Aussie, he didn't need worry about any stinking visas). We ran to the internet cafe at the the airport. Of course, the webpage was not working. We then called a travel agent, but we needed to be in front of the travel agent, which was farther away then we could go without missing the flight. We finally convinced Poly Blue to help us out, and they were able to use their computer and get a visa for us. whew. We then went to Aggie's by the Sea for a much deserved drink to calm our nerves. All this stress for a stupid piece of paper. I arrived in Sydney at the same time as the worse storm in 30 years. perfect, more rain, cause I certainly don't get enough of that in Am Sam. The storm flooded area north of Sydney and even washed an oil tanker ashore. oops. While in Sydney I stayed with my friends Scott and Adam. Scott and I use to work together many moons ago. Scott and Adam met each other at the Sydney Gay Games a couple years back and Scott quickly moved to Sydney. They have a cute little house in the Surry Hills area of Sydney and a a Laberdoodle - Bella. Bella loves to play ball and she is very good at it. It was nice to play with a dog not covered in sores and ticks. Saturday we walked around the raining city - and visited the Museum and the Opera House.I am told it is somewhat famous. Scott and the City. Hyde Park.Sunday was a clear day, so we did some more walking. Does this mean that children should be cautious of ice cream? Where is this magical place? Monday was a public holiday for the Queen's birthday - so to celebrate we went out dancing till 5 am on Sunday night. I think it is the same thing that the queen did, no? On Monday we went to the mouth of the harborand Bondi Beach.Pretty. Tuesday my hosts had to work, stupid work, so I did some more walking and went to the Aquarium and the Observatory.Despite the cold (it was in the low 50s) and rain, I had a super time. The eating was great (salad, fresh bread, and options) and Scott can make a mean Cosmopolitan. And of course, it was great to see Scott and Adam. On Wednesday I woke up with a cold and left for the second part of my adventure to Hong Kong.