Sydney: A day to chill and a day to wonder at the Opera House

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the Sydney Opera House. I could go there, spend hours, take a million pictures over and over and never get sick of it. It's such an amazing building and I loved returning there today, five years since the last time. (Full photos from today here)

But let me back track.... yesterday I did just about zero, and it felt great. I woke up a little early, had breakfast, visited with Shaan and Geoff, enjoyed the amazing view while drinking my tea:





I did some Terry Pratchett reading, and sat in the warm sun for just a little bit. My buddy, Sam, kept me company:


And then I took a nap, we ordered tasty Thai food, and watched some tv. It was quite a lovely relaxation day.

Today Shaan and I had a breakfast and got ourselves ready and then set out to see the Opera House and take the ferry to Manly Beach. The forecast was iffy, but we decided to chance it.

First we drove downtown and walked around Circular Quay (pronounce "key") and down to the Opera House. Did I mention how much I love this building? No, really. Here's just a few of the photos I took:















And of course we saw the bridge, too! But the big news will be Friday when I get to do the bridge climb and go to the top! I'm so thrilled about that. I hope it doesn't rain.




We did actually take the ferry to Manly beach and have lunch there, but it turned quite chilly and rainy, so we basically just came right back. I really need to get some Manly gear before I leave, though. It'd just be too funny to go to the gym wearing a Manly t-shirt or something!

On our way home, we picked up Juliette, Shaan and Geoff's ward (neice of a friend. both from Hong Kong) and had a lovely dinner.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but the folks here in Oz have a charity event called "Mo-vember". Mo, as in moustache, and many men around here grow one all month during November and then raise money and shave it off come Dec 1. The entire Wallabies rugby team is sporting them, and I saw many a porn handle-bar moustache around during my travels. And then sometimes you're not sure if it's mo-vember or just the way they are! Anyway, Geoff has been growing one, and Shaan was delighted to see it go this evening (a few hours early)!

Geoff with "Mo":


Shaan, Juliette, and myself awaiting the shave:


The final product (hooray!)


And that about wraps up the evening. We watched Hitchcock's Rope and I need to get packing for heading down to Canberra tomorrow. I'll just be taking the bus down, and am looking very forward to seeing the family down in that region. I hope it warms up, because it got downright chilly after some crazy heat! But not as chilly as it is at home in NH. :)