God has been gracious to us and has been with us through our journey of love and life. He has carried us through some of the most difficult times and has given us joy in the midst of sorrow. He has also been loving and given us abundant blessings. Most importantly, He has provided us with faith. May we share that faith with others.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
"God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame".
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Australia Day 1

What a long day of travel!  I started out from Harlan at 1pm on Friday afternoon.  Dave and the kids drove me to Marshall Michigan where I met Rick, and he drove me to the airport. I met Mom there, we got through security, got a bite to eat, and took of from Detroit to Los Angeles at 5:50pm.  We landed in LA 5 hours later.  We had a slight lay over in LA.  We boarded our next plane at 10:45pm (LA time) and traveled 14 hours to Sydney, arriving Sunday morning at 8am (Sydney time).  Our flights went well.  The only problem that occurred was with another passenger, and elderly woman, who felt chest pains during the last 45 minutes of our flight to Sydney.  The captain called for a doctor while in flight.  When we landed we all had to wait for the paramedics to come on and escort the woman off before we could get off the plane.  We didn't have to wait too long to get through customs when we got to the airport.  We found the van service to the hotel and got to the hotel at about 10am.  We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel while we waited for our room to be finished getting cleaned.  After checking into our room, and freshening up, we decided to walk around near our hotel and take in Sydney.  Sydney is such an eclectic city.  The architecture and restaurants/stores have Chinese and European influences.  It's not like any other place we've been to.  Parts of it remind me of China (mostly all the Chinese vacationers) and other parts remind me of London.  The weather is warm and humid, but the skies are beautiful.  We finally felt like we were in Australia when we saw the Opera House in person.  Here are some of the pictures from today...

Mom's boss sent a bouquet of flowers to welcome us (we had to use the trash can as a vase).



The hotel lobby


Sydney Opera House



Our hotel (The Four Seasons)







After our outing, we spent the entire afternoon at the spa getting massages, facials, and pedicures.  After such a long flight and hardly no sleep, it was amazing.  We ordered room service and enjoyed sleeping in a bed.  Tomorrow we have a free day and hope to go to the aquarium and one of the many beaches.

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