Survived the crossing

Arrived in Sydney early this morning, after the 15 hour flight. (Turbulence, wheee!) We had a spare seat beside us on the plane, so we could nap somewhat laying down. Always a bonus. There were 7 planes landing at the Sydney airport when we arrived, so customs and quarantine (a necessary Australian quirk) were a madhouse.

Were met by a business contact of Kev's, and got a super quick driving tour of Sydney's southern suburbs and a quick lunch at a beachside resort area (Coogee). After relearning how to order a coffee in Aussie speak, we whipped back to the airport to catch our flight to Melbourne.

Another 90 minutes airborne, and another baggage claim line ride. And another business dude kindly met us and drove us to our hotel. He did a roundabout route to point out the main streets of Melbourne's city centre before heading out the the eastern suburb of Box Hill. Yep, it's in the middle of nowhere, but highly convenient to Kev's work place. It's also like a tiny version of Richmond, complete with bubble tea, karaoke, family owned markets and oodles of Asian restaurants (we had Korean for dinner).

We're both feeling a little loopy from the travel/jet lag. It's like we're on a slightly rocking ship deck. Bedtime very very soon. It's 8:30pm on Sunday night as I write this.

No photos yet, but here's a flurry of impressions I've had thus far:
-massive leafy trees with peeling bark filled with the chirping of dozens of bright green & red lorikeets
-windstorm kicking up dust/pollen in Melbourne making me feel allergic (I'm not though)
-very cute Beagles roaming the airport, very seriously sniffing each piece of baggage for undeclared quarantine items
-likelihood of getting hit by car while crossing road extremely high because I can't remember to look the right way for cars
-Lift lemon soda is as refreshing and tasty as I remembered it