Friday, December 14 Rest Area to Central Backpacker in Sydney - Ryan is here!

     After oatmeal and coffee we left the rest area and drove to the airport.  Unlike most US cities, Sydney has a serious shortage of freeways.  We drove through suburban and city streets to make our way from north to south to get to the airport.  We arrived about an hour after Ryan's plane landed, but with customs and picking up his luggage he only had to wait for about 15 minutes.  Diana and Kristy went into the airport while I waited with the car in short term parking.  It sure was great seeing his face and giving him a big hug!

Look at that smile

Dad getting his hug

        We drove into town to the same hostel we stayed at when we first arrived, getting a four bunk room.  After settling in a little we went out and walked around the city until dark.

Imagining Kelly and Dan with us.  Don't know who the lady in the cape represents.

Strolling through the botanical gardens

That's not a boat ...

... THAT's a boat.

Only two more to go

Walking through Hyde park after dark ...

... under the watchful eye of this possum

St. Mary Cathedral lit up for Christmas

      We stopped at a take-out Thai restaurant near out hostel and picked out various curries to eat on the rooftop terrace of our place.  Unfortunately it closed at 10 pm, right about the time we got there, so we took them into the kitchen of the hostel and ate there, watched over by noisy partiers ready to go out to the clubs.  Nothing has changed since the last time we were here.  Fortunately it was fairly quiet in our room when we got into our bunks, and we went to sleep, serenaded by the rotating floor fan instead of the usual night animals we're gotten used to.