The Pickle Has Landed!

After a surpringly uneventful journey we've made it to Sydney. Oscar wasn't at all interested to be on his first airplane, and was completely oblivious to the fact we'd taken him onto the new Airbus A380. There's gratitude for you. He slept right through both take-offs and was pretty comfortable on his mummy's lap. It was only when we put him into the bassinet that he put up a struggle (it was slightly too short for his long frame) but he did eventually settle. All three of us got enough sleep:) Oscar was sleeping on and off for most of the journey and Rae and I got a couple of hours before we landed in Singapore and then another three or fours hours at the start of the Sydney leg.

Bonus points go to the Singapore Airlines crew who attended to our needs on the way to Singapore, and then to Sydney. At the first sign of civil unrest one of the flight attendants would come over to check if we needed anything, and on several occasions distracted him with silly faces and peek-a-boo games. One crew member even took him for a walk around the plane and gave us 10 minutes grace, and another lowered the temperature of our cabin so that Oscar was more comfortable. I can't see Ryan Air ever being so accomodating.

We are currently feeling quite fresh - despite Oscar waking us up at 4:30am on our first day in Sydney - and are hoping that a couple of afternoon naps will see us through 11 hours of jetlag by the weekend. (One can always hope!)

Today we spent a handful of hours on our own private walking tour of the city. Starting at Darling Harbour, where our hotel is, we walked into the CBD and followed one of the main thoroughfares up to Sydney Harbour, picking up a few essential supplies and doing plenty of window shopping along Pitt Street. It's a shame that the Great British pound is so god-awfully weak against the Aussie dollar right now :( When we got to Circular Quay there was some kind of hubbub going on on the water, and half a dozen helicopters were flying over the Opera House. It turns out that the Royal Australian Navy had returned to port after some war games and were gathering for their largest flotilla since the end of WWII. We were treated to a military helicopter hovering a HUGE national flag over the Opera House, and then a sail-by of a dozen warships. It would appear that the city fathers who planned The Rocks did not consider pushchairs because there are absolutely no ramps or lifts to access the windy lanes and alleyways that the site of the original British colony is known for. That said we did take a short walk onto the Harbour Bridge, but balked at hoisting Oscar in his pushchair up another 200 steps to the top of Pylon Lookout. That's what we've got a baby backpack for, so this vista has been bookmarked for another foray.

By lunchtime we were all feeling quite knackered and so made a beeline, with a break for a pannini, down George Street and straight back to the hotel. Rae's greatest discovery so far is that there is a fully stocked and operational Woolworths a mere 15 minute stroll from the hotel so later today we'll pop over and buy up all the Timtams they've got, and if we've got any money left over we'll buy some food for dinner.

Currently two-thirds of Clan Beckett (i.e. Oscar and Rae) are sleeping off the day's exertions while I go through the photos and write this entry. There will be more to come once I've persuaded Rae to help me blog this holiday. Don't expect Oscar to type up any of his thoughts or experiences - he says he'll get his "staff" to do the day-to-day stuff so he can concentrate on making the most of Oz in Oz!