Yesterday was an inernational travel day for us. We left New Zealand and flew into Sydney, Australia. The flight was the worst we've had so far. Delayed leaving, serious bumpy, a plane at our gate when we arrived, and then a stuck gangway that kept us on the plane for an extra half hour.

The Customs and Immigration was a breeze, and our friend Nick was waiting for us when we were spit out of the arrival machine. A quick note, we had scrambled to buy onward tickets out of Oz and have them express shipped to NZ in order to be sure we were not turned away at the airport as we had been told we would be. Seems the rumors were just that. At the airport in NZ, they didn't even ask to see our visas or onward tickets. When we arrived and tried to show them to the Immigration Officer, he hurriedly told us he did not need to see them and passed us through. It was all a bit surreal after the horror stories we had heard.

Anyway, we arrived to a smiling face and quickly got caught up on what's going on in each other's lives. Nick lives in a suburb of Sydney called Coogee (cud-gee) that's right on the beach and it's beautiful! He works at the airport, and it's only a five minute drive away, but you would never know it. The town has lots of small cafes and bars, and a beautiful white sandy beach. Val and I are spending a bit of the day getting plans organized for the next few weeks, but tomorrow it's some serious sun time. After nine weeks of Portland type weather, we are ready for tropical sun again:)

We'll be here for about a week and then head off to Canberra, Tasmania, and then to Perth where we will spend most of our time. I probably won't be taking many pictures until we get to Tasmania, but keep checking just in case.

Until then, G'day mate.

Eric & Val