The Longest Day

I never remembered to look and see if water drained the wrong way in the Southern Hemisphere, but I can assure you that Murphy's Law works just as well there as it does at home. Since Saturday was going to be my shortest day in Sydney, it was also sure to be the nicest -- and that's exactly what happened: a bright, sunny, warm day, ideal for going to the beach. Unfortunately, I had to be at the airport by 11:30am, so I wasn't going to the beach.

Instead, I took a morning jog through the Royal Botanical Garden, and en route, I realized that I'd found the only spot where I could get a picture of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, but I didn't have my camera with me. So after showering, I headed back out to the path with cameras, got the picture, and zipped back to the hotel to finish packing.

I was afraid that I might have a problem getting a taxi, because Saturday was ANZAC Day, commemorating Australia's veterans, especially those who served and fell at Gallipoli in World War I. And there were many veterans, wearing their medals, all throughout downtown Sydney, especially at Martin Place (a plaza), where they held a dawn service, followed by a parade. Unlike our Memorial Day or Veterans' Day, ANZAC Day is still a solemn day of commemoration, rather than a holiday and excuse for big sales -- in fact, many stores are closed on ANZAC Day. But taxis ran as usual, and the driver knew a good way around the march, so I got to the airport in plenty of time.

At the airport, I visited the duty-free shop and spent all but 10 cents of my Australian money, buying chocolate-covered macadamia nuts and ANZAC biscuits (which somehow seemed appropriate). Then it was 1pm, and time to board a completely full plane to San Francisco. I had expected to work most of the way home, but somehow, I found myself falling asleep after dinner (melatonin works!), and managed to doze off-and-on for 8 hours or so, waking fully just before breakfast time, and so I wound up not taking the computer out of my briefcase at all.

We landed on time at 9:20am, nearly four hours before leaving Sydney; I cleared Customs, got a rental car, and drove directly to Shir Hadash in hopes of hearing Diane chant her Torah portion at services, but I arrived a few minutes too late.

After services, we drove home, and I returned to a normal California lifestyle (whatever that means). I even managed to stay up until a normal bedtime on Saturday, though I did sleep rather late on Sunday!

The trip, day-by-day: