Our Adventure Down Under Begins. Vermont to Boston to LA to Sydney

February 3, 2017
Weathersfield VT

What would you do if someone said "Want to go to Australia to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band?" Would you hesitate, would you say yes, would you say-are you crazy?" I did and said all of the above but in the end, I happily went.

Jay, the concert ticket wizard, scored great seats and pit tickets for four of Springsteen's shows, part of the Summer 2017 Tour in Australia and New Zealand. Plane tickets were purchased, hotel rooms secured, kennel reservations were made and off we went.

After dropping Riley off at the kennel, we drove to Boston to wait for our flight to LAX.

Late lunch and a few beers later, we're on a plane to LA. The flight was mostly empty and pretty uneventful. We landed and basically ran to our gate for the 14 or so hour flight to Sydney. The ride was pretty turbulent and VERY LONG. We flew Delta, the seats were OK for ecomomy but still hugely uncomfortable.

So we left the house at 1 p.m on Friday, February 3 and landed in Sydney Australia, after crossing the International Date Line on Sunday, February 5 at 8:30 a.m. We cleared immigration and customs and ended up getting duped into taking a "car" instead of a taxi. At least we didn't have to wait in the LONG taxi queue in the blazing sun.

Our room at the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel, in the Rocks section of Sydney wasn't ready so we walked around a bit.

We found Founder's Porter for Jay at the Beer Deluxe at the King St. Wharf. On the advice of the bar keeper we walked up to the Barangaroo Reserve to view the Harbour.

She was right the views were pretty spectacular.

Back at the Lord Nelson, we ordered some lunch. Jay had the fish and chips and I tried their grilled chicken Caesar salad. Oh my, was it good!

Up in our room, #301, we don't unpack because we're only in this small room for one night then we move down the hall to #303 for the rest of the week. (Both rooms were actually quite nice and comfortable).

After a quick nap and freshen up, we head towards the Circular Quay to meet up with the local free walk guide. There is a group of locals I Am Free Walking Tours, they offer tours of Sydney or Melbourne for free. We thought this we be a good way to learn about Sydney. Our group walk focuses on The Rocks and for 1. 5 hours we walk around learning history and short cuts around the area that we'll call home for the week.

It's just past Chinese New Year and the city hosted a HUGE celebration. Decorations are still up everywhere.

Fun to see traces of Vermont in Sydney!

The views along our walk are nothing less than amazing.

And sometimes quite humorous.

During our walk we learn about the British Military presence and the convicts in the 1800s. Life back then was pretty tough on everyone, especially the convicts.

We checked out the three "oldest" pubs that are fighting for "The Oldest" title, one of which is the Lord Nelson.

We view the Bridge, the Opera House and the harbour. We say good bye to our guide and leave him with a tip as a small thank you for his time.

We walk back to the Lord for some libations and nachos.

Then it's off to bed for these weary travelers. We need to get ready for Blue Mountains Monday-which back home is Super Bowl Sunday!

More images from around The Rocks: Click Here