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We arrived in Sydney early evening and were greeted with, you guessed it, rain. After gathering up our bags we went to find a taxi. The driver was reluctant to help with the bags as it was raining but he did
get out of his cab to supervise. His main contribution was to give the bag carrying Gisèle's computer a good karate style kick to adjust its position in the back of his station wagon.
 Welcome to Sydney, home of the 2000 Olympics where
the host sport (each host country in the Olympics is allowed to add one unique sport for those games) may be tourist abuse by those ambassadors of culture, the taxi
driver. He proceeded not to know where the "Rocks" or our hotel was (this is like a New York taxi driver not knowing where Times Square is). After several attempts, we convinced him to give us his map
book and promptly marked on the map where it was clearly shown. After a long ride through a variety of dark industrial neighborhoods we got to the Rocks area and a friendly bar bouncer
showed the moron where the hotel was. Larry took the hand luggage upstairs to the check in desk and went down to get the bags. The driver was demanding payment before we could get our
bags (Larry did not know that he had shoved Gisèle out of the way when she attempted to unload our bags).
Twenty plus years of dealing with New York taxi drivers prepares you for things like this. Larry opened the trunk while reaming out the driver with words not fit for public consumption
and suggestions to undertake a number of physical activities that are anatomically impossible. The driver was paid less than the metered amount but he had the last laugh as we found out
later that he overcharged us by at least 80%. We took down the cab and driver information numbers and the hotel said they would report him but it will likely have no impact. If he does
this to a few members of the press when they arrive for the Olympics, he and people like him will generate more negative publicity for the city than all the positive publicity that the
Sydney billions of investment may generate. We will see.
In a way he did us a favor. It turned out that our hotel, The Russell, the highest rated B & B in Australia by Fodors, did not have an elevator! (Ed. Note: The most over-rated place we have
stayed at. Not to mention over-priced. We're planning on asking Fodor's how much of a kick-back they got to recommend this as the best. Have you ever had to ask an expensive hotel
whether or not they have an elevator? It') We had to lug everything up to our 4th floor room, which was in a connecting building involving going up and down stairs to get there. The
adrenaline rush left over from the battle with the taxi driver helped provide the energy to do this although the lady at the front desk was quite a help as well. We collapsed in bed and woke
up to the sounds of construction next door early in the morning. However, the sun was shining brightly and the forecast was for a great day
 We packed a week of tourist stuff into one day. We started with
a guided walking tour of the Rocks, the original settlement in Australia. The convicts who were sent out from England in the early 1800's named it the Rocks after its distinguishing feature,
a rock-lined cove in the harbor. Our guide pointed out that the American Revolution meant that Britain had no place to empty out the prisons and this led to the development of Australia as an
outlet for this unique export. It is interesting that many Australians now are hard at work tracing their roots back to these early times. It s sort of like having your family come over on
the Mayflower in the US. Of course, the way the guide talked, all the ancestors that they have found seemed to be only guilty of crimes like stealing a hatpin or a loaf of bread rather than
anything serious. We can only assume that the hard criminals did not have any heirs.
 One of the first things we saw on the tour was a statue of Captain Bligh (yes that
Captain ). It turns out that after the difficulties on the Bounty, he ended up as the fifth Governor of Australia. As luck would have it, he had another mutiny here
that Hollywood has not yet discovered. He was locked up by his own troops and only released when he and the troops were captured months later and sent back to
England for trial. He was acquitted and the troops convicted (surprise, and since they did not have a tropical island to escape to, there was no plot or scenery
worthy of a good movie). Bligh rose to be one of the highest-ranking officers in the British Navy. It appears that he managed well upwards but lacked certain
people management skills with those under him. He would likely be a very successful captain of industry today or at least a rich investment banker. Again, we digress.
 Speaking of Hollywood, as we rounded a corner on the Rocks
tour, there it was, the full sized replica of the Bounty made for the Mel Gibson remake of the movie. We had found our lunchtime activity as it now gives sailing tours of the harbor which is a good
use of a former movie prop. The rest of the Rocks tour was interesting and we recommend it to anyone as an introduction to Sydney.
 We went from the walking tour to the Bounty and got our tickets.
It's a little over the top with the crew trying out their acting skills but the food was good and the views were great as we sailed around the harbor. Arnie got to sail the ship and we had a
good time as the staff pointed out the sights to us. You get a really good view of the city and the expensive homes from the water. It was really pleasant when the engines were cut, the sails raised and we sailed in near silence. All the passengers other boats waved at us as we gently moved through the Sydney harbor. It's a fun way to spend a few hours.
 We then took a brief walking tour of the downtown area, which is a combination
of the very new and modern and the "old" buildings that have been recycled for new uses. Even though it is a young country this was a theme we saw throughout Australia, the
very new next to the "old" which is really quite young by most standards.
 After a fast shower we took off for the famous Sydney Opera
House. Gisèle had been lucky enough (Ed. Note: her opinion, not necessarily Larry's) to get tickets for a ballet that night, The Merry Widow. She enjoyed the ballet (lots of guys wearing
tights) but Larry found the intermissions the best part (the female ballet dancers had dresses, not tights). You could drink
your intermission champagne in a glass-walled area that had a spectacular 180-degree view of the harbor at night. The harbor was still very busy and Larry was happy that the ballet had
two intermissions so he could enjoy the view! Gisèle enjoyed the view too.
After the ballet, the view continued as we had dinner in the Bennelong restaurant in the Opera House. We had a very nice dinner and some good Australian wine to end an event packed day in Sydney.
We had to get up at the crack of dawn to leave for Melbourne. As the taxi driver took us back
to the airport we discovered that there was a modern road, tunnels, and a fast route out of town that did not involve touring the warehouse district. The fare was also 80 % less than our
arrival. The driver was friendly and pointed out some of the sights for us which was a nice way to leave town.
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