We started our day with a backstage tour of the Opera House. It was very interesting and fun to see the complex operation to put on a production. It literally has over a 1000 rooms. Sting was performing on the outdoor stage tonight but sold out. We took the ferry to Manly beach but was it was sooooo hot today that we stayed a short time as we are already a bit sunburned. Sydney is breaking records with high temps. Today was again close to 100 degrees. Rand...

Watson's beach

Today the Big news is the cyclone in Cairns. It should hit tonight with category 5 winds. We are in Sydney which is 1500 miles south of Cairns, so safe from the cyclone. Cairns was as far north as we intended to travel on the coast so may need to adjust our plans and spend more time further south of Cairns.

We had another great day in Sydney. The weather is quite hot with temps in the upper 90's. We took a harbor cruise and it was great to be out on the water. We went to Watson's Bay and went swimming. We certainly noticed a marked increase of tourists this evening in Sydney as many are leaving Cairns due to the cyclone anticipated to hit tonight. The Australian news had given a couple of interesting facts about the cyclone.....they said the force of the storm ...

We arrived in Sydney this morning. It was a 14 hour flight from LA but actually went very well. We were able to check into our hotel early so we could maximize the day. We went to the aquarium and the IMAX and managed to find an Australian pub for dinner. Our hotel is right on the harbor with a great view. The temp was in the 90's today so we plan to check out the beaches tomorrow.