About 90 minutes prior to arrival in Sydney the FA’s turned on the lights in the cabin, offered everyone hot towels, and a short time later passed through the cabin offering coffee, tea, juice, and water. The breakfast service began with an offering of breads and a nice fruit platter and later followed with a baked potato stuffed with eggs and cheese and topped with a Hollandaise sauce. Although the taste was OK, I didn’t really care for the baked potato. I would have preferred something lighter such as cold or hot cereal. These items may have been available but I didn’t bother to ask. Our trays were promptly cleared after the second offering of beverages and a short time later we landed in Sydney on a beautiful fall morning. Just prior to landing the purser made an announcement apologizing for the service problems in the main cabin. Apparently, due to some malfunction, the staff were not able to turn off the cabin lights in parts of the main cabin making sleeping difficult for some passengers and, the main cabin ovens went on the fritz right after the first meal service. Consequently the main cabin passengers did not receive breakfast. The purser said the staff would distribute some type of service cards that she highly encouraged passengers to complete and send to the corporate office. She offered to collect these cards and forward them to the corporate office for those passengers who had completed the cards before deplaning. Overall the flight (for me a least) was pleasant and comfortable. I have to give kudos to the two upper deck FA’s who did an outstanding job. I had heard many negative comments about the “matrons” in business class and about their poor attitude and lackluster service. On the contrary, the two senior FA’s who worked the upper deck on this flight were pleasant, personable, and did a great job serving us throughout the flight. I will have to take a few minutes to write to those on mahogany row at United corporate and share my thoughts. ^

Our flight arrived in Sydney at about 6:30AM. Given this early hour, I was surprised at the number of recently arrived passengers waiting for immigration processing. I waited for nearly an hour to clear immigration, which after finally making it to the counter was quick and efficient. In my extensive travels I have learned to travel light, only carrying a medium sized duffel bag and a small backpack both of which I have always been able to bring on the plane as carry-on items. Since I didn’t have to wait for baggage to be off loaded from the plane, I breezed through customs and into the arrivals area where I found a tourist desk a short distance away (to the right as you exit the customs area). I asked where I could find the airport shuttle. The pleasant and helpful person behind the counter pointed me towards the McDonald’s at the end of the terminal. She told me I could purchase a ticket at the booth just outside the door. I purchased a return shuttle ticket for A$15 (I’m pretty sure that is what I paid) and went to the curb to wait for the shuttle. Approximately 15 minutes later a shuttle arrived; a 15 seat vehicle towing a luggage trailer. There were different shuttles going to different parts of Sydney. I boarded the shuttle headed for the Darling Harbor area. I, and other tired looking passengers, waited on the shuttle for about 25 minutes. It seemed the driver was waiting for more passengers so he could head into town with a full load. After filling every vacant seat on the shuttle the driver headed towards town. Traffic was moderately heavy. The first passenger was dropped off about 30 minutes after departing the airport. The shuttle arrived at the Holiday Inn Darling Harbor 20 minutes later. Total time from the airport to my hotel was 90 minutes I would later learn the Central Railway Station was a mere 10 minute walk from my hotel and offered frequent train service to the airport (about 15 minutes travel time) for A$11 one way. I later took advantage of this service and in the future will spend the few extra dollars for this much more efficient service. There are several railway stations in the huge downtown Sydney area, so if you are staying at a hotel in the downtown area you shouldn't be more than a few minutes walk from a railway station.

The Holiday Inn Darling Harbor is located across the street from the Sydney Entertainment Center and on the fringe of Chinatown. There is a monorail station within a two minute walk (makes stops at CenterPoint Tower, Pitt Street Mall, Darling Harbor), a light rail stop within a one minute walk (makes a stop at the Central Railway Station), and as mentioned above the Central Railway Station is an easy ten minute walk. Darling Harbor, the business centers along George Street, and the main shopping area of Pitt Street are all just a ten minute walk from the hotel. The hotel itself is a modern building with 304 guest rooms. As I walked into the lobby I noticed a reader board with a list of names. To my surprise I saw my name (first initial and last name) on the board under the heading “The Holiday Inn Darling Harbor Welcomes the Following Guests”. This was a nice welcome, unless of course you were at the hotel “incognito” One of the pitfalls of arriving at a destination in the early morning hours is that more often than not your hotel room is not ready when you want to check-in. After about 17 hours of travel time I was longing for a hot shower and a short nap. At about 9:15AM, as I expected, the clerk told me my room would not be ready until at least 11:30AM as a large tour group was due to check out within the hour. She said she would assign me a room, notify housekeeping, and ask them to service that room as soon as possible. I left my bag with the bell staff and headed off towards Darling Harbor in search of some coffee and food.

I stopped at the tourist office in the center of the complex and picked up some brochures and city guides, then stopped at a Starbucks to “recharge my batteries” and plan my day. Darling Harbor consists of an exhibition / convention center, an entertainment center, the Maritime and Powerhouse museums, a shopping mall and promenade, an IMAX theater, an expansive Chinese Garden (entrance fee), the Sydney Aquarium (entrance fee), and a ferry stop with service to Circular Quay. I wondered through the shopping mall (nothing special) and out onto the pedestrian / monorail bridge and headed towards downtown. The day was beautiful and offered grand views of the harbor and the downtown skyline. The Sydney Aquarium is located on the city side of the bridge. Since I had a few hours to occupy before my room would be ready I decided to make a visit to the aquarium (admission A$21 for adults). The aquarium was interesting and nicely presented, but a bit expensive for what it offered. I completed my walk through in about 90 minutes and headed back to the hotel.

The same clerk welcomed me back and said my room was ready. I headed upstairs to a room on the 9th floor in the corner of the building overlooking the entertainment center across the street. The room was of average size and included a mini-bar. The furnishings were modern. The bathroom was of average size and had a tub / shower combination. Everything appeared clean. I showered and took a short nap, then headed out to do some sightseeing.