15 hours to the other side of the world

My 15 hour flight from LAX to SYD was really not so bad.  I think its sort of a memory muscle that builds up over time doing long trips.  I actually appreciate that it's so hard to get here - otherwise it would lose some of it's specialness.  I watched a movie on the plane that dealt with worm holes and ways to skip across the universe. I guess that would be cool, but something would definitely be lost if someone could get to the other side of the planet without some effort and a bit of suffering.


Sydney Harbour daytime timelapse from Paul Taylor on Vimeo.

I'm too tired to write, but don't want to make the mistake of sleeping during the Australian day.  Many things to see and do, so staying upright for now.  Well, maybe just a little nap...

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Darling Harbour

15 hours later, I meandered through the central business district of Sydney to Darling Harbour - another jumping off point for ferries, a place to catch a party boat, or visit museums, the city aquarium, and other tourist attractions.  If Circular Quay is similar to the Seattle ferry terminal area, Darling Harbour is the equivalent of the Seattle waterfront to the north, less Ye Old Curiosity Shop.

In my now more than 24 hours in the city, I can say from my extensive experience that Seattle and Sydney seem to be twins separated at birth and sent to opposite sides of the planet.  The biggest differences I see are:

• There are few to no people who appear to be of African, Middle Eastern or Indian origin.  Mainly European and Asian.  Given the geographies, I suppose that makes some sense.
• No insane people on the street, no one begging passers by for change, no one camping in public places.  It's very clean here, with no obvious reason why (i.e no heavy presence of police or other authority).  I'm thinking Seattle's mayor might want to pay a visit and see what she can learn.

Darling Harbour Aquarium

Other than those things, I think you'd find yourself hard pressed to tell a significant difference - on the surface anyway.  I suspect that the differences that are easy to see have some deeper underlying roots in the culture.  We'll see if my perceptions or understanding change over the next few days.