Sydney, Australia

My flight details took me straight from LA to Sydney, on an overnight flight that lasted two dates (my first trip across the date line). That left me missing a day and five hours. Like the trip from Europe to America, only with a time warp.

Which put me in Sydney a full day before I was scheduled to embark.


I got in at 6am, which was 11am in LA (or 9am in Hawaii, since I wasn't consistently on any one time zone). By the time I got to the hotel and got my room sorted, it was 9am, and I was ready to go. I threw my bags in my room, got my bearings, and headed into the city.

I did a free walking tour of Sydney, which was fantastic and well worth the price. That left me time to check out the rest of Sydney all afternoon. I met up with some other Princess crew members (half of the band that I had worked with on the Golden), and we walked through the city. We ended up at the aquarium and wildlife park, and decided to shell out the money and go in.


I love zoos and aquariums for their opportunities to see cool things. But I would of course much rather see all those animals in their natural environment. All in time, I suppose. For now, SHARKS!


Then it was back to the hotel to eat then sleep (8pm is a perfectly legitimate bedtime, despite it still being light outside).

Boarding is 7am the next day, bright and early, then the adventure on the Sun Princess begins.