Greetings from Sydney, Australia,

We arrived here on Air New Zealand Business Premier class from Los Angeles experiencing the most comfortable fully flat bed in its class with wonderful New Zealand wines and great in-flight service.

For the next couple of nights we'll be enjoying the comfort of BLUE Sydney, A Taj Hotel. BLUE is a boutique property located at the wonderfully refurbished Woolloomooloo finger wharf with fabulous views of the water and Sydney skyline. The Water Bar was named bar of the year and restaurants include Manta Seafood, China Doll and Aki's Indian. The wharf is within easy walking distance to Circular Quay, Kings Cross or The Domain & Royal Botanic Gardens. The Art Gallery Society of New South Wales is hosting a viewing of the Archibald, Wynne & Sulman Prizes for 2009 and the gallery is a short walk from BLUE and well worth seeing.

Yesterday we managed to play a round of golf at The Royal Sydney Golf Club Championship Course with some great friends. The second oldest golf club in New South Wales, The Royal Sydney Golf Club one of the largest sporting clubs in the western world. The present clubhouse dates from 1922 and has hosted the Australian Open Championships.

Tomorrow, we're off to the raw beauty of the Australian bush and the Blue Mountains...