Aussie Trip Recap

Arriving in Sydney, going through the usual customs immigration etc. I grabbed a cab to the hotel and $50 AU dollars later arrived at the hotel. It was now about 8:30 PM Friday night. I was beat and had no desire to go out and about by myself. My other travelers had arrived earlier and had departed for sites. Sleep drove me to bed about 9:30, and I was finally able to check my e-mail just before bed.
Saturday morning we ate a very expensive (in my opinion) breakfast, then headed out to the ferry over to Manly beach. I got some great photos of the beach, ocean, and cliffs. We walked, and walked, and walked. My poor old fat body was dying at the end of the day. For dinner, we headed out to Watson’s bay and ate at Doyle’s Restaurant. A 106-year-old establishment and I ate fish for the first time in about 30 years. I ate Snapper as my fish and chips (fries). It was delightful, not fishy at all, and very delicious. I even ate it without drowning it in tartar sauce.
Sunday morning we ate breakfast at an open-air café right by the Sydney Opera house. Beautiful view and really good food. We decided to head to the airport early to travel to Melbourne. In the end, I went ahead alone cause my ticket was changeable and my other workmates tickets were not. Left a cold and rainy Sydney for a warm and dry Melbourne.
Sunday night we dined on the balcony of an Italian restaurant overlooking the Yarra River in Melbourne. Monday we headed out for a 2.5-hour drive to the next audit. I audited all day; we finished and drove about 2 hours to Ballarat. My company has a plant in Ballarat. We met up with some Aussies from the plant and had a wonderful meal lakeside in Ballarat.
Tuesday drove about 2.0 hours to do a follow-up audit, saw more of the Ocean and some very beautiful but dry countryside. The state of Victoria has had drought conditions for about the last 7 to 8 years. We were hosted Tuesday evening at a barbecue at the home of one of the Aussies. Steak, Sausage, Lamb chops, a delightful potato salad and equally delicious green salad with Avocados, Mangos, and what they call "Rocket" greens here.
Wednesday visited and toured the plant in Ballarat. Great site, lovely people, and a wonderful production facility. It is so good to know that even 14,000 miles from home, the processes and standards are uniform throughout.
We left the plant and I was delivered to the airport in Melbourne to depart from Hong Kong. Which is where I am recording this while in my hotel room. I’m gonna post this and the NZED recap, then check out of the hotel, take a train to the city and sight see before my 11:00 PM flight tonight.
CAN’T WAIT TO GET HOME! Look out Texas, here I come.