Sorry this is out of order but I’m carefully watching computer memory to prevent another meltdown.  Our last day in Sydney we took a cruise that allowed us to view this incredible city from the vantage points of the first settlers who realized what a unique harbor had been created by nature.

Seeing the incredible homes with these views from the water made us understand why this is such a special place.  This is actually Russell Crowe’s Penthouse on one of the harbor inlets.

But better than looking at real estate was sharing lunch with such nice women as Marie and Patricia, two Aussie sisters of Irish descent who take three days together every year to have an adventure.  They were full of stories of their lives in Australia and the sports teams that both support.

Our trusty pilot Ben clearly loved being on the boat and served a mean platter of fruit and cheese.

The next morning we had to say farewell but the sun came out and glinted off the opera house to let us see every unique detail of this magnificent building.

Lee, who was one of the workers picking up the granite tiles to restore the waterproofing after over 50 years clearly loved and respected the structure.

Our flight to Abu Dhabi was over 14 hours a third of which was over the continent of Australia.

We arrived and got to our hotel exhausted.  But still had a wonderful breakfast environment right by the pool.  Abu Dhabi is hot, hot, hot!  We are staying on a man-made structure called Yas Island.  It is home to the Formula One racing course.  It is so big that this morning at 10:30 I walked from gate two to sixteen and covered two miles.  I felt the first effects of heat stroke and went to the nearest water sign.  Can you figure out how to work this?

The red roof has a giant Ferrari symbol on top that in scale is massive.  Everything here is massive, just think of Dallas on steroids.

I’m working this afternoon and Wayne took a shuttle bus downtown to get a better flavor for the city.  This will probably be the last post for a couple of days since I will be working until Monday when we return to Chicago.  I’m planning on doing a summary post since there have been so many compliments on the photos.  See you all soon!