Checking into our B&B in Sydney, we find it charming, rustic and quaint, to use real estate terms. Translation: Old, cold and tiny rooms. Actually, it’s not that bad, but it’s in an area above the wharf known as The Rocks, so there are tons of stairs to get to restaurants, shops or the Sydney Opera House. I may be off by 2-3, but I counted every step we scaled and came up with a total of 134,393 stairs in the two days we stayed there. This doesn’t include the 3978 stairs to get from the lobby to our room. Needless to say, Sydney is a living, breathing Stairmaster.

While in town, we sign up for a tour of SOH that is extremely informative of the history, construction and the architect who designed the building. During the tour we're able to go into one of the many concert halls and hear a rehearsal of the Soweto Gospel Choir, which is especially cool since we have some of their music. Yes, you read that right.

As we walk around the surrounding property of the Opera House, a huge number of people are milling around staring at the cellphone in their hand (not surprising), all in the search for Pokeman Go. Here they are in the presence of one of the most iconic buildings in the world and their only interest is racking up more points! It was all I could do to hold myself back from grabbing one of them by the neck and yelling at them to “Wake the hell up and appreciate the building!”

My level of self-control astonishes me, but then so does my occasional lack of it.

Unsure of where to eat dinner tonight, we meander through Sydney looking for something that jumps out at us, and find it at Caminetto, an Italian restaurant where we're greeted by an Asian host. During our meal, a 2-piece mariachi band (no, really!) serenaded us with a guitar and a harp (no, really!). Despite the eclectic cast from ‘We Are the World’, the food and service are good.

mariachis Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera Guantanamera, guajira, guantanamera...

The next day we walk down to the wharf and take the commuter ferry across Sydney Harbor for a 45-minute ride to Manly Beach - despite being a longtime resident of happy & gay Hillcrest, they do allow me in. Getting off the ferry, we wander through a few blocks of shops aimed at the tourists who frequent the area. Beyond the kitsch lies Manly Beach, about a mile long stretch of beach, thick with surfers, but few beachgoers on this cool overcast day. After lunch and ice cream, we take the ferry back to our B&B and prepare for Tonga.

More pictures we took in Australia.