Our friends Miranda and Hoy were having their wedding in Melbourne, Australia in April 2009, so of course we had to see
the sights in that area of the world while we were in the neighborhood. Here are photos from the Sydney portion of our
travels, including amazing luck on the first day to stumble upon the world premiere of the new Star Trek movie
and win tickets to the screening! |
Sections - Flight & Star Trek Premiere | Chinese Garden | Manly Beach
Animated Slideshow of Australia/New Zealand Trip
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We left from O'Hare airport in Chicago, candidate city of the 2016 Olympics - cross your fingers!
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We both arrived at LAX just fine (although my plan to make an earlier flight was foiled, Daniel took an earlier flight which
was mine so that worked out well, mine was booked with miles so we couldn't easily get the same ticketed flight ORD>LAX).
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Control tower and famous restaurant in the distance under rennovation it seems
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It happened that we had the LAX>Sydney flight one of the days that the new
Airbus A380 was flying, an amazingly large plane (and expensive at $300 Million+)
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Even though there were no movies starting with "T" the on demand in flight movies were super and the best feature was the self serve
snack area for apples, water, etc at the back of the plane
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FINALLY - it was a very long plane ride
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Qantas Kangaroo on the engine
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What a nice schedule to hand out...
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First sight of Sydney area
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Landing in Sydney, opera house on left
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Opera house in center
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There was also a neat camera in the tail you could watch from your seat, a bit frightening really...
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Elegant wing design...
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Another Qantas airplane at the airport
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Then it was over to our hotel the Shangri La in The Rocks area, here's a neat carving on a church nearby
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Nice hotel room
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Nice view, not towards the opera house, but harbor view regardless...
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Homelessness - gotta remember the less fortunate even during vacation, it was actually an installation art piece drawing attention
to the reomval of public housing from the Sydney area (very high - top 5 or 10 in the wolrd real estate prices make public
housing tough I assume...)
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St. George's Bank, on St. George's street I think
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A ferry system compliments a nice train system in the city, however I wasn't very happy with the random extra charge if you wanted
to take the train anywhere near the airport (not that it was really that much further than other stops served without
extra charge)
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A nice cafe/bar with a bird on top of umbrellas near the Opera House
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Workers ready a red carpet...what could this be?
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Star Trek...but that's not coming out for some time...
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Then we heard that in a few hours the world premiere was to be held there so we thought what better fun than to hang out
in front of the Sydney Opera House to get a good seat to watch the stars! Daniel in front of the photography backdrop...
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We took a quick jaunt over to the other side of Circular Quay to get a good photo of the opera house since the sun was out
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The award for most dramatic photo taking and subject goes to this couple for sure
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Sydney Harbor Bridge and Luna Park in the distance
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Peoeple on top of the bridge via the bridge climb group
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View of the bridge and opera house
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Me and Daniel in front of the opera house
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Back to the waiting game - it takes a LONG time to make a nice red carpet. You have to join the pieces together both vertically and horizontally,
carve the fancy Star Trek logo into the carpet, tape down any ends of the carpet, and pick up EVERY SINGLE piece of stray material
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Celebrity isn't as big of a thing in Australia as it is in the US (or people didn't know about the premiere/were busy) since crowds were quite
sparse early on
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As the time of the showing grew closer more people showed up and we of course were waiting on the side the stars were NOT coming down, but quick
manuvering gave us good vantage points regardless. This really excited fan kept yelling for JJ Abrams, which was odd because
none of the other fans were yelling (maybe mildly calling out actors names when they looked over/got close, to ask for signatures)
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Eric Bana and his wife
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Zachary Quinto (well known from his role
as Syler in Heroes) played the role of Spock in the movie
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Karl Urban (Dr. McCoy) motions towards the crowd
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Eric Bana signs autographs
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Director J.J. Abrams was very nice to the excited fan, signing her Cloverfield poster
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Chris Pine, who played Captain Kirk, chats with the crowd while signing autographs
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John Cho, who played Sulu
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Zachary stops by our area
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Daniel and an enthusiastic fan we befriended while waiting
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Daniel insisted I take this photo of him on the red carpet in front of the media...
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Last photo before the screening - they took all phones and all large bags had to go into a checked area, there
were some problems returning the right phone to the right person but luckily my ugly phone was just fine
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I think there was special lighting for the Sydney Opera House - it was very beautiful
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Our treasure trove of autographs from JJ on Daniel's ticket, Chris Pine, Zachary and more!
Sections - Flight & Star Trek Premiere | Chinese Garden | Manly Beach
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