Happy New Year from Sydney, New South Wales

Happy New Year from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. We were on a grassy knoll next to the Opera House with a great view of the bridge in all its glory on New Year's Eve. The reason we had such a great place to spread out our blanket is that we planted ourselves there by 11 AM that morning and were soon surrounded by more than a million of our closest friends. As the day progressed, it was obvious we had more space than needed for just the two of us and invited another couple to join us. John and Jane, from London, were of our generation and backpacking around AU for a month. This brief account is just to let you know we are still alive and will write more - filling in the details of this last week spent in Melbourne and Sydney - once we get back to Perth. Leaving Sydney in a few hours on Qantas - a wonderful airline when it comes to passenger service. Take care of you and yours, Russ and Rose