What happened to Bob??

Evening....well morning to some....

I know some of my followers have wondered..."what happened to Bob?...Have not seen a blog in a couple days."...Fear not BBF (Bob's' Blog Follower) I am in Sydney taking a week before I head further down under to Melbourne and Tasmania.  I met up with a former co-worker Matt Johnson here in Sydney and have been just 'hang-in out'.

One of the best parts of just being in Sydney at this time of year is the weather.  A t-shirt and jeans or shorts is about it for the past 4 days.  This is while I mix with the regular tourists - minus camera.  I decided to put down the camera for a few days and just relax.  Fear not tomorrow will be a major photo shoot.  Why?  Tomorrow is Mardi Gras here in Sydney.  The largest party/parade conclave for GLBT people.  Over 1 million are expected to participate....but I have to be honest....no signs of any of those 1 million yet.  But I am told....wait till Saturday (tomorrow)!!

Being tourist includes shopping, theater, tourist traps, sights on a must see list.  All of those and more...Matt and I walked the streets of Sydney shopping...some clothes, candy and of yeah what would be complete without a a visit to the Apple store !!

As for theater I went to see "Boy from Oz"...the Peter Allen story which was a Tony nominated and award show in the States with Hugh Jackman.  But the current touring production with Todd McKenney.  Todd was the original "Peter Allen" in the hit show.  He created the role and is now doing a reprise.  An outstanding performance!!  Peter Allen as some will remember most was the husband of Liza Minelli....and a favorite of her mother Judy Garland.

Tourist traps and sights.....everywhere I guess...but here in Sydney it is the Opera House, harbour area, zoo, hop-on-hop-off Ferry (like the hop-on and hop-off bus of course).  Traps?....Luna Park and Watsons Bay....only there for the tourist - with the likes of restaurants/bars and fun parks for young and old kids!!  Maybe I should include the Zoo Ferry on the "trap" list...since they have a ferry boat that is exclusive to take you to the zoo...at $49.50 each!!  Yeah....the zoo!!

Okay...here is my most breaking story for this blog....I have not downgraded to a carry-on bag and my back-pack!!!!!  YIKES!!!  But, true my friends....now let us see where we started from in my saying I could never do this with a carry-on....I had the likes of the following....

Yeah...there I am at Washington Dulles with my "huge" duffle bag(20+ kilo)....and a stuffed carry-on (12+ kilo)!! Oh, and I also have a back-pack (10kilo) not in this picture.  Well, what transpired after a 3 weeks was a realization that less is better....more is out of the question.  So I am no down to approximately 17 kilo in a carry-on bag and a back-pack of 10 kilo!!  The weight of the "round the world" has been lifted off my back and shoulders.  The excess bags?  One was mailed home from New Zealand after I bought the carry on bag at the airport in Sydney....the large duffle (never has been and never would be a carry-on) was taken back to the States by my friend Matt....

So this is what I look like now heading to the airport...no need to check bags...just hop on!!

Wait a minute...did I say I had put the camera down for a few days?  Well, just one picture taken in the last 5 days....I just had to show you the breaking news on luggage.

Okay....tomorrow is the big parade for Mardi Gras and I will have pictures....you won't want to miss it!!