Today was going to be a long day. Possibly longer than one of Jack Bauer's. Up at 3am (1am Sydney time) and in Sydney by 7.30am.

Yesterday we decided, somewhat belatedly, to book a hostel in Sydney. Not knowing too much about Sydney, it was a bit like pinning the tail on a donkey. (For anyone who doesn't know what this is, it's a childrens' party game where you are blindfolded and have to stick a tail on a picture of a donkey. The results can be highly amusing to those under the age of 10.) We chose a hostel called The Globe Backpackers in an area called Kings Cross, not too far from central Sydney. (I can hear Skippy laughing already.)

On our journey from the airport to the hostel, one of the passengers on the shuttle bus was talking to the driver in a voice loud enough for us to hear. He asked the driver how the road works on Darlinghurst Road were going. The driver responded that they were going slowly and he thought they were now trying to widen the pavements. The passenger joked that with wider pavements, there would be room for more hookers on the street.

This conversation and the prolific number of adult shops near our hostel gave us the impression that we had inadvertantly ended up in Sydney's red light district. We decided we'd find another hostel later in the day!

Before we did anything though, we had a nap.