We got up at 7:30, showered, had breakfast and packed. Then we caught a taxi to the airport for a 3 hour flight to Sydney. Upon arrival in Sydney, we were treated to a big rainstorm with lightning and hail! It moved through pretty fast, and things cleared right up behind it. The W Hotel Sydney is built inside a renovated wharf building and is really cool architecturally. It's right next to the docks where a large U.S. Navy ship had docked a few days before, which explained the large number of cute Navy boys we saw wandering around the area.

This is the entrance from the street. Very modern.

Once inside, twin elevators and stairs lead to the rooms.

Our room had an upstairs bedroom.

We had a loft room, with the bedroom upstairs, looking out over the Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens. We went down to the lobby bar for a drink, then back to the room to rest for going out later on.

Around 10pm we took a cab to Oxford street, which runs through the heart of the gay area of Sydney. We walked up and down the street to get a sense of where we'd shop the next day. Several of the stores looked like they had interesting clothes. Then we went to a bar called The Barracks and had a few drinks and watched all the cute Australian boys. A bit after midnight we headed back to the hotel to catch some sleep.