The 16+ hour flight from Dallas to Sydney was on a Qantas airbus. This flight included many firsts for us: first flight over 10.5 hours, first time on Qantas, first crossing of the International Date Line, first time on a double-decker plane, and first time having a vacant seat between us -which meant this was the first time I actually slept a few hours on a plane.
At one point, I checked the monitor to observe our flight path and stats:
Upon exiting the plane, we followed signs past all the e-passport kiosks toward a lane marked, “All other passports.” A customs agent checked our passports and customs forms and allowed us to pass. We collected our bags from the baggage carousel, and an environmental officer was milling around checking everyone’s custom forms again and stamping them. (Or quizzing folks who declared food items, etc.) Finally, we entered one last line as we rolled our bags through an area where a dog sniffed them thoroughly.
Off to the taxi stand. The taxi fare from the airport to the Rocks district was $80 AUD. This was more than we expected, but our driver explained that they have to detour around cable car construction that has been occurring for the last 2 years to get to some downtown locations on George St
Our hotel is the Holiday Inn Old Sydney- an absolutely perfect location: walkable to the International Cruise Terminal, the train station, the Opera House, the weekend market, a hop on hop off, “BigBus” stop, and lots of eating and shopping venues. 
Check-in is not until 3PM, so we were expecting to have to store our bags since it was not even 7AM when we arrived. Fortunately, for an additional $25 per night, we could upgrade to a harbor view room which was available for early check-in.
It was worth $75 AUD to me to be able to get in our room so early. 
The bed is comfortable and there are soft and firm pillow choices, but the best thing about the room is the view.
We walked around the area and ate breakfast at the Rocks Cafe’ then headed to our room for a much-needed nap.
Dinner was at Ribs and Burgers.
We splurged on opera tickets at the iconic Sydney Opera House. 
Carmen: Such beautiful orchestral music, but I never knew the story-line of the opera until I read the English sub-titles. I think I would have preferred to remain ignorant and enjoy the music!
Watch for my next post: Sydney-Day 2