On  Monday, October 07, 2002 2:25 AM, Reef Fish wrote:
(snip)
> >Mate! The airport is less than an hours drive through the city from
> >Dee Why, on the Northern Beaches.  Picking you both up from the airport
> >is no hardship.  :-)

> But it's a hardship for ME just thinking about an Old Man like you
> driving 4 hours within the half day before 7 am!  :-)

Mate!  The only blokes you need to worry about on the roads in Sydney are
old men wearing hats and driving Volvos!  :-)))

> THAT settled it!  We'll easily make it from the airport to the Hilton
> Friday night, and I'll take up your offer the next day:

Let's sort that out once you arrive in Cairns.  Give me a call from the
hotel up there and we can finalise the arrangements then! :-)

> >On the Saturday, I might suggest that Sue and yourself catch the
> >ferry from Circular Quay to Manly.  You'll enjoy the trip - and gain
> >a good appreciation of the Harbour and the city layout - and I'll
> >then arrange to meet you in Manly and give you a quick "Cook's Tour"
> >of some of the beaches during the 10-minute drive to Dee Why.  :-))

> That sounds like an excellent plan for the start of our sightseeing.

> Having mistaken 1700 km for a short ride to the beach, I did my
> time/distance research just a tad more carefully this time.

> I used MapQuest to put the "airport" icon on the Sydney map, and it
> looked like a short walking distance, compared to Dee Why.  :-)))
> BUT a further research revealed how SLOW you Aussie drivers are!!
> I found this bit of info from the Hotel webpage:

> >  Distance from hotel: 10 km.    Drive time: 30 min.

> 20 km per hour -- that's 12.4 mph, the speed we drive through a
> carwash!  :-))

Ah!  But your car wash probably doesn't have as many good looking women to
admire!  :-)

> But then I recalled your tall tales about the
> cabbies ... what better way is there for us to get a ride from the
> airport to the downtown Hilton while getting a free roller-coaster
> thrill ride?:

> >  Taxi , typical minimum charge is AUD 28.00

> 6.2 miles -- that should take about 5 min. for the cabbies, right? :0)

Only for those that actually speak the same language as you and who've
actually driven around Sydney before getting their cab licence!  :-))))

Strike