ditto!  my retirement plans would seriously take beautiful Sydney into consideration (perhaps even over Costa del Sol and the Greek Cyclades - btw, Greek babes can be SO gorgeously exotic, it's not funny!

but i find Aussies to be the nicest, kindest and the least uptight folks around. lucky for us, they speak the "same" language (but with that oh-so-cute G'dahys and Bah-bies, etc) that any native New Englander would feel right at home with!

i also love their laissez-faire and joyous attitude to life. most young professionals i know in Sydney take a multi-hour lunch break (usually at the beach surfing) and then return to work only for a few more hours, always to be followed by "happy hour" at a local bar/nightclub, where they also excel at drinking/partying as compared to most other folk.

did i mention them Aussie babes?  just checking!  LOL

In the off seasons there are some pretty good deals on Quantas. In Nov (similar to our May) I went for $900. I added a link to a very nice, very affordable hotel in downtown Sydney.

I've been there 3 times - didn't do the Bridge climb because you can't take your camera. For exercise I jogged around the bay near the Opera House and at Manly Beach (topless).

The flies are almost everywhere - didn't see any of the spiders.

while i'm not an avid Opera lover, in order to "soak in" the quintessential Sydney Opera House "experience" i went to see a production of Mozart's Requiem there back in 2000. checking the website just now i see that coincidentally that's what's playing there next week! (what are the odds?

http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/h/home.asp

not to drone on and on (like a broken record advert for the Australian Tourism Board!  but i have to say to anyone who hasn't experienced all the natural beauty this exotic continent has to offer (and i mean exotic "beauties" of every variety: crocs, marsupials, mammals and hot gorgeous Aussie babes! that you are missing so many "other-worldly" delights it's not funny!

next to hiking/rafting the Grand Canyon, one of my greatest living moments was scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef (well, snorkling to be honest!  surrounded by the occasional Bat Rays and little baby reef sharks (they're SO cute) -- just like something straight off of the Discovery Channel.

anyway ... [sigh] ... this thread has me reminiscing a bit too much!  just do yourself a favor and go visit ... LOL

I pointed out the Opera House because it's the icon of Sydney and maybe all of Australia. And because I knew that it opened after your trip there.

I agree 1000% about the people - I like to treat people as they treat me - in Australia they treat people better than that.

I was watching two Quantas planes land at LAX this morning and wanted to get on them and go. And if the IT job market doesn't pick up I may. Tough for foreigners to get jobs down under.