Part 1

Something hard hit Sara in her kidneys and she moaned. What the hell was that? She had just closed her eyes for a few seconds and suddenly this pain.

"I can see the Opera House."

"You're not into operas."

"I mean the Sydney Opera House, stupid!" Sofia almost jumped on her seat. Only the seat belt and the lack of space stopped her a little bit. The world famous Sydney Opera House. There it was. So close.

This trip brought them far away from home. Sydney. Again, it was the benefit of Sofia's house exchange program. An elderly couple from Melbourne had contacted her and asked for Sofia's flat for two weeks. They wanted to see Sin City and get married again in one of the chapels. A second wedding after almost fifty years. They arrived and Sofia and Sara took off with the keys to the flat of the couple and – even more important – with the keys of their trailer, camper van, how they called it here. They'd spend two nights in Sydney, see the city, have a tour to the Blue Mountains and fly on their third day to Melbourne. From here they'd take the trailer and go via the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide, take a flight to Uluru, come back and drive through the Outback of South Australia and Victoria back to Melbourne to catch their flight back to Sydney. For the whole trip they had two weeks. Two very busy weeks, with over seven thousand miles.

"And the Harbour Bridge. Don't they look beautiful together?"

"Since where are you interested in buildings?"

"Since we're on the other side of the earth. Sara, this is Australia we can see down there. We are down under!"

"As long as our plane isn't upside down I don't care."

"You're grumpy."

"You woke me up."

"We are there."

"That can't be, the last time I had a look on the screen we were close to New Zealand."

"Yeah, that's four hours ago. You missed all the sheep shagger."

"When somebody kicks your ass for saying things like that I won't help you."

"First of all, there shouldn't be any people from New Zealand around, there's no reason why they fly to Australia and back to New Zealand when they can straight from Los Angeles to Auckland. Auckland, not Oakland, also important to know when you book your flight. Second, they don't kick my ass, they kick my ARSE."

"Whatever."

"Come on, I'm the sleepy one."

"And I'm the grumpy one."

"Your point." Sofia grinned. "But you are happy to be here, aren't you?"

"Yes." A little smile appeared on Sara's face. After over sixteen hours of flying she was more than happy to be in Australia.

"I filled out your immigration card."

"What?"

"It's like coming to the US, we had to fill out a card, I did that for you, all you have to do is signing it. I didn't want to wake you up."

"Thanks. What did they ask?"

"Pretty much the same you fill out when you come to the US. I crossed everything in a way that allows you to go through without any problems. A 'no' for everything we'll be alright."

"I hope you didn't lie."

"Never. I'm a lieutenant, we don't lie." Sofia had made lieutenant a week ago. She had been very happy to get her new rank before they went away on holidays. Now she was a lieutenant, if anybody asked her what her job was, she could use her new rank. It felt good to be her final goal, becoming chief of the police, a little bit closer. And her ego got a boost too because she was the best in the group of the new lieutenants. Well, she didn't expect anything less.

"Sure."

"Time to land." Sofia took Sara's hand. She hoped she would get used to flying one day. She was all right when they were in the air, but she got a little bit nervous when it came to take off and landing. Something to hold on, on this case Sara's hand, was very important to stay calm. That and concentrating on a regular breath helped a lot.

"We did it, you can relax." Sara smiled and stroke Sofia's hand shortly with her finger.

"Yes. Thanks for taking care of me."

"No worries, Sheila."

"You read the Australian slang pages, didn't you?"

"You reckon!"

"They say strange words here. A trailer is a caravan. Do you think we will understand them here?"

"We are open-minded women, we will understand them."

"I hope so."

Was Sofia a little skeptical about the Australian English first, she had forgotten that after her meeting with one of the customer guys. His wide smile when he greeted her with a friendly "G'day, how's going?" put a smile in her face.

"Maybe there's no reason to worry, they are really cute." She whispered into Sara's ear after they had passed the guy.

"You know the Opera House looks much better from the plane." Sofia dropped on a bench and looked at the building in front of her.

"Most things look better on a postcard or from a distance." Sara took a photo. They had had a shower, took an hour to relax and walked from the central bus station down Elisabeth street, turned right on Bridge street and after a stop at the Conservatorium of Music they had a little breakfast in the Royal Botanic Garden. The little train, that run through the garden, hit them almost twice while they were turning their heads to see all the flying foxes around.

"What is next on our plan?"

"We'll admire the bridge, take pictures, walk from here to Misses Macquaries Chair, come back to here, have a stroll around the harbor and go through The Rocks up to the observation point. A lovely wedding chapel and a perfect view on the harbor will pay us for all the effort. Back to the harbor and with the ferry in the sunset down to Darling Harbour, to have some dinner and back to the hotel."

"I think I'll die." Sofia put her head on Sara's shoulder. That sounded like a lot of walking and she was tired. The jetlag and the lack of sleep made every step more difficult.

"You won't. But you'll sleep very good tonight."

"We need to sleep well, somebody ordered another long trip for tomorrow. Blue Mountains, that sounds like climbing up and down mountains."

"I'm sure you can handle that. It's an average tour, there will be people older than you, they'll do the same walks. I told you, if you drag me to Australia I'll make your holiday to a work-out and I meant that. You'll be happy to be back in Vegas and work double shifts because you'll get more sleep this way."

"I don't miss doubles, I miss sleep."

"Later, Blondie, later." Sara took Sofia's hand and pulled her up. "Time to go on. We can go first to Misses Macquaries Chair, that will save us a few yards."

"Don't they count in meter? How many yards is a meter? Or the other way around?"

"One meter is one yard and three inches – I guess."

"I knew it can be very handy to have a geek around."

"Geek? Try to be nicer to me, officer."

"I can restrain you, don't think I don't have my cuffs with me."

"If you really have your cuffs on you, you're even more crazy than I've thought"

"Don't try me too hard, you know I'm good for a surprise."

"Yes you are." They strolled along the harbor, always making sure that they won't disturb any runner or dog owner.

"That is the chair?" Sofia stared at the stone in front of her.

"Yes."

"It's a rock."

"A sandstone rock to be exact. Have a seat and feel like Elisabeth Macquarie."

"Okay, tell me who she was and why she has a this stone – sandstone – chair." Sofia sat on the rock and let Sara take a picture.

"She was the wife of Major General Lachlan, the governor of New South Wales. She used to sit there and watch the ships from England. You've got something of an English lady."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Could there be anything bad about you?" Sara cocked her head.

Without a word Sofia got up, walked to her, got into her private space so that their noses touched each others.

"Don't mock me, Sara."

"Never." Sara, taking the advantage of being two inches taller than Sofia, got on her toes and kissed Sofia's nose. "Take a picture of me on the lady's chair, will you?"

Sofia mumbled something but did what Sara asked for. After a few more pictures they walked the way back to the harbor. Pictures of the Harbour Bridge and the harbor were a must-do. It wasn't like the skyscraper in Los Angeles but it looked great.

The Rocks was another little highlight on their tour. Old buildings, cobblestone streets and a lot of restaurants. It was a hard job for Sara to get Sofia away from all the candy shops and up on the next hill. The Observation Point was on top of the hill and as Sara had promised, provided a great view.

"Okay it looks great here and I loved everything we've seen so far but do we have to walk more?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because." Sara handed a chocolate bar to Sofia. "I want to sit with you on a ferry, have my arm around your shoulders, a coke in my hand and watch the city from the water. Imagine, we'll arrive in Darling Harbour with all the lights on around us."

"And then we go to bed?"

"No dinner?"

"We can have a sub and eat on our way back to the hotel."

"You're really tired, aren't you?"

"Yes." Sofia closed her eyes and snuggled close to Sara's arm. "I was awake the whole time, took care of you while you were sleeping. Your knight is now tired."

"I'll get my brave knight to the ferry. Cone on."

"Wait a second." Sofia got out of Sara's arms and walked to a stranger, gave him her camera and let him take a picture of them in the chapel in front of the Sydney harbor.

"I'll send this photo to my mom and tell her, she has a daughter-in-law now."

"Great, let her shoot me the next time I see her."

"She won't shoot you, she'll love you."

"Yeah, after I've told her that you lied to her."

"Spoilsport."

"I like my life."

"I like to live with you."

"Stop sounding like we're a couple."

"You could get somebody worse."

"In that case I'd stay single."

"Again she hurts me. Breaks my heart."

"I'll fix it up later." Sara nudged Sofia. It was time to walk back down to the harbor. The sooner they were there, the sooner Sofia could catch her sleep. But first the ferry trip to Darling Harbour. Sara had seen photos of the harbor covered in lights and the were supposed to come to this on a ferry which meant, water to all these high buildings and lights. She hoped their camera could take good photos in the difficult light situation.