First stop, Sydney

We got off to a good start, in that most of the group were at the airport well ahead of time and some had even booked in... which made it a slight problem for me as I didn't know who was who and who I was still waiting for, but I asked a very helpful departure counter lass who was able to confirm that my gaggle were all present, booked in and accounted for. One of group who I shall provide the nom de plume of Big W, managed to get stopped at the screening area because she had 2 pairs of scissors in her hand luggage.  Rather than let them be thrown in the bin she had to go to a nearby store, buy a padded envelope and stamps to mail the scissors back to herself! Big W is also the lady who brought a normal suitcase and then a carry on bag that she had to book in as a 2nd suitcase as she also had 3 handbags!!! To help you with the math, this meant that she actually had 5 bags in all.  She is in for a shock tomorrow when I make her take responsibility for all 5 bags as JL and I have already done our share of carrying at least one of her bags or dragging a suitcase for her - and that all ends now. 
So, time to board and that was a pain as the travel agent had allocated our seating in alphabetical order which failed to take into account one couple travelling together and the ladies who were room sharing also wanted to sit next to their roomie. Being the martyr that I am, I ended uo wedged in a middle seat next to Big W who sat on the aisle seat, and she barely shut up the entire flight even though I was clearly trying to read my book.  I now have a greater appreciation for how Mike must have felt when Jo and I unintenionally interrupted his reading each day on our cruise!!!  All I can say to Mike is... suck it up like I had to!!!
That out of the way, our plane left only a few minutes late and arrived in Sydney to 28 degrees, overcast and humidity at about 5 p.m.  Big W was last off the plane so I waited for her and then waited again while she went the loo and then we all waited for our luggage.  We had a short walk out of the terminal to where we were meant to get the coach that had been pre-booked to take us to our hotel, however the mini bus only takes 14 and there were already 2 other people on it, so thankfully a 2nd mini bus was called and the 4 left behind had about a 10-15 minute longer wait. All the room bookings worked out okay and although the hotel is old and dated, it is clean and is certainly okay for 1 night.  I arranged for us all to meet in the dining room at 7 p.m. and 1 of our group who was already in Sydney, met us in the dining room so we are now a complete set of 17.
Dinner was really very nice and after our meal people drifted off to their rooms.  I stayed for a while and chatted with a small group and we were talking to an English couple at a table nearby who was very interested to find out who we were.  Lots of laughing and good humour so that's a nice way to end the evening.
As we have an early start in the morning with the coach collecting us at 7 a.m., not everyone was keen to try and fit breakfast in at 6.30, so I arranged for 2 of the ladies (Big W being 1 of them) to have a box breakfast which I took to their rooms for them.  Big W wanted me to help her get the tv operating.  I asked her where the tv remote was and she said that it didn't have one and she had searched everywhere.  She had been trying to get the tv to operate by pushing every button at the side of the tv and wasn't getting anywhere.  I said that there had to be remote somewhere, and lo and behold I moved her rather large shirt off the nearby table and guess what I found??? Yep the remote control. I pushed a few buttons, got the tv working and bid a hasty retreat before she found something else for me to do for her. Apparently she had already called JL into her room to get her to operate the air conditioning for her. You don't have to be Einstein to work out who may prove to be one of my problem children... but there may end up being others vying for that title as it is still very early days.
So back in my room, a/c working and a cuppa on the go, I've survived today and the real work starts tomorrow.