The future's golden

The Duchess of Cambridge arrived in a golden yellow dress and the sun just wouldn't stop shining.   Stage two of the royal tour got off to just about as good a start as possible as William, Kate and George touched down in Sydney having bade farewell to New Zealand just hours earlier.  Everything about their arrival was bright - if part one of the tour was low key, high impact then stage two is headed for high octane and no barriers.

Prince George of Cambridge looks seriously unimpressed with the flowers his mum has just received

The Cambridges flew in to a warm welcome and among the first to greet them was 22 year old Joscelyn Sweeney whose mum had written to the royals to tell them how much her girl, who has Down's Syndrome, admires them.  And they asked her to welcome them to Australia which she did in style, handing over some flowers to the duchess and a book to Prince George.

Prince George wore white for his first day in Australia

The couple then left George with his new nanny to head to a reception at the Sydney Opera House.  There were crowds there to greet them - not as big as those that met Prince Harry in October but then there was a major event on in the harbour that day that swelled numbers a bit.  They posed for photos in front of Sydney Harbour Bridge and Prince William made a speech in which he spoke of the deep affection the Queen has for the country.  And then it was time to rest before stage two of the tour got under way.  After such a bright start, they're going to need a few hours' sleep to get through it.

The future's bright  - the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Sydney on April 16th 2014