Sydney

View form interior-Opera House
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3.11.2007 Sydney

Last night it was farewell night to 100 passengers departing. Early bedtime to arise for what had to be one of the great experiences any traveler could have –entering beautiful Sydney Harbor at 7 AM with the sunrise on the city. We did something that apparently no cruise ship has ever done. We slowly went into the harbor past the renown Opera House ,past Circular Quay where the passenger terminal is located, beneath the famous Sidney Harbor Bridge up to Darlington Harbor where we turned around and came back under the bridge directly into the rising sun and turned backed into our berth at the very nice International Terminal. As we made this journey we were receiving a running commentary by guest lecturer Paula Smith on what we were seeing. The narrow entrance to the harbor from Tasman Sea is about 10 miles from city center and every bit of the surrounding real estate offers attractive views from land or sea as we discovered on a tour later in the morning. The ship is literally parked in the middle of downtown with The Opera Hall, downtown shopping, museums all within easy walking distance with the great bridge almost directly over us. Many ferries, the mono rail and local trains all leave terminals within two blocks of the ship. The shopping here is world class and so some passengers were in heaven.

Aother view
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At the time of the arrival of the British explorer James Cook in 1770 in Bounty Bay there were about 4-8000 Aboriginal people living here divided into three language groups. In 1788 the British instructed Arthur Phillip to establish a convict colony here. In 1789 the indigenous population was almost wiped out by a disease, thought to be smallpox carried in by some of the prisoners from England.

Today, Sidney and all of Australia is really a mixing pot of peoples from all over the world-all seem to understand the rules and get along quite well together. Due to the Opera Hall which includes five venues for different types of entertainment the city is rich in cultural activities attracting the finest performers and entertainment groups from around the world. In addition to seating 1700 in the opera hall or 2700 in the symphony hall they often have as many as 5000 on the steps if front watching the performance on a giant screen. The electricity consumed by this Center could meet the needs of a town of 25,000. The population of Sidney, now Australia’s largest, is about 3,500,000. Sidney is about the same distance from the equator as is San Francisco and enjoys great weather. It was perfect for our tour.

Our ship from steps of Opera House
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Our tour included The Rocks area where the city really started and is the area where we are docked. It has been beautifully restored and includes what is believed to be the country’s oldest surviving cabin. The Victorian era brought prosperity and endowed the city with many beautiful buildings. We past the Sydney Tower, the Queen Victoria Building and through The Darling Harbor Complex, lovely suburbs with views to die for and then out to Watson’s Bay near the entrance to the harbor. Everywhere were magnificent homes, lovely parks and gardens, spectacular views-particularly of sailing boats and yachts on beautiful blue waters. We visited a famous beach-Bondi Beach- was busy with activity on this beautiful Sunday morning.

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After returning to the ship for lunch Sallie and I went for a walk around the harbor and visited a large outdoor weekend flee market which was very interesting. She was getting tired and I dropped her off at the ship and continued walking over to The Opera House. After hearing the lecture about its history by Paula Smith, who personally knows its famous architect, Jon from Denmark who hasn’t been back to Sydney following the controversy that developed before it was finished forty two years ago, I wanted to go over and take the one hour guided tour and I am glad I did. After a very busy but enjoyable day, we decided to have dinner served in our suite.

Live shark-Aquarian
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Monday was a holiday here-Labor Day. Their fall is just beginning. We got up, had breakfast and a workout and took off. We caught the ferry that runs around the harbor to Darling Harbor and went to the Aquarian which we always enjoy. This is a very good Aquarian and the visit reminded us of our visit here in 1994 and also of our scuba diving days. Afterwards we had a great lunch at a good restaurant overlooking the harbor. We then walked across The Pymount Bridge and toured The Australian National Maritime Museum. It really is a good one with some wonderful exhibits. Inside we saw a model of Capt. James Cook’s, “Endeavor” that I think he must have sailed to every place we have been the past month. Outside is the replica of “The Bounty” that was used to make the movie,” Mutiny on the Bounty” with Marlon Brando. It’s hard to believe how much sailors and navigators were able to do with so little well over 200 years ago. We took the ferry back and decided along with Joanne and Don to forgo the special barbecue and entertainment on deck and instead be one of a few couples who had the wonderful dinning room to ourselves. We did join the rest later in time to see a special surprise firework display at 9:30 in preparation for our sailaway later in the evening. In the morning we will awaken as we arrive in Newcastle.