“Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.”- Jack Kerouac

Sydney is a magical place with the opera house and the iconic bridge.  We dock at White Bay which is quite a distance from the opera house.  We will dock here because we are a smaller ship and larger ships take precedence over us.  The Celebrity Solstice was docked when we pulled in.

The currency in Australia is the Aussie dollar. 

We plan to do the hop on bus and just see the city.  The Harbour Bridge is one of the worlds largest steel bridges and one of their landmarks with more than 6 million rivets !!  There is 53 thousand tons of steel in the bridge with 8 lanes of traffic , a railway and a bike lane.  You can also walk across.  It was finished in 1932. Locals call it the Hangar because it looks like a coat hangar. They have a tour where you can walk up over the bridge!!!  On top of it!   You have to be committed and there is no turning back.  

Shopping in Sydney is over the top.  They say lightening fast Wi-Fi is at the Apple Store :). You can download almost anything in a snap.  Wi-Fi is available almost everywhere.  They have beautiful botanical gardens too close to the public library.  Lovely beaches outline the ocean coast areas with golden sand, kayaking,surfing and shopping.  Manly Beach is one and also the Gold Coast.  Bonis Beach is another fantastic beach. Some you have to access by ferry.  The Taronga Zoo is there too which has over 4000 animals with 350 species.  It means beautiful view.  You take a ferry boat to get there.  The view from it is fantastic they say.  You can take boat tours or hop on boat cruises too.   Circular Caye is the name of the area where the boats are in Darling Harbor.  Darling used to House the railway good site and commercial boats but now it is full of busy shops, attractions and places to eat and drink.   The Chinese garden on friendship is a lovely place to stroll with the typical yin and yang feel.  

There is a great museum of their sea history and Captain Cook in the harbor area.  They have a vessel made of beer cans!!

In Sydney they have diagonal crossing at major street lights!  

Some people will travel to the Blue Mountains which a UNESCO site with the famous three sisters.  There is a tribal story about this concerning aboriginal live between two tribes that was forbidden.  The sisters were turned into stone to save them from being killed during the battles.   We spend two days in Sydney and some folks will go off ship and get a hotel so that they can see and do more. The first day we took the hop on bus and we got off at The Rocks area for lunch and a little exploring.  Then we explored the Opera House and the Botanical Gardens taking a little train through the park with narration.  The park was beautiful with many areas to sit and take in lovely views. 

The next day we took the shuttle into Darling Harbour and went to Marine Museum touring a battleship, a submarine, and an old sailing vessel. We also watched a 3-D movie about multi nation war fleets.   Our sail away was about 6 that night and we watched it all from the Crows Nest.  The sail out was lovely and they made it more special for folks who just joined the ship. We lost 120 passengers in Sydney and took in about 80 so we are not a full ship heading back to San Diego. Some have said we will be less than 1000 passengers.  That is good for us!  We had another pillow gift and it was the best one yet!!  Each of us got a portable power bank that we can use to recharge our electronic devices like cell phones, pads, computers and kindles.   

We also achieved Three Star stays with HAL which is really no big deal for us.  The percs with three star aren’t impressive.  You really don’t get much in return until you are 4 ir 5 star when you get free laundry service and lots of savings on onboard items like drinks, dinner packages and the stores. But we probably will never get to that status and that’s ok with us.  Our three sea days after Sydney were cool and cloudy.  No one was on deck three in loungers reading.  It was too cold and blustery.  Two new guest speakers came onboard.   One is a NOAA (former) employee speaking about our One World Ocean.  He is ok.  He uses mostly NOAA slides.  The other is Beth Foggin.  She is a university professor from Canada and she is speaking about Australian Exiles from the US and Canada that were sent there to their prisons.  We haven’t found her talks to interest that much.   We have had new entertainers including a concert pianist, several singing groups and a new act by the singers and dancers.  Movies have been good :). Our next port is Waitangi, New Zealand!!

Coming into Sydney...

Through our window...

The famous bridge...

Close to where the shuttle dropped us off and where we boarded the hop on bus..

The old wharf area is now apartments and shops and eateries...

A cockatoo viewed from the bus!! 

Every town has a “ needle” and this one is seen from the Rocks area...

Look at the amazing greenery on this huge apartment building!!! 

Looking upward the silver panels direct light to areas of the building that don’t get enough sun!!

This poor photo can still get a laugh if you read the first part...Bingo with balls!!!!  Ha ha 

The next few photos are at the area called The Rocks full of shopping and restaurants...

Local pub music!

Flower vendors ..

Jacaranda tree with purple flowers in the background.  

Gulls were everywhere in the area..

Ferries never stop going all over the bay...

This couple posing as statues were amazing and we donated to their cause!!

We walked all around the famous Opera House... 

And Dan found ice cream...

It’s huge!!

The train we took through the Botanical Gardens..

Huge beautiful trees and lovely places to sit and view the bay..

 

Lush and green

Check out this giant growing bee!!

Views of the sky scrapers from the gardens...

More color... coming into their spring. 

These were amazingly large and beautiful 

Striking!

It’s all there!!

Marine museum sailing ship. We took a narrated tour of this ship that has been totally refurbished at a cost of more than 5 million dollars!!

The James Craig...

Some facts about it...

 

Now that’s a rope!!

Just in case you have a fire!!

They still climb up to fix and repair her...

Walking over to Darling Harbor

Views from the ship as we sail out on day two..

 

 

This was the Sunday Brunch menu!!!!

Our table as we get ready for the sampler 

“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.” - Cesare Pavese

We had two sea days after Cairns as we headed to Brisbane. I guess folks might wonder what one does on a sea day to occupy their time.  Well, we love sea days and we never had trouble filling the days. The weather has been in the mid 80’s and perfect for walking the promenade deck on 3, or lazying on a lounger there or up by the pool with the retractable roof reading a book or listening to your music.  We have had guest speakers on most sea days and some rather good ones too.  Kate Ross talked about the History of Australia in the morning after a presentation by the tour guides about what to see and do in Sydney.  Even if we have already decided what we are doing I still like to listen to the lectures or the tour talks as I might miss some valuable information.   Also on sea days they have Tai Chi each day with a certified instructor along with Water Aerobics, watercolor painting instruction and classes, needlework class, Texas Hold’em in the casino, a guest chef in the America’s Test Kitchen which is just like a cooking show you would see on tv with the kitchen “set” and all the cameras that show you what the chef is doing in the skillet or chopping on the chopping board, etc.  There are always health seminars, and they have a digital workshop for Window’s computer users which we never take advantage of because we do everything with Apple.  They have “Trivia, Bridge instruction for beginners and then Bridge play, Mah Jong, all kinds of games available in the game room and a nice library with new magazines at almost every port and a wide variety of very nice books and reference materials.  There is always a pretty recent movie playing too in the theater which doubles as the test kitchen when the screen goes up.  This sea day we also had a very funny comedian who also did impressions.   They have an early and late show and we always go to the early show and typically sit in the balcony so if we get too tired or aren’t impressed we can sneak out!  This day when we were walking the promenade deck outside a Brown Booby landed on the ship and I was lucky enough to have my phone handy to capture a few photos!  He stayed quite a while for me and I even got some video but I haven’t yet mastered uploading the videos yet to the blog.  Maybe one of these days I will just load a lot of the video clips I have taken and that will be my blog at the end of the trip :). 

The following sea day was a gala night which means a dress up night if you wish.  Dan and I personally don’t dress up much but if we do we still go to the Lido to eat.  They have the same selection of items on their menu and you don’t have to wait or take so much time to eat and we enjoy visiting with folks we have gotten to know on this trip without all the noise of the main dining room.  It’s very difficult to hear a conversation if you are at a table of more than 4 and we also feel like we have to hurry out of there for the staff to be able to get the table ready for the next seating so up to the Lido we go and enjoy a beautiful view of the water and the clouds and a much more relaxed environment.  The usual daytime events took place today along with a different guest lecturer; Terry Greenberg who talked about China in the 21st Century.  He spent most of his working career as an ambassador from Canada to Vietnam after the war and married an Asian lady.  He has a wealth of knowledge about all the Asian countries and doesn’t spare his political opinions which I enjoy hearing.  The movie today was “The Secret Scripture” about a woman who kept a diary of her stay in a mental hospital; it was an intense movie!  Kate Ross was to give a talk on Ayers Rock which we were anxious to hear but she became ill and confined to her cabin :(. The sad part about this is that this was her last opportunity to speak because she gets off in Sydney and has a short 4 day trip planned to Ayers Rock before she heads back to her her home in Rochester, NY,  We did hear that she was able to see the ships doc and get medicine so that she will be in better shape to handle the rest of her trip home.  She also missed her excursion with us in Brisbane the next day!

The next day we pull into Brisbane about 7 and by 8 folks are able to start getting off.  We dock close to town about 45 minutes.  It’s a bustling busy city.  There are botanical gardens, a national forest to visit and the lone pine koala sanctuary.  You can go to the Gold Coast beach and certainly in this area you can see kangaroos.   

Our day here is much cooler and a little cloudy. We are going to the koala sanctuary with the ships tour.  The terminal is large and all decorated for Christmas.  No free Wi-Fi at the terminal and if we want good Wi-Fi we will have to go to town.  Brisbane is the capital of Queensland.  You can surf here going north or south of the town about an hour away.    Lots of transportation tunnels are being constructed for the public and building is going on all over.  There have been very damaging cyclones here but none for a long time.  In 1974 they had a disastrous flood so now they have many dams and walls in place to protect them.  Rowing, cricket and rugby are big here in the schools.  In past days convicts were sent here from England.  They have a dark history in their beginnings.  They have beautiful Jacaranda trees planted and they are now blooming with their lovely purple flowers which we too have in AZ. The Morton Fig is here and grows well.  In summer it is hot and humid.  There is a China Town here.  They have rental bikes everywhere for the town;s folk as well as visitors.  Woolworths is here too!!  Religious affiliations are mostly Catholic and Lutheran.  One of the early products that was grown and shipped here was sugar cane.  

Weddings in some of the old historic churches can cost as much as $5000 just to rent the church!  There are lots of high rises and beautiful buildings meshing the new with the old and lovely street side outdoor dining venues.  It’s very clean and neat.  They have a very large sports stadium which also hosts concerts such as Justin Bieber and Adele recently.   Fishing and seafood is a productive and hearty industry here which also serves as most of their diet.  Prawns are traditionally served at Christmas.  Gas is about $6 per gallon.  Eucalyptus trees are prevalent and the koalas eat 20 ounces per day of their leaves.  The trees have shallow roots and in storms they can be dangerous because they topple over easily.   2 1/2 million people live here.  Queensland was named for Queen Victoria.   Our tour is later in the day so we got off the ship around 9 and wandered around the port looking for some wifi and a few other items.  The wifi really was non existent and none offered in the port area which we have come to usually find.  The shuttle bus is also running into town as a free service of the ship but we don’t think we have enough time to do that and still meet our tour at 11 so after a little walk we re board the ship and get ready for our tour.  

The koala park was great!  Lots of sweet koalas, kangaroos and wallabies you could pet, birds, reptiles, sheep, a raptor show and lovely grounds with free Wi-Fi and several cute cafes and gift shops.  After the park they took us to Mt Coot Tha to over look the town.  We dropped off into town from our bus and took the ship shuttle bus back to the boat doing a little shopping and internet.  That night the all aboard was 10:30 so we were in no hurry to get back to the ship.  The last shuttle bus was 7:30 so we just needed to catch that.  We made it back in time to hit the Lido for dinner which usually ends about 9.  The entertainment that night was the City of Brisbane’s Pipe Band which consisted of bagpipers and some Scottish dancers.  The pipe and drum bands formed first for the British Army Scottish regiment in the 19th century; this band formed in 1950 and performs in parades, at fairs and for sporting events in Brisbane.  The ship left that night about 11 and trust me, we were fast asleep!  

The Brown Booby that landed on the ship!

These are the Flying Fox fruit bar and although you can’t quite tell they are big! They are are about three ft from wing tip to wing tip!!  In the city they are estimated at 20,000 and they are controversial because of their noise and their excrement.  They are a spectacular evening flyout for visitors to observe and they are important pollinators. 

These lizards were everywhere at the park and looking for tidbits of food!  They can get up to two ft long from head to tail. 

These are spectacular and beautiful.  You can see them out in the open in many locations in Australia...

Yes they really are that blue! Blue winged kookaburra.  

Another beautifully colored bird 

Here’s a pair 

The platypus which is hard to see here and really quite small. The next photo which is a cast model shows better the size and shape. 

The platypus is about 18 inches 

They had both the northern and southern koalas and so many mamas with babies!!

The Laughing Kookaburra was large and beautiful as seen below 

Really looks like any other dog 

The  Dingo

The huge Cassowary bird which is native to Australia in the bush. 

Look at his magnificently colorful head!

And there were hundreds of kangaroos and wallabies that you could pet!

Never thought I would do this!!

Isn’t this the life?!

Don’t they look unreal?!

Awake and looking for fresh leaves. 

Mama’s coming up so watch out!

Sunset that night on the back deck of Lido overlooking the port.

The apartment complexes are right by the dock!  We can actually look into peoples living and dining rooms!

Another view from the ship of the harbor area. 

The drum and pipe band.