Day 36 - 37 – February 10-11, 2015

For these two days we have been in Sydney, Australia. We were docked in Circular Quay (pronounced key),  directly across from the Sydney Opera House. What a gorgeous structure. Our side of the ship did not face the Opera House, but faced what they call the Rocks and the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge. Some of the people on the ship climbed this bridge. It costs about $250 and they have you strapped down well. You walk along the upper edge to the bridge. Not for me. We were going to walk across the pedestrian way, but ran out of time. The Rocks is an area that is filled with restaurants, bars, art galleries and small shops. Sydney is a very large cosmopolitan city. It is clean and beautiful.

The first day we took a hop on hop off bus that took us all around the city proper. We saw many of the harbors and buildings that make up the city. As in Auckland, they have a tall building that is called the Sydney Tower Eye. We did not go up there either. One of the things we saw on our tour was the Queen Victoria Building, which we went back to visit. From the outside it is very old and beautiful. Inside it is a shopping mall that has ornate tiled floors and stained glass windows, just beautiful. In Sydney they must keep the old architecture, but convert all these buildings into condos, offices, shops, etc. So you see quite a mix of the old and the new. After the tour we walked around town, bought some odds and ends. To round out the day we did a tour of the Sydney Oprah House.

On the second day we did a hop on, hop off ferry. One of the stops we got off at was Watsons Bay. It is quaint little resort village and when you climb to the top of the park, it overlooks the Tasman Sea, and you see the cliffs at the opening of the harbor. They had a beautiful beach (yes, Cheryl sand). We then took it to Darling Harbor. This is an alternative port where the ship can dock. It is not in a cosmopolitan area, but is a beautiful harbor. The aquarium is there as well as the Australian Maritime Museum. There were some beautiful boats in the harbor. And again, tons of restaurants and bars. Unfortunately, food and drink is very expensive here. The minimum wage is $17/hr and they get 1.5 on Saturdays and 2.5 on Sundays. We then came back to our ship and did some extensive walking at the Rocks. We got underneath and up by the bridge where they have canons from the 1800’s that used to protect the harbor.

We are now on our way to Melbourne. We have 4 or 5 more stops in Australia to go. Here are some Sydney pictures that include

Opera house – night and day

Queen Victoria Building – green turrets, stained glass windows, rounded halls

Sydney Tower Eye – with spire on top

Amusement park across the harbor

Watson Bay – Sand beach, dock, cliffs

Fort Denison – Rounded turret – small island in the harbor

Prime Ministers house – up on hill from the water

Sidney Harbor Bridge – day and night, people on top who had climbed it, leaving Sydney from the ship

Darling Harbor – swan fountain, small bridge (we walked across), schooner at Maritime Museum

The Rocks – Chinese Warriors – brought from China for the Chinese New Years Celebration starting Friday, they are all lanterns that will be lit up; gun overlooking harbor, shops along the street

Hop On, Hop Off Bus

Downtown