Sydney, Australia

While Singapore will amaze you with its cleanliness & architecture, Sydney Australia remains at the top of our list in terms of history, charm, vibrancy, entertainment and above all, the wonderful people. This was our third visit in as many years…there’s simply no other place like it. Unlike our sailaway on Saturday evening which was windy & quite chilly, our sail-in on Friday was spectacular with a beautiful sunrise & warm temps. The bow of the ship was opened for passengers to take photos and as they typically do, the crew setup tables with fresh breakfast rolls & orange juice. We were docked by 7:45 and caught one of the first shuttle buses to Circular Quay (pronounced KEY) on Darling Harbor. In route, we were briefly stationary to allow a motorcade to pass…only to learn it was the Prime Minister of Australia returning from a tour of the Opera House & on his way to the G20 conference up north in Brisbane. We ourselves were heading to the Opera House first thing to check the entertainment schedule for the evening but didn’t see anything at the box office that sparked our interest. Last visit we attended a very enjoyable & hilarious variety show as neither of us enjoy opera, but no such luck this trip.

If you’d like to see photos (& some historical info) from our Opera House tour several months ago or our visit in 2012, I've included both links below. The Opera House is quite an extraordinary structure.

Directly behind the Opera House are some beautiful botanical gardens and we decided to take that particular route seeking a little shade from the warming sun. The Government House is located there as well…the current residence of the Governor, his wife & three children. Our timing was just perfect as public tours were just beginning for the day…& at no charge. After our ID’s were checked, we were given tickets and had about a 10-minute wait before the first tour of the day started. Our group only consisted of eight other tourists so the Guide was very easy to follow & understand. We started at the main entrance, proceeded to the reception area, the Governor’s office, the dining room, & concluded in the ballroom. We saw two dignitaries at one point who had come to meet with Governor, but didn’t catch their names – nor did we meet the Governor himself while we were there. Leave it to me, however…there WAS one incident during the tour and wouldn’t you know it, I was right in the middle of it. Before we entered the dining room, the Guide urged everyone in the group to look through a peephole. She went on to say that when the Governor’s dining with guests, there’s always a butler standing directly behind his chair. Before any food can be brought in, the butler must give the ‘all clear’ sign to the head chef who stands at the peephole waiting for the signal. One by one, we each briefly looked through this particular peephole and entered the dining room. I happened to be last in line. The tour guide didn’t realize I hadn’t taken my turn…when my face was about an inch away from the peephole, she decided to close the door…you guessed it…WHACK!!! She felt so bad…she was so embarrassed and apologized profusely. She asked if I needed water or any kind of assistance (actually a few times) and other than some very slight bruising, I was completely fine. The other tourists got a kick out of it and actually, we all ended up laughing including the guide herself! I sure manage to get myself into some awkward situations!

We left the Government House around 11:30 & went back to Circular Quay & enjoyed some ice cold beer. It was very hot by then – near 90. One of our favorite places to eat is Pie Face…authentic Australian meat pies. At a price of $5 each, it’s much cheaper than McDonald’s & better too. Meat pies have long been the rage in Australia but haven’t caught fire yet back home. After our last visit in Sydney I sent a recommendation to my former employer as meat pies would be a great addition to their foodservice offerings – they’re still evaluating the business model.

After some window shopping, we caught the shuttle back to the ship & settled in for the evening. Sounds like a  quiet day but we’ve pretty much covered the city and beaches during past visits.

Saturday was very special for us. Cheryl’s Uncle Ron & Aunt Helen (from Sydney) met us at the cruise terminal where we’d made prior arrangements to have them join us on the ship for the day. They arrived around 9:30 and after being ‘cleared’ through Security, we started a walking tour. We were able to share all the major venues with them, have an enjoyable lunch, visit our stateroom, & introduce them to several friends along with many of the crew. We really appreciated & enjoyed the day with them, & wrapped up with a few photos up in the Crow’s Nest until 4:00. Was sad saying goodbye, but hopefully we’ll see them again soon – such wonderful folks!

As you’ll see in several pics, our sailaway was nothing like our arrival. The weather turned cloudy & chilly  with high winds & by the time we cleared the harbor around 6:00, we were met with rolling seas & fog. As I write nearly 24 hours later, the weather hasn’t changed – we continue with moderate sea conditions and there was a period of two hours earlier today when the Captain was sounding our fog horn every 5 minutes to alert any vessels without radar of our presence. We’re sailing toward Noumea, New Caledonia, roughly 1,100 miles northeast of our current position & scheduled to arrive Tuesday morning.

One significant event today I’ll share with you. There was a silent auction held to support the Island Gospel children in Apia, Samoa…a port we’ll visit on Monday, November 24^th. One of the items on the auction block was “Marriage Vow Renewals” to include the ceremony, flowers, wedding cake, & champagne toasts with the Captain. Cheryl and I have often talked about renewing our vows…maybe a short trip up to Las Vegas someday. We thought this package on the ship would be ideal for us because we love sailing so much. Bidding started at $60. The auction started at 11:00, ending at 2:00. Long story short. I got into a bidding war with a gentlemen much older than me. The exchange went on for 3 hours…he’d raise my bid by $20, sometimes $30, and vice versa. We got down to the final minute of bidding and Cheryl said, “let them have it…they’re probably celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary”. They won the bidding war – I took Cheryl by the hand and we went up to the couple and congratulated them. The wife was so happy she was crying, and the gentlemen was very emotional as well. He thanked us and said…”young man, this is our 50^th wedding anniversary…we’re so happy”.

Once again, Cheryl sensed something special about this couple, and she was dead-on. I think we’re just as happy not winning the bidding war because the looks in their eyes, expressions on their faces, and tone in their voices was (and is) priceless. Two people still in love after 50 years…what could possibly be better than that?! We were both choked up…& still are.  

Link to 2013 Visit

Link to 2012 Visit

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Uncle Ron, Cheryl, Aunt Helen