Setting Sail for Vancouver

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Blog 27



Part 1:

Sydney, Australia, April 13 ,2018 – Weather forecast: bright clear skies; temperature 33°C, light wind 5kts



Today the first leg of the sea journey has ended in Sydney. The ship arrived in the wee hours of the morning and by 7:00am they were ready to disembark 2/3 of the passengers including our friends who made their way to the airport for their departure tomorrow morning. Australian Border Protection required all of us to leave the ship for at least two hours so we decided to go looking for a Wi-Fi hotspot. The nearby suburb of Balmain provided a free shuttle bus service from the pier to their main street where the town council provides free Wi-Fi.



So, after a bumpy ride we located a restaurant to have our morning coffee break and tapped into the Wi-Fi to update our phones and try to upload the mass of pictures to the cloud. Success for Brooke on both counts and partial success for me on the phone but not my photo collection. We returned to the ship for lunch, to read and relax before participating in the mandatory Passenger Emergency Muster Drill. All aboard was scheduled for 7:00pm with departure at 8:00pm. Just before that time an announcement was made that a number of passengers still had to report to Australian Boarder Protection to be checked out of the country. Somehow, they had returned to the ship without going through Australian Customs & Immigration. Once that confusion was cleared up we set sail.



As we left the harbour we noted that there was a distinct odor of smoke on the air and it was later confirmed by our Australian passengers that there were a number of forest fires in the Sydney area. The captain informed us before we passed under the Sydney Harbour Bridge that we would have 2 meters of clearance. It was interesting to depart this second time after dark, with all the city lights highlighting the landmarks.



Part 2:

At Sea on our way to Kuto, Ile des Pins, April 14-15, 2018; Weather forecast: partly cloudy; temperature 24°C, wind 19kts (5 Beaufort) – gusting to 36kts (8 Beaufort); sea swells 2-3 meters.



Over the last two days we have experienced the full range of weather in this latitude ranging from bright clear skies first thing in the morning to fully cloudy skies accompanied by heavy winds and back again. So, we rock and roll our way across this portion of the Pacific while we enjoy the educational and cultural activities aboard.

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Photos

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ANZAC Bridge

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Sydney Harbour Bridge

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Flags atop center span

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Last view of Opera House

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Another cruise ship in the haze.

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Safety first!