Leaving the Amsterdam and Hello Sydney!

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Days 31 and 32 - February 15-16, 2007, Sydney Australia

Arrival in Sydney and Our Departure from the Holland America, Amsterdam

It is rather bittersweet to leave the Amsterdam, our home for the last 31 days! We have become settled in our routines and enjoy the friends we have made aboard the ship. We have met some wonderful people! Many of the crew have become our friends. There are a couple of young fellows in the crew from Bali, who are lots of fun and are somewhat like big brothers to the boys. We will miss them! We are looking forward to the next phase of our trip though, but are at the same time sad, that we will be leaving the friends we have made. It is quite amazing how many of the people on the Amsterdam had been around the world 5, 6, 7 times….it is almost as if it is an annual thing for many of them I guess the average age of those on the ship is probably in the 70 range. Only 60 of us, out of about 1300, will depart the ship in Sydney. The majority are on the complete world cruise for 104 days. After checking into our hotel, having some lunch, and touring around a little bit we made our way to the overseas terminal where we tearfully bid the Amsterdam farewell as she departed the Sydney harbor. Hello Sydney! You are beautiful, and we have you for four more days!

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