Sydney, Australia and the opera

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19-20 overnight at the Opera
saw the Magic Flute, my Christmas present from Terry
What a treat
March 19 & 20, Sydney, Australia; nice town
We arrived a little late Thursday morning as we lost an engine out of 5 not as bad as the Celerity Millennium who lost most of her engines except for one and then cancelled her next cruise. Passengers that had flown from all over the world to join her were not to be placated easily; she sailed sans paying passengers to Sydney for repairs at the dry dock facility, we see her from our ship.
The sail into Sydney Harbor was lovely, not so spectacular as Santiago de Cuba or Rio but up there with the best. We are docked at Circular Quay which is at the centre of the universe here in the Australian southern hemisphere. We walk to the ferry terminal, the bus terminal and last night we could walk to the Opera which is just across the cay, about a kilometer, we see it from our stateroom window(the Sydney Opera House is smaller than I had visualized from publicity pictures). I can’t wait for Terry to describe the Magic Flute opera on his blog when he starts writing.
WE HAVE BEEN BUSY!
First day: I like (Terry not so much) the Hop On Hop Off bus where you get to see everything in a few hours, we stopped at the Fish Market and Terry enjoyed some oysters; we saw the small clusters of different neighborhoods (Rocks, ..), the different bays and their respective parks and attractions, the art galleries and museums(maritime, cultural, powerhouse, convict and barracks), the monuments, statues and the Argyle Cut. We then hopped on the Bondi beach tour bus to see that famous surfing beach and the many bays on the way: Woolloomooloo, Rushcutters, Double, Rose, Vaucluse, Watsons and The Gap. Lovely. Back at 5 pm, clean up, dinner at the Lido pool and the Opera. Home by 11 and we slept well.
Today, we visited the Rocks (and is organic market) a new gentrified previously blue collar neighborhood, we then bought a day ticket on the ferries and busses; ferries and catamaran faster boats are numerous and running continuously between mostly Circular Quay and the different communities around Sydney Harbor, some as far as 40 kilometers away up the Paramatta River- which is the reason the first colonizers chose Sydney Harbor for its supply of fresh water. We saw Manly beach, reaching this town from the harbor and walking across the land to the ocean side and Darling harbor where the Dawn Princess was docked and many of the Sydney tourist attractions are to be found. We walked to Chinatown and paid 25$AUS (C) and 30$AUS (T) respectively for a head, neck and back sidewalk massage. Then we ate lunch at Paddy’s Market (lovely chicken and pork dim sum and horrible BBQed octopus-the last was my choice). We hopped a city bus to a convict museum called Hyde Park Barracks Museum, it was first a convict prison for British, then a pension for Irish orphan girls, then a law court and finally used as government office space, now a museum of all the stages of its history starting in 1824ish; first on the list was Harriet McManus an orphan from the Ireland potato famine who was transferred to Australia to be trained as a domestic by the government. We skipped the Sydney Tower because construction crews are building a condo around it and the cement was leaking into the building, a bit scary when going 250 m up a stucture and it was really expensive for just another tower trip(we lived in Toronto!). We saw a lot of shops offering aboriginal art and ran out of time, so we also skipped the Museum of Sydney.
We are now relaxing in our room, still 4 hours before sail away but we(I) don’t want to miss the boat so we are watching a movie with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. Rested a few hours and Terry woke me up for sail away. Very nice but bed was nicer after two busy days-we are now on the boat for a two day sail. TTYT
News from home pls, how is granny, how is Vicky?
Jack are you there?
Dan, how was your 27th B’day, how is my retirement home??
Love to all
Two days later, we have met Terry’s Cruise Critic buddies, a well travelled bunch; the ship provided refreshments and a room for our event, very thoughtful. Tomorrow, we are at the 74 Whitsunday Islands on the Great Barrier Reef.

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Comments

[Ken Smith]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.
Cold in Ottawa today, -6C with a wind chill to boot, but sunny and beautiful. Claire, I have enjoyed your writing and pics of your trip, it has been as lovely as it has been diverse - similar to your past adventures. You and Terry have shared an adventure to remember, and shared it with us also. Thanks. See you at the cottage this summer. Terry, you must share some of your musical talent with us this summer. Maybe Larry & I will put on grass skirts !!!!!! LOL - Ken