Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane

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Our Melbourne tour departs at 0845 as we tour the city and its outskirts with an American expatriate guide who’s been here for 27 years. She points out the expensive homes along the beach, upscale residences along the Yarra River, running through the city center. Multiple parks and sports complexes provide venues for the athletic Aussies. Today, Sunday, 20 February, there’s a bicycle race through the city with sporadic street blocking. After being bussed through the suburb of Ferntree Gully and Belgrave we board Puffing Billy, a 100 year old narrow gauge steam logging train. 700 volunteers keep these steam and diesel engines and their renovated passenger cars in excellent condition providing a unique viewing experience through the Dandenong Mountains. This is our third train experience and each has been different and entertaining. We returned to the ship for lunch and took the complimentary shuttle into town to see the street market, St. Paul’s Cathedral and stroll through the heart of downtown. It has been fun seeing how the Aussie’s handle strict security, including restrictions on the importation of plants and animals, with sniffing dogs and a pleasant, but thorough, approach. TSA could take lessons. Our ship’s show this evening is a special Cirque style performance exhibiting the talents of the ship’s singers, dancers, and gymnasts. Tomorrow we revisit Melbourne, Victoria for more insights into this city of several million active people.

Monday we explored the scenes of Melbourne via tour bus including the view from Eureka Skydeck 88 stories above the downtown streets and the Shrine of Remembrance, created after WW I to honor those who served and since updated to honor all fallen military personnel. Finally, we had a wonderful tour of the Aboriginal and Melbourne history sections of the Melbourne Museum plus a tour of the Royal Exhibitions Building across the street, still a marvelously constructed building still used, after more than 100 years, to hold exhibits and festivals.

The following afternoon, at sea, we got a special behind the scenes tour of the ship seeing where the crew works hard to give us The Regent Experience. Everywhere we went from the chain locker (anchor chain storage), through the liquor and wine storage lockers, through the laundry and crew mess decks, to the electronic media center we met friendly and cordial staff members proud of their work spaces.
Early on Wednesday, 23 February, Sydney, the largest city in Australia with its most beautiful harbor rounds the bend. Condos, hotels and houses cling to the hillsides and surround the downtown with its iconic Opera House and Harbor Bridge. This is “Embarkation Day” for the ship as several hundred passengers, some on since San Francisco, get off to continue their journey by land or air and others join us for either Bali or Beijing. At the same time many who are continuing on disembark to board tour buses or take the shuttle bus into town. We have decided to use our precious time to take a tour of the Opera House plus city sights and the surfing Bondi Beach. During our all too brief escorted tour of the entertainment venue we learn of its construction trials, from selection of architect Jorn Utzon by his sketchy drawings, through the 350,000 man hour effort to turn his idea into cement reality. The political controversy on the escalation of cost from $7 (in 3 years) to $102 million in 16 years and the use of a state lottery to cover some of the cost. In the end the magnificent structure of two main and four smaller theaters, spherical cement sections built on sight and connected into the spectacular roof. Begun in 1963 and completed in 1973 by a second architect when Utzon was fired, upon the election of a new government, for being unable to bring his ideas to reality. Over 1 million off white tiles were affixed to the shell shaped cement structure with internal wood seats and interior linings. We were fortunate to be treated to a rare organ concert in the larger hall from the magnificent 1000 pipe, mechanical tracker, 5 keyboard organ occupying the entire front of the soaring ceiling theater seating 2,697 people. The theater ceiling is so high it takes sound 2 ½ seconds to go up and back so they suspended rings midway to lessen the effect. The second architects had to come up with new interior arrangements since the orchestra pit was so small. So they removed the moveable stage mechanics and now place the louder instruments under the stage with the quieter instruments up front. Utzon was able to share his thoughts on the interior components in 1988 on his original proposal and they were brought to Sydney and integrated by his son.
From the Opera House we tour the city and then end up at the surfing mecca, Bondi Beach. The rescue volunteers of the Bondi Surf Bather’s Life Saving Club were the first in the world. That afternoon I climb the bridge pylon and enjoy a clear view of the city. At eleven o’clock we sail away to the orchestra playing, champagne flowing and the magnificent harbor lighting our way to the sea.
After a day at sea with its activities we officially start our second segment of the cruise by meeting the new captain and officers at another cocktail party. A very good violinist is the featured performer.
Friday morning it’s Brisbane. This capital city of Queensland has cleaned up nicely from its flooding caused by massive amounts of rainfall (300 ml in 3 hours) filling its three upriver damned lakes. 23,000 registered volunteers assisted in thwarting much flooding in the city. Brisbane was founded when King George III ordered Lord Sydney and the Royal Navy 1st Fleet here with convicts for the 4th penal colony in Australia in 1787. Finding bad water and poorer aborigine relations along the coast they moved inland for the settlement. It is now the third most populous city in Australia. We tour the Australia Zoo, Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin’s property, continuing as a park dedicated to the preservation of Aussie animals. We’re greeted and briefed by Zoo staff and then proceed to see the Wildlife Warriors show of birds and a crocodile (except for the croc Busch Gardens does better). They have a number of other animals on display including dingoes, emus, giraffes, elephants (you step on a red mat to feed them), koalas, kangaroos, echidnas, kookaburras, lizards, snakes, Tasmanian devils, tigers, tortoises and wombats. On the way back we stop at the iconic Ettamogah Bar and its Aussie’s World, the “South of the Border” of Australia.

Tonight, with a beautiful evening sunset, we depart from Brisbane, down the 6 ½ miles of the Brisbane River, past homes of the 2 million residents of the former penal colony and the many industrial storage and factory areas, on to Townsville.

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Comments

[Captain John]

Wrong Title - Scene of Hobart City
Trying to use this feature to affix photos and found this photo belonged in a previous writeup. See Hobart item. John

[Diana]

Earthquake
Were you anywhere near Christchurch? I'd like to let all the Nomads know where you currently are and that you are safe! From your blog, it sounds like you've had a great trip!