Sydney - Take two
Thursday, February 15, 2024 - We docked in Sydney, for the second time, at about 8 AM. It was an overcast and rainy morning, so the sail in was not too scenic. There were about 150 guests who were only booked for LA to Sydney, so they departed the ship today — as did the captain. A new captain as well as new guests came on board. (other crew embarked/disembarked on Friday). Cathy opted for a solo day in Sydney and Ann Marie went on the 9 hour tour to the Blue Mountains. Unfortunately, due to the weather, there were not mountains of any color visible, but it was interesting regardless. The journey started with a 90 minute bus ride towards the Blue Mountains. About 10 minutes into the drive the wipers on the bus stopped working. It wasn’t blinding rain so the driver continued, and radioed to the depot for options. About 20 minutes later we pulled off at a rest stop where the driver checked the fuses and then attempted to buy RainX to help repel the water. No RainX available so he said he implemented an “old bushman’s trick” which was to put toothpaste on the windshield (in case you are wondering — it didn’t work!). So we continued to the scenic mountain overlook park, where we did our tour and the replacement bus was sent to meet us. The Scenic park included a train ride down into the valley — which was like a roller coast drop not a gentle slope. Once at the bottom there was a scenic boardwalk along the valley, where we could see at least the base of the trees, so old coal mine entrances and of course, the clouds if you looked anywhere over your head. There was a gondola ride back to the top of the mountain, and at one point on that ride you could see a very slight image of some rocks behind the fog. Oh well, you can’t control the weather. We then drove to a hilltop restaurant for lunch, which I’m sure on a clear day offered a great vista. We then proceeded to the town of Luerna for the obligatory shopping stop (not a fan!). We were given 90 minutes with was about 80 minutes too much for me and 60 minutes to long for most of the other guests. The ride back to the ship was uneventful, and i just enjoyed listening to music as I took my AirPods along. Picture is courtesy of one of my fellow passengers who went to the Blue Mountains Friday and while not a perfect day, he did get some nice pictures.
Friday, February 16, 2024 - Our excursion today was to visit the Sydney Opera House, tour the harbor and Bondi Beach. The day started off with a chance of rain, but the sun did show its face for a few hours, while we were at the Beach. The highlight of the day though was the Sydney Opera House, where we had a tour guide, Declan, from the Opera House give us a great tour of the inside of the Opera House. We learned about the architects involved, and the political strifes that marred the process to the point where the Danish architect (Jorn Utzon) who created this masterpiece was not only removed from the project before completion — but wasn’t even invited to the opening. And the Australian architect (Peter Hall) who created the interior design died at a young age as a result of the strife created by his work on the Opera House. Such a sad back story for an utterly amazing structure. We were able to tour one of the small theaters as well as to sit in the main concert hall — and we even got to experience a bit of the incredible acoustics as they were tuning the piano while we were there. We toured the outside, up close, to really get a sense of the engineering feat of this structure and to see/feel the tiles that make up the design of the “sails”. The final stop on the tour, which none of the other groups seemed to go to, was the Utzon Room, which was designed by the original architect. He agreed to do as part of one of the renovations as long as he had complete autonomy and his son, who is also an architect, could also be involved. An olive branch I assume to make-up for the earlier hostilities. He did complete the design but was too old to travel for the opening of that room (but at least he was invited this time). After the Opera house we continued on a tour of the city, and then made a stop in Bondi Beach, one of the most famous beaches in Sydney — largely because it is closest to the city. As mentioned, by then the sun was shining and it was pretty hot. We enjoyed about 30 minutes to walk along the promenade and then returned to our bus for the trip back.
The tour was not without its challenges, as the audio on the bus wasn’t working which made the guest frustrated and the guide stressed. Turns out it was user error vs. a technical issue, but just another example of how a guide makes all the difference. So we had the best of guides for the Opera House and a less stellar guide for our tour. But it was an awesome day.
We ended the day with another iconic sail out of Sydney, which was beautiful again —- the only thing missing this time was the fire boat.
