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| 40 days and the amaryllys bloomed |
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| Window garden thrives |
Sydney sure has changed since the days when Captain James Cook sailed into nearby Botany Bay in 1770, and declared the entire east coast of Australia for Britain, naming the area New South Wales. It was not many years after that 1400 convicts, soldiers, and administrative officials were sent here from England. Between farming the fertile valleys and discovering gold, the population of Sydney boomed to over one million people by 1925. The rest of the 20th century saw the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Tower erected at 305 meters, the iconic Opera House appear, and the most successful Olympic Games hosted here. Bet the aboriginals never saw this coming.
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| View of downtown from White Bay |
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| Pyrmont Bridge |
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White Bay Cruise Terminal
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And here we are, lucky to spend another full day exploring part of the city we did not see yesterday. Joining the shuttle bus was just as easy as yesterday. And again, the ride was swift, so we cannot complain about docking here. Yes, it is not as pretty, but at least it has been made accessible thanks to HAL providing transportation for us. While riding back to Circular Quay, we sat next to a lady who was going to take a free bus up George Street to Chinatown. Hey, that's where we were heading also. She shared the info with us that the 555 local bus was free for everyone. All we had to do was walk the waterfront to the C platform, and board the bus. There was a huge line for the Ho-Ho bus at platform B, but few for the free bus. We found seats with no problem, since this was the beginning of the ride, and the commute hour was over.
We stayed on the bus, finding that it did stop at every major cross street. Once George and Pitt Streets merged, all of the passengers had to get off, and the bus turned around, and went back to Circular Quay. That found us a bit past Chinatown, but the walk was easy to find Market City and Paddy's Market.
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| Market City at the Haymarket |
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| Paddy's Market |
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| Here we are |
Also called the Haymarket, Paddy's is housed in a 19th century brick building. It is chock-full of toys, souveniers, footwear, clothing, swimwear, travel gear, and fresh food. And they bargain too. Most all of the vendors are Chinese, and most all of the products come from China. One of our favorite items to purchase is a singing bird in a cage. Battery-operated, the little bird will sing and flap his wings with a loud clap or noise that activates it. The room stewards also like it, especially when they are surprised when it goes off unexpectedly. We just have to remember to turn the switch off at night, or we will be the ones surprised in the middle of the night to hear him singing.
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| Veggie market |
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| Fish market |
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| Kites |
There was one other item one of us was searching for.......a 3/4 length crocheted lace tunic that was spotted last year while strolling past each stall. But this place is so huge, we had trouble finding the same stall when we back-tracked. Oh well, we figured we would find it this year. Yes, we found the stall, but the styles had changed, and were not even close. Lesson learned.......if you see it, buy it. The price was right at $20. too. Oh well, there is always Hong Kong and the Ladies Market.
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| Purses |
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| Watches |
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| Hobo bags |
It was getting increasingly crowded with folks buying mainly Aussie souvenirs. Like we said, the prices were good, and the vendors were willing to bargain more if you were willing to buy in volumn. The happy tourists left with lots of boomerangs, digeridoos, koalas, kangaroos, and Tasmanian devils (stuffed ones, of course). We picked up packages of a dozen koalas to use as Christmas ornaments last year. Adds a little international flavor to the tree.
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| More highend shopping |
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| Aussie souveniers |
We had to keep our eye on the time today, since the last shuttle back to the pier was at 4:30 pm. If we got stuck in town, we would have up to a $25. taxi ride back to White Harbor.
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| All part of Chinatown |
So we headed back to George Street to see if we could catch the bus back downhill. What we did not know, was that if the 555 bus was full of passengers, the driver will not stop to pick anyone else up. Instead of shopping at Woolworth's, we decided to walk to Darling Harbor, passing by the Chinese Gardens, the numerous ponds and fountains, and the kids playground.
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| Chinese Garden of Friendship |
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| Chinese garden |
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| Chinese pagoda |
Nothing was very crowded, because today was Wednesday. Had it been the weekend, the area would have been full of kids and families enjoying a day out.
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| Painted rhinos are a reminder of their dwindling numbers |
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| Ponds at Darling Harbour |
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| Darling Harbour |
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| Ibis by the ponds |
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| Dancing waters |
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| Towering palms |
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| Kids playground |
Many photos were all we took from here, because we needed to make our way to lunch. Bet you can guess where we went to lunch once again?
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| Ho-Ho bus |
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| Iconic building |
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| Rocks cafes and street dining |
Yep, the Italian Restaurant in the Rocks. Why take a chance and mess with perfection? When the friendly waitress saw us, she quickly seated us at the same table, and asked if we would like the "usual". Same as yesterday's order. We had to laugh, because we get that routine at home from waiters we have known for years.
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| Oh boy.......ice cold beers |
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| And the best pizza |
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| Late PM diners |
Another ship had docked in Darling Harbour.....the Celebrity Solstice.
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| The Celebrity Solstice in the Overseas Passenger Terminal |
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| Circular Quay |
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| Opera House |
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| Ferries |
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| Harbor art |
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| Seagulls surround an ibis |
Compared to us, she is a giant. Looking back at the ship from the Opera House, it blocked out the view of the Rocks completely. Judging from the crowd at the Rocks, these passengers are a tad bit younger than our world cruisers.
The time was flying by, and we wanted to spend some of it walking the harbor, and maybe buying a cup of creamy ice cream.
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| International Convention Center is coming soon |
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| Hard Rock Cafe |
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| Walking across the harbor bridge - no more monorail |
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| Some boats in the harbor |
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| Picturesque harbor |
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| National Maritime Museum |
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| Harborside establishments |
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| Many are fine restaurants |
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| Harbor surrounded by buildings |
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| Sydney Tower |
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| Old historical buildings |
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| Way to go |
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| Most are converted to apartments |
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| Queen Victoria Building |
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| Orient Hotel in the Rocks |
We did both, while listening to and watching an aboriginal group performing near the water. Always spell-binding. These fellows also had a snake coiled at the bottom of their digeridoo, either paralyzed from the noise, or drugged, since it was not moving.
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| Aboriginal man |
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| Mastering the digeridoo (note the snake) |
It was nearly 4pm, so we decided to go back to the ship. It only took about 15 minutes....not bad at all. There was a mandatory muster drill for everyone at 4:45pm, so we might as well get it over with, because we were warned if we missed it, we would have to re-do it tomorrow. Since it was much cooler, the drill went by quickly.
Sailaway was between 6pm and 7pm with a scenic commentary from Barbara H. It was difficult to hear her talking, because so many new passengers were at the aft deck, drinking and talking loudly. Looks like the new group is going to be a fun one. By the way, with the folks leaving and some new ones joining, we are down about 50 people.
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Sailaway party
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| Local tugboat |
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| The new terminal |
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| Leaving White Bay |
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| Leaving the harbor |
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| Buildings near Darling Harbour |
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| Darling Harbour |
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| Ferry traffic |
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| New building |
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| Local ferry |
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| Homes on the point |
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| One of many highrises |
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| Sailboat harbor |
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge walkers |
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| Harbor park |
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| Celebrity Solstice |
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| High rent district |
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| Opera House |
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| Leaving the Opera House |
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| Ferries coming and going |
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| Royal Botanic Gardens and downtown |
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| The "Coathanger" Bridge |
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| Lovely city under the clouds |
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| Macquarie's Point |
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| Mrs. Macquarie's Chair |
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| Opera House and Bridge |
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| Tiny island in the middle of the harbor |
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| Island is rented for weddings and such |
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| Never did rain |
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| Military area |
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| Harbor apartments |
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| What a cool boat |
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| Taronga Zoo |
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| Very large city |
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| Old replica |
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| Many boats |
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| Sailboat |
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| Looks like a race |
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| More small boats |
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| Speeding along |
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| Keeping up with us |
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| Flock of geese |
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| There goes the pilot |
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| There goes the pilot |
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| City disappears in the distance |
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| Seaside hills |
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| Leaving the entrance |
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| Wind-blown cliffs |
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| Wind erosion |
We had company for dinner this evening........our hotel manager, Henk M. He did his best to answer tons of questions and enjoy dinner as well. One of the sensitive inquiries was concerning the internet, and the lack of consistent service. Far from it, it does not seem to be working as expected. We had been under the impression that the system was fixed, but after running into problems ourselves, we realize it is not. Taking 20 minutes to send one email, which never goes anywhere, is not working. Henk said to fill out a form to get credit back, which is fine. He did promise that a new team is coming on board to help solve the many problems. In a shared opinion, this may not have been the best time to start a new system. Keeping this information in mind, our postings may be delayed.
After most of our table mates left, he told us and Barb a funny story about his and Christel's run today. They had time for their usual routine run in town, but also had to pick up a wheelchair that had been lent for a disembarking guest. They ran to the hotel, grabbed the folded wheelchair, and proceeded to run with it. Of course, they got some really strange looks from the locals, who were probably wondering which one of them was going to need that chair. The more they struggled with the chair, they finally summoned a taxi, and sent the thing back to the ship without them. Doubt they will try that maneuver again. Oh what fun they have.
Looking forward to a lazy day at sea tomorrow and an extra hour back on the clock this evening.
