"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report # 42 Sydney, Australia February 11, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 82 degrees Part #1 of 3 81 Pictures

Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2016 4:53:19 PM
Subject: Report # 42 Sydney, Australia February 11, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 82 degrees Part #1 of 3 81 Pictures

Report # 42 Sydney, Australia February 11, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 82 degrees Part #1 of 3 81 Pictures

Our second day in Sydney turned out to be another marathon one. We were off and running right after a proper breakfast in the dining room. There were few folks at breakfast today, so either they over did it yesterday, or they were off on more tours. There was a large number of people that went to the opera last night, at least two busloads. We calculated that they would have returned to the ship after midnight.

Going outside on the promenade deck, we discovered that we had company at this pier. A ship that looked just like an HAL vessel was docked next to us. It was named the Pacific Eden and belonged to P&O. The closer we looked, we recognized that ship as the former Statendam, which went over to P&O last fall. It was slated to go into dry dock to be remodeled. We would find out later how much it had been changed.

There was no line at all for the shuttle bus when we left the ship at 9:30am. Our timing must have been right, because we were at Circular Quay within ½ hour. Not bad, since today was a regular workday.

So our hike began at the point of the drop off across from The Rocks, and on the corner of Circular Quay. The first thing we noticed was that the Dawn Princess was gone, and a huge ship had replaced her sometime this morning. It was the Explorer of the Seas, a large ship designed for entertaining the whole family. She was built in 2000, just like the Amsterdam. This ship can hold up to 3840 guests. Obviously this ship could not fit under the Sydney Bridge, another reason we were berthed at White Bay. Since we saw many people pulling multiple suitcases near the ship, we figured that today was the end of a cruise and the start of another.

The waterfront was full of people enjoying morning pastries and coffees, sitting outdoors in the warm sun. Sure turned out to be a nice day, unusually warm even. The ferries were running back and forth across the harbor, carrying thousands of commuters to work. Bet that takes many cars off of the road. Good thing, because many major streets in the downtown area are cordoned off, while the workers carried on updating their metro system.

Making our way to the Opera House on the point, we discovered there was an injured seal sitting on a flight of sea stairs below the wall. He must have been injured, and was recuperating under the city's surveillance. A sign was posted warning people to keep a distance from the seal or he could bite. With the presence of sharks in the harbor, this seal may have been attacked.

We got many great photos of the Opera House, which was designed by a Danish architect and was opened by Queen Elizabeth ll in 1973. We have never been inside, but understand that the performances are over the top with the special acoustics.

The gate to access the Royal Botanic Gardens is right near the Opera House. This 74 acre garden was established in 1816, over 200 years ago. It just happened to be the celebration of the park's 200 year old birthday, making this garden the oldest in Australia. Originally farmed by local Aboriginals, this area was used by the British to raise a crop of grain. There are thousands of plants and mature growth trees now. You could easily spend a half day here to see all of the displays.

The wild life is restricted to birds. Most commonly seen are the magpies, pigeons, silver gulls, plovers, ibis, ducks, cormorants, and sulfur-crested cockatoos. These cockatoos are the noisiest birds ever, and probably destructive. Fun to watch however. It was normal to see fruit bats hanging in the tall trees, but they have been removed the last couple of years. Besides being creepy, they were causing damage to the native trees.

We ran into new friends, Nancy and Mike, who happened to be hiking the park like us. Spending some time discussing the fine points of cruising, we shared some information concerning the President's Club. There are so many stories floating around about this level, that it is almost laughable. Don't know why this is not promoted in any of the HAL brochures. They also shared some interesting news with us concerning the fellows that are onboard fixing the tender boat. Assuming they were New Zealanders, it turns out they are from Louisiana. They work for a company that specializes in boat repairs, and are deployed worldwide. Not only do they repair cruise ship small boats, they also do military vessels as well.

Time to continue on, we made our way deeper into the garden. We ended up at the ponds near Farm Cove, and had planned on going to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair. However, time was wasting, so we missed the sandstone rock formation that was carved into the shape of a bench. The governor's wife, Elizabeth, liked to sit there watching the ship traffic in the harbor back in 1810.

Exiting a gate by a fountain, we ran right into the State Library of New South Wales. Parliament house was next to the library, followed by Sydney Hospital, The Mint, the Hyde Park Barracks, and the Land Titles Office……all fine examples of colonial architecture.

The most impressive cathedral on College Street is St. Mary's. We located the side door, and walked in right in the middle of the communion part of the Mass. The church was full of school-aged kids, probably on a field trip. On the outside steps, was a bride getting her photo taking standing on the stairs to the front door of the cathedral. Across a stretch of a courtyard, another young bride was being photographed as well. We have passed this icon of Sydney many times while on bus tours, but never got a chance to see the inside. Quite impressive to say the least.

Directly across the street was Hyde Park, a public square since 1810. Back in the old days, the park was used for cricket matches, prize fights, and horse racing. At one end is a massive fountain, surrounded with locals lunching, while at the opposite end, is the Anzac War Memorial, erected in 1934. It is truly an oasis in the center of the city.

As much as we would have liked to stay to see more, it was time for our lunch. That destination was an authentic Italian restaurant by the name of Caminetto's in The Rocks. Right on the hills overlooking Circular Quay, The Rocks area has to be the oldest precinct. The history here is displayed in many museums and buildings preserved from the original colonial days. Today it is full of cafes, boutique shops, artists, and restaurants. We knew that the best pizza cafes were in the center of the rocks, hidden away off the beaten path. After hiking the city for hours, we were really ready for some relaxation and fantastic pizza (margherita) with ice cold beers. One of the waitresses, Wendy, remembered us from years past. She has worked here for 12 years, and says she is leaving in two years to go on a well-deserved vacation. With so many cruise ships stopping here, she must see hundreds of thousands of customers yearly. And as always, the pizza was to die for.

The last shuttle to the ship was at 4pm, so we had enough time to buy cups of ice cream before we boarded. A flavor quite similar to hokey pokey was the caramel butterscotch vanilla at Copenhagen's Creamery. It's pricey, but well worth it.

The ride back to White Bay took 35 – 40 minutes….traffic was stacking up as we neared the Anzac Bridge. Comparing the commute traffic in San Francisco to Sydney, we feel it moves way better here. There are many other options to get in and out of the downtown area with the ferries, buses, and underground transit, as well as by car.

Back at the ship, we had a little time to work with downloading photos before we headed for the complimentary food and wine sail away party on the aft pool deck. Small tented stations of snacks and treats had been set up, along with wine, beer, or soda bars. Waiters passed around the food and poured fine wines from New Zealand from 5:30pm to well past 7pm. Sometime around 6pm, the Amsterdam left the dock, and sailed under the Sydney Bridge. We heard that the Pacific Eden had left before we got there. As the ship went under the bridge, the Captain blew the horn, making the crowd shout a huge cheer while waving at the bridge climbers overhead. At this point, we think the wine and beer had kicked in, and the folks, including the 150 new cruisers, were having a fine time.

The CEO's and families were milling about the crowd, saying their hellos to all. Gerald, the head of the Mariner Society spent lots of time with our group, since we know him well. Our friends Bob and Martha boarded today, making our group even more happy.

The ship had sailed almost out of the harbor, when the Captain announced that we had a medical evacuation that had to take place before we sailed out to sea. The ship stopped, and the sick person was taken off at the tender platform into a white police boat. We would need to wait until they were delivered to shore, and our medical team sent back to the ship. It was more than one hour before we resumed sailing. We are still wondering why we did not sail back to the dock. It may have been because the Explorer of the Seas was following right behind us as they left the harbor. What we did not know, was that there were two medical evacuations, according to Tom M, our host, who joined us briefly after dinner last night.

As we left the pool deck, we said our hellos to Mr. Kruse, thanking him for such a nice party. He promised there will be more to come. Doubt they will be able to match last year's special event at Ephesus in Turkey, but whatever they do, will be unique, for sure.

Dinner was really nice as we welcomed Martha and Bob to our group. Bob will only be sailing with us until Jakarta, as he is not retired yet, and Martha will continuing on to Ft. Lauderdale. Is was nice to fill the void at the large table for a change…….it keeps the conversations moving along nicely. The entrée we chose tonight was the prime rib, but we were disappointed in the fact that it was not as tasty as the first time we ordered it, and it was still "mooing", on the rare side. Could have sent it back, but we rarely do. Martha was proud that her jello dessert has rubbed off on us. Now she will not be the only one teased.

We surpassed the time for the Big Movie, shown in the Queens Lounge at 10pm. It was Spectre, the latest Bond movie. Hope it turns up on the room TV, because we would never last the 2 ½ hours to see the whole thing in the show lounge.

Tomorrow promises to be a very different day at sea as we head towards a new port for us……Mooloolaba. We're just having fun learning how to pronounce it.

Oh yes, good news…….the clocks went back one hour tonight. Most welcomed.

Bill & Mary Ann

New to P&O, the Pacific Eden, formerly the Statendam