Well, as you can see in the title, rain was in the forecast, but it was mostly sunny when we woke up. Come to think of it, our bus driver yesterday warned of a storm system coming from two directions soon, and when it hits, there could be some significant downpours. But that was yesterday, so we thought the threat had passed. Wrong…..but we would not find that out until much later in the day.
Waiting for the tours to go off, we set off for another day of exploring the city. Our destination was Darling Harbor (really spelled harbour, but this computer does not like the spelling). Once the bus finally arrived to the cruise terminal, we had already lost ½ hour waiting in line. Not that we were in a hurry, but the buses were slow in arriving back from town. Most all crew members and staff as well, wait in a separate group, then board the buses last. Most of them have far less time to spare, so if they do get on ahead of us, we never complain. Not so with some other passengers, who started getting hot under the collar when he saw this group move closer to the next coach arriving. This man was ready to go tell someone who cared that they should wait. Although we knew they were going to wait, this man and his wife were not listening to us. Lucky for everyone, a very big bus pulled up, and we all fit. As a matter of fact, yesterday the Captain’s wife stepped back, and waited with the crew to get on the shuttle. Guess she has been caught in the middle before too.
The ride was quick, considering that the commute hours were over. What we did notice was that the sun was disappearing behind some pretty big clouds. Since none of the locals were carrying umbrellas, we figured they knew something we did not. Nope, they just don’t mind getting a little wet.
We walked the length of Darling Harbor, dodging the many areas that are currently under construction. The IMAX Theater is now gone, but being replaced with a huge project which will include a new theater complex. The Sydney Convention Center and Exhibition building seem to over-power this end of Cockle Bay. Passing the Chinese Garden of Friendship, we ended up leaving the area, and heading towards Chinatown.
Chinatown in Sydney will probably be the closest we will get to anything Chinese, since we are not going to Hong Kong this year. There will be Chinatown in Singapore, so that will be another substitute. Since we were walking through here well before lunchtime, it was fairly quiet. Last year, we were visiting on a weekend, and the streets were full of bargains.
At the end of the street was Sydney’s Paddy’s Market, Australia’s version of the Hong Kong Night Market, only bigger, and inside a building. Most everything here is souvenir-type merchandise and more. One whole section is dedicated to a produce market and meat and fish vendors. This area made for the best photos. The prices for the food products were sky high we calculated. But we did find one bargain with a pair of reading glasses for $5 Australian, which computes to $3.62 USD.
Making our way back to Darling Harbor, we checked out menus at every café and restaurant at this end of the harbor. We are always on the lookout for another pizza place, but most of them we located, were more of a fast food venue. The one place we like to go is the Hard Rock Café located in the Harborside Shopping Center. Today was the first time in three years that we were able to purchase the city t-shirt. They have been out of them every time. So today we bought two….one for each of us.
Going up the escalator, we went to the restaurant area, which was not too crowded yet. We split the haystack salad, which has just about disappeared from all the other HRC we go to. They serve it with either grilled or Tupelo fried chicken, which really is the best. Breaded and fried and really good. We added two Stella beers and ended up sharing one order of the apple cobbler dessert.
There was free Wifi here, so we updated the Kindle and uploaded two games while we dined. We should have brought the computer as well, but did not think of it until later. There’s always Singapore, where we can go to another HRC there.
All aboard was 6pm, so we still had time since it was only 2pm by the time we left. So we headed across the Pyrmont Bridge after passing through the mall shops and restaurants. Gosh the sky was getting darker, but we really thought the rain would hold off. We ended up back at Woolworth’s to pick up a few items we had forgotten yesterday. That’s when we saw that their assorted flavors of popcorn were half off. Had to bring back 5 more bags of the light treat. While waiting in the cashier’s line, we looked out the opened door and saw that the rain had begun. People were scurrying up and down the streets, most everyone without umbrellas. Oh well, we will not melt, and it was still warm and muggy.
Turned out to be more of a passing cloud, which blew over briefly. By the time it began to sprinkle again, we were close to the escalators and elevators back down to Darling Harbor and the waiting bus. Once the bus loaded up, we were off for a ½ ride back to the ship in lots of traffic. At least we had gotten back well before 6pm, but at least two crew members came back after 6pm, which we are sure they will have to answer for that.
Despite the weather, this was one sail away we did not want to miss. The actual “party” was being held in the Lido Pool area under a closed dome. This is not the best place to really watch the exit out of the harbor, so we stayed at the aft pool. And it had a reward to it, since we outwaited a passing shower, to be presented with a double rainbow. It was brief, but most folks missed it.
After 6:30pm, the ropes were dropped and we were off. Passing all of the icons of the Sydney Bridge and Opera House, we slowly exited the long harbor, while watching the sun set. Even though it was not the ideal exposure, once the sun went behind the hills, it was brilliant. One of the best sunsets we have seen so far. By the time the ship reached the headlands, the wind had picked up a lot, but we stayed until the last of the color was gone from the sky.
It sure was a busy and exhausting two days in Sydney, but then, our visits are always the best. We barely made it to dinner on time, but it was good we did, since the meal was better than usual. Except for Barb’s friend Cecile, who joined us. She had ordered the barramundi fish, upon the recommendation of the head waiter and Slam, but when she got it, it tasted not quite cooked enough. That is not good for fish, unless you have ordered ahi tuna. After sending it back, it still tasted “off” to her, which is a shame since that fresh water fish is usually quite tasty.
There was an entertainer tonight, Patrick Roberts, a violin virtuoso, but all of us agreed we were tired and most ready for bed. Hopefully he will perform again, because he was given a hard day to get tired folks into the Mainstage, especially the 10pm show.
A good saying seems appropriate for today’s report: Travel becomes a strategy for accumulating photographs. Anonymous.
Bill & Mary Ann
