G'Day Mates

We arrived in Sydney on Saturday, February 8th (Friday, February 7th Florida time).  We were up on the front of Deck 10 by 6:00 a.m. for our arrival into Sydney Harbor.  It was worth getting up for.  The otherwise bustling harbor was quiet as we entered at that early hour.  A local historian on board ship provided commentary and pointed out the points of interest to us as we entered the harbor.  As we turned the bend, the Opera House and the Sydney Bridge came into view in dramatic fashion.  We were fortunate to berth our ship in Circular Quay which is right between the Opera House and the Bridge in the heart of Sydney.

Bryan and Kim met us at 8:30 as we walked off the ship.  It was so great to be greeted by familiar faces in this exotic locale.  We immediately walked through the historic district called The Rocks, then walked across the Sydney Bridge for a great view of the harbor and downtown Sydney.  We saw where Bryan works in downtown Sydney and then visited Kim's university campus.  Bryan then drove us out of the City about 2 hours to the Blue Mountains.  We had lunch in a quaint mountain town, then walked to Echo Point and climbed the steps down to a rock formation called The Three Sisters.  The vast Blue Mountains stretched as far as the eye could see.

We spent the night at Bryan and Kim's home in the area of Brighton.  We met their black labrador retriever named Scout.  They live in a great location just a block from the beach where all the shops and restaurants are within walking distance.

On Sunday, they took us to famous Bondi Beach.  We walked around Bondi Beach and the surrounding beach areas for the morning, then headed into downtown Sydney.  We had lunch at the historic Australian Hotel in The Rocks area, then walked to the Opera House and botanical gardens.  It was a beautiful sunny day in Sydney and the harbor area was bustling.  We were so lucky that our ship was docked right in the middle of it all so could maximize our visit. 

We said so long to Bryan and Kim at 3:30 to re-board the ship.  They made our visit to Sydney so very special.  The two of them gave us a great tour of the area and a very personal glimpse into what it is like to live in such an exciting, vibrant area.  They are certainly taking full advantage of living abroad having already traveled to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia as well as other parts of Australia.

We sailed out of sunny Sydney Harbor at 5:00 p.m. with a champagne and caviar deck party in full swing.  All the passengers raved about their visit to this iconic international City.  We will now go on to other ports around Australia spending most of the month of February in the land down under.

Early Morning Arrival