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After a hasty breakfast a bunch of us hopped on the “On / Off” Bus to tour this fabulous city. In the picture below (L - R) starting with Me, then Jimmy and Kelly (mom and daughter from Fla), in front of us is Sharon and Matt (crew mates), then Mark and Robin and some lady we don’t know. Hank is taking the picture. The blue and red lines took us first through part of the city then out to Bondi Beach and back into the city all the way to Darling Harbor where were chose to “alight”, per instructions from the recorded bus message.
Darling Harbor is a vast area of shops, restaurants and docks. We chose to eat lunch at Nicks, where we wanted to try “Bugs” (the Aussie meal like a lobster) but they were expensive so we had various meals of prawns and salads. Great food and beer. It was very hot and we were all getting a bit tired so most of the gang headed back to the ship to rest and regroup for a night on the town. Hank and I found out that the Wildlife Park was right here in Darling so we headed in to hold a Koala. After strolling through bugs, spiders, bats and reptiles we finally made it to the Kangaroo’s! There were only males in this facility and here’s where I learned we should have gone to the zoo in Brisbane as it is a different and less stringent state. Here in New South Whales they don’t let you get too close to the animals. But we did make it to the Koala’s just as the only one awake ran up a tree. That’s the sign that the petting was done for the day. We were able to get close enough for a picture though.
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That night we went to dinner at a local place near the Opera House and watched the party scene take place on the Embarcadero below! It was Saturday Night and the young people of Sydney were all there.
Day 2 we hustled off to the harbor with Linda and Burt to get on a ferry to Manly Beach. It was a fabulous half hour ride through Sydney harbor to the other side of the bay. Manly is on the ocean side so it’s kind of like going to Coronado. This was my favorite place of all. We walked about 2 long blocks down a promenade of shops and restaurants that were spectacular! This led us to the white sandy beach at last - which was amazingly gorgeous. We slipped off our shoes and walked in the water for a long time. Several teams of children were cordoned off to run races in the sand and then run into the water. They wear these funny hats so that parents and life guards can identify them. Great idea! After a very satisfying lunch and some requisite shopping we hopped a ferry back to the harbor where we caught another ferry to Luna Park. It’s kind of like Coney Island but way smaller. Back to the ship for a little rest and then Hank and I went back out again for dinner. We were so lucky to find this restaurant among the Rocks called Vintage. The Rocks are the original buildings created by the convicts who first arrived in Sydney back in the day. It is a confusing array of alley ways with restaurants and shop in cubby holes. But this cafe offered us something we’d been craving; sangria from Portugal and Fish in Piri piri sauce. It was so fabulously good! The only missing ingredients to recreate our time in Portugal were Mark and Robin who were sleeping off a rather busy night and day.
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Sydney was simply spectacular and we can’t wait to go back. However, our sandy beaches are just as good and our city is calling us home.
Hugs to all. Maryann
Hello from Mark and Robin. So we really enjoyed our time the first day with all our friends and saw a lot of the city. But we were eager to meet locals. While out to dinner we met 2 couples from Brisbane who were in Sydney for the weekend. They shared the evening with us by partying till 3 in the am. We have found the Aussies to be extremely friendly, love to party and tell stories of their past. The next morning we had to get up early to join them for breakfast but it was great fun in spite of being tired. After that we met up with some ship buddies and headed off to Paddington open air market in the middle of the city! We found some good deals and ate a great lunch in China Town with John and Cathy. Pooped after all that we headed back to the ship, dinner and more good partying at the Crow’s Nest! We have met so many nice crew members and guests, it makes the evening visiting so much like family.
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Yes Sydney is similar to San Diego minus the Opera House, but a little more dense. There is so much to see still that we’ll just have to come back. Two days were not long enough!
XOXOXOXO Robin
