Sydney, Australia
February 15th and 16th, 2007
Having dreamed of being in Australia all my life made getting up at 5:30 AM very easy. The sunrise over Sydney Harbor was a must according to all who have seen it…and now I know why…it IS a most beautiful and memorable experience….one that I will never forget!
Stepping out onto the lower promenade deck and hearing “G’day mate!” as the early morning walkers did their laps one couldn’t help but feel a special excitement in the air. Everyone was looking forward to being in Sydney…even the crew. As I groped my way onto the bow deck, still pitch black dark, I laughed a bit as an always friendly Indonesian crew member offered me a cup of coffee with his own heavily accented version of “G’day”! “We are going to Sydney”, he said, “the most beautiful harbor in the world!” As I munched on an “opera bun” that tasted, unsurprisingly, just like the “panama buns” the ship served as we arose for the Panama Canal sunrise, I found myself getting a bit chocked up…there I was sailing on this beautiful ship into this beautiful harbor…I had to pinch myself!
Soon the sun began to rise behind the ship casting an eerie pink glow over the bow highlighting all my fellow passengers that, like me, had gotten up early to experience our arrival. We all commented on the rocky cliffs ahead…what is so spectacular about this I thought? Then in that hazy-just-before-the-sun-finally-makes-it-over-the-horizon moment, I spotted a faint grayish silhouette of the Sydney Harbor Bridge far in the distance, a single red light flashing at its apex. Almost immediately the mouth of the harbor opened and we began our slow and memorable sail into Sydney. ”There’s the Opera House”, someone shouted. Indeed there it was, aglow in a wash of pink sunlight. I held back a tear or two as we inched our way forward, my camera snapping away as the building changed every second with the rising sun and the new location of the ship. I couldn’t help but think how this iconic building demonstrates better than most the power of architecture and how places…even cultures…can be defined and captured by it. Australia! I was finally in Australia! Luckily we docked with the most magnificent view of that famous building just outside my cabin window. It just couldn’t have been any better!
After a lengthy immigration process (the Australian officials boarded the ship and insisted on seeing each of us face to face with our passports…all 1300 of us plus the crew!) we were finally able to leave the ship to be greeted by a colorful Aboriginal band blowing on their didgeridoos. After repeated “G’Days” from the driver and guide, I was soon on my way for a half-day tour of this exceptional place. We visited all the bays: Rose Bay where the sea planes land and depart, Double Bay (nicknamed “Double Pay”) where all the chic shops are glad to take your credit cards, Woolloomooloo Bay where Russell Crow and Nicole Kidman supposedly have condos (I heard of at least four different sites during my stay where Nicole “lives”…the Aussies all LOVE Nicole Kidman) We saw the navel yard, the beautiful Botanical Garden, Oxford Street. We visited .Bondi Beach with hoards of surfers. For three or four hours we took in scenic and specific place after another….what a great way to get an overview of the city. Eventually we were deposited at the base of the Opera House for a special tour. As magnificent as the building is from afar, it is equally beautiful up close and personal. Our knowable guide explained how it took 14 years to complete the project, how the budget went from 7 million to 102 million and was paid off by a national lottery in 18 months. She went on to explain that due to a dispute on fees and aesthetics, Utzon, the Danish architect, never saw the completed building (apparently at 88 he now consults on the project via the internet although he has still never seen the building first hand!). We went inside, climbing stairs….and stairs…and more stairs. I have never seen a building with so many stairs. There is no way that in this day of accessibility that this building could be built today.
That afternoon I took a ferry over to the Taronga Zoo where I had a grand time watching the cuddly Koala bears munching on eucalyptus leaves…so cute! Although seeing the animals, especially the native Australian ones, was great fun, enjoying the spectacular views of the city from that vantage point was even better. I returned to the ship in time to change and walk along the quay returning to the Opera House for a spectacular performance of Sweeny Todd. What fun to be in the Opera House for such a grand and creative production of this macabre play… one of those special evenings that I will not soon forget!
The colorful harbor beckoned me the next morning and I spent about three hours “coffee cruising” along the shores. Spectacular homes, both old and new, each seemed to each have a better location than the last. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to get inside some of those special buildings. The afternoon was spent walking through “the Rocks”, one of the oldest sections of the city. I looked high up to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and admiring those souls brave and strong enough to be climbing on its lofty heights. While chatting with fellow passengers who dared do the climb, I regretted that I too hadn’t done it….next time! A visit to the Museum of Contemporary art finished my afternoon leaving just enough time to sit on the quay and “people watch” for a short while before boarding the ship at the last minute to sail at sunset. As I waved good-bye to those ashore as well as the throngs of sailboats that had come to escort us out of this spectacular harbor I promised myself that I will return to spend more time in this magical city.
February 15th and 16th, 2007
Having dreamed of being in Australia all my life made getting up at 5:30 AM very easy. The sunrise over Sydney Harbor was a must according to all who have seen it…and now I know why…it IS a most beautiful and memorable experience….one that I will never forget!
Stepping out onto the lower promenade deck and hearing “G’day mate!” as the early morning walkers did their laps one couldn’t help but feel a special excitement in the air. Everyone was looking forward to being in Sydney…even the crew. As I groped my way onto the bow deck, still pitch black dark, I laughed a bit as an always friendly Indonesian crew member offered me a cup of coffee with his own heavily accented version of “G’day”! “We are going to Sydney”, he said, “the most beautiful harbor in the world!” As I munched on an “opera bun” that tasted, unsurprisingly, just like the “panama buns” the ship served as we arose for the Panama Canal sunrise, I found myself getting a bit chocked up…there I was sailing on this beautiful ship into this beautiful harbor…I had to pinch myself!
Soon the sun began to rise behind the ship casting an eerie pink glow over the bow highlighting all my fellow passengers that, like me, had gotten up early to experience our arrival. We all commented on the rocky cliffs ahead…what is so spectacular about this I thought? Then in that hazy-just-before-the-sun-finally-makes-it-over-the-horizon moment, I spotted a faint grayish silhouette of the Sydney Harbor Bridge far in the distance, a single red light flashing at its apex. Almost immediately the mouth of the harbor opened and we began our slow and memorable sail into Sydney. ”There’s the Opera House”, someone shouted. Indeed there it was, aglow in a wash of pink sunlight. I held back a tear or two as we inched our way forward, my camera snapping away as the building changed every second with the rising sun and the new location of the ship. I couldn’t help but think how this iconic building demonstrates better than most the power of architecture and how places…even cultures…can be defined and captured by it. Australia! I was finally in Australia! Luckily we docked with the most magnificent view of that famous building just outside my cabin window. It just couldn’t have been any better!
After a lengthy immigration process (the Australian officials boarded the ship and insisted on seeing each of us face to face with our passports…all 1300 of us plus the crew!) we were finally able to leave the ship to be greeted by a colorful Aboriginal band blowing on their didgeridoos. After repeated “G’Days” from the driver and guide, I was soon on my way for a half-day tour of this exceptional place. We visited all the bays: Rose Bay where the sea planes land and depart, Double Bay (nicknamed “Double Pay”) where all the chic shops are glad to take your credit cards, Woolloomooloo Bay where Russell Crow and Nicole Kidman supposedly have condos (I heard of at least four different sites during my stay where Nicole “lives”…the Aussies all LOVE Nicole Kidman) We saw the navel yard, the beautiful Botanical Garden, Oxford Street. We visited .Bondi Beach with hoards of surfers. For three or four hours we took in scenic and specific place after another….what a great way to get an overview of the city. Eventually we were deposited at the base of the Opera House for a special tour. As magnificent as the building is from afar, it is equally beautiful up close and personal. Our knowable guide explained how it took 14 years to complete the project, how the budget went from 7 million to 102 million and was paid off by a national lottery in 18 months. She went on to explain that due to a dispute on fees and aesthetics, Utzon, the Danish architect, never saw the completed building (apparently at 88 he now consults on the project via the internet although he has still never seen the building first hand!). We went inside, climbing stairs….and stairs…and more stairs. I have never seen a building with so many stairs. There is no way that in this day of accessibility that this building could be built today.
That afternoon I took a ferry over to the Taronga Zoo where I had a grand time watching the cuddly Koala bears munching on eucalyptus leaves…so cute! Although seeing the animals, especially the native Australian ones, was great fun, enjoying the spectacular views of the city from that vantage point was even better. I returned to the ship in time to change and walk along the quay returning to the Opera House for a spectacular performance of Sweeny Todd. What fun to be in the Opera House for such a grand and creative production of this macabre play… one of those special evenings that I will not soon forget!
The colorful harbor beckoned me the next morning and I spent about three hours “coffee cruising” along the shores. Spectacular homes, both old and new, each seemed to each have a better location than the last. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to get inside some of those special buildings. The afternoon was spent walking through “the Rocks”, one of the oldest sections of the city. I looked high up to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and admiring those souls brave and strong enough to be climbing on its lofty heights. While chatting with fellow passengers who dared do the climb, I regretted that I too hadn’t done it….next time! A visit to the Museum of Contemporary art finished my afternoon leaving just enough time to sit on the quay and “people watch” for a short while before boarding the ship at the last minute to sail at sunset. As I waved good-bye to those ashore as well as the throngs of sailboats that had come to escort us out of this spectacular harbor I promised myself that I will return to spend more time in this magical city.
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