Steve and Cathy's Blog

This is going to be a long day no matter what.  It is our only day in the largest city in Australia, capital of New South Wales and voted (according to Oceania Cruise Line) on one of the ten best cities in the world to live in.  That we will spend so little time here is the major shortcoming of this ATW cruise.  We call it a “Bump-and-Run Day” and the only consolation is that it will probably not be the only time in our lives we will be here – at least we convince ourselves of that.

How early do we start the day?  Well, the first two photos of this post, which were taken as we came into our pier, were taken at 5:53 and 5:56am.  As you see from them, we are docked right across the water from the ultimate Australian iconic structure: the Sydney Opera House.

These photos and the three after the one below of our ship are taken from the veranda of our stateroom.  What a location our ship has!  Yet another example of the advantage of a smaller cruise ship.  We will not step foot in a bus or cab all day.

This harbor is one of the best in the world, and everyone living here takes full advantage of this resource.  There  is a ferry system that is second to none, and hundreds of thousands commute on them every day.  Right from our veranda, we see almost every conceivable type of ferry.

The main event of the day will be a harbor cruise hosted by Oceania for us Around-The-World guests. That starts at 11:15, so our morning activity time is limited.  But Cathy has done some excellent, wonderful and thoughtful research and has found the perfect activity … for me: at the Australian National Maritime Museum, there is an exhibit entitled Container: The Box That Changed the World.  A transportation exhibit!

We have done the necessary investigation and see that we can take a half hour ferryboat ride right from Circular Quay (200 yards away from the ship) right to the museum.  The museum opens at 9:30, so we leave about 8:30. Right at the entrance to the Overseas Passenger Terminal are several members of the tourist bureau eager to help us as well.  They confirm our research, point us in the right direction and describe how we can purchase tickets at machines right on the wharf.

In less than fifteen minutes, we have reached the wharf, purchased tickets and are waiting for the next boat.  The one that arrives is the Supercat 4, a large catamaran that must seat at least 150. Steve wants to take photos, so we sit near the bow and he goes out on the open deck.  In the course of taking photos, he strikes up a conversation with another person doing the same thing.  Turns out this guy is a surgeon from Melbourne who is in Sydney to take an interview for a job in the Netherlands.  He has just returned from giving a talk at Stanford University.

We arrive at the last stop, which is ours.  Indeed, the museum is right there.  Not knowing where the Container exhibit is, we walk all the way around the museum.

Turns out that the exhibit is actually outside the museum and is open to the public for free.  We find it quickly, and see that it consists of six actual containers, each with an exhibit on a specific aspect of the industry.  Steve immediately goes into a trance, and Cathy decides to visit the museum gift shop to see if there is a book available on the subject.  Also to use what she has noticed near the entrance: public rest rooms. See picture below. If anything speaks volumes about how “Sydneysiders” value their city, this does. This is a public rest room!

Steve takes in every single word and picture of the exhibit, and takes dozens of photos.  Cathy returns to say that a book isn’t available but that it is an excellent shop.  We continue with the Container exhibit until Steve is thoroughly satisfied he has seen all of it, and then we go to the gift shop.  It is everything Cathy says it is and more, and we could have spent $500 there … but don’t.

We return to the ferry slip in time to take a 10:30 boat back to Circular Quay.  It’s a beautiful morning and we both sit outdoors on the starboard side of the ferry.  We see dozens and dozens of boats of every description as the beautiful Sydney skyline glides by.

After cruising under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, we return to Circular Quay and walk to the cruise terminal.  It is bustling with activity as the four hundred new passengers are arriving to board Insignia.  Fortunately we are able to avoid the lines and go right aboard.  A quick stop in our stateroom and it’s down to Insignia Lounge at 11:15.

We all receive our instructions and meet the O’Dells, the Rosenthals and Pat Watt with whom we have prearranged to sit at the event.  We also find out from Patricia Watt that Insignia’s itinerary has just changed. Because of two developing severe low pressure systems in both the Melbourne and Burnie (Tasmania) areas, we will not be sailing to those ports at all.  The ship will be in Sydney until 4:00am tomorrow morning and will then sail directly for Auckland, New Zealand.

We walk back out to the cruise terminal and straight on to our excursion boat, Starship Sydney, docked in Campbells Cove.  Cathy and I had actually seen it from the ferry and had commented on this odd looking boat.  Now we are going to spend the next three or four hours on it.

We are welcomed aboard by the super hospitable staff, find a table and sit down.  Soon wine and beer are being served.  It’s cocktail hour – at noon.  There is a quick announcement acquainting us with the boat, and pointing out that not only is there the main deck with a bar and all the dining room tables set for lunch, but also there is an open upper deck with another bar and tables. After a few minutes, we pull away from the dock into the harbor, and Steve ventures upstairs to begin taking photos of the harbor.

Eventually it is time for the buffet lunch.  The staff tells us to sit and wait for our table to be called.  We are close to the bar but far from the food, and we wait and wait for our table to be summoned.   Eventually most of our tablemates get impatient and get into the line. Steve, Cathy and Pat wait. Eventually we ask an Oceania person if we should continue to wait, and he says no, giving us the permission we are looking for to help ourselves.

We have been cruising while we are eating.   When we are done, a narration begins, pointing out what we are seeing on the shoreline.  The most obvious are the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, but we also cruise by the Garden Island Naval Base, Dennison Island and other notable points of interest.  The weather is absolutely ideal.  This event is turning out to be everything we hoped it would be.

Around 2:45pm, we dock at the Man O’ War Steps, one hundred feet from the Sydney Opera House.  All one hundred fifty of us are going to be given an escorted private tour of this amazing building that world-famous architect Frank Gehry said “changed the image of an entire country.”  About thirty of us are assigned to an absolutely delightful young man who gives us the tour of a lifetime.  He is ebullient, enthusiastic, is loaded with stories about the Danish architect Jorn Utzon, the controversy surrounding the construction of the place.  He is as captivating as the subject about which he is talking.  He brings the place alive as he walks us around.  We even get to see the Sydney Symphony Orchestra rehearsing!

At 4:00pm, we are ushered into a huge hall with many windows looking out at the harbor, for cocktails. After about twenty minutes, unbeknownst to us, we have another fantastic treat in store.  We have the opportunity to hear one of the conductors accompany one of the opera singers for us.  We are blown away!

We are pinching ourselves to make sure this is actually happening.  Steve and Cathy Knight are in the iconic, world-renowned Sydney Opera House being entertained by two of Australia’s most accomplished performers. We both look at each other and think: “Is this really happening to us?”

She sings a half dozen numbers, he comments about this unique venue and welcomes us to it, and then we slowly make our way out of the Sydney Opera House.  It is sunset in Sydney, right around 5:00pm (the season is equivalent to mid-November, although the city’s latitude is almost the same as Atlanta, except it’s in the Southern Hemisphere).  If we wish, we can ride a catamaran back to Circular Quay. We decide to walk. It is absolutely beautiful here. The quay is lined with shops and restaurants and full of people from all over the world. Everything is clean and neat. Ferryboats are pulling in and out of the quay and our ship is right across from us. As it gets dark lights come up on the Opera House. We still can’t believe we are here.

The ship is due to have a Lifeboat Drill at 5:30pm, and we were all due on board at 5:00pm to attend this. Tomorrow’s 4:00am departure now means that our “curfew” is 2:00am, so we do not feel the need to participate.

Hmmm.  How to take advantage of this.  Well, we are with the O’Dells and Pat, and we decide that we should eat dinner at one of the many pubs in The Rocks neighborhood of Sydney that is close to the ship.  She also brings along Clive and his brother, two other ATW guests.

The seven of us find our way to George Street that is lined with restaurants and pubs.  We find a good candidate called Fortune of War that claims to be Sydney’s oldest pub (since 1828).   We head in there.

The food is pub grub – very good pub grub.  We sit at a long table and enjoy local beers and wine.  The food is delicious, but we can’t remember what it was we had.

We leave about 8-8:30pm. It has been one heck of a day in one of the world’s best cities.   We were given a few extra hours to spend there, and could stay out longer, but we decide to quit while we’re ahead.  Steve and Cathy Knight are draggin’. But we have to take one last look at Sydney from our veranda in our stateroom before we sack out.

With the huge change in itinerary, we are more determined than ever that we will return to this country full of great people and even greater promise.  We can’t wait!