Saying goodbye to the Crown Princess and “G’day Mate” to Sydney Australia
Our arrival in Sydney by cruise ship gave us a unique view of the city, Opera House and Harbour Bridge. The captain delayed our arrival until 7:00 a.m., so we would have daylight to enjoy the view. Our escort into the harbor is a special celebration that includes water canons and skiers because this is the inaugural trip of the Crown Princess into Sydney. The close up photo of the city is from our balcony after docking. We are sad to walk off the ship for our final time after 31 days, but we are excited to begin our week exploring Sydney Australia.
I mentioned the huge celebration we received as we ported in Sydney. Here’s a news article about our arrival. There’s an awesome video below of our arrival and the water show.
Fun Facts about Sydney
Founded in 1788, Sydney began as a British convict colony. In 2023, Sydney ranked as the fourth most liveable city in the world. Sydney is the largest city in Australia and the population in its greater metropolitan area is 5.2 million people. Although not the country’s capital, it is the capital of the state of New South Wales.
Other fun facts: there are more than 100 beaches located in the city. The famous Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932) is the tallest steel arch bridge and widest long-span bridge in the world. The Sydney Opera House is widely regarded as one of the world’s most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture. Approximately 11 million people per year visit the Opera House. The original cost estimate to build it was $7 million and its final cost was $102 million when completed. Although expected to take four years, construction took 14 years.
First stop—the optometrist?
The first stop on our agenda is to go to an optometrist. No, we don’t need an exam. Wait for it—it’s another Danny story. It seems Danny had an eyewear malfunction in the bar (where else?) during our last night on ship. There was a celebration where those in our usual hangout group decided to see if they could drink the maximum 15 cocktails each remaining on their drink package before the bar closed. There was no way I was playing this crazy game, so I opted out. Guess who joined in the challenge?
Later I hear this cackle of laughter in our group and I see Danny picking up his flattened glasses off the floor that he just stepped on. No one remembers exactly what happened. Perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea to play this game when you’re not as young as you used to be? Although Danny came close to his 15 maximum, he didn’t quite make it before he gave up the challenge. I’d wager a bet that most who participated had a bit of a hangover the next morning for our early departure from the ship.
Since I’m concerned about Danny driving on the left side of the road next week (especially without glasses), we immediately headed to the nearest optometrist. Thankfully, after a couple of hours waiting for the repair, the pieces of his glasses are now back together with new screws and he didn’t charge us anything. I am so relieved that I gave him a tip to buy himself a cocktail, which is ironic as that’s the original culprit of all this eyeglass drama. He really saved the day for a couple of tourists. What awesome Aussie hospitality!
The best way to sightsee is by walking around town
Sydney Australia is a walkable city, but also has great public transportation. Our apartment is convenient to everything inner city so we walked everywhere. Our first walk brought us to St. Mary’s Cathedral (1821). There was a wedding when we first arrived, so we didn’t enter the church. We did return later to visit the beautiful interior. Inside, there is a relic from St. Francis Xavier’s right hand.
We then strolled through Hyde Park into downtown where luxury shopping is everywhere.
We decided to have a restful Sunday, sleep in and have breakfast in the apartment before meeting up with friends later. Our friends from the ship kept in touch with us. Several of them live in Sydney and the others are spending a few days here before returning home. Jim and Terence organized drinks and dinner together tonight. The bar’s outdoor courtyard was packed on this beautiful afternoon and the food at the Thai restaurant was delicious. What a fun group of guys. Two of our new friends, Omar & Chris, are leaving soon. Our group of cruise friends is slowly dwindling. We’ll miss hanging out with them when they leave.
Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair and the Royal Botanic Gardens
Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair is a Sydney landmark found within the Royal Botanic Gardens. The chair, carved by convicts in 1810, is a sandstone rock ledge. It was commissioned by Governor Macquarie for his wife Elizabeth. She loved the area and it is one of the best vantage points to view the sights of Sydney Harbor. Established in 1816, the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney Australia is this country’s oldest botanic garden and spans over 1,000 acres and is free to visit. There is also a resting place for stranded historical stones from city buildings and structures half-buried in the grass. The gardens are between our apartment and downtown, so we often would walk through it as it was the shortest route. It really is beautiful and full of wildlife.
We enjoyed wandering through the rose garden smelling the flowers.
The Rocks and Harbor Bridge
The Rocks is a historical suburb established in 1788 in Sydney Harbor adjacent to where our cruise ship docked. The first residents of the Rocks were convicts and sailors. It’s the oldest neighborhood in the city with cobblestone streets and over 100 heritage sites. It’s perfect for wandering around narrow lanes filled with boutiques, pubs, restaurants and galleries. There’s even an old police station that’s now a restaurant.
We decided to walk across the Harbor Bridge today with one of our friends Robert to take a few more photos. You can walk across free, but you need tickets to go up to the museum and the pylon viewpoint. It’s a bit of a climb, but not nearly the climb to the very top of the archway of the bridge. That’s a $250 excursion and you’d better not be afraid of heights. I have a picture of several people climbing near the top of the archway by the flags if you look closely.
Bondi Beach
Bondi Beach is one of the most visited tourist sites in Australia. Famous for its swimming, surfing, white sand and sparkling blue ocean, there are lots of restaurants, pubs and a laid-back beach lifestyle. Using bus 333, it was a quick 30 minutes from our apartment to the beach. Bondi is one of Sydney’s largest beaches. It was a beautiful day, so we spent the morning walking along the beach and exploring some of the shops on the strand. Robert and Mitch joined us on our adventure today.
Paddy’s Markets & an Evening Comedy Show
Paddy’s Markets in Chinatown is open Wednesdays-Sundays 10:00-6:00 and is a Sydney icon for over 150 years. This is a bustling market with hundreds of stalls offering souvenirs, clothing, gadgets, food and every other Asian made product you can think of—as well as a few local goods too. Souvenirs purchased here like t-shirts, hats, etc. are a fraction of the cost compared to the shops elsewhere. You all know I love a bargain. If you’re here, don’t forget the kangaroo jerky!
Once we finished shopping, we ate a wonderful meal in Chinatown before heading back to the apartment. Mark from our cruise met Jeff a fellow passenger on our ship who is a comedian. He happens to be hosting a show tonight called “Wigs and Wit: Drag Queens vs. Comics” and we think it’ll be hilarious to attend so we all made reservations.
Nine of us met at the hotel for the show and had a great time. The comedians were funny and the drag queens really gave a great performance. What fun we had today. We are sorry to see our new friends Robert & Mitch fly back home to Utah tomorrow.
The following day we were invited to drinks and dinner with our new Sydney friends from the cruise, Jim & Terence. We met at their beautiful home for champagne and walked a few blocks over to a lovely middle eastern restaurant for dinner. The food was amazing and the company even better.
We then learned that we’ll happen to be in Melbourne at the same time in a couple of weeks and we can’t wait to see them again. It seems like they’ll never get rid of these Texas tourists.
Queen Victoria Building and Town Hall
The Queen Victoria Building (QVB) is a five level upscale shopping center occupying an entire block in the heart of Sydney’s downtown. Opened in 1898, the QVB is rich in history, architecture and filled with stained glass windows, special mechanical clocks, and light filled atriums. It’s absolutely beautiful. In 1986, the late Queen Elizabeth wrote a secret letter to the people of Sydney, but no one will know what it says until 2085. It’s displayed in the building. Unfortunately, we couldn’t visit inside Town Hall (1869) as it has been closed to visitors since Covid. The front of Town Hall is flanked by Jacaranda trees in full bloom. These pretty trees are everywhere throughout the city.
Sydney Tower
The Sydney Tower is the tallest structure in Sydney and has an observation deck that allows you to view Sydney in every direction. There’s also a bar and restaurant above the deck on the 83rd floor. What a view!
We’ve spent a busy week enjoying the amazing sites in Sydney Australia, but it’s time to pack and pickup our rental car in the morning. My next post in our Australian adventure is a 10 day road trip along the eastern coast. Hope you’ll join us.
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