Silver Whisper cruised into Sydney's harbor as dawn was breaking on February 4, 2013. We had a most photogenic sail in. When Michael and I were last in Sydney in January 2010, we arrived by air. Then we saw the Silver Whisper from above sailing into the harbor as we were landing. This was the first time I had sailed in past the little islands in the harbor and under the iconic Sydney Bridge. The approach to the city by water was much more beautiful than from the air. Coming in to Sydney Harbour is one of the great sights in the world.
When Michael and I took the same ship from Sydney in 2010 we traveled up the east coast of Australia to Hong Kong. This time we are going around the bottom of Australia. The only port in common, aside from the beginning and ending points will be Bali, Indonesia.
Michael has been to Sydney many times. In 2010, he showed me in just over 24 hours as much of the city as we could possibly see in such a short time. This time we had about six hours to see things we missed the last time. First we stopped at Circular Quay (pronounced KEY) to get all day transit passes.
With day transit passes in hand we took a bus to Bondi Beach. Bondi is the most famous beach in New South Wales, perhaps in all of Australia. It sits on the Pacific Ocean several miles east of downtown Sydney. Moderate surf crashed on gorgeous white sand. There were sunbathers and surfers even on a Monday morning. We walked along the beach, took pictures and used the free Wi-Fi to check e-mails. Then we took another bus to Watsons Bay, a small community at the end of the south headland protecting Sydney harbor from the Pacific Ocean. On the route to Watsons Bay, we saw both ocean side lighthouses and sand dunes to the east as well as marvelous views of Sydney to the west. We caught a fast ferry back to Circular Quay and the Silversea shuttle bus to Darling harbor and the Siler Whisper. Michael and I saw some wonderful scenery and passed through parts of greater Sydney that neither of us had seen before.
We set out on foot to explore more of Sydney after a quick lunch aboard ship. We walked along the quay and into the city toward Chinatown. Michael and I had taken the monorail that circles the Sydney central business district when we visited in 2010. I was curious to see all the monorail cars passing by painted "Farewell Sydney." It turns out that the monorail will be discontinued at the end of February after 25 years of service. It's sad to see something so much fun to ride end. As we reached Chinatown, Michael remarked that the district is now larger than it was years ago. It appeared to be busy and prosperous. People of many Asian ethnicities and languages filled the streets. We boarded a tram for a short trip to the central rail station. After looking at this wonderful old building, we took a train back to Circular Quay and caught another ferry to Darling Harbour. We certainly used our transit passes. At the end of the day, we were exhausted but happy. The sail out of Sydney Harbour was as beautiful as expected and an opportunity to relax.
Our time in the city was somewhat shorter than it might have been. Michael and I moved from deck four to deck five during the changeover day in Sydney. The ship staff did most of the moving for us but we needed to move the safe contents and pack our personal toiletries in our carry-on bags. We could not access our new suite until the couple that had been there since Los Angeles left. They had been told they needed to vacate the suite by 9:00 AM and they were going to use every minute of the time. They finally departed shortly after 9 AM at the urging of the Guest Relations Manager. Michael paced and I fretted while the housekeeping staff cleaned and set up the suite. We were able to move our valuables, get new room keys by 10 AM, and start our day in Sydney shortly thereafter. When we returned for lunch, everything had been moved and clothing, books and papers had been put in the same places they had been in the old suite. Our new butler and room attendant introduced themselves. Life was good; we now had a veranda.
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