SYDNEY TO MELBOURNE

SATURDAY, Feb. 22:  Another early morning as we rose at dawn to watch the sail in to Sydney Harbour.  The entire ship seemed to come alive well before 6:00 a.m.   There were even line-ups at the coffee bar.  The Sydney waterfront is spectacular.  We sailed past the Opera House (considered to be an architectural masterpiece of the 20^th century), past Circular Quay, under the Harbour Bridge, into Darling Harbour, and eventually to our dock in White Bay.

Sydney is a more beautiful city than I had imagined.  There is water everywhere and the downtown area is always crammed with pedestrians; more like a European city than an empty American one.   After breakfast we took a shuttle bus to the Queen Victoria Building.  From there we had a half hour leisurely stroll to the Opera House.  As a Christmas gift kids had given us tickets to see “The Magic Flute”.   This was our first time at seeing an opera in a major opera house and it was a great experience.  We had lunch in the Opera House itself prior to the show. 

Getting around in Sydney is quite easy and when we left the opera we grabbed a free downtown shuttle which linked up with the free shuttle to our ship.

MOVING DAY (Feb. 23):  Cruises come in segments and one can book a single segment or multiple segments (called back-to-backs).  Of the 1170 passengers on board 931 departed in Sydney.   Most had come on when we did in Tahiti but some have been onboard well before that.    The dinner at our overnight in Sydney was very quiet as many stayed in their rooms jumping up and down as they tried to close their cases.  Our pleasure at not being among the departing will end in Auckland when we have to start the journey home and others get to stay on the ship.  The biggest smiles, however, were on the faces of crew members who were finishing their contracts and going on 60-day holidays.  The ones departing looked much happier than the returning workers who will be onboard for the next 8 months.

SYDNEY DAY TWO:  We took the hop-on-hop-off bus and toured the city plus the beaches at Bondi.  Every part of Sydney is attractive; quite amazing.  It appears that it would be a wonderful place to live.  However, we missed the 1:30 shuttle back to the ship and had to wait for one at 3:30.  This was very nerve wracking as that meant Betty was stuck for almost two hours in the most expensive shopping area of the city.  However, she didn’t buy anything so I returned to the ship in a reasonably decent mood.

 

MELBOURNE:  On our first day in Melbourne we joined two other couples for a fabulous tour of the beautiful Yarra Valley.  The tour was organized by Marion and Lloyd (two 83-year olds from Milwaukee).  I think I’ll hang their pictures on my wall as role models.

We first drove to Healesville Sanctuary where we had our first sighting of koalas, emus, and kangaroos in a natural setting.  We also attended a display where large birds of prey (raptors) swoop in and around as they are fed.  This was to be followed by a wine tour at Oakridge (rated in 2012 as the top winery in Australia).  However, as a special favor to me our guide stopped first at Chandon because I wanted to compare Australian Chandon to the Napa Chandon that I had had twice on the ship.  Chandon wineries around the world are all owned by Moet and Chandon from Champagne and they all specialize in traditionelle methode sparkling wines.

After Chandon we went to Oakridge for more wine tasting prior to having lunch at the winery.  There we ate kobe beef washed down with cabernet.  This followed the 12 wines we had tasted prior to lunch.

Lunch ended late but we did have time for a quick stop at Ricketts Sanctuary, which is a serene walk through a rain forest of mostly mulberry trees and where the there are numerous sculptures having been created over Ricketts’ lifetime.

I mentioned that Marion and Lloyd were going to be my role models.  They travel all over the world, only occasionally going home to Milwaukee for a couple of weeks.  They also told us that they were buying a limitless drinks package for the rest of the cruise.  Betty and I rejected that option as we calculated that we would be unable to drink enough to make the package a good value.  When our van arrived back at the ship Lloyd jumped out first as he didn’t want to miss happy hour.

MELBOURNE DAY TWO (Feb. 26):  As we had a number of errands (compulsory shopping, finding a barbershop, etc.) we took a bus into the center of the city and walked and walked.  When our feet went on strike we hopped a free tram that circles the city core.  Shortly after boarding, the tram broke down but we found one going in the other direction and completed our tour.

SHOPPING (EUROPE VERSUS DOWN UNDER):  Whenever we have been in Europe we are enticed by the tax free shopping, which in fact approaches a scam.  First you pay the total price up front with the promise of a refund when leaving the European Union.  However, you must apply not at the first airport but at the one that actually leaves Europe.  Thus, when trying to make a connection in someplace like Frankfurt one must find the tax office, which is very well hidden, and complete the process without missing one’s connecting flight.  With luck your refund will eventually be mailed.   In Australia the shops offering tax free shopping give the discount up front and the shopkeepers do all the paperwork.  All the customer has to do is show a photo I.D., such as a N.S. driver’s license, from a foreign country.

Oops, ship’s horn just sounded, we are about to sail for Tasmania.