25 March - Disembarkation and day # 1 in Sydney
Disembarkation day today. A much smoother nights sailing, now we are back nearer the Aussie coast.
I awoke in the early hours, to see some lights at sea, not sure if it was ships or land of some description.
Up again at 5.45, as we were sailing through Botany Bay into Sydney Harbour, still dark, so pics aren't great. We docked slowly and early, then it was time to wait for the sunrise over the Opera House.
We met for our last Empire Room breakfast at 7.00am, as our self disembarkation letter allocation was 'O.' After breaky back to await our boarding call, which was only 10 minutes or less after arriving back. Got Dad sorted out, then we were called, we made our way with all our luggage and Duty Free goods down to Deck 3, where we rolled off the ship and through customs reasonably easily.
Out into the Rocks area, through the OPT (Overseas Passenger Terminal) We wheeled our luggage across to the luggage storage place, after determining, we might not have time to meet our AirBnB host at Pyrmont, before 9.00.
Then we booked our Big Bus Hop on Hop Off tickets online and made our way to the bus stop at Circular Quay. There are two routes in Sydney - City Route and Bondi Route, we managed to do both, with a swap of routes/toilet stop/at Central Station, then out to Bondi for lunch, before heading around the rest of Bondi Route and finishing the City Route by about 3.30, It was a great bus tour. Hot day, but pleasant enough Up top, with sunscreen and hats. Will let the pictures tell the story.
From there, Mike contacted our Air BnB guy - Danny, and we had a bit of a challenge getting an Uber, so ended up in two cabs out to Pyrmont, a bit tricky today for the cabbies, as there is a Greek Independence Day Celebration and there are road closures, plus the ever present roadworks and detours. Anyway, Sue and I followed the others, once we moved up the hill to the Rocks area and flagged a cab. Our Apartment, is nicely located near the Fish Markets, and Danny was there to meet us and show us how to access our Apartment.
I went out to get some milk for a cuppa, and Bronwyn and Sue had bought some snacks in Bondi, for arvo tea.
We had nibbles and the returned champagne, that Bron had brought and had confiscated on boarding the ship, it was a nice drop too. Then it was time for our evening's entertainment, off to the Enmore Theatre in Newtown to see Jason Isbell, a musician that Mike was very keen to see.
The theatre was an old art deco cinema from the 60's, which was set up for the concert with standing room at the front and seating on the sloped floor.
The support act was Deer Tick, followed by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, all from the US. Deer Tick started about 7.40, with Jason due to start at 9 and finish about 11.
Boy it was loud, but both bands were very good, and something different for most of us. Dad, Sue and I decided to leave at 10.30, so we could get a cab home, and not have the 5 of us competing with the crowd for cabs after 11.00.
The biggest challenge was getting out past the folk sitting between us and aisle, there wasn't a lot of space between rows and it was tricky for Dad too, the folk beside us were all lovely, and I hope we didn't interrupt them too much.
Our cabbie stopped at a Convenience Mart, for us to get bread and butter and vegemite, but they had no bread, subsequently found a Coles Express and we arrived 'home' for toast and cuppa, before Mike and Bron returned, not long after 11.30. Late to bed about 12.30, I read till just after 1.00 - finally got to finish my book.
I awoke in the early hours, to see some lights at sea, not sure if it was ships or land of some description.
Up again at 5.45, as we were sailing through Botany Bay into Sydney Harbour, still dark, so pics aren't great. We docked slowly and early, then it was time to wait for the sunrise over the Opera House.
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| Somewhere on the Harbout |
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| Looking towards Sydney City |
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| The little Island |
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| Opera House |
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| Sunrise is coming |
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| Tying up the ship. |
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| Looking along the dock at Overseas Passenger Terminal from Dad's Balcony |
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge. |
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| Looking from our Balcony to Circular Quay |
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| The Ferry 'Freshwater' and Opera House |
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| A shot from Bronwyn's room to Bridge. |
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| Breakfast - seasonal fruits, baked apple, banana, canteloupe and honeydew. |
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| The Empire Dining Room |
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| Looking toward the aft of ship in Empire Dining room |
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| Looking forward and up to level 3 of Empire Dining Room |
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| Pushing Dad and my cases off for self disembarkation. |
Out into the Rocks area, through the OPT (Overseas Passenger Terminal) We wheeled our luggage across to the luggage storage place, after determining, we might not have time to meet our AirBnB host at Pyrmont, before 9.00.
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| Home on Sydney soil. |
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| Checking out the ship again. |
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| An old peppercorn tree in the Rocks area |
Then we booked our Big Bus Hop on Hop Off tickets online and made our way to the bus stop at Circular Quay. There are two routes in Sydney - City Route and Bondi Route, we managed to do both, with a swap of routes/toilet stop/at Central Station, then out to Bondi for lunch, before heading around the rest of Bondi Route and finishing the City Route by about 3.30, It was a great bus tour. Hot day, but pleasant enough Up top, with sunscreen and hats. Will let the pictures tell the story.
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| Add caption |
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| The matches sculpture by Brett Whiteley. |
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| Lunch at Bondi, Sue and Dad had the pie...Dad chose no greenery. |
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| Bron and I had the Chicken Haloumi Salad. |
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| A green building, really large and healthy looking green walls. |
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| The array up the top, is mirrors to deflect the light onto the building to keep the plants alive. |
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| Looking up to the bridge |
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| Someone doing the Bridge Climb |
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| Luna Park through the trees. |
From there, Mike contacted our Air BnB guy - Danny, and we had a bit of a challenge getting an Uber, so ended up in two cabs out to Pyrmont, a bit tricky today for the cabbies, as there is a Greek Independence Day Celebration and there are road closures, plus the ever present roadworks and detours. Anyway, Sue and I followed the others, once we moved up the hill to the Rocks area and flagged a cab. Our Apartment, is nicely located near the Fish Markets, and Danny was there to meet us and show us how to access our Apartment.
I went out to get some milk for a cuppa, and Bronwyn and Sue had bought some snacks in Bondi, for arvo tea.
We had nibbles and the returned champagne, that Bron had brought and had confiscated on boarding the ship, it was a nice drop too. Then it was time for our evening's entertainment, off to the Enmore Theatre in Newtown to see Jason Isbell, a musician that Mike was very keen to see.
The theatre was an old art deco cinema from the 60's, which was set up for the concert with standing room at the front and seating on the sloped floor.
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| Cab to the Enmore Theatre |
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| Me at the Enmore... |
The support act was Deer Tick, followed by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, all from the US. Deer Tick started about 7.40, with Jason due to start at 9 and finish about 11.
Boy it was loud, but both bands were very good, and something different for most of us. Dad, Sue and I decided to leave at 10.30, so we could get a cab home, and not have the 5 of us competing with the crowd for cabs after 11.00.
The biggest challenge was getting out past the folk sitting between us and aisle, there wasn't a lot of space between rows and it was tricky for Dad too, the folk beside us were all lovely, and I hope we didn't interrupt them too much.
Our cabbie stopped at a Convenience Mart, for us to get bread and butter and vegemite, but they had no bread, subsequently found a Coles Express and we arrived 'home' for toast and cuppa, before Mike and Bron returned, not long after 11.30. Late to bed about 12.30, I read till just after 1.00 - finally got to finish my book.
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