Australia

Welcome, from the Land Down Under! When we were planning our sail around the world, Australia was on our list of stops. We were so looking forward to sailing into Sydney Harbour, passing the Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge. Unfortunately for us, at the time, Australia was “Covid Closed.” So, this current journey is not aboard TRANCE, it’s on the Viking ocean ship Orion, which will be circumnavigating the continent with 2 stops in Indonesia.

The captain and crew arrived in Australia 6:30am on Tuesday, February 24. We spent about 21 hours in planes “sailing” through the air, Philadelphia to Dallas to Sydney. Our original flight, which was cancelled, was to depart on Monday the 23, but due to an arriving blizzard that dropped almost a foot of snow at our house, we were able to switch our flights to leave a day early.

The day was spent walking around the CBD (Central Business District) area of Sydney. From our hotel we walked to the Customs House to see a 3D model of Sydney under a glass floor.

Our next destination was the Sydney Tower Eye. The tallest building in the city, with an enclosed observation deck that has a 360° view.

Lunch was on the agenda next. We stopped at Anason, a Turkish tapas restaurant within the Barangaroo wharf area.

Next stop, to walk to the crest of the Harbour Bridge.

Total miles walked 6.9.

Day 2. The remaining of our group arrived today, Ken, Sheila, Shirley and Wendy. We spent the day aboard a double decker hop on hop off city tour bus, that also included a ferry boat ride with a stop at Watson’s Bay. We disembarked the ferry there and had lunch at Doyle’s on the Beach.

After returning to Circular Quay, wharf area where the ferries are, as well as a stop for the rail system, we walked to The Opera House.

Construction on the Opera House began on March 1, 1959 and was completed October 20, 1973. The Sydney Opera House has a total of 1,056,006 roof tiles on it. Inside, the foyers were surprisingly minimalistic with concrete walls and ceilings. Yet, we hear inside the five concert halls, it’s majestic.

In the evening we took the night time bus tour around Sydney and across the Harbour Bridge.

The city architecture is quite diverse, with the historic sandstone buildings surrounded by the contemporary styled ones. Many Sydney streets are lined with tall trees, also it is hillier than we expected, and there are steps in many areas.

Total miles walked 1.9

Day 3. Dan and I along with Ken and Sheila participated in the morning walking tour to The Rocks section of Sydney. This area is the historic birthplace of modern European settlement.

Afterwards our group gathered to get on the hop on, hop off bus big bus again to the Sydney Fish Market for lunch. It was fabulous!

For dinner we made reservations at Tapavino, a Spanish tapas restaurant, located on a cobblestone alley. The food and wine were excellent!

Total miles walked 5.0.