20231205 AAAA Trip - Sydney, Australia - Disembarkation and the beginning of a new phase

2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip 
Day 80/105 - Sydney, Australia, Day 1

Dang, 4:45 a.m. sure comes early. That's what time I got up this morning. I. Yes, me. Arlona, not so much. We were scheduled to start our scenic sail-in to Sydney Harbor at around 5 a.m. and I wanted to be able to capture it. I got dressed in the dark, grabbed the camera, and headed up to deck 7 forward - the Explorers' Bar. Lucky for me, that can be accomplished on autopilot after 79 days.

I was surprised how many folks were up to watch. The bar area itself was pretty full and the deck outside was two deep all across the front of the ship. The sky was just starting to turn colors right before 5 a.m. and we began our entry into the harbor. I did my best to trim down the photos and not be too repetitive. When you sail into one of the world's most famous harbors, it is easy to snap, snap, snap.

The famous Sydney bats were out and about, heading back to roost for the day

Virgin's Resilient Lady was docked at Circle Quay

As the sun started coming up, the sky started picking up a brilliant blue

The Sydney Opera House, in all her glory

The Sydney Opera House really defines this skyline

A better look at Resilient Lady

Getting ready to cruise under Sydney Harbor Bridge

A look back at Sydney Opera House with the morning sky

Almost there

Here we go

Directly under

And we're through

Making the turn toward White Bay Cruise Terminal

The new W Hotel

A crane on top of the Crown

Sydney Tower Eye

Before 6 a.m., I was back in the room and crawled into bed for a couple of minutes before we needed to get up and get going to wrap up the room, and grab breakfast. At 8 a.m., sharp, we walked out of the room, headed to deck #2, and walked off the Viking Orion for the last time. 

Let's reflect on the cruise.  We began in Vancouver, Canada. We visited three continents, North America, Asia, and Australia. We visited ten countries, Canada, the USA, Japan, Taiwan (China, technically plus we visited Hong Kong), Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia. We sailed 16,578 nautical miles, and that equals 19,078 statute miles or 30,703 kilometers. It was a good run and despite the issues we had with how Viking handled the long cruise aspect of it, or more correctly, didn't handle it, it was still a great trip. We met a bunch of really terrific people and had a lot of fun. That part is done. We are now in Sydney.

I hailed an Uber and got to experience surge pricing. Yea! The expected 2-3 minute wait for an Uber took nearly 20 minutes. The 15-minute ride to The Grace, Sydney took more than 30. Wow, does traffic in Sydney suck! I didn't expect that. We were in bumper-to-bumper stop-and-go traffic from the second we rolled out of the port and it didn't quit for quite some time. We asked our Uber driver if it was like this every day. His somewhat defeated, "Yup", told the story. We weren't in a hurry, so it didn't matter.

We made it to the hotel and got checked in. 

Our home for the next week

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, our room was not yet available. We sat down and plotted a course for the day. We came up with a basic plan and mostly followed it, walking from The Grace over toward the Art Museum (we’ll save that for a rainy day), and then into the Botanic Gardens. Walk north to the point and Mrs. Macquarie's Chair. Then, follow the water, working back through the garden and exit on the west side. Find someplace for lunch and then work back toward The Grace and get settled into our room.

And off we went.

This is the fourth or fifth Bvulgari store we've seen on this trip - all the designer stores are here

We arrived at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney

Arlona, playing in the water - more coming...

Caught this lorikeet flitting about

We stumbled upon a tree absolutely loaded with cockatoos - they were everywhere

They are incredibly loud birds - their screech was deafening

There were delicate cobwebs all over the place

Pied currawong

This little guy hitched a ride on Arlona's hat

Busy, busy

We made it to the point, directly east of the Opera House and bridge.

Sydney Harbor Bridge walkers – we’re doing it on Thursday

Nope!

Mrs. Macquarie's Chair is a sandstone bench carved by convicts in 1811 for the then-governor's wife, offering harbor views.

The Navy has several ships docked across from the chair.

Fort Denison

Guess who found more water

We continued on through the Botanic Garden.

Nailed it

Bench discussion

Eek! - I mean...Eel!

Whale sculpture

We exited the garden and started looking for some chow

We wound up at a place called Bar Luca for burgers and onion rings. It was great and hit the spot.

There may have been a beer involved

We arrived back at The Grace and our room was ready. They had delivered our bags to our room so everything was up there when we walked in. We did a little unpacking and unwinding before heading out for dinner. Arlona had a hankering for pizza and found a place on Yelp called Made in Italy that was a short walk from The Grace. It was take-out only, but they worked with the bar next door. We got a table in the bar and were able to order pizza. Like every eatery we’ve been in so far in Australia, there is no table service. You order at the counter and pick up your drinks. They bring your food out to you. 

The pizza was thin, generally not our favorite, but it was really good. Plenty of toppings, cooked really well – it made for a nice dinner. 

We’re two for two on dining today. Woo!

Since we ate a little late, I really wanted a Limoncello to help with digestion. Arlona found a liquor store right across the street from the hotel, and problem solved. I poured a glass and we headed up to the roof where they had some chairs. We watched the colors in the sky as the sun set. We didn’t have a direct view, but it didn’t matter as the sky was beautiful. We even had a huge bat fly right over us – a highlight of the evening.

Today, we booked a tour to the Blue Mountains. We will be stopping at the Sydney Zoo (we’re kind of zoo-ed out), but then we're going to the Blue Mountains with cable car, gondola, and railway rides and such.  The bad part? They pick us up at 7:35 a.m. from another hotel. So, we’ll be up early, doing a grab-and-go at McDonalds, and walking to the Sheraton for pick-up.  Sydney Day #1 is in the books.