Arrival and disembarkation in Sydney

When someone says Sydney, Australia, your immediate thought is of the breathtaking pictures of the Sydney Opera House and perhaps the Sydney Harbor Bridge. But Sydney is so much more than that. The city has 4.5 million residents and is a large city that caters to tourists, but still feels like it could be your city. While it doesn't have as many things to do and see as New York City, it is still a world-class city that should be given several days to visit.

As I mentioned earlier, the worst two days of a cruise usually are the first and last, embarkation and disembarkation. In this case, the last day was our easiest. We had breakfast and got our things from the stateroom. We planned to take a taxi to our Sydney hotel and as such we were in one of the earlier groups to leave the ship. As we headed that way, the PA system announced at 8:15 that disembarkation had started so Felice and I just headed off the ship. We were the second couple to leave and our luggage was waiting. We grabbed our bags and then a taxi. Even with the rush hour traffic, we were at the hotel at 15 minutes before 9:00 and had checked our luggage so we could start our touring before 9:00. While I had budgeted a half day of touring, we actually got a whole day and were way ahead of schedule.

In many cities we go to, we like to start our trip with the Hop On, Hop Off (HOHO) bus.

These buses circle many major cities, going to all the tourist spots allowing the passengers to get off at anyone of them and then get on another bus later. In Sydney, one ticket allows you to do the city tour as well as the tour of the beaches. So we jumped on the city tour and made a full (two hour circle). We did not get off, but we were now oriented as to Sydney. We headed back to the hotel where our room was still not ready so we grabbed some lunch and then back at the hotel the room was ready. We took all of our stuff to the room, used the hotel's safety deposit box for our valuables (passports and money) and headed out for the second half of our day. We took the HOHO bus to the beaches and got off at Bondi Beach. Below are some pictures at Bondi.

Now we are told that nude beaches in Oz are off the beaten path and there is little nude sunbathing. That is not exactly what we found at Bondi as there were a number of females who dis-availed themselves of their tops. And unlike Nice, France, these were actually women that one might like to see in such a state. I had never seen a string bikini that was just that, a string, but one that Felice and I saw was skinnier than a shoelace (as was its wearer). In fact, we found Sydney to be very casual. We hung around Bondi for an hour or so, walking in the water and wandering through the town, of which there was little. From there we resumed our HOHO bus and saw many other beaches with spectacular views of the area as well as of Sydney, from a corner you rarely see images.

We got off the bus near Chinatown and I hit the Sydney Guide Book (my bible that I had been studying since two weeks before the cruise) and we decided to go to a Chinese restaurant called Zilver.

It took a 20 minute walk to find it, but at 5 minutes to 5:00 we were there and ready. Unfortunately they did not open until 5:30, but they turned on some lights and allowed us to sit at our seats. Twenty minutes later, the place almost instantaneously filled up. They were Asian tour groups and there were a lot of them. By 5:30, they started receiving food and we had not yet ordered. On one hand we felt great about our selection as we were the only non-Asians in the place. On the other, we were afraid that we might never get our order taken or get served. We finally ordered pork ribs and a chicken dish. After what seemed a long time (given the smells of the other diners' food) we were served along with a ton of white rice. Our food was great and we struggled to finish it. We mostly did and then waited for our check. (Maybe the meal would be free?). Anyway, next thing we know they brought us sliced fruit including citrus, cantaloupe and honeydew melon, which I guess was included in the price. From there we walked back to the hotel, a 20 minute or more walk, feeling like we had a fix on this place that we would call home for close to a week.