Sydney! What a cool place. It’s hard to believe that I’m actually in Sydney, Australia. The Sydney Harbor Bridge (a.k.a. the “Coat Hanger”), the Opera House, the Rocks, Darling Harbour, Bondi Beach. I’ve seen all this stuff on television for years but never really thought I’d be seeing it in person. Yet, six weeks after leaving Los Angeles, here I am! How great is this?
I had heard that the sail-in to Sydney was something not to be missed. So I got a very early wake-up call, was on deck before sunrise and still missed it!
We were easing into the dock well before 6:00 am and were tied up just a few minutes later. Fortunately, we had drawn a fabulous docking location, right between the opera house and the bridge. We were no more than a seven iron from either landmark. There couldn’t have been a better photo op if we had scripted it ourselves. Bill, Linda and Greg were there as well and we took turns snapping pictures of everyone in front of the Sydney icons. As luck would have it, the sunrise was just behind the opera house. I must have taken a dozen pictures of it, with everything from just a glow to full sunshine. Same for the bridge but without the backdrop of the sunrise. If we had to end the cruise here, we couldn’t have asked for a better finish.
Unfortunately, we were ending the cruise here and, before too long, they began calling disembarkation numbers
and colors. People with early flights would go first, then later flights, etc. Since I had no flight scheduled until the next day, I knew that I would probably be one of the last groups to be called. And that’s exactly the way it happened. Bill and Linda were among the first to go since they had a fairly early flight to Los Angeles, I think. They were spending a day or two with the kids before going home to Oregon. I gave Linda a hug, shook hands with Bill and they were gone. Tom and Tess also left, with a flight to Vancouver, British Columbia. They live on Vancouver Island so they would be almost home once they arrived. Of course, it was a seventeen hour trip. At least, by stopping in Tahiti, I was breaking up that long flight back. Greg was doing a five-day post-cruise tour to Ayers Rock, Alice Springs and Cairns where he would snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. He was flying out of Sydney today so he also left the ship. Suddenly, I looked around and found that I was the only one left on the Lido Deck, aft. Like I said, starting all over again….
Finally, they called my color and number. I picked up my tote and headed for the gangway. I had booked a one-night hotel package through Holland America at the SwissOtel, right in the heart of downtown Sydney. It was supposed to be a very nice hotel, close to many of the tourist attractions and within walking distance of the
harbor. The package included transfers to the hotel and airport, as well as a city tour prior to the hotel drop-off. Anyway, I made my way to the gangway, scanned off the ship for the last time and followed the signs toward the luggage claim area. The terminal was a zoo, even more so than usual at the end of a cruise. Maybe it was the strict customs regulations I mentioned earlier but, whatever the reason, things were moving very slowly. I found the area where my bags were supposed to be. What I didn’t find were my bags. Porters were running in and out of the terminal, unloading bags two at a time from the dolly. Eventually, I spotted one of mine and took it directly from the porter, not wanting it to get away again. A few minutes later, the second one appeared so I grabbed it and joined the line for customs and immigration. For those who haven’t taken a cruise, I’ll explain what usually happens prior to disembarkation. A couple of days before arrival, each passenger must complete the customs and immigration
forms for the arrival country. Immigration agents come aboard the ship and meet with each passenger to verify the information, check passports, etc. When I completed my customs declaration, I said that I had nothing to declare. But, when I started packing, I found a cheap shell necklace that they were giving as souvenirs when I visited Hilo Hatties in Maui. I had stuck it in the drawer and forgotten about it. I started to just toss it but decided to put it around my neck instead. As I said earlier, Australia and New Zealand are very strict on stuff like this. But either they’d confiscate it or let it go. Either way would be okay with me. So, when I got to customs, I handed the agent my declaration form and pointed out the shells around my neck. She looked at them, let it go and actually thanked me for my honesty! I grabbed my bags and went out the door. Welcome to Sydney!
Exiting the cruise terminal, I found the bus which would take me on the city tour. It was double-decker with a
flight of stairs leading to the upper section. I hadn’t seen a bus like it before. We pulled away from the terminal and into the usual big-city traffic jam. But once we left the dock area, it moved pretty smoothly and we made our way around the city without much problem. In general, it was pretty much the same as any other city tour but I was impressed with just how pretty Sydney was. There seemed to be lots of open spaces for such a large, modern city. There were gardens, parks, monuments. The buildings were clean, modern and scenic. We stopped at a park across the harbor where we could get some nice pictures with both the bridge and opera house in the same scene. Everyone took advantage and got photos of themselves with the icons in the background. It was a very comprehensive tour, covering all the major attractions of the city, plus some lesser known ones. I now know
where Russell Crowe lives and where Nicole Kidman sends her daughter to pre-school! Who knows whether that might come in handy some day. By the way, it apparently caused quite a commotion on those days when Tom Cruise came to pick up his daughter from school. Just thought you might want to know that! The final stop on the tour was at Bondi Beach, site of several events during the Sydney Olympics in 2000. It’s a very pretty beach but not quite as wide as I had thought. I heard that it’s a topless beach but I must have come on the wrong day because everyone seemed to be pretty well covered! We spent about a half-hour here, taking pictures and looking around, then we left for the drive to the hotel.
We were dropped off at the hotel around mid-afternoon. The Holland America representatives were waiting for us with welcome packages containing room keys, city maps, tourist info, etc. Well, everybody but me! There
didn’t seem to be an envelope with my name on it. Terrific! I’m on the other side of the world and they’ve lost my reservation. Fortunately, I was confirmed in the hotel computer so there was no harm done. Eventually, my package was located but, by then, I didn’t need it. However, there was still one thing that concerned me. There was a chalk board with each passenger’s name and airport departure time listed. Everybody except me, again. I was the only one going to Tahiti, naturally, and no arrangements had been made for my airport transfer. Others were grouped by departure flight and appropriate-sized vehicles had been scheduled to arrive at the hotel by a specified time. When I asked about it, the HAL reps seemed a little perplexed and confused. After making a few phone calls, they told me that I would be given a voucher and sent by taxi to the airport. The theory was that I would write in the amount of the fare, sign the voucher and hand it to the driver, who would later get his money from the local operator. Good in theory but it didn’t give me a very warm, fuzzy feeling. Anyway, I was told to be in the lobby at a certain time the next morning and everything would be fine. I’m not overjoyed about this set-up but what can you do?
I finally made it to my room about an hour after arriving at the hotel. It was a nice room overlooking the city, on one of the upper floors. The only problem was that it was a non-smoking room and I’m a smoker. I was originally supposed to be assigned a smoking room but, like I explained, things were a bit confused at check-in. The desk clerk told me that it would be okay to smoke on the balcony and I was satisfied with that resolution. Until I actually went out on the balcony! As I said, I was on one of the upper floors and the balcony was maybe three hundred feet above the city. I’m not a big fan of heights and I felt like I was standing on the ledge of the building. Remember those mountain excursions in New Zealand? This was worse! I didn’t smoke very much that night….
By now, it was late afternoon. My original plan was to wander down to the harbor and see the sights, maybe take the ferry around the harbor. But with all the hassle of disembarkation and hotel check-in, plus the fact that we had already taken a pretty comprehensive city tour, I was really tired. So I changed my plan. I decided to stay in the area around the hotel and just relax for the rest of the day. Tomorrow was going to be another hassle day anyway so it was just as well. I wandered around a little, found a coffee shop with an al fresco sitting area, ordered a long black and watched the people for a while. Plus I could smoke at ground level! On the way back to the hotel, I ran across a food court with all the various fast food choices I’ve come to know and love. After six weeks eating cruise ship food, I was absolutely ready for that. I walked up to the Subway counter, ordered a foot-long tuna sub and went back to the room. It was the best meal in a long time!
Tomorrow would be a long, tiring day….
I had heard that the sail-in to Sydney was something not to be missed. So I got a very early wake-up call, was on deck before sunrise and still missed it!
We were easing into the dock well before 6:00 am and were tied up just a few minutes later. Fortunately, we had drawn a fabulous docking location, right between the opera house and the bridge. We were no more than a seven iron from either landmark. There couldn’t have been a better photo op if we had scripted it ourselves. Bill, Linda and Greg were there as well and we took turns snapping pictures of everyone in front of the Sydney icons. As luck would have it, the sunrise was just behind the opera house. I must have taken a dozen pictures of it, with everything from just a glow to full sunshine. Same for the bridge but without the backdrop of the sunrise. If we had to end the cruise here, we couldn’t have asked for a better finish.Unfortunately, we were ending the cruise here and, before too long, they began calling disembarkation numbers
and colors. People with early flights would go first, then later flights, etc. Since I had no flight scheduled until the next day, I knew that I would probably be one of the last groups to be called. And that’s exactly the way it happened. Bill and Linda were among the first to go since they had a fairly early flight to Los Angeles, I think. They were spending a day or two with the kids before going home to Oregon. I gave Linda a hug, shook hands with Bill and they were gone. Tom and Tess also left, with a flight to Vancouver, British Columbia. They live on Vancouver Island so they would be almost home once they arrived. Of course, it was a seventeen hour trip. At least, by stopping in Tahiti, I was breaking up that long flight back. Greg was doing a five-day post-cruise tour to Ayers Rock, Alice Springs and Cairns where he would snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. He was flying out of Sydney today so he also left the ship. Suddenly, I looked around and found that I was the only one left on the Lido Deck, aft. Like I said, starting all over again….Finally, they called my color and number. I picked up my tote and headed for the gangway. I had booked a one-night hotel package through Holland America at the SwissOtel, right in the heart of downtown Sydney. It was supposed to be a very nice hotel, close to many of the tourist attractions and within walking distance of the
harbor. The package included transfers to the hotel and airport, as well as a city tour prior to the hotel drop-off. Anyway, I made my way to the gangway, scanned off the ship for the last time and followed the signs toward the luggage claim area. The terminal was a zoo, even more so than usual at the end of a cruise. Maybe it was the strict customs regulations I mentioned earlier but, whatever the reason, things were moving very slowly. I found the area where my bags were supposed to be. What I didn’t find were my bags. Porters were running in and out of the terminal, unloading bags two at a time from the dolly. Eventually, I spotted one of mine and took it directly from the porter, not wanting it to get away again. A few minutes later, the second one appeared so I grabbed it and joined the line for customs and immigration. For those who haven’t taken a cruise, I’ll explain what usually happens prior to disembarkation. A couple of days before arrival, each passenger must complete the customs and immigration
forms for the arrival country. Immigration agents come aboard the ship and meet with each passenger to verify the information, check passports, etc. When I completed my customs declaration, I said that I had nothing to declare. But, when I started packing, I found a cheap shell necklace that they were giving as souvenirs when I visited Hilo Hatties in Maui. I had stuck it in the drawer and forgotten about it. I started to just toss it but decided to put it around my neck instead. As I said earlier, Australia and New Zealand are very strict on stuff like this. But either they’d confiscate it or let it go. Either way would be okay with me. So, when I got to customs, I handed the agent my declaration form and pointed out the shells around my neck. She looked at them, let it go and actually thanked me for my honesty! I grabbed my bags and went out the door. Welcome to Sydney!Exiting the cruise terminal, I found the bus which would take me on the city tour. It was double-decker with a
flight of stairs leading to the upper section. I hadn’t seen a bus like it before. We pulled away from the terminal and into the usual big-city traffic jam. But once we left the dock area, it moved pretty smoothly and we made our way around the city without much problem. In general, it was pretty much the same as any other city tour but I was impressed with just how pretty Sydney was. There seemed to be lots of open spaces for such a large, modern city. There were gardens, parks, monuments. The buildings were clean, modern and scenic. We stopped at a park across the harbor where we could get some nice pictures with both the bridge and opera house in the same scene. Everyone took advantage and got photos of themselves with the icons in the background. It was a very comprehensive tour, covering all the major attractions of the city, plus some lesser known ones. I now know
where Russell Crowe lives and where Nicole Kidman sends her daughter to pre-school! Who knows whether that might come in handy some day. By the way, it apparently caused quite a commotion on those days when Tom Cruise came to pick up his daughter from school. Just thought you might want to know that! The final stop on the tour was at Bondi Beach, site of several events during the Sydney Olympics in 2000. It’s a very pretty beach but not quite as wide as I had thought. I heard that it’s a topless beach but I must have come on the wrong day because everyone seemed to be pretty well covered! We spent about a half-hour here, taking pictures and looking around, then we left for the drive to the hotel.We were dropped off at the hotel around mid-afternoon. The Holland America representatives were waiting for us with welcome packages containing room keys, city maps, tourist info, etc. Well, everybody but me! There
didn’t seem to be an envelope with my name on it. Terrific! I’m on the other side of the world and they’ve lost my reservation. Fortunately, I was confirmed in the hotel computer so there was no harm done. Eventually, my package was located but, by then, I didn’t need it. However, there was still one thing that concerned me. There was a chalk board with each passenger’s name and airport departure time listed. Everybody except me, again. I was the only one going to Tahiti, naturally, and no arrangements had been made for my airport transfer. Others were grouped by departure flight and appropriate-sized vehicles had been scheduled to arrive at the hotel by a specified time. When I asked about it, the HAL reps seemed a little perplexed and confused. After making a few phone calls, they told me that I would be given a voucher and sent by taxi to the airport. The theory was that I would write in the amount of the fare, sign the voucher and hand it to the driver, who would later get his money from the local operator. Good in theory but it didn’t give me a very warm, fuzzy feeling. Anyway, I was told to be in the lobby at a certain time the next morning and everything would be fine. I’m not overjoyed about this set-up but what can you do?
I finally made it to my room about an hour after arriving at the hotel. It was a nice room overlooking the city, on one of the upper floors. The only problem was that it was a non-smoking room and I’m a smoker. I was originally supposed to be assigned a smoking room but, like I explained, things were a bit confused at check-in. The desk clerk told me that it would be okay to smoke on the balcony and I was satisfied with that resolution. Until I actually went out on the balcony! As I said, I was on one of the upper floors and the balcony was maybe three hundred feet above the city. I’m not a big fan of heights and I felt like I was standing on the ledge of the building. Remember those mountain excursions in New Zealand? This was worse! I didn’t smoke very much that night….By now, it was late afternoon. My original plan was to wander down to the harbor and see the sights, maybe take the ferry around the harbor. But with all the hassle of disembarkation and hotel check-in, plus the fact that we had already taken a pretty comprehensive city tour, I was really tired. So I changed my plan. I decided to stay in the area around the hotel and just relax for the rest of the day. Tomorrow was going to be another hassle day anyway so it was just as well. I wandered around a little, found a coffee shop with an al fresco sitting area, ordered a long black and watched the people for a while. Plus I could smoke at ground level! On the way back to the hotel, I ran across a food court with all the various fast food choices I’ve come to know and love. After six weeks eating cruise ship food, I was absolutely ready for that. I walked up to the Subway counter, ordered a foot-long tuna sub and went back to the room. It was the best meal in a long time!
Tomorrow would be a long, tiring day….
No comments:
Post a Comment