Sydney, Bridge Climb, and the Opera

Hi All,

Jer here today.

Yesterday we arrived in Sydney, Australia at about 6am.  Our ship had to anchor in the harbor because Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth was at the city dock, guess the Queen has priority!  We did have a beautiful view from our harbor mooring.   Also a nice view of the harbor bridge which I climbed in the afternoon.

A city view with the Queen Elizabeth in valet parking.  We had about a 10 minute tender ride in from our ship.

A one bedroom condo here will set you back over $1 million.

The famous Sydney Opera House.

After we walked around the city in the morning, Jer set off to climb the harbor bridge.  Helen did a harbor cruise with her friend Elaine.

Lots of famous people have climbed the bridge including this guy.  Wow, The Boss!  There is also a picture of Oprah, but the guide told me she took an elevator to the top, ha!

Here is yours truly on the bridge.  That is our ship in the background.  The views from the top were amazing.  The climb wasn’t scary, we were tethered to the bridge at all times, and there were rails on either side of us.  It was lots of fun.  The climb took about 3 and a half hours.  The first hour was just getting suited up, safety briefing, breathalyzer (some how I passed!), etc.  The whole climb is really well done. Maria, our guide to the top, was fantastic.   She said she stopped counting after climbing the bridge over 1000 times.

 

This is the group I climbed with.  Most of them are from England.  You can see how I am tethered to the bridge in this picture.

In the evening we went to see Madame Butterfly at the opera house.  You can see where the English translation appears over the stage.  While very functional, the inside of the opera house doesn’t really match the beauty of the building’s exterior (how could it?).

 

The opera was wonderful.  Walking back to the tender dock we had this beautiful view of Sydney at night.  We wish we had another day in Sydney, but our ship sailed at midnight for Melbourne, we arrive there tomorrow at noon.

Helen wouldn’t post this next picture, but since I am doing the blogging today, I will.  A couple days ago she was a model in the ship’s fashion show.  She wore this pretty,  lacy blue dress from the ship’s boutique (she had to give it back).

Now for our foodie followers,  A couple nights ago, our head waiter Bogan (pronounced Boyan) special ordered Chateaubriand for us.  Bogan treats us very well, and he is a very funny guy from Serbia. Unfortunately he is leaving the ship in Perth.  Here he is carving the meat.

It was delish!  We paired it with a nice Silver Oak Cab.

So that is it from Sydney.  Today is a lazy sea day to rest up for our two days in Melbourne.  After Melbourne we stop in Adelaide, Albany, and Perth.  That will end the third segment of the World Cruise.  We arrive in Miami two months from today.  Bye for now.

Jer and Helen